I have been very busy with all kinds of things, one of which is dealing with a number of doctors. I have not been forthcoming here about what is going on with my health, partly because of privacy, and partly because I don't wish to think about it. But now I am resigned to the situation. I have to be, because it is fairly serious. It seems that my carotid artery on the left side is partially blocked, which increases the risk for stroke significantly. It was blocked when I firs had a sonogram a 18 months ago, but the most recent test showed a strangely high increase in the extent of the blockage. This despite the fact that I am in excellent condition, don't smoke cigarettes (the neurologist assured me that smoking other things is not nearly as dangerous in this case), I don't drink, and I am not overweight, and I have low cholesterol. There is a possibility that there is a malformed blood vessel somewhere that is causing this. Now I have symptoms of hypertension, which magnifies the risk much more. Paranoid me gets frightened now of any headache, dizziness, confusion-all bad signs. The neurologist also thinks that some of my medications for bipolar are effecting my blood pressure since he can see no other cause, and I am not genetically predisposed to it. So here is the rub: if I have to stop some of those medications, my mental health will suffer. But if I don't, I could die of a stroke at any time. While I might not, I am at very high risk, particularly for my age.
I am calm about this and I am doing everything I can to help myself: meditation, lots of exercise, careful diet (no meat, no butter, mostly vegetables and grains and fish). I take one aspirin a day to thin my blood (doctor's orders). But I am unnerved too. I go back to the neurologist on Monday; he will have consulted by that time with another radiologist, my internist, and my psychiatrist. I have utmost faith in this neurologist. In his office he has THE ILIAD, Joyce's ULYSSES, French novels (Stendahl, Balzac, etc.) AND a small piano. A humanist doctor is a rare thing, but something I value very much.
So there it is. Wish me luck.
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2 comments:
I do, indeed, wish you luck. Must be a worrying time for you.
(I tried to post this and had an error. Apologies in advance if there is duplication.)
My thoughts are with you too. It sounds like you are doing a lot of the right things and hopefully your doctors today will suggest other courses of action.
Thank you for sharing with us here, as I know that's difficult.
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