Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Early symptoms

 8% of older people in Australia live with Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

My husband and I were relaxing after dinner one night a number of years ago, when all of a sudden he let out a yell and jumped up and told me that he had pins and needles in his R hand and that it was spreading up his arm to his face. Over the next few minutes it spread down his whole right side to his leg and foot. He had full movement. Ten minutes later it was gone. He was not yet 60.

In hindsight, I don’t know why we didn’t go to a hospital straight away but we were on a holiday, somewhat isolated, sort of in a state of shock; and it all disappeared so quickly. Having worked as a health professional, you think of all the possibilities that it might be from some sort of neck or spinal problem (rule that out because the R side of his face had gone numb) and many other things including a stroke, but it all just disappeared as quickly as it came.

It scared us though. We packed up our brief holiday break and came home and nothing further happened for a few days and then it happened again. Same symptoms but not so bad and then they disappeared again. Why we didn’t do something then I can’t really tell you. It is so unlike me.

Eventually, after about 3 weeks of these symptoms on and off he went to Accident and Emergency at our local hospital. I have no idea why it took us so long. It was almost as though we were in denial.

Overcoming denial

In A & E he was immediately suspected of having had some sort of stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack (often as a result of Atrial Fibrillation of the heart). A CT scan revealed nothing. We were sent home with a view to future heart monitoring (rule that out of course, because his symptoms were in the identical part of his body each time).

He was also referred for an MRI for a more detailed look. He took himself off to the local radiology provider one Saturday morning as I was working in the garden. I got a phone call from the radiologist an hour later saying that the MRI showed that he’d had multiple strokes and he had told my husband to go immediately to the A & E department and that it was an emergency and that he should not go home.

To say that I was in shock would put it mildly. I came inside, tried to call him (what is it about men that they often don’t answer their phone). I didn’t know which hospital he was going to, so I started to pack a bag for him and the next thing I know he walked in. He had no intention of going straight to hospital (he had no symptoms) so he picked me up and we both went together.

There followed a long wait and we were shell shocked. The medical staff were unsure as to how it was that multiple strokes showed up on his MRI yet he had absolutely no symptoms. Eventually they spoke to a local neurologist over the phone who said that we were not to worry too much, to go home and he would see us on the following Monday in his rooms.

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