Monday, December 22, 2008

Stroke scare

Disclaimer: Angela, do NOT pass this on :)  No need to worry the folks, eh?

So.  Last night we had a little "get together" with the paramedics.  They seem like very nice people and we enjoyed chatting and all, but I think we will avoid all future get togethers with their type of people. Before I get into the thick of it, we thought Chris was having a stroke, but it turned out to be a panic attack.  A little scary for Chris (and the whole family!), as his biggest fear right now is...having another stroke.  

They think this could have been from all of that playing in the snow and sledding, which I think makes a lot of sense.  Basically, he was sitting on the couch and all of a sudden he was going tingly and hyperventilating.  Yikes.  Tingly sensation.  Stroke?  Tingly sensation on his face, eye stinging.  Stroke?  Right arm can't move.  Stroke?  Leg twitching.  Stroke?  It turns out that these are also common with panic attacks, but the main difference is that his right side couldn't move because it was stiff and tight (panic attack) and not because it was weak (stroke).  Horrible, horrible experience, but all is well now.  We know now how to identify this, we are having Chris take it easy (no more sledding, honey!) and all of our great neighbors dotingly shoveled our driveway today and brought us a nice, sodium free lunch.   I am hopeful that this won't happen again simply because now we know the early signs and know that when we see those signs, Chris needs to cool it and relax.  Whew.  I am so not ready for him to have another stroke.  And kudos to the Forest Grove FD paramedics that made it up our very steep and snowy hill in about 5 minutes.  Did I tell you that our total count for snow is 26 inches now?  Yep, they did a great job getting here fast through a whole heck of a lot of snow and getting Chris back to normal.  Whew.  Breathe, Sarah.  

3 comments:

Meg said...

Scary! That totally happened to me after my car accident last year. It is so freaky!

Glad Chris is okay...

and I need your address

bloodfamily said...

I'm so glad that Chris is ok. That had to be very scary. Hopefully this means that his body is getting stronger....right? Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family. You guys are truly missed.

Samurai Mom said...

Oh, Sarah how scary. I am glad it was NOT a panic attack.