1) 80-90% are ischemic or blood clots or
2) 10% are ICH or intracerbral hemorrhagic strokes.
I had an ICH or intracerebral hemmorhagic stroke (otherwise known as bleeding inside my brain) specifically around my thalamus.
Intracerebral hemorrhage Definition:
An intracerebral hemorrhage is bleeding in the brain caused by the rupture of a blood vessel within the head.
Intracerebral hemorrhage, or ICH, accounts for 10 to 15 percent of all strokes . It most frequently results from high blood pressure as found in people with hypertension. ICH has a mortality rate of 44 percent after 30 days, higher than ischemic stroke. The symptoms of intracerebral haemorrhage include a headache, nausea and vomiting, alertness changes, deficiencies in verbal skills, balance, swallowing, coordination, and focusing the eyes.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:
Internal bleeding can occur in any part of the brain. Blood may accumulate in the brain tissues itself, or in the space between the brain and the membranes covering it. The bleeding may be isolated to part of one hemisphere (lobar intracerebral hemorrhage) or it may occur in other brain structures, such as the thalamus, basal ganglia, pons, or cerebellum (deep intracerebral hemorrhage).
An intracerebral hemorrhage can be caused by a traumatic brain injury or abnormalities of the blood vessels (aneurysm or angioma). When it is not caused by one of these conditions, it is most commonly associated with high blood pressure (hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage).
In some cases, no cause can be found.
Current day, Thursday April 19, 2007...
Well, I got a call from my neurologist this morning. The results of my angiogram yesterday were still inconclusive. Which means good and bad.
Good news
It was good as no abnormalities of the blood vessels were found (no AVM's) that needed to be treated, therefore, no intervention surgically is needed at this time
I will have a follow up MRI once my braces come off.
Bad news
They still don't know what caused it to happen to begin with, just as stated above where no causes can be found.
Since I don't have high blood pressure or hypertension, I remain a rare medical mystery. She said in most cases of the 10% with hemmorhagic strokes, it points to hypertension, and I don't have that. My blood pressure has been pretty darn "normal" throughout this entire ordeal even in the most stressful of times.
If I had a choice of something "rare" happening to me, why couldn't it have been winning the lottery instead!!???
My doctors orders
Focus on rehabilitation, do my excercises and stretches at home, keep my stress and blood pressure under control and watch it carefully, no aspirin, and have a good life. A few other restrictions in there such as no flying or SCUBA diving...those may affect the pressure in my head and blood vessels where you need to "pop" your ears or "equalize" in scuba terms. So that is what I will do.
I take everyday one day at a time and try to live life to the fullest. I also celebrate every small success in my recovery. No matter how long it takes I will contine to work hard on me and get better. It could take a year or longer. Only God knows. My Grandma said "perfect practice makes perfect" so I try not to let myself get away with cheating on my home excercises too much.
My neurologist said that I still have an increased chance of having another stroke. Statistically, those who have had a stroke are at a higher risk than those who have not. But she could not give me a risk factor such as 1% or 5%, or 20% or 50% etc...since they don't know what caused it to begin with.
Back to planning a wedding. Hopefully with little to no stress. Is that possible? It has to be.
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