AI's, PFO's, MS-I'm tired of these acronyms!

Mike visited the neurologist in Abilene today. The doctor spent somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour talking to Mike and the family. While he is also positive that Mike had a stroke, he also thinks it is a good idea to dig deeper and find out exactly why this is happening. He confirmed that the only way Mike had the stroke is that the hole in the heart allowed a clot to pass to his brain, so I think that's one thing all the doctors agree on. The neurologist also said that visiting a hematologist is a good idea because he also suspects a clotting disorder. We're not sure if they "suspect" a blood disorder because they have no other way to explain it or if they really do have a hunch and good reason to believe there is a disorder.

Mike is starting to remember some health concerns he had in the months leading up to the stroke. He told the doctor that there were days where he just didn't feel right. One day, he was eating breakfast at the Dixie Pig and had a strong dizzy spell as well as some tingling in his arms and legs. He had mono at the time and thought that the symptoms may be part of that sickness and described some of it as "brain fog." He also remembers a handful of other times where he felt light-headed or dizzy during daily activity. The doctor said these might have been TIA's or a mini-stroke. However, because of Mike's mono and a couple of other minor medical problems, Mike really didn't think anything of it. On the flip side, Mike's concern about the mono brought out the hypochondriac in him and he began searching the internet and self-diagnosing. If I remember correctly, he had cancer and AIDS. We laughed at him when he told us, we figured he was being too worrisome. Ironically, something was going and and he's the only one that had any idea! Even the doctor said that if he had come in and described his symptoms, they would have been more likely to diagnose MS than a stroke. However, a high percentage of young stroke victims have a PFO.

One reason that the doctors are concerned about the continuation of blood clots is because the clot could hit the lungs, even if they fix his heart. If this happens, there's a possibility of an AI, I think that is an acute infarct. This could kill him if it was severe. Now we know why they are so concerned about the possibility of a clotting disorder.

Mom said that they got a copy of all of Mike's records and she read through them and discovered that the heart condition did show up on the CT after all. By the way, she wasn't reading the CT, she was reading the report on the CT. I'm not sure if this tells us anything, but it makes us wonder why we were told that the CT scan did not detect his heart condition.

On a positive note, Mike has been cleared to drive. He's not able to work though. Mike told me he drove today and felt like he needed to "pay more attention" and he said he found himself driving too close to cars parked on the side of the road. Pray that he is careful, we won't let him drive too much. I know this is a bit of freedom that he needs and it feels good for him to drive.

Mike also told me that today is he and Becky's 3rd anniversary. Congrats to them! He said they were putting the kids to bed and watching a movie. Oh how kids change your life! I told Mike I was playing in an adult soccer league here in town and he thought that was hilarious. I guess he'll come out and laugh at me on Sundays when we play. Whatever I can do to contribute to my brother's spirit...I guess I could consider ballet or something...