Full disclosure. Early Tuesday morning *I* suffered a stroke. Yes, a stroke [I can hardly believe it myself]. It didn’t feel like what you’d think a stroke event would. It wasn’t painful, just a weird feeling that something wasn’t right. As I told the doctor, this wasn’t my most traumatic event I endured recently [not close] – that would be my 4 mile race on Saturday.

The worst was the 1^st ten minutes – more spooky than anything. In my case, my right side went numb and I had difficulty walking but got around pretty good with the aid of my “marathon cane”. By the time I went to the E/R 90% of my symptoms were gone. I ended up spending two days on the Brain / Stroke floor.

From the moment I arrived to my discharge at no time did I get the impression I needed immediate attention, like you would when you hear the word “stroke”. They just sent me through a battery of tests that only confirmed what I already knew – slightly high cholesterol – then they found the PFO: patent foramen ovale. *

20% of the population has this condition. It’s treatable either with medicine or PFO closure, which is a minimally evasive procedure. Everything else was negative. It just took two days to run all the blood work, neuro and cardio tests. They put me on Lovenox [blood thinner] and wrote a script for Lipitor and baby aspirin regimen after my discharge. Everyone seemed very optimistic. They just wanted me to be careful about jumping back into activity too quickly. The cardiologist wasn’t concerned about another event but to what extent the initial event weakened my affected side. I haven’t noticed that but I haven’t really tested it either.

I was released Thursday afternoon, drove home and cut the grass and did some light chores around the house. With school having started for my three boys I was scrambling to get everyone caught up and one of my boys is in the process of changing schools so I’ve been pretty busy since coming home.

If anyone is wondering – no, I haven’t run [for any distance] yet and been a good boy. My weekly mileage is 5 miles and will likely remain my total for the week. I still have some very minor tingling in my right foot and somewhat apprehensive about running. My 1^st runs will likely be at the Y on the treadmill.

I’m really looking at this as a blessing. I’m on a statin to lower my cholesterol numbers to the normal range and quite possibly opt for surgery that should improve my running performance. This may explain to some degree my lackluster running the last 1 1/2 years - perhaps the condition deteriorated, resulting in my sub-par running. But so much for kicking off week 1 off my ten week half marathon schedule!  Yikes! Then again, I set my marathon Master PB on only 6 weeks of training.

How is this condition [PFO] detected? You would need a cardiologist to perform a transthoracic echocardiogram to detect the condition and then your options would be a minor surgical procedure or treat it with dietary / activity modifications. If your cholesterol is high they may opt put you on a statin or try to lower it with activity / diet [this is the route I took several years ago].

* What is a PFO?

A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a defect in the septum (wall) between the two upper (atrial) chambers of the heart. Specifically, the defect is an incomplete closure of the atrial septum that results in the creation of a flap or a valve-like opening in the atrial septal wall (see illustration). A PFO is present in everyone before birth but seals shut in about 80% of people.

With each heart beat or when a person with this defect creates pressure inside his or her chest - such as when coughing, sneezing, or straining during a bowel movement - the flap can open, and blood can flow in either direction directly between the right and left atrium. When blood moves directly from the right atrium to the left atrium, this blood bypasses the filtering system of the lungs (the lungs actually do dissolve tiny blood clots). If debris is present in the blood, such as small blood clots, it now passes through the left atrium and can lodge in the brain, causing a stroke, or another organ, such as the heart, eyes, or kidneys.

Oh wow.  I'm so glad you are OK!

Whoa, crazy! Glad you're okay!

(....and now this hypochondriac has one more thing on her list of things to worry about! D: )

Holy Cow, Mike!

I'm glad you got through it - these things are somewhat unpredictable. Pay attention to what the doctor says and ease back into running.

Holy cow, I am so glad you got in to the hospital and are on your way to recovery!  That's a good reminder to the rest of us that being in good health and exercising regularly can lower the odds, but doesn't make us immune to such things.

PVO sounds like what a friend of ours had.  I believe that he had the surgery and made a full recovery, but it's been a few years, so my memory isn't fresh.  It is tempting to wonder what you could do with your running after the surgery, yes?

So glad you're OK!

Scary stuff. Rest and take care, and thanks for making us aware. Glad you're ok!

First Julie.

Now Mike.

The 2 people, who 5 years ago I would have probably put at the bottom of the list of people to potentially have a stroke and now BOTH of those most unlikely candidates have had one?

I know, I know, it can happen to anyone......it's just hard for me to wrap my brain around.

Very glad you're ok & that it wasn't a debilitating type of stroke!

chill time......    

OMG Mike! I'm glad you're ok.

Thanks for sharing that with us. Please recover well.