Two unknown health conditions that lead to my stroke, anyone else with a PFO?

Hi Letisha,

There are a lot of people in the community that had PFO closures. 

Here are a few discussions. 

I think you will get quite a few comments. Can I share your blog on the Stroke Foundation's Facebook too? 

Depends on the type of stroke you had , even drs dont really know what causes them , but they have different symptoms that might cause them , they know stroke victims have high blood pressure , stress can cause it , but they cant predict if you will have a stroke , as I said 2 types of stroke , a heamorage or a blockage , once worse then the other , you can recover a blockage , a bleeder then who knows , some make it , some dont .

Good on you for trying to create awareness I didn’t have a PFO, however was investigated for this given I was so young (40) when I suffered my stroke last Christmas. They had found a dissection of the vertebral artery, which they assumed had caused a clot, leading to my stroke, but wanted to investigate the PFO just in case.

I struggle with feeling let down by being sent away when I first presented to hospital…but so glad I sought a second opinion which meant I was in the right place when I deteriorated. I will be forever grateful for the amazing drs who saved my life by successfully removing the clot. I’m continuing to work hard to try & recover as much as I can I too hope to get to a point where I can help to create more awareness around stroke & stroke symptoms, even in our health care system. 

Hi Letisha,

There are a few comments for you on Facebook and Instagram.

Cheers, and have a great week,

Diana 

I have had 2 strokes (known stroke in Aug 2022, other stroke seen in MRI).

I had a PFO closure in Oct 2022. I do feel better since the closure. No more auras and migraines.

During the PFO closure, I experienced asphyxiation and pnuemonia which meant that I would end up staying for 5 days in hospital. I was scheduled to be released the next morning.

The closure itself is good. I have had follow up checks and my next check is the 12 month check.

But, it also turns out that I have been diagnosed with Antiphospholipid syndrome(Hughes syndrome). This is the likely cause of my clots. I am on warfarin for the APLS.