Cerebellar Stroke - experience/treatment/recovery

Hi @strokesurvivordynamo, (I love your username.)
Thanks for kicking off this topic. Given that cerebellar strokes account for less than 10% of all strokes, this is an important discussion group to form so that survivors can share their road to recovery together. Can you tell us a bit more about your story? What impact has stroke had on you? Did your stroke affect the left or right side? How is rehabilitation going?

At 48 and relatively healthy, I didn't fit the typical stroke profile. I have great cholesterol, am a non-smoker, a casual drinker, I don't have uncontrolled high blood pressure, I'm not a diabetic, and have no family history of strokes.

If you're like me, you've read the Heart & Stroke material and watched the ads on TV. We've been trained that if you think someone is having a stroke, act FAST and do the following:

Face - is it dropping?
Arms - can you raise them?
Speech - is it slurred or jumbled?
Time - to call 911 right away!

My daughter thought I was having a stroke when it was happening and administered the FAST test - I passed it. I could do all of these things! That test works for the majority of strokes but not all. A cerebellar stroke, like mine, accounts for only 3% of strokes. MY warning signs didn't fit the profile.

Instead I had the Three Vs - Violent Headache, Vertigo, Vomitting. Any of these signs coming on suddenly without explanation, alone or especially together, are enough to call 911. Even if your symptoms go away, you need to see medical treatment as you could have had a TIA (mini stroke).

For every minute delay in treating a stroke, the average patient loses 1.9 million brain cells. That is terrifying! It was 4 hours before an ambulance was called to my home the night I had my stroke.

I had felt "off" two days before and paid my Doctor a visit because I felt so strange it worried me. I described it as "feeling like Alice in Wonderland and I didn't belong". I now know that sensation is called disassociation and is a sign of a cerebellar event.

My Doctor couldn't find anything wrong and said maybe I was fighting a virus. So when I suffered my stroke, my family thought I had a bug and checked on me every 30 minutes as I continues to battle the Three Vs. Not until I collapsed on the bathroom floor did they fear the worst and dial 911.

@colleenyoung
Ischemic stroke - left inferior cerebellum

How scary this must have been @strokesurvivordynamo. After 911 was called, what do you remember? What happened next?

Did you ever get answers here? I also would like to connect to someone that has "been there" as I has so many questions and find so few answers.

I not only have been there I AM there, I have zero Balance and my Eyes jump wherever they want to ...

Did you also have a cerebellar stroke? I have cognitive issues only - no physical struggles.

Have you tried Binocular Vision Therapy for your vision Nystagmus?

Are you having any other stroke symptoms? Why is your balance an issue? When was your stroke?

My Stroke was about two years ago, I had no or little symptoms at the time, except that I suddenly was very dizzy and my Eyes didn’t go where I wanted them to go ... today was an especially bad day, I had to leave a card store where I looked for cards, I got nauseous and dizzy, barely made it out of the store ... anyone else with those Issues .?