TIA and Minor Stroke

A series of tests.

 

 

Blood pressure certainly. I can remember that. They certainly took blood again. And I think they measured it, you know, heart beat testing, regularity of heart beat, after that it seemed a variety of things. And, and they did explain it. To be fair to them, they explained it clearly at the time, but I think I was not clear thinking at the time certainly.

The GP explained that she, her practice was part of a group of practices associated with a research programme at the university, and I would get instant access to hospital, which was tremendous. And after the initial consultation, at the end of the consultation it was explained to me by the consultant I met that there was a research programme taking place, “Would I be happy to take part in it?” And it was, the initial request was, “Would I take my blood pressure three times a day?” and this would be sent in by mobile phone. Very happy to do that. And it’s been something which has, which has proved extremely useful, because that blood pressure is monitored and I’ve had telephone calls from the hospital suggesting that I change medication, as a result of the observation they see taken from those readings. So delighted with that. And I’ve also been involved in a research project at the university looking at developing new MRI techniques.

 

So very happy with those. And you feel, especially with the monitoring, you feel actually somebody’s there [laughs]. So you don’t have to rely on your own understanding of what’s happening. Somebody’s actually seeing genuine data coming in on a daily basis.

I’ve had more blood tests [laugh]s heart checks the last three months than I’ve had in all my life.

with this warfarin test the palaver, I never thought I’d go be doing this for the rest of my life?

 

 

Well, yeah, first of all you had a blood test. Then you go and see a, a nurse and she takes all the details and she tells you all about it. And you now once a week I’ve been going to the hospital to have a blood test to see whether my blood clots are high or low, whether the tablets are going to change. You have to write everything down in the book, in the piece of paper. You have to tell them the change of everything, you know, change the medication, whether you bruise badly after the injection and things like that. It’s just so you’ve got that for the rest of your life. And then she said, “All right, you can work up to one in three months.” But she said there’s not many people that get the three months. Eight weeks between one blood test to the next.

 

 

Not very happy about it, but if it means it’s going to keep me going, well, I’ve got to do it, you know. Don’t like it, but got to do it.

MRIs are a painless process. The only disturbing thing for some people, I suspect, is a fear of claus-, is anything to do with, around claustrophobia, because you are inserted into a tube. I’m pretty broad, and on the second occasion the tube actually was slightly squeezing my shoulders. You’re lying on your back on a wheeled carriage and the carriage is inserted into the tube. You’re, you have earplugs inserted in your ears, and you have earphones on, which allow the operators of the MRI to communicate with you. And you’re told in advance that there will be a series of noises. Those noises are very difficult to describe. They are loud and slightly disorientating. You feel nothing, absolutely nothing. So if you’re not claustrophobic, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. I don’t know what you do if you’re claustrophobic. I don’t know how you get past that. That’s a little mental challenge, to get past that. The first MRI I had lasted, I would suspect, 20 minutes. The second one, the research, was an hour and 20 minutes. And that’s quite a long time to be stuck inside a tube, lying still. But the resolution of the imagery coming out is extraordinary. So you’re, you’re happy that this instrument exists and you’re, you have access to it. So nothing to worry about in that sense.

 

 

I think it was a modern instrument and it was slightly bigger.

 

I don’t know whether they’re getting bigger. But it was certainly, it seemed larger to me and it was better lit, it was warmer. It was a much cosier environment [laughs]. The second one was a research instrument, deep in the, the bowels of the hospital, and was there for research purposes, not to make patients feel at ease, I suspect.

Part of the diagnostics on the first afternoon included an ultrasonic scan. And the ultrasonic scan is a device that uses ultrasonics, very, very impressive technology, to measure the flow rate and to image the artery. And looking at the flow rate, they could see that there was some slight obstruction, it was about a 50 per cent obstruction, to my blood flow. Well, to me that’s a bit scary. That means only half the blood’s getting to the brain that should. And I think I need it all. And I wonder whether that’s a cause of some of this memory loss that people have, simply partial blockage. I’m sure this has been intensively researched. I haven’t looked into this. The thought just popped up right now. And the other part was that they could find that there was about a 40 per cent blockage on my left artery, and there was this 60 per cent furry blockage on my right artery. These furry blockages grow very quickly, and because it’s kind of furry they’re likely to be unstable and to have pieces, fragments that separate and they’re entrained in the bloodstream and into the capillaries of the brain. And so it was as a consequence of the ultrasonic scan. And in fact, looking at this now with hindsight and my picture, this is the magic diagnostic. Of course I’m only pointing at the carotid and I don’t know whether the other arteries have similar breakaways. But I wouldn’t have thought so, because - I’m not too sure on the physiology of this - but my understanding is that the carotid directly connects the heart, presumably comes off the aortic artery and then - so the only, it would either be a blockage in the aorta or - I think that’s the artery - or it would be a blockage in the carotid. So maybe all of these problems are caused by blockages in the carotid artery. And if this is the case, then to find out you just have to run this scan.