Shirley

[Guest guest]

Whoppee!!!! Shirley's back!!! Boy are you in trouble girl! I've missed you

and I want to be all caught up on what's happening with you. Fess

up......How are YOU feeling??

Glad to have you and Sherry both back with us.

hugs

[Guest guest]

Shirley,

I am so sorry to hear you had a TIA. It is scary and unnerving and also scary

to think of having another one or even worse to think about having a full blown

stroke. I intend to educate myself as much as possible on strokes and TIA's

before my appt with my internal med doc on Friday. I'm going to have lots of

questions for him. I will share any knowledge I gain with you. I'll send it to

you personally, so I don't bog down the pancreatitis group mail!

I think we do our daughters' a disservice by being less than honest with them

about our health. I am going to do my best to be honest and to even stop trying

to make light of things that really are serious. My daughter is a very

intelligent young woman and she knows me just as well as I know her. When she

calls me, it only takes about 10 seconds for me to know something is going on

with her. I think the same is true for her, but she just doesn't push me to

tell her. However, I think when I keep things from her, it causes her more

worry and stress than when I am totally honest with her. I have a feeling all

these things are true for your daughter as well.

By the way, when I was in the hospital, I had the following tests

lab work

ct scan of my head

x-ray of my neck just to make sure there wasn't something there to cause a

pinched nerve (there was a little arthritis but the doc said nowhere near enough

to cause the level of problems I was experiencing)

echocardiogram of my heart

doppler ultrasound of my carotid arteries (the arteries that run down the

outside of your neck)

MRI of my brain

MRA of my brain (an MRI where they use contrast to look at all the arteries and

blood vessels in your brain)

The doc said all came back fine. I'm going to call the hospital and get a copy

of the labs and test reports because I know my rheumatologist will want to see

them.

Take care and I'll let you know what I learn about TIA's and strokes.

[Guest guest]

I ws going to mention Angel Flight again also...one is so close to

home when it comes to them taking you somewhere.

Also, something else you may wish to consider is if the doctor says

he can do the surgery, ask if it can be done very close to when you

go up there, so you don't have to come back, in case she gets cold

feet and changes her mind inbetween consult and surgery date.

This would simply mean to ask when you contact them about getting an

appointment if this could be done. Explain to them your daughter's

mindset at the moment, and the chances of her backing out etc. They

might be able to do it a day or two after the consult.

I would also be trying to get Dr Sutherland to do it. For me it just

seems that when I hear of one person being turned away for reasons

already told to us that don't seem right, that would put up little

warning bells in my mind that perhaps another will get turned down

also.

I know you are in a horrible situation, and am so sorry...but

hopefully everything will work out for the best because it seems her

opening up to seeing a doctor about this is a very big step for her

from what i've read of your previous posts. Good luck to the both of

you.