This week we chat about the LOOOOONG journey we’ve taken with ear doctors, only to have that journey extended even more. We also talk about Cheryl collapsing and spending the night in the E.R. You’ll hear sound logic from Cheryl as she explains why that was a total waste of time. (Spoiler Alert: She’s not wrong!)
Enjoy!
After suffering from a subarachnoid hemorrhage and a severe stroke a week later, Cheryl began her jouney to rehabilitation. Now over a year and a half later, she sits down every week with her co-host and caregiver, Manny, to have a frank discussion about her struggles, her successes and what she wants her new life, post-stroke, to be.
Manny Fonseca
Diff'in Strokes 
October 6, 2015 at 11:01 am
Man that’s weird about the ear/brain specialist doctor implying that Cheryl might be faking it. For it would seem to me that there are parts of the brain that control the “pre-processing” of the raw sounds from the ear before they reach the langauge centers of the brain (that do the the final decoding of words from sounds or lip movements).
And I can relate to the experience of showing up without scans as I’ve long been amazed (when accompaning relatives) how often specialists expect (sometimes without telling) you to bring scans yourself, rather than have them sent over ahead of time by the people who took them. (Which to me would seem to be a better way of making sure there are no marks or scratches or whatever.)
Speaking of relatives, about a year ago I saw one of them pass out momentarily in exactly the way you describe Cheryl doing it (slowly, eyes open, only lasts a few seconds). It was quite terrifying, and I immediately dialed 911 even as she asked me why [not realizing at first she was lying on the ground as she had no memory of falling). In her case they were pretty sure (after taking her to the emergency room and doing various tests) that it was simply a momentarily drop in blood pressure DUE TO THE CHEMICALS SHE WAS TAKING IN PREPARATION FOR AN OUT-PATIENT TEST THE FOLLOWING DAY!
(So all the panic, the hours she spent in the emergency room, and the costs incurred were all due to the medical establishment in the first place. And of course a couple of weeks later she she finally did have the [re-scheduled] test, it showed nothing wrong! So the whole thing was pointless.)
Of course in Cheryl’s case it might be something totally different than a momentary dip in blood pressure. But given how little she weighs it seems like it could be. (Or I guess the the drop in pressure could be localized to a sensitive, damaged area of the brain.) In any case I’m glad you’re trying to get her to eat more (in part by making good food).
That was interesting, though, how passing out can kind of make her “relax”, that is, provide a momentary relief from her apparent constrant stress she feels. But as Manny said that is not a good way to relax so I hope you all can indeed come up with something better!
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