[Hps] "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated..."

[Nelson, Timothy Knight]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Thanks to the address autocompletion in my email client turning “Stepan" into "hps at jlab.org", I managed to let all of HPS know I experienced a brief episode (10 seconds?) in the counting house tonight where my mouth became numb, I felt disoriented, and I was unable to speak clearly. I would like to have pretended it didn’t happen but afterwards many of you helped me realize that this was not something to ignore. Stepan and Bogdan took me to Riverside hospital where I was thoroughly poked and prodded and tested with great speed and care.  In the end, my tests were frustratingly normal and I was found to be annoyingly healthy. It was thought unlikely that this was a “true” TIA or mini-stroke, caused by a blood clot or similar blockage, simply because of the rapid onset and resolution.  Instead, the source is thought to be much less sinister:  abnormal blood pressure changes, extreme blood sugar swings, spasms in arteries of the brain and certain types of migraines can cause these symptoms.  Because of the specificity of the symptoms and the fact that I do occasionally experience migraines with neurological symptoms (albeit very different ones), this is thought to be the most likely cause.  In any case, I seem to be fine now. Thank you all for your advice, concern and help which remind me of how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends and collaborators.

Best,
Tim