Comments on: This is the story how a PFO caused my stroke http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/ A stroke/PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale) awareness blog by David Dansereau dedicated to removing the "gray areas" and understanding the connection between the heart and the brain Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:35:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Edna http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-1400 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:42:24 +0000 #comment-1400 Hi David,
I was looking for a website that explained to me a little bit about what a PFO is and how it can be taken care of. I went to youtube and heard little of your story and your three kids. So I went to your blog.
There I learned about your story. Guess what, I am 31 years old with 3 tittle girls. I know how it feels and I also like you didn’t know I had a stroke and that I also have a PFO. Unfortunately like you I also suffer from migranes since I was in high school. I was also athletic.
Now that I am 31 I excersised too but just took runs around the block and a here and there video on youtube. However, I did feel exausted all the time. Fatigue and migranes kept on being my unwanted daily partners. I couldn’t finish cleaning the entire house and keep up with my girls. The noise kept growing too. This added to my migranes. I even thought…maybe those freekn t.v. commercial (which get soooo loud) are giving me migranes. Unfortunately 3 weeks ago, my right side of my body just felt sooo heavy and I just laid on the ground watching the whole house spin and spin.
This was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Fortunatly my 10yr old daughter called 911. To make this long story short…I didn’t have to wait to get seen after the hospital, now my cardiologist did the same TEE and will talk to me on friday. I live in CA. I don’t understand why the comittee is making you wait sooo long. I feel that it is wrong. Like you I do have dizzinness, headaches, and I lost my balance, not completely but things just seem to move around.
I just hope the best for you. Hopefully, people with migranes take a note about this. Dizziness is not normal period.

]]> By: Another stroke survivor/PFO story « Know-Stroke.org http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-246 Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:59:09 +0000 #comment-246 [...] Comments Wendy Wright on Share Your StoryJen on This is the story how a PFO ca…Marsha on Surgery Update-PFO Closur…ginger on About this blog/My [...]

]]> By: Jen http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-186 Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:03:25 +0000 #comment-186 David,
I just found your blog and our stories are so similar – with the exception your in much better shape on the exercise side of things.

In the fall of 2007, I had a series of unexplained events that lead me to see neurologists. I had a history of migraine with aura and the first thing my neurologist said was “lets get your heart checked.” This lead to many tests that follow the same route as you and I have a PFO. I also had MRIs and tests for everything under the sun.

The incidents that lead me to them started with a really bad migraine with aura, I have only had a few in my life this big. This was different, I was getting tingling sensations in my feet and hands from this migraine, huge visual aura, as well as major fatigue that took over a year to recover from. It was as if I had been zapped and all my energy disappeared. After months of “getting better” in April of 08 I ended up in the ER after a migraine with aura gave me a num face, rapid heart rate etc., and basically panicked me. After CATS and MRIs TIAs were ruled out or could not be concluded. I was left scared and with a numb thumb for weeks.

It’s very odd news to hear at you have a hole in your heart…what does this mean? I had so many questions and fears…and no answers. I too was told “if we have to fix we will but…” I was checked out and I’m still followed once a year by a cardiologist.

I guess the frustration in all of this is when I now get a migraine, and since 2007 they have changed dramatically, I now have this PFO fear in my mind. I had a neurologist who would love to have it fixed – “just because you never know” and a “cardiologist” (whom I like) but admits I would have to enter a trail (which I believe this trial collapsed last year) and or to fit under insurance rules – have a stroke.

I’m now on low dose aspirin and a beta blocker for the migraine symptoms but sorta feel like I’m living in a gray area. I have an increased risk by a percentage point because I have a PFO yet all the studies come back inconclusive that the PFOs are the cause for the auras, and will fixing it help? Maybe but lets not fix until you have a TIA or stroke?

It’s an odd world to be in sometimes. I try not to think about it and hope I don’t have a stroke, if I do…one that is minor.
Anyway – your story is very much like mine but I have not had a stroke or repair. Up to 25% of the population is a lot of people, 1 in 4, have PFOs…I do.
JM

]]> By: David http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-86 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:17:14 +0000 #comment-86 Blake;
Thanks for sharing your story. One of the reasons why I keep this blog alive is to raise awareness. Young people can have strokes and more people especially PHYSICIANS need to recognize the warning signs and not rule out age.

]]> By: Blake http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-80 Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:25:43 +0000 #comment-80 i know this post is old, and somehow i’m just stumbling a pun it. But i know your experience, having a tia a few years before, and in hindsight knowing something should have been said (which i did, and was told i had a virus). Then one day, waking up with one side fully paralyzed, freaking out. But i pushed through it and worked that day. Up until i had been in the emergancy room for over 8 hours i didnt know i had had a stroke, until a doctor came by, looked in, said “we think you had a stroke” and left for another ten minutes. So i hope this finds you well, and hope things have turned around for you.

Blake
-21yo college kid

]]> By: Bloggers abuzz about sex and stroke « Know-Stroke.org http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-75 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:54:54 +0000 #comment-75 [...] Comments Bloggers abuzz about… on Perhaps we should be asking ph…Sue on This is the story how a PFO ca…Summer Clarke on About Tedy’s Teamlisa on Tedy’s Team-Why We RunTedy’s Team-Why [...]

]]> By: Sue http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-68 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:21:16 +0000 #comment-68 Hi David,

Thanks for all the great info on PFO. I too have a PFO, but I have two blood clotting mutations that would make closure risky. The doctors found it when I was pregnant with my second child. I live in RI and the article on Jaime caught my attention the other day too. It is very stressful to know you have this defect and that a stroke is possible. I too have been tested for MS, lupus, etc.. They have never found evidence of stroke on my MRIs and I have had numerous scans done. Again…thanks for the info, I am going to bookmark your page b/c it is the most informational place I have found on the net. Sue :-)

]]> By: David http://knowstrokeblog.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/2006/11/16/david-dansereau-my-stroke-story/#comment-3 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:38:45 +0000 #comment-3 The update to my story is here:
http://www.my-physical-therapy-coach.com/patent-foramen-ovale.html

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