Sudden Temporary Loss of Memory-(TGA)-Scary Night!
Now the scary part. About 7:00 last night, Dale called from the hotel and was in a panic, saying, "Something's wrong with me! I can't remember anything! How did I get here? Didn't I come down to go to a baseball game? Where's my car? Where's Spencer?" I told him to just stay put and I would call Spencer. Told him what was going on with his dad and told him to get him to a hospital. Luckily the hotel was only 10 minutes away so we didn't lose any time there. My first fear was that he had a stroke. They checked him out thoroughly at the hospital. When they first asked him what year it was, he said 2006. But then he remembered it was 2010. He knew his birthday, my birthday, recognized both kids (Sarah had arrived by that time too) and LisaMarie, but still was a bit confused. No arm tingling, no pain, just confusion. They did a CT scan - came back normal. They hooked him up to a heart monitor - his blood pressure was thru the roof (he's on 2 meds for HBP). They kept asking him questions and slowly he was calming down. Still couldn't remember going to the game, how he got to the hotel. Kept asking the same questions every few minutes. They kept him overnight for observation and to run more tests this morning. They did an MRI and an ultrasound of his carotid artery - all normal. What they diagnosed it as last night - and with all test results returning normal they stuck with the diagnosis - is something called transient global amnesia. They don't know what causes it, or what can be done to prevent it from happening again. When I talked to him today he said that he now remembers going to the game, driving to the hotel, taking a shower and getting dressed, had just turned on his computer to check messages, then - nothing. He doesn't remember calling me or Spencer. The next thing he remembers is being in the hospital. He was discharged this afternoon, will spend the night at Sarah's (daughter), then drive home tomorrow. I wasn't sure about that either - was going to offer for one of the kids to drive him home, then I would pay for a one-way flight back to DC. But he insists he can drive, and the drs gave him the okay, so I guess there's no stopping him. The scariest part was me sitting here, 200 miles away from him, asking questions thru the kids and hearing everything second hand from them. Granted, I'm eternally grateful that if this had to happen, that it didn't happen while he was behind the wheel and that the kids were close enough to get him to a hospital as fast as they did. But sleep last night was almost impossible and today I'm really dragging. You know how the adrenalin flows to get you thru a crisis, then you crash when everything's okay again? That's me today. I won't really relax until I see him home tomorrow. Keep us in your thoughts! Thanks! |
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Oh my - I have no idea what I would do.  |
| OK that is the strangest and scariest thing! I am so glad that he recovered his memory and that the tests came back fine. I can't even imagine. It is good that he remembered enough to call you. So weird! Did the docs say whether it is likely to happen again? |
| OMG, I hope that won't happen again! Please let us know that he got home safely |
Oh my gosh, that sounds terrifying!  I just can't imagine...I'll be thinking of you guys and crossing fingers that this was a one-time fluke! |
| OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!! You must have been so scared. I dont know what I would have done. Hope everything is ok and that Dale gets home safe and sound. |
Seriously... that is so scary.  I'm glad he had loved ones near, but I am sorry you couldn't be there as well. You guys will be in my thoughts, and I hope this never happens again. |
| That is really, really scary. How lucky that he had enough memory to call you and give you enough info to get him help. I hope all goes well for getting home. |
| Oh Chris, That is sooooooo scary, you must of just been beside yourself with worry. Hopefully this will be the one and only time it happens. Big hugs to you. |
| Thanks, everyone. I'm still reeling from it all. And I still won't rest easy until he walks thru the door tomorrow. A few other things came to light that (only in my opinion) probably contributed to the episode. First, like I said, he's on 2 meds for HBP and he had them in his suitcase but did not take them yesterday. Second, according to Spencer, because it was so hot in the stadium, he drank 4 large sodas (which he usually doesn't drink - he's a decaf ice tea man, because of his HBP) and ate a bunch of salty foods at the game. Of course the sodas had caffeine and the salt made him thirstier. On the way to the hospital, LisaMarie phoned a friend who's a dr and asked his opinion. He suggested that he may have gotten dehydrated and it triggered the episode. So, again only in my opinion, between his not taking his meds and drinking all that soda and eating the salty food, it really spiked his BP and possibly caused the amnesia. And when I say his BP was high - it was SKY high. 160 over 110! A stroke waiting to happen. All things considered, I'm thankful it was amnesia and not a stroke. Dale's still struggling with the fact that there's a set amount of time he just won't ever remember, and that rattles him. At least he remembered some of what he originally didn't - the drive down there, the game, going to the hotel. As for preventing it from happening again, of course they won't give a guarantee. Especially in light of the fact that they don't know what specifically caused it in the first place. Yes, I'm very grateful he knew enough to call me, even though he doesn't remember doing it. Spencer was on his way to the hotel to get him any way, this just made him move a little faster. You know what? Getting old SUCKS!!! |
| That happened to a co-worker of mine a few years back when she and her husband were on vacation. She lost about 12 hours. Same exact diagnosis, same thing of "nothing to prevent it, can't explain it" from two neurologists. Very scary, and I'll say a prayer that it never happens again to Dale. |
| Chris, That sounds very scary. I did some quick checking on the Mayo Clinic site about transitory global amnesia, and here's the link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/transi ... ia/DS01022 I like the Mayo site because they give a lot of good info in very plain every day English, so it's easy to understand. There are links to click to give more detailed info about risks, etc. The good news is that according to the site, an episode of transitory global amnesia, while very understandably upsetting, is not likely to recur and is not likely to be a signal of a serious underlying medical condition. I'm sure you'll want to get him checked out once he gets home. Hope that everything goes well. But very scary for all of you, I'm sure. |
| Thanks for the Mayo link. I tried researching it on webMD but they didn't have anything on it at all. This makes me feel a little better, although still wary. Hopefully I'll get a better night's sleep tonight, and so will Dale. Counting the hours until I hear him walk thru the door. |
| Oh MY GOSH. That is scary!! I would be a frantic basket case. I can only imagine how you must have felt soo far away!! Hoping he comes home fast and it never happens again!! |
| Sorry to hear you and Dale are going through this. Crossing fingers that Dale gets home soon. |
| Wow, that is very scary! So glad he was able to call you and the kids were able to take care of him. Hopefully it was an isolated incident... tell him no more sodas and salty foods at ball games! |
| That is scary.... the fact that it's unlikely to happen again is reassuring, but wow! |
| I always knew you guys were weird. This confirms it!!! Tell Dale to take it easy! |
Maxmm wrote: I always knew you guys were weird. This confirms it!!! Tell Dale to take it easy! We love you too, Mandy!    Dale made it home just fine today, says he feels great. According to the article on the Mayo Clinic site, there will be no after affects or side affects. He keeps trying to lay blame on something, keeps trying to figure it all out. I told him to just let it go. Odds are that it will never happen again and that we will never know what caused it, so just let it go. Like I said, all things considered, we're fortunate it was this and not a stroke. But it still scares the bejeezus out of you! |
| Glad he made it home. That was certainly a scary experience for all of you, |
| How scary!!!! I am glad he is home and ok. I would make sure he always takes his meds. My hubby is on BP meds too, and I always worry about him with all his stress at work. I hope you never have to go through that again. |
| Glad he made it home and is feeling fine. I know I posted the Mayo Clinic site and I have every confidence in it, but it might not be a bad idea to have him checked out by his regular doc, if nothing else to document what happened at the ball game. |
| WOW! I am sure glad that it has turned out OK. One question though -- since (according to the weblink) you don't recall anything that happened while you were impaired possibly including several hours before, how do you know it hasn't happened before? I mean I don't want to make light of the situation, but... At least 10 years ago, I was watching TV one morning and suddenly realized that I wasn't understanding what they were talking about. Al Roker was on a cooking segment and they were talking about something, but while I think I could clearly hear the words I couldn't grasp the discussion at all. Lasted just a few minutes. I told my doctor and went to see a neurologist about it. Test were run, pictures taken. Nothing found (which surprised them -- they had expected to see something of a brain). Maybe I hadn't eaten and was a little hypoglycemic for a bit. In the end it was a shrug of the shoulders. Never happened before (that I remember!) or since (that I remember!).  SOOO, I wish Dale as good fortune as I have enjoyed. |
| He will be seeing our regular doctor, as instructed by the hospital in VA. He has all the test results and notes from them to give the dr, too. The dr in VA said that although not many people have heard of TGA, it's not as rare as you would think. She said she sees about 20 cases/year and knows the other drs have seen it a bunch, too. As for if it's happened before, I would think if it did, you would remember only because of the sense of panic felt at the time. When his memory stopped is when he called home with the panic questions, although he doesn't remember making the phone calls. He lost about 4 hours, from 7:00 until about 11:00, when he started remembering about the drive down and the game. But from the time he called home till 11:00 - nothing. Since he travels quite a bit, he asked the dr what he should do if it ever happened when he was driving or by himself. She said it's not like you black out or anything - you just stop remembering. Of course, that throws you into a panic, but she said all you should do is pull over and call 911 (if you can think enough to do that, that is!). She said if it happens at home, you could (if you don't go to the hospital, but why wouldn't you?) just go to sleep and by the time you wake up you would be fine. I agree, Ron. It raises a lot of other questions, doesn't it? |
Well at least he remembered the important thing - the Phillies game.  I hope that he will remember me when he sees me next week at the herding demo.  Are we allowed to quiz him when we see him??Seriously though, that was scary, so glad to hear that it may be a one time deal! |
| Chris, that is the most scarey thing , I know it happened to me altho not for that long . I went into a office supply store that I had gone to many many times and when I came out I did not know where I was or what I was doing there, I could not think of anything to do or anyone to call . I just stood there in shock for about what seemed to me hours but was only a few minutes then it passed leaving me very shaken and exhausted and it has never happened again and that was about 30 years ago . So witih luck maybe it will never happen to your hubby again and I'm sending good wishes and prayers that it doesn't Jean |
VerveUp wrote: Well at least he remembered the important thing - the Phillies game. OMG you are sooo right! I can't imagine how ticked off I'd be if I couldn't remember the Sox game for which I had paid a ton of money and anticipated for a year!  |
| That's funny, but so true! Actually, Spencer foot the bill for the tickets, the only money Dale was out was for the hotel that he didn't use. And yes, Deb, you are allowed to quiz him at the get-together on the 24th! Because you just KNOW Mandy won't let it go unspoken!! |
| Oh, Chris, how scary! I'm so glad he made it home safe and sound. And to the doctor who said if it happened again at home to just go to sleep--like that would ever happen! Hmmm, I'm disoriented and can't remember anything, guess I'll go have a nap... |
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