mdlbear | Intimations of mortality (Reply)

This morning as I was driving to work I felt a little knot of pain crawl up my left leg. It started about halfway down the calf, and moved up an inch or so before trailing off. That, says I to myself, could easily have been a blood clot. But, there being no further symptoms, I got to work and got busy.

An hour or so later I started getting some numbness on the left side of my face, and an ache in my left shoulder. (There was also a little upper chest pain that felt like my usual acid reflux, and went away with a Tums. I also took an aspirin for good measure.) A little before noon when things hadn't improved, I called Kaiser and was told to have somebody drive me to the ER.

So I bummed a ride with finagler and spent the next couple of hours getting an EKG (which was pronounced "normal" -- refreshing) and an exam which included things like pushing against the doctor's hands in various directions, all of which came out normal. She looked at my chart, ordered a bunch of blood tests most of which were overdue anyway, put me in for a carotid ultrasound and a head scan, and upped my BP meds from half a small tablet daily to a whole one. I suspect I've had a couple of mini-strokes over the last 15 years or so, which the scan will presumably turn up.

On the way down I'd called the flower_cat, who met us at the hospital and drove me home, just in time to pick up the Younger Daughter at school so she wouldn't have to walk home in the rain. Did I mention it was raining? There was a beautiful sunrise as I took the YD to school this morning, but it was drizzling by the time I got to work. By mid-afternoon it was pouring. Not ordinarily weather I would have wanted the Cat to drive in, but I didn't feel like pushing my luck.

Anyway, I'm OK now modulo a little residual aching just under my left eye. Feels weird, but as long as it doesn't get worse I'm ok. The doctor said it was most likely a small blood clot, though the symptoms in my face are also consistent with the onset of Bell's palsy. However at the moment I'm OK. I just don't like it when my body does things I don't understand.