Wow! Having a NASAH has really made me feel like a crazy person at times since it seems not that common. But in reading about your experiences here, I don't feel so alone! My experience is very similar to many of you. Three months ago I was sitting at the kitchen table having a conversation with my son. He got up after the conversation and at that moment my head felt like someone was intensely squeezing it. Shortly after, I got the worst headache I have ever felt. For some reason, right from the beginning I identified it as a stroke (I think Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor had something to do with that since I had heard her speak and read her book). Even though the fire department, ambulance personnel, and hospital staff all told me I was having a migraine. Somehow I knew I wasn't, even though I had no idea what a migraine OR a stroke felt like! Thankfully my son believed me and advocated for me to be taken to the hospital. Unfortunately, I then sat in the waiting room for about 5 hours before they finally gave me a CT scan. It was about 9 hours after I got there that they finally did the ventricular drain tube to release the pressure. I spent two weeks in the ICU and then finally came home. I am still having daily headaches, PTSD and some short term memory issues but feel incredibly lucky to be alive and doing so well.
Did anyone else have trouble getting people to believe what was happening to you? Have you had any luck helping the Emergency room staff treat these non-classic stroke symptoms a little quicker? I am located in the US, by the way. I just feel that part of my responsibility in all of this is to help the next person who goes to the ER with my same symptoms so they can get treated faster. The PSA's on stroke all say that "time equals brain" - well, I got to the hospital quickly but they didn't seem to adhere to the same idea! What are your thoughts about this?
