So, you ask, what the hell happened with you,
you ask. The trip to Syracuse got derailed, almost as soon as it stated. It makes for a curious tale.
So... David and I are departing for upstate New
York. We leave the apartment and everything's just fine, by the time we get
down to the garage to get into the car I am unable to find words. I mean like
absolutely no clue what the word is that I want to say, so I mumble and fumble
and I don't think get a single coherent word out. All this happened in an
elevator ride of about five stories. I was, needless to say, getting
frustrated, panicked, frightened. This went on for about an hour in the car. I
am a Francis after all and just because I have an attack of aphasia for the
first time, and can't speak doesn't mean I put off plans for the day. It'll
probably get better, probably. By the time we got to Corning, New York and
stopped for the night, I was feeling slightly better, but later on started
developing a nasty headache and David finally said "OK. Do you want to go
to the emergency room? Do you want to go back home tomorrow?" I was
apparently looking in pretty rough shape, then about 15 minutes later I was
sound asleep and snoring. So we left the next day, and thanks to the modern
miracle of the inter web, I was able to message my doctor on the way. I
explained the situation and got a very quick reply from an assistant who had
talked to my doctor, and they both said that I was to get myself to an
emergency room as soon as I got back to Virginia. They concluded that direction
with a "please please go today!" Well, you can take that seriously.
So
I got checked in for observation, in a comfy part of the hospital. Everybody
there was very nice there, even charming--especially one bearded nurse with tattooed
arms whom I referred to as the nurse dude. I went through all sorts of
interesting and marvelously technological tests, all of which happily turned
out to reveal no significant issues with either brain or heart, other than the
usual wear and tear. I had a Transitory Ischemic Attack (TIA) sometimes called--incorrectly--a
mini-stroke. It presents stroke-like symptoms, but does not do any permanent
damage and usually persists from 1 to 24 hours. It was, nevertheless, alarming
and leaves you pretty rattled afterwards. It was a huge relief to find out I
was actually OK.
The
hospital bed was surprisingly comfy, there was nothing good on TV. The food was
acceptable and now I'm apparently just fine all things considered. So now I'm
on Plavix, a blood thinner; I'd already been taking a daily low-dose
aspirin. That will do for Medical Adventure Time for a while. Aphasia
is quite scary when you've never even heard of it before; right now I'm
just back on little words; they said I should be able to manage polysyllables
in about a week, but to avoid Greek roots for now.
