Thank you to everyone who made blog comments or sent me messages wishing me well with my visit to the doctor yesterday to get the results of the CT scan of my brain. As it turns out, I really do have a brain. But the rest of it was not necessarily the best news.
Some of you may recall that in mid-July of 2019, I experienced an episode of dizziness and tingling all through my head that the doctors thought might have been a TIA, also known as a mini-stroke. At that time, I had MRIs and CT scans done, neither of which showed any problems, so then they did biopsies of the arteries in my temples, looking for any kind of blockage or narrowing. Again, everything seemed normal.
But after my recent headache that lasted for hours and getting another CT scan done, the results show that at some point in the past, I did indeed have a small stroke. I asked why nothing showed up on the MRIs and CTs from 2019, and the doctor said that things like that don’t always show up right away. So now they think there’s a possibility that the headache I had was another small stroke.
I can write a halfway decent mystery, but I can’t read a medical report worth a damn. Fortunately, our daughter-in-law is an RN with many years of experience, so we got copies of the report and shared it with her, and according to her, it means that a very few small cells in the brain died as a result of the earlier stroke. So there you have it. We have confirmed what we all suspected all along. I’m brain dead!
This news doesn’t really surprise me, since my mother experienced a series of strokes before she passed away in 1991. But don’t worry, I have no intention of leaving you all anytime soon. There’s too much mischief I still need to get into.
My doctor referred me to a neurologist that I saw before, and we are waiting to hear back from him on scheduling an appointment. In the meantime, I’ve got a book to finish!
If you are one of the people who enter our weekly free drawings, I need to ask you to do me a favor. Sometimes when you enter the drawing, it takes a few minutes for your name to show up. And occasionally, it won’t show up until I approve the post. I’m not sure why that is, but it is.
Every week we have people who enter the drawing and don’t immediately see their name, so they enter again, and again, and again, all in a row. Quite often, as many as five or more times, and I think the record was 17. When we got home yesterday, I had three people who had submitted multiple entries.
When you do that, three things happen. First, the computer automatically kicks out all of your entries because only one entry is allowed per contest. Second, I then have to go through and manually delete all of those pending extra entries except one, which I have to manually approve. And third, many times, the computer program automatically assumes you are a spammer, and your entries go straight to a spam file, and I never see them. So please, exercise a little bit of patience. If you enter, your name will get put into the drawing. But it’s not like instant oatmeal and instant coffee; sometimes you have to wait a little bit. Thank you for your patience.
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of my book Overlooked Florida, featuring more than 30 interesting places in the Sunshine State that most tourists miss. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.
Thought For The Day – Be happy with what you have while working for what you want.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
I am sorry to see that your test results were not what you wanted, but glad that you got some answers. I had a series of what we thought at the time were TIAs about five years ago. The neurologist finally decided that they were a form of migraines (even though I have never before or since had migraine headaches) and there was evidence of a previous stroke. Now, I just say that it must be the stroke that caused me to not verbally censor myself. LOL You can let your “Bad Nick” out and blame it on the dead brain cells! In all seriousness, I am so glad that your daughter-in-law could help you interpret the results and will pray that you are with us all for many more years.
Nick – I agree – not the best news but having an answer is better than not knowing and at least going forward, you’ll have a treatment plan when you see the neurologist. Besides, you’ve got way too many books floating around in that brain waiting to be published. 😉
Even with half a brain you’d be ahead of most. Take care and enjoy your life! 🙂
I remember my grandma taking GERITOL
– and the doctor said to drink 2 shots of MORGAN-DAVID blackberry wine instead… she lived to 95 ( 5 yrs of being mostly vegetive)
Wow we are all getting older. John was just in the hospital with an acute UTI. With his Parkinson’s just makes everything more complicated. Please take care if yourself and Terry. Miss seeing you.
First it’s good to know the problem. Second there are treatments. Depends on what the doctors think might help you. You and Terry are in our prayers.
Sorry for the “not the best” news. However, I am glad they figured it out. Take care!
Hope they give you adequate treatment to avoid future attacks, however small. I understand there are certain foods which can help too. Onions are supposed to be good to keep the blood fluid. Garlic lowers blood pressure. Anyway, I do hope this is the ‘warning’ that will keep you alert. All my best wishes..
Nick, put simply that sucks. I am glad it was not a major stroke and docs can work with you on preventive strategies. We can’t choose how or when we die. We can choose how we live. Please keep doing your bang up job of how you live, and sharing it with us all. The adventure continues.