So, after being tested and tested and tested again, the neurologist decided that it appeared that I had suffered a TIA but they wanted to do an MRI to verify and check for bleeding.
At this point Alice had asked the doctor whether I would be able to go home that day, the neurologist said no, that I would be in overnight for observation and so that they could check that nothing else was going on.
Strangely, at this stage I was feeling a lot better, and all my functions had appeared to have returned to normal.
However, while we were sitting chatting I started to feel the tingling sensation come back into my legs and arm, I told Alice that I was starting to get scared and I was starting to lose feeling in my arm and leg again.
By this time I had been in ER for about 90 min. We told the staff that I was starting to feel the sensations returning and they went and got the neurologist to come back and see me. He said that this was normal and I would feel the sensations probably for 24 to 48 hours. At this time the MRI people were ready to take me into be scanned.
On the way to radiology I was complaining to the nurse that I really needed to pee badly, she asked could I hold it, and I said I wasn't sure if I could. When we went into radiology I asked the radiologist how long the test would take, he told me that it would take probably a minimum 45 min, to which I said "I can't hold my pee for 45 min. I need to go NOW !"
The nurse bought me a urinal, lord knows I tried, but I was starting to weaken on my left side and I couldn't lift myself up enough to use the urinal properly, so they decided to insert a catheter. Bastards lol :)... Ouch, ouch, and ouch again. Yeah that was pleasant... the one thing I could feel was that part.... If I spend the rest of my life without having to have a catheter inserted ever again that will be too soon.
So, catheter inserted, I totally filled up the bag, they were amazed and basically said wow you did need to go didn't you. Er, No duh. I was not volunteering to have a plastic tube stuck down me old boy for a giggle... :)
They duly wheeled me in and transferred me onto the MRI table, at this point I was starting to feel my leg and arm on my left side really start to feel somewhat numb and ravaged by a pins and needles sensation. Way worse than earlier.
The problem with an MRI, especially when they are scanning your brain, is that you have to be very still and they have immobilize your head. Where this became an issue for me, is that I was starting to feel that I was losing strength in my arm and leg, and when they put me inside the MRI the combination of the claustrophobia and my sensations started to really make me really uncomfortable.
They started up the MRI, and if you have ever had and MRI you will know what I am talking about, even with hearing protection, it's bloody loud. As I'm laying there I started to realize that I was losing the ability to move my fingers and toes on my left side. I also started to lose the feeling in my tounge and throat, which also started to cause problems as I was getting post nasal drip, which was almost gagging me, but I couldn't move my head, swallowing was getting harder and I could not cough it up, as I was confined in the MRI.
So apart from my throat, the noise, the catheter, and the claustrophobia, to top it all I started to realize that I was paralyzing in my foot and hand and was feeling the effects of the paralysis moving backwards up my leg and arm. It was the strangest experience, and I was to all intents and purposes helpless. I was trying to keep my toes and fingers moving so that my brain would hopefully remember the pathways if indeed I did paralyze completely.
When the MRI was complete and they wheeled me out and back to ER I realized that the least for the time being, I was unable to move my left leg or my left arm. I can tell you that while I was in the MRI I was praying hard, very hard, that I would make it through this and not die. I was not ready for the tunnel, and with no disrespect to my dead friends and relatives, I was NOT willing to see them quite yet. Im sure they understood :) But, I gotta be honest, at this point I was very, very scared, I knew everything was going wrong but I did not know to what extent it was going wrong, and where it was going to end.
By the time I got back to ER, where Alice, Elliott, Lyndsay & our friend Troy were waiting, I had pretty much lost all use of my left side, and my speech was really starting to deteriorate. I remember my mom calling from England and all I could do was mumble to her and my dad and I was very, very, very upset.
Ironically once I had gotten over the shock of what was happening to me, I actually started joking with my kids, I know it sounds strange now, but we were in tears of laughter as I was making fun of my condition. Those that know me, know that I have a pretty dark, warped sense of humor, and this is how I deal with situations like this. I found that it was much easier to laugh about it than any other alternative.
As those that know me well will also attest, I am a stubborn, dogmatic SOB at times, I don't give up easily and my attitude was and still is, that this was never, and I mean never, going to beat me and I was going to laugh and fight all the way.
As I said that day, and many times since, I do not stop punching until my lights are out.
My lights were not out then, they ain't out now, the calorically challenged lady isn't singing yet, she ain't wrote it yet, there is no fork to be stuck, and I have a long way to go until 4 zeroes show on the clock.
To be continued.
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