At our recent AF Support Group meeting, we were fortunate to have a Senior Stroke Consultant discuss with us about various issues relating to AF and how to minimise the increased risk of stroke. However, should it occur, he stressed how important it is to get proper rapid medical support if you suspect someone is having a stroke. Depending on the overall condition of the patient, there is a time window of between 3.5 and 4.5 hours to administer clot busting medication which can only be undertaken within a hospital stroke unit. If it is successfully administered within that time window, the recovery chances are significantly improved.
A member of the group is also a manager for our the Emergency Ambulance Service and he stressed how important it is to make it clear during the 999 call that the patient has AF and is suspected of having a stroke. This ensures that all the preliminary work is immediately carried out to ensure the patient is taken directly to the most appropriate facility and that the specialist medical team are available to treat the patient within the critical time period. Hopefully no one will need to be faced with this situation but I believe it is worth sharing.
One of the other issues raised was regarding the impact of forgetting or being asked to not to take anticoagulant medication prior to major dental work or some other invasive medical procedure. The advice given was to follow the advice of the medics involved but that the level of increased risk if a dose is missed was extremely small.
I must admit that I’m a bit nervous as I have to go off anticoagulants for 2 days in a couple of weeks for a gastroscopy. The logical part of my brain says all will be well but the emotional part remembers the feeling of being woken up from the anesthetic when I went in for an ablation and being told I had a blood clot so they couldn’t proceed. On a positive note my gastroenterologist and EP are good friends and they both work in the same hospital so if there are any dramas my EP will know pretty quickly.
Oh well not much chance for me then, I'm unable to take anticoagulants due to another condition but have a LAA occlusion device, however as I'm on my own now there isn't anyone to call an ambulance. Just have to keep my fingers crossed like I do when crossing the road! 😀😀
On the contrary, there is always someone who wins against the odds and that may well be you. On the other hand I have a friend who believes regardless of interventions "when it's yout time....." For some reason I find this also somewhat reassuring.
I have an emergency button I wear at all times. Hangs around my neck night and day and connects to Emergency without the need to even lift the phone. You might like to consider having one of these Angie... or anyone else on their own.
My mum has one of these and it comes in very handy for falls as she is unable to get up unaided but I'm only in my 60's and relatively fit, also would you even have the ability to use it should a strike occur. Something for me to consider in the future, meanwhile I'm not going to worry about something that may never happen 😀😀
I was 69 when my husband died and I thought .... if anything happens to me, I would be here days and no-one would know. It was money well spent for peace of mind, but now I have both heart and lung problems, it is free. I might say Angie, thankfully I have never used it.
I wonder if it's free for AF sufferers? I also have cerebral cavernomas which are asymptomatic at the moment and will hopefully stay that way but it might be worth me enquiring. 😀
Where was this meeting FJ, I didn’t miss a Harefield one did I?
I do think we can dwell too much on our risk factor especially as stress plays a big part in AF, all we can do is try to live as healthy as possible while still living a life. I find that even reading posts sometimes makes my heart blip around, but I am a bit of a woos. 😬
Thanks for post, very interesting. Hope your keeping well.
Unfortunately, I don't think there are meetings held at Harefield any more Brenda. So far so good thank you, just past the 5 month point and all well. Trust that you (and Mabel) are keeping well too!!!
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Stroke risk
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