Strange Speech Difficulty

[Jackie]

here is a thread on the pumphead syndrome where we discussed. http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10860&highlight=pumphead+syndrome

It might help to read this above thread.

Dr R Fogoros wrote that the concensus (sp?) is that during the time we are on the heart/lung machine, there are mini clots that are banged against our brains causing mini strokes and we are left with a bit of memory loss. Not all of us, but some of us.

Thank you hensylee,

I did read this, not sure it's what I wanted to hear. but very informative.

Jackie

 

[tobagotwo]

Pipersmith, with your stenosis, there is a very good possibility that you had a similar incident to the type that Mary experienced, where a small bit of cardiolytic apatite (calcification) broke off of your valve and travelled through the bloodstream.

If you aren't already on aspirin, ask your doctor about it. It won't help with these little tokens from your stenosis, but it will keep your blood a bit more slippery in general. If you take the 81MG types, they're usually "enteric coated," to protect your stomach. However, Scottish studies have shown that this is absorbed less well than uncoated aspirins (it isn't absorbed until it reaches the colon), and a fair percentage of people don't get an effective dose.

Again ask your doctor, but two ways around this are to take two of the 81MG aspirins (still less than half a single, regular aspirin), or chew the 81MG aspirin to bypass the enteric coating. If you chew it, drink something to rinse your mouth immediately afterwards, as acetylsalycilic acid (aspirin) is tough on tooth enamel.

Best wishes,

 

[alex c.]

Pumphead? When you have been on the bypass machine having your surgery you might be prone to have 'senior moments' for some time afterwards, affectionaly known as pumphead - the pump being the heart-lung bypass equipment.

How long after surgery can one expect to experience these 'senior moments'? In my line of work, that would be pretty embarrasing to go through this with clients.

 

[pipersmith]

I have had that happen twice, but only very briefly. I mentioned it to my PCP and he said not to worry about it unless it happens a lot. I let it go, but now you all have me wondering. One instance I remember distinctly: I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store and could see the cell phone company kiosk. I said to my daughter, "We have to get your brother to bring his bike...cap...cellphone in here." I was shocked to hear bike and cap come out of my mouth while I was clearly thinking cellphone. (Of course, my daughter was amused too) The other time was another set of words but the same scenario--it took three tries to get the right word. Piper, was your episode more extensive?

Pj,
This lasted for about 30 minutes - finally, I just sat down and shut-up. Some words I was saying wrong - like I kept saying "fom" instead of from (and some other words), and the same thing that you describe - I would think it, say something entirely different, and then hear it - surprised that it was wrong. It was as if my mind was working - but my mouth was out of control. Some of the time, I could not remember the right word. I would talk slowly and try not to mess up - and the kids would fill in the missing words. It was puzzling the first time it happened - this time I was worried.
Thanks for the reply!!

 

[pipersmith]

You may want to ask one (or all) of your Doctors if it would be prudent (or at least OK) to chew a full (325mg) ASPIRIN if / when you experience symptoms that may have been triggered by a TIA. This could also include visual disturbances or visual migraines or anything resembling a stroke.

'AL Capshaw'

You know, my eyes drive me nuts more than any other symptom. At first, I wondered if it was visual migraines, but then I assumed not. Mine are so consistent, I am always sensitive to light and EVERY time I stand up quickly or walk much (as in every trip to the store) I can hardly see. Everything is very bright, and a bit flashy. This also always involves my entire feild of vision. This sounds a bit different from wha ti have read about visual migraines. I do have migraines from time to time - usually headache with preceding aura - this is different. My doc said to go to the eye doc - the eye doc (of course) said nothing was wrong with my eyes. He did say that the part of the brain controlling vision was very affected by reduced oxygen. I assumed from the frequent mention of similar occurences here - that I would just have to deal with this. Do you think the aspirin wouls help this too? That would be awesome!
Thanks so much for the advice/reply!!

 

[pipersmith]

Thank you all for the replies!!

Thank you all for the replies!!

I will definately have a discussion with my doc. I mentioned the last episode to my cardio - he said "That is strange." I am contemplating printing all of your advice for him to read.
I hope you all know how valuable this is. Sometimes I hate to bring things up - I don't want to seem like I am complaining. But.....I always get valuable answers to my questions if I ask. Thank you so much!!

 

[Lisa in Katy]

I had a mild stroke when I had rheumatic fever, but my speech was slurred and I couldn't put on my shirt. I was trying to say "My tongue won't cooperate." but my mother and sister, who were helping me dress before rushing me back to the hospital, couldn't understand me. It felt like when you go to the dentist and they deaden your mouth, only it was just my tongue that fell asleep. The TIAs that I've experienced have been more along the lines of sudden, temporary blurred vision. It usually lasts no longer than 5 minutes and I feel lightheaded. I guess that it depends on which part of the brain is affected.

 

[Barbara Stewart]

I'm 10 months out

I'm 10 months out

from my last OHS and I still have trouble with coming up with the right word. I keep calling my grandson Conrad, which is my new kitten's name, and the kitten Teagan. I've done that sort of thing for years even before my OHS. I love having an excuse now! Fortunately, my daughter and her husband don't get offended because of my history. I used to call my son by my dog's name . He still loves me (my son) and the dog is gone.

Barbara

 

[tobagotwo]

Alex,

Not everyone gets pumphead or senior moments from the surgery. (Don't lose sight of the fact that the peroson who started this thread hasn't had her surgery yet.) In most people who do, it's not anywhere near as noticeable to others as it is to themselves. Actual speech distortion, an inability to physically say the words one has internally chosen to use, or being unable to control oneself from substituting other, random words when speaking or wrioting would be at the upper end of pumphead effects.

In the old days (and probably still in some disparate institutions), they used to warm people up quickly from the induced hypothermia employed in the surgery. Since then, it has been found that the brain develops a very sudden rise in oxygen requirements when it passes a certain temperature warming up - and the body and equipment are unable to bring the oxygen level up fast enough to avoid hypoxia. Because the rest of the body is not sharing this issue, it doesn't register on the oxygen saturation monitor. This is avoided by slowing the warm-up process. A link, if you're interested: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9307459&dopt=Abstract Here's another that discusses the safety of rapid warmups after cardiac surgery: http://ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/extract/70/3/1001-b

If you were to get pumphead, it could show up occasionally for a few days or at odd moments for up to about a year. I think after that, you'd have to start calling it something else.

Of course, some of us had anomia to begin with...

Best wishes,

 

[pipersmith]

Interesting......

Interesting......

Looking around online, I read this in a list of stroke symptoms...

Aphasia describes an inability to talk. Aphasia is not a physical inability to talk. Instead, aphasia results from an inability to vocalize what is being thought. As an example of how aphasia presents itself, a person with aphasia may say "dog" when he/she means to say "cat."
http://www.stroke-symptoms.com/html/common-symptoms-of-stroke.php3

 

[Mb]

Hello:

My Dad suffered from a stroke, and had long lasting aphasia. Was VERY fustrating for him. He would say train, instead of plane, or salt instead of sugar. There would be times he would laugh, and other times he would be close to tears, or get angry. Most of the time the words were related in some way, as exampled above.

I think if you have these symptoms start again, and I would rush my butt to the ER.

Marybeth

 

[tobagotwo]

A TIA is basically a stroke that dissolves quickly. The only difference is time and degree.

Whether it is caused by gunk in the arteries or by a crust of apatite is immaterial. The effect is the same and the consequences can be quite as severe and permanent. Ask your cardio what you should do if this happens again. Of course you go to the ER, but should you take aspirin as you rush out the door?

Best wishes,

 

[Arlyss]

Stroke/TIA

Stroke/TIA

I would encourage anyone experiencing symptoms of stroke or TIA to immediately try to determine the cause. If you and your doctors do not find out why and take steps to eliminate or at least minimize the risk, you remain vulnerable to more of them, possibly severe.

Stroke is the number three cause of death in the US and the number one cause of disability. You may have seen the phrase "Time lost is brain lost" - it was displayed many places in our community last year. It is very true - brain cells deprived of oxygen die, just like heart muscle does in the case of a heart attack. This is what happens with "embolic" stroke, where blood clot or debris of some kind blocks the vessels in the brain, depriving cells of oxygenated blood.

Stroke is a very deceptive experience for the person who has it - there is often no terrible pain to tell them that something is seriously wrong - something just stops working properly - that something depends on the part of the brain affected. The person having the TIA/stroke is not in a position to judge what is happening to them, and they need help! If you are with someone and they display mental confusion, affected speech, cannot repeat a simple phrase, have difficulty moving any part of their body, or fall down (the stroke may affect the balance centers in the brain) they need to get to an ER immediately.

Here is a link regarding symptoms of stroke; there are others on the web also
http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1020

If you or someone you love has had a stroke, never, ever give up on recovery!

But if you are at risk, act now and proactively save your brain in every way possible. It would have been so much better if we could have prevented what happened to my husband. Please, don't let it happen to you....

Best wishes,
Arlyss


Sincerely,
Arlyss

PS
I have no idea how common valvular strands really are, but I can tell you that someone else will have their mechanical valve removed soon due to them. This person was checked because of what happened to my husband.

 

[DEBBIE D]

migraine episodes or TIA

migraine episodes or TIA

I have suffered with migraines since a teenager, put it down to hormones etc. I used to get an aura followed by severe headache. This happened a c few times a year.
Had mitral valve replacement in April 2004 and since waking up from the operation I have experienced migraine aura, blank spots, confusion, loss of concentration and strange speech difficulty almost on a daily basis. I don't have the severe headache - thank goodness, just tired and
I take 9mg of warfarin daily as I have a mechanical valve so the doctors say I can't be having TIAs.
I found some posts on this website relating to similar symptoms and opinion seems to be 'pump head syndrome' but this is not really fully recognised by doctors.
Does anyone know how long these symptoms will last?

Debbie

 

[Susan BAV]

...However, Scottish studies have shown that this is absorbed less well than uncoated aspirins (it isn't absorbed until it reaches the colon), and a fair percentage of people don't get an effective dose.

Again ask your doctor, but two ways around this are to take two of the 81MG aspirins (still less than half a single, regular aspirin)...

Interesting. I have found that I need to take two of the 81 aspirins rather than just one. I told my cardio and he was fine with it. I buy those nice Ecotrin ones, not those store brands. I take them with my breakfast also, not with my other meds which I take on an empty stomach.

 

[Mary]

My cardio prescribed a 325mg enteric coated aspirin dosage for me, but I have a history of TIA's.