Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
So most things seem to be ok after my stroke of 12/30/2013. My Dr. (a cardiologist) sent me to a Physical Therapist because she was concerned about the visual field cut, and would not clear me to drive without further bribes to another medical professional (is my cynicism coming through loud and clear ?). So the PT didn't clear me (I suspect more that he didn't have the equipment, than there is anything wrong. He talked to my doctor and now I have to go to the local REHAB hospital for a full scale driving evaluation. What a pain! OF course I have to do this, because if I drive without approval and have an accident some jackal of a lawyer will come and feast on my bones. Just in case, I stopped by my insurance company and picked up a 1.5 million dollar umbrella liability policy for $151.00 per year.
Of course I have to arrange for transportation for all of these visits. My doctor was talking about sending me to a neurologist for approval also, however, I am certainly resisting this. The good news is she said I can do a little floor exercising in the house, not the gym, no pushups, no weights for now.
Here's the kicker, the Rehab Hospital is a state of New York facility, paid for with tax dollars, but they do not accept insurance for this service. It will cost me $350.00 up front (if I pass the first time). They won't even provide a bill so I can't even get a partial payment as an out-of network service. If I went to DMV all they do is tell you to point in the direction the 'E' is facing.
Take your blood thinner, you do not want to deal with what goes on after a stroke, even a small one!
Of course I have to arrange for transportation for all of these visits. My doctor was talking about sending me to a neurologist for approval also, however, I am certainly resisting this. The good news is she said I can do a little floor exercising in the house, not the gym, no pushups, no weights for now.
Here's the kicker, the Rehab Hospital is a state of New York facility, paid for with tax dollars, but they do not accept insurance for this service. It will cost me $350.00 up front (if I pass the first time). They won't even provide a bill so I can't even get a partial payment as an out-of network service. If I went to DMV all they do is tell you to point in the direction the 'E' is facing.
Take your blood thinner, you do not want to deal with what goes on after a stroke, even a small one!
Wow, that sounds like a lot of red tape! But like you said you can start getting back to exercising - that's great!
... and, yes sir, I took my blood thinner (INR 2.7 today).
acrossthepond
You bet, frustrating, loss of control, yep, you bet. However, things are looking up. I did a little exercising this morning. That felt good. And I have a appointment for my driving eval on Friday 1/24. So maybe I'll be able to drive after that. One of the reasons this is so frustrating, is that I don't think anything is wrong with my vision now, ok on day 1 of the stroke, but not now. Now I feel that I am being milked by the medical-industrial complex. Yes we all know that Paul is not the most trusting soul on the block!
http://www.helenhayeshospital.org/physical-rehab-blog/a-safe-ride/
I hope my detailing of all this encourages others to work hard to avoid a stroke.
Hope things start getting better. Thanks for sharing your update.
Before your stroke were you not on a blood thinner? Just aspirin? Were you in constant afib? How long have you had afib?
Sorry for all the questions. My cardiologist has not put me on a thinner. Just told me aspirin would be ok. I am wondering about that now. I am 40 and stay very active.
the last few days have been rather hairy, After 4-5 days of 5 mg Coumadin, my INR went off scale (10), which is really dangerous. I had to take vitamin K on Thursday and Friday to bring it down. Guess getting stable of Coumadin is going to be a journey.
I did so more visual field research and testing on myself and found that visual problems are common after a stroke, but recovery is slow if any. I found that if I close my right eye, I'm limited seeing on the right side with my left eye. the same holds true on the other side. I can't say how much of this is from the stroke or if it was like that before. I'll know more after the neuro eval on Friday. Hey, that's why the big guy gave us two eyes, allowed us to turn our heads, and put mirrors in cars!
So, being bored here in the house I put up a few pictures for your enjoyment. Thought you would especially like the one of me at 16 in DA BRONX (I'm the guy in front with the skinny tie). There's also one of me at work at 50, and me in Athens at 60. AND, if the next stroke kills me, don't stick me in a dumpster. Give me a proper Jersey burial, and stick me in a landfill !
I have glaucoma and have a visual field test yearly. You need to see an opthalmologist for this. It is kinda like a bad video game...stare into a machine and push a button every time you see a flash of light. This would tell you exactly what your field of vision limits are. I doubt they will do this at your driving eval but it is the best way to find out what is going on with your vision. Your medical insurance may cover the cost rather than vision coverage because it is a medical problem.
Good luck with your driving eval.
I really enjoyed the picture of the Bronx..As a fellow Bronxite it looks to me like this is the Williamsbridge or Baychester neighborhoods.
opsyn
This evaluation was extensive. First 1 1/2 hours all kinds of neurological assessments both manual and on the computer. strength, reaction time, visual acuity, foreground, background, eye hand coordination, eye foot hand coordination. The hardest tests were on the computer identifying object one while picking out where object two was on the screen (with speed). There were several tests that required performance with visual distractions. Most unimpaired people won't pass a lot of these tests.
The second 1 1/2 hours were actually driving a modified vehicle. It didn't behave exactly like an ordinary car, so it took a while to get used to. It had a lot of modifications for the handicapped that I had to work around. I had to drive around the hospital grounds, out in town in traffic, and on the highway. Like I said, extensive. I'm glad that's over.
They said I had to notify DMV, that I was an impaired person that was now cleared to drive. I'll see what that entails, probably nothing. I feel good, and I'm hoping my INR stays with acceptable range. I was on the Stop Afib web site and there was a pointer to a INR test at home service. The site said now covered by Medicare and Insurance. Wow! When I was on Coumadin 5 years ago, insurance and Medicare didn't cover hone testing and you have to shell out over a grand for the meter, and about $20 for each test strip. Looks like things have improved. Here's the site:
http://www.ptinr.com/