OV9

I don't know any of you irl but as they say... a problem shared etc....and this may help in avoiding the same happening to you....

3 months ago on 13th June I had a sudden seizure and collapse in my kitchen at home in front of my wife and 12yr old daughter, i smacked my head into the tiled floor and gave myself a 3 inch gash in back of head, wife obviously called for ambulance who arrived within 10 mins and were excellent. CT scan at hospital showed an acute subdural haematoma and initially i was diagnosed with epilepsy Spent a few days in hospital and after another couple of head CT's was judged that the bleed was stable and had stopped...

Off sick from school obviously and all seemed well until I developed symptoms that were flu/covid like so took a covid test and it was negative, had a mild right sided headache during that time and just took paracetamol, then things got interesting......

On Mon 14th / Tues 15th Aug i suddenly developed slurred speech and an increasingly lack of coordination on left side of body so went back to hospital on 15th, immediately re-admitted and another CT showed haemorrhage hadn't stopped and was now 2x it's original size and depth, hospital want me immediately transferred to Southmead in Bristol for emergency surgery but they want hospital to slowly reverse my heart meds before transfer...

Friday 18th I have further seizures in early hours of morning giving hospital no choice but to prep me for transfer by sedating and intubating me - Southmead send specialist paramedics and ambulance and I get transferred at around 12pm and am operated on at 3.30pm - I don't fully regain consciousness until Sun 20th!

Point being - don't ignore a headache that lasts for several days and especially if it then suddenly becomes a weakness on the *opposite* side of your body from the headache - you could then hopefully avoid what happened to me....
At home now recovering and minimal long term effects expected but i'm very very lucky! Especially as I had major heart surgery 11 years ago to get a mechanical aortic valve, replacement artificial aortic root and rebuilt mitral valve (bovine xenograft) and the meds to manage this are thought to have caused the haemorrhage (warfarin)

that's quite the ordeal! Sh*t. Glad to hear you're on the mend with a good recovery prognosis. That must have been scary as hell. How are you coping and how about the family?

Fuck! I thought it was going to be a post about a metaphorical brain haemorrhage- not an actual one...!

GWS matey!

DeskJockey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:28 pm that's quite the ordeal! Sh*t. Glad to hear you're on the mend with a good recovery prognosis. That must have been scary as hell. How are you coping and how about the family?

Much to everyones amazement i'm expected to largely make a full recovery, I'm ok with it - more curiosity and amusement at docs and surgeons telling me i'm breaking records for how fast i've recovered and just how much medication it takes to keep on top of my blood clotting factors - i'm an extreme outlier it seems on the normal distribution curve they'd expect.

Family obviously traumatised initially but now i'm outta hospital and home they are much more settled and this will ultimately become one more issue that needs to be managed and repeat symptoms kept an eye out for.

I get tired quite quickly and when i do the balance/coordination and speech issues come back in a minor way but less than a month after having a 10-12cm diameter hole cut in my skull and a massive clot vaccuumed out i think i'll forgive myself that one

I did also have a second very cool procedure on 22nd - Embolisation of the leaky vessels, basically x-ray guided tubes to site of leaks and glue is injected to seal the leak permanently

Yes, gws! Glad it was all caught and rectified. Plus bonus cool scars!

The miracles of modern medicine! That's some outcome. I think you're allowed to build a bit Lego. Maybe even more than a bit.

Rich B wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:47 pm Fuck! I thought it was going to be a post about a metaphorical brain haemorrhage- not an actual one...!

GWS matey!

I've been told by docs and surgeons my OT/Phsio has to be Lego and video games to get back hand - eye coordination, I might be forced to string out my recovery somewhat..... just to be sure it is complete!

IanF wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:53 pm Yes, gws! Glad it was all caught and rectified. Plus bonus cool scars!

Yup! Sternotomy scar plus craniotomy scar is some combo I love it

I do need my hair to grow back quickly however as my wifes step-brother is getting married on 21st Oct and i don't want a visible scar and associated questions to detract rom their day

Christ! Glad to hear you're on the mend.

teacherboy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:56 pm

Rich B wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:47 pm Fuck! I thought it was going to be a post about a metaphorical brain haemorrhage- not an actual one...!

GWS matey!

I've been told by docs and surgeons my OT/Phsio has to be Lego and video games to get back hand - eye coordination, I might be forced to string out my recovery somewhat..... just to be sure it is complete!

Starfield has just released and is probably several hundred hours long! Sounds perfect!

DeskJockey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:55 pm The miracles of modern medicine! That's some outcome. I think you're allowed to build a bit Lego. Maybe even more than a bit.

Indeed, i've been saved multiple times now by modern medicine - I have zero complaints about the NHS and just what they can do and how compassionate, honest and above all funny the nurses, doctors and surgeons are. Even when I was still very ill they never once soft pedalled me or my wife when we asked for honest answers and gave brutally (at times) succinct answers and treated us like adults with intelligence who could cope with the answers - even if not particularly nice ones were given

Some inspiration? Quite subtle...

IanF wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 5:05 pm

teacherboy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:56 pm

Rich B wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 4:47 pm Fuck! I thought it was going to be a post about a metaphorical brain haemorrhage- not an actual one...!

GWS matey!

I've been told by docs and surgeons my OT/Phsio has to be Lego and video games to get back hand - eye coordination, I might be forced to string out my recovery somewhat..... just to be sure it is complete!

Starfield has just released and is probably several hundred hours long! Sounds perfect!

I may have that installed on my downstairs machine that has a 6950xt i bought/installed the week before it all went pear shaped, downloaded the game last night (premium edition that came with the gfx card) but waiting for bugs etc to be resolved before starting it

DeskJockey wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 5:16 pm Some inspiration? Quite subtle...

Holy crap, that's a major life event right there glad that you're out the other side and heading for a full recover. Hope your family are doing well too, I bet they they needed a stiff drink after you regained consciousness!

Has it had any impact on your approach to life, on a more philosophical level?

You’ve been through a lot there, hopefully you’ll have a quick recovery, which sounds quite likely from what you’ve said. Enjoy the downtime though and don’t rush yourself through the recovery.

Are you shaving the rest of your hair off to grow back at the same rate or waiting for it to fill back in? A full shave and regrowth might be the less obvious solution for the wedding?

That’s some sequence of events! Thankfully it all worked out in the end and GWS!

Jeez

Well if you're going to do something - might as well do a proper job.....

Horrific ordeal (for you and family) and great that you are able to relay it clearly so soon after.

Get well soon sir.

Glad your on the mend and more importantly alive!

As i was reading the beginning i was thinking it can't be the same chap who had a major heart issue a decade or so ago

Is it just bad luck or are they linked?

Carlos wrote: ↑Mon Sep 11, 2023 6:48 pm Glad your on the mend and more importantly alive!

As i was reading the beginning i was thinking it can't be the same chap who had a major heart issue a decade or so ago

Is it just bad luck or are they linked?

Linked