Quick action for a TIA

 

The corridor where I was a patient had my initials.                             My food ticket was D-L US ...Was it my old nationality haunting me?

In a very hi-tech hospital, each patient had its own old fashioned white board. When they asked the date, I could read it.

Rick noticed my speech was weird. He bundled me into the car and 30 minutes later we were at HUG (French pronunciation WHOOG) Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève. They  took me in what seemed was within seconds. 

Something between my French side of the brain and English side was disconnected. I could not speek English but thought clearly in it but the sentences came out in a French that the doctor (who looked if he just passed fourth grade and had beautiful brown eyes) had no problems with. 

They put me to bed hooked up to enough wires to be a puppet. Every two hours some one came by and wiggled fingers, had me stick out my tongue etc. The number of times I told them where I was, who I was, the day, month, year one made me want to ask them if they knew the answers.

There are herds of horses, gaggle of geese so what do you call it when six interns and a doctor show up to talk about you? A bunch of interns...a chorus...a package...?

They were followed by two speech therapists who had me do all kinds of exercises.

• Name as many words as you can that start with M.
• What day is it?
• Where are you?
• Finish these sentences.
• Identify these pictures.
• Do this math.

They were speaking French and by now I was able to both think and speak in French and English again. Some of the photos were of tools that I didn't know in either languages and never had. As for math, I couldn't do it orally in either languages ever. When they showed me the numbers, no problem. 

My IRM/MRI was next. This was the first time I was enclosed in the machine. I played word games in my head to make the time go faster.

One of the technicians  told me among the hospital personal, there are 56 mother tongues. Patients can almost always find someone to translate.

The results showed no damage, no cause. I'd been responding to everything correctly.

Still they kept me for three more days. I comsidered it a reading holiday. I'm back home. Thank goodness.

There is a moral to the tale. Mine was a light case caught early. However if you think someone is having a stroke get them medical help FAST!