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Originally Posted by rockzilla
I'm glad to hear that your stroke wasn't fatal .
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most strokes aren't fatal. most people who have a stroke are at risk for:
another stroke
a heart attack
succumbing to the problems attribituted to the stroke (for example, a stroke leaving a person with half of their body paralyzed, thus lying in bed, developing pressure ulcers, developing infections in those ulcers, going from a local infection in said ulcers to systemic infection...).
with all of that said, if you had seen me in the emergency room, i would have admitted you to the hospital in the first place. for the most part, the conventional wisdom on tia (transient ischemic attack) and strokes is changing, in the sense that if the symptoms are less than an hour, it's a tia and anything over an hour is a stroke. however, some people (those not up on the latest literature), still feel that symptoms for less than 24 hours are tias, and those for longer than 24 hours are a stroke.
the reason the time window is so crucial, is because if you get to the hospital under 3 hours from onset of symptoms, you can potentially receive a medicine called tpa (tissue plasminogen activator) that instantly breaks up clots and thins blood. there are some contraindications, and every situation is different, and of course the biggest caveat is that the hospital has to have it available.
with all of that said, you've had your stroke and you sound like you're doing ok. however, the cause of your stroke is unknown:
is it it a genetic defect in the blood (as mentioned by a previous member)? this would be important not only to you, but also to your offspring
was it caused by a heart arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation), leading to a blood clot in the heart, that then traveled to the brain?
is there an aneurysm in the blood vessels of the brain?
medications after a stroke, i.e. secondary prevention of a stroke, include much more than aspirin and plavix (clopidogrel). in fact, plavix doesn't provide any more benefit than aspirin alone in the secondary prevention of stroke. the only medication shown to be superior to asprin in the prevention of a 2nd stroke is aggrenox, which is a combination of dipyramidole and aspirin.
other medications that may benefit you would be ace (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors such as lisinopril or captopril, and statins (such as atorvastatin or lovostatin).
provided my stroke patient's liver enzymes are ok, they will go home wth a statin. and if there creatinine is ok (a measure of renal/kidney function) they will also go home with a low dose ace inhibitor regardless of blood pressure (i.e. they get it even if not a hypertensive/person with high blood pressure). aspirin or aggrenox (if they have insurance, aggrenox, if not aspirin; as aggrenox is very very expensive) is a must.
the other piece is the knowledge that they are at risk for another stroke or a heart attack.
cliff notes: get the tests done, as they effect your future, as well as your family's.