This post was originally published on 5 Feb, 2023, and moved here, to my new blog.
I’m alright!
Cue the Kenny Loggins here.
I really want to thank everyone for their concern and for reaching out to us over the last week. It has been a bit frightening at times, traveling abroad in places where English is not super-prevalent, and a few words in a text or to Tam on social media meant a really, really lot to me! I am sorry it took as long as it did to post this, but I wanted to have everything completed. Thank you everyone…
So, all the tests are back, we have had our follow-up consults with cardiology and neurology, and the end consensus is that I had a pontine TIA, with symptoms varying from disconjugate gaze to dysarthria, lasting about 50 minutes. Everything has been resolved since. The initial bubble echo showed a PFO, but turned out to be a false positive after a negative cardiac CTA. Basically, the cardiologist said I had a “perfect” heart. No occlusions or holes, no hard plaques with a calcium score of zero, less soft plaques than a 35 year old heart, and great valves. No cause of a TIA here. This was a relief.
The MRI/MRA of my brain and great vessels showed no area of infarct, and also no plaques or stenosis in any arteries. The neurologist said he was “certain” that this was not a presentation of Myasthenia Gravis, MS, or ALS, due to the rapid onset/resolution. I have started dual anti-platelet therapy with aspirin forever, and Plavix for three weeks to reduce the risk going forward. All resolved. I have almost no risk factors for stroke or TIA (cholesterol is a bit high), so the first question is: Why me? Why now? If not a TIA, then what? (yes, that was more than one question, but…)
We have decided to continue our travels. I will post more about the care I have received here in Bangkok soon, but be assured that our decision to remain abroad was not arrived at without a great deal of anxiety and thought. But, Tam did lay down some ground rules. It seems like she is pretty serious about these rules: No kiteboarding for another month. Shit (not happy about that one).
We will be staying in Thailand now for the next few months, so that we are never more than a day’s journey from this amazing hospital in Bangkok. (I am actually pretty stoked about this rule. I do love it here).
No kiteboarding for another month. Shit (not happy about that one).
I need to be relaxed (this is a little hard to do when you are worried about having a stroke or something)
No kiteboarding for another month. Shit (not happy about that one).
I am supposed to take it easy on this little guy.
In all seriousness, I feel like I can stick to these rules. We are traveling in a Buddhist country, where, even in the smoke-and-noise madness of the streets of Bangkok, there is another temple or park just a short distance from where you stand. These places are bastions of peace away from the madness, and they are places that I have always felt completely present and connected.
And, did I mention no kiteboarding for another month? How’s a guy supposed to relax like that?
This will be the hardest rule to follow.
Wind, Water, Waves, Wander 