.......are greatly exaggerated.

First off I want to say a gigantic thank-you for all the kind words, generous comments, prayers and thoughts that have been sent our way. Mrs Byster and I have been deeply touched by the responses we have read on the whole of Rendo.

Next, I want to thank you guys who stepped up to the plate in my absence and took the load off my back.

You guys Rock big time! Rendo rocks big time! Thank you!

Ok, so WTH happened?

Some of you might know that I had a car wreck back in 07. Although we didn't find out for months, it appears that the force of the crash caused me to have a stroke - varified by CT & MRI scans. Since then the specialists have come to the conclusion that I have had several TIAs (Transient Ischaemic Attack) or 'mini' strokes.

Recently I'd been having problems with my speech and muscle spasms so I got my MD to check me out. She wasn't happy and sent me up to the local hospital for an urgent CT scan on the 12th. During that scan I kinda lost the plot, got seriously confused - to the point where the scanner techs grabbed a wheelchair and rushed me down to A&E.

Then it all got a bit blurry. I'm being stabbed with needles, dosed up with pills and wheeled up to the Stroke Unit where I'm attached to all kinds of wires and monitor stuff by hot nurses who tell me they love Martians and want me to stay a few days.

During those first 24 hours, I lost a lot of my speech capabilty and some mobility, and I was unbelievably tired. For the next couple of days all I had to do was eat, sleep and fornicate.....ok.....so maybe not fornicate......listen to Doctors mutter and mumble and try to decide what's been happening in my head - not an easy thing at the best of times - and what to do about it.

By the following Tuesday I'm rested, covered in bruises from all the needles and bored stupid! So with piles of do's and don'ts from the Docs and Nurses, Speech Therapists and Occupational Therapists, they kick me out!

Right now though, I'm not allowed to drive and I have a bunch of new meds. The powers that be are going to rig up some kind of alarm proceedure because both Mrs Bryster and I are considered vulnerable and at risk.

Well, that's about it so far. Thanks once again for everything. Over the next few weeks, when I've rested up, I expect to be back to normal and pulling my weight.

Now, where's that comfy chair...............................?

Great to hear you're feeling better. Maybe you should fake a mini stroke just to have a better look at those hot alien loving nurses...

Good to hear you're back with us

Glad to hear you are still ticking along

Glad you your back ..still have you in my prayers

Good to see you!  Take it easy and only do what you feel like doing, and get better!

Yes, nice to have you back. Thumbs up!

Pleased to hear that everything is (almost) OK :) Take care and don't let Mrs Bryster catch you looking at the nurses... :)

Glad to have you back.  Take care of yourself. 

That sounds scary - hope you have a speedy recovery and no more mini strokes.

Got to agree with Peggy - that sounds very scary.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thank you all for your generous comments and wishes.

Scary? mmm...well not really. Panicked, confused, but that means I didn't fully understand what was going on at the time. You might say ignorance is bliss. By the time I was in any fit state to think about my situation I was already hooked up to machines and full of meds. What was surprising to me at the time was that I was the youngest patient in the Stroke Unit.

Sorry about the late chime in here.

Got busy with ThanksGiving Holiday here.

I'm glad your back. Praying for your speedy recovery :)

Jebuz! :/

glad yer (mostly) ok now though! :)

Sorry for not being round much my self: my health sucks nuts, sigh, so mostly just playing  games or such  (Fallout New Vegas is awesome!)

Ooooh! Bryster, dunno if you've seen some of the latest news on Me/CFS, but...you know the XMRV/MLV virus they think is the cause? now being linked to breast cancer! researcher found 25% of such tumours had the virus, where as average in normal population of having XMRV os around 3 or 4%.
If proven by further research, that's huge because, if I get this right, from other research in animal testing with XMRV, this bloody virus is integrally linked with the cancer's survival: you kill the virus, you kill the cancer

ie no more chemotherapy etc, instead you treat the damn virus = dead cancer!!
All very early days though and needs many years of research, but, wow...!

oh and another thing, did they test you for Orthostatic Intolerance, due to your ME/CFS? if you have that, that can be a trigger for strokes

FOlk with severe ME/CFS tend to end up with very low blood volume about 2/3rds normal, so blood presure goes whacky (which has happened to me...meh), thus, risk of stroke/heart attack goes way up when you are not in a supine position, especially when standing (orthostatic intolerance: inability of heart to pump blood to top of body when in a standing/vertial position).

That's what killed the guy who was punched in the incident in the shopping centre in ENgland last year (a scumbag punched him thinking the vicitm had jumped the queue, victim had ME/CFS, dropped dead on the spot, as punch triggered heart attack cause of the orthostatic intolerance etc)

@ Silver: Orthostatic Intolerance? Never heard of it, although I do have chronic hypertension and take all sorts of meds for it. Thanks for the info. ;-)

No worries, mate! :)

ah well, since too doctors "*know ME/CFS is all in folks' heads"...*grrr!!..they dont' bother checking for orthostatic intolerance (or anything else for that matter)

also wont' show much when sitting getting blood pressure test
So they do it on a "tilt table" to measure various responses of heart/blood to angle

http://aboutmecfs.org/Rsrch/OITests.aspx

Very interesting link. Thanks!

Glad to hear you are doing better. I look forward to working with you when you get back up and running. :-)