Here's one of my PSAs for all 5 of you folks who read my musings. My man is now home, his usual self,. This is for strokes, but can be applied to any brain issue.

BE FAST

  • B - Balance: Sudden loss of balance, coordination, or difficulty walking.
  • E - Eyes: Sudden changes in vision, such as blurriness, double vision, or vision loss.
  • F - Face: Sudden facial drooping or numbness; ask the person to smile to check.
  • A - Arm: Sudden weakness or numbness in one arm; ask the person to raise both arms to see if one drifts downward.
  • S - Speech: Sudden slurred speech, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding; ask the person to repeat a simple sentence.

    • T - Time: Time to call 911 immediately if you observe any of these 

    Feeling fatigued and dizzy on occasion set a repeat CT scan in motion, but it took several weeks to schedule. 

    DH took the recycling can out Monday night in the twilight. When he came in he said "I want you to know I walked up the (50ft ) driveway and found I was walking diagonally to the right." 
    Odd. We both see shiny things and may aim for them while walking, so maybe he focused on something besides the front door.

    He'd been feeling as though he was wearing glasses frames. Was it his eye injections ? We did home peripheral eye checks and his field of vision and sight were normal. 

    Tuesday, trash night, he had the same issue of walking diagonally to the right. As he normally only walks around the inside of the house, when not protecting the couch, we attributed it to inactivity.

    Wednesday night he was rather uncharacteristically happy, slightly emotional, and loud in discussions with G-kids. That got my attention. He's not usually so animated. I shrugged it off.

    Thursday afternoon we hold hands walking in parking lots; he's saving me, I'm saving him! No issues. Going to CT scan, he was fine, joking with everyone as usual. NO SYMPTOMS that would jump out at you.

    They make us wait, and wait. The tech pulled us aside and told him he couldn't drive. The radiologist was called our doctor, she would call us. Within 10 minutes we were told to go to the ER.

    A brain bleed, even his that flared up from his accident, is a type of stroke. In his case it was slow to be visible, but in retrospect, warning signs were there.

    He's good and we will both not shrug off any oddity again!


    Comments

    1. ALICIA363July 8, 2026 at 5:01 AM

      😲 wow. Stuff I would never think twice about. Yikes! So glad you have each other ❤️
      As one of the five 😂, I greatly appreciate your musings. And the continuing education. (Hug)

      ReplyDelete
    2. OneKidsMomJuly 11, 2026 at 8:38 AM

      OK, I'm late again playing catch up, and fortunately the excitement is over (for now). Good warning list, also good to go back through the debrief of warning signs missed. It's hard because... you don't want to be paranoid or a hypochondriac... but y'know, we're kind of past that stage of life, aren't we?

      Glad this was caught in time!

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. OverworkedjanetJuly 12, 2026 at 6:22 AM

        Not late, fashionable. Yes, we are past the stage of ignoring little signs. If it's out of character, it counts. Some of my work is also counting for the observations of general mental decline. Bummer.

        Delete
    3. BarbJuly 11, 2026 at 12:24 PM

      Thanks for that BEFAST check list!

      DH had a pacemaker implant on Thursday and had a rough go of it coming out of anesthesia. VERY unlike himself and sort of thought he had a stroke, but the cardiologist looked him over, and DH did improve as the anesthetic wore off, so that was a good thing!

      Glad your DH is home. PHEW

      Glad you and he paid attention to those warning signs. YES, personality change is very much a common characteristic. Glad you paid attention!

      I am pleased he is doing better and for sure, good to give due respect to things that are out of the ordinary. You did a good job.

      hugs
      barb
      1cd

      ReplyDelete

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