- Army veteran Jia Wu thought her wrist spasms and shooting pains were due to an old shoulder injury.
- They were actually caused by a rare condition that caused her to have mini-strokes.
In Summer 2020, Jia Wu was doing a CrossFit workout on a military base in Qatar when she felt a tingling pain shoot through her left arm. The numbness stretched from her fingers up to the left side of her face, and she nearly dropped her weight from the shock of it.
"It took about two or three additional seconds to really regain my composure," Wu told Insider.
Wu, who was 28 at the time, cycled through possible explanations for the strange pain: an old shoulder injury that had never fully healed, or the Qatari summer heat could have triggered heat exhaustion. A physical therapist on base recommended more shoulder exercises, but she wouldn't find out what was really going on until she returned stateside.
When she saw a doctor back in the US that October, Wu was diagnosed with a rare blood vessel disorder called moyamoya disease. The condition, a rare blood vessel disorder that can result in blocked blood flow to the brain, puts her at a greater risk for stroke and transient ischemic attacks, or mini-strokes, as well as brain bleeds.
Given her stroke risk, Wu started the process of medically separating from the military. Now she's sharing her story as a volunteer for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women "Real Women" campaign, so other women can learn the signs of stroke that she missed.
Her most consistent symptom was a floppy left wrist
While her mid-workout arm pain was a concerning warning sign of a stroke, Wu more frequently experienced wrist spasms.
Wu said her left wrist would "flop over out of nowhere," like a dog rolling over to get its belly scratched. The floppy wrist episodes started in Spring 2020 and continued to happen every two or three days for several months, but she said she assumed the problem was related to her old shoulder injury.
By the time she saw a doctor in the US, Wu said she was starting to notice more neurological symptoms. She said she was beginning to slur her speech, had a droopy left eye after blinking, and experienced a general feeling of brain fog that affected her ability to work — all of which can be symptoms of strokes.
Other symptoms of moyamoya disease may include partial paralysis, weakness, or numbness on one side of the body; involuntary movements; visual disturbances; trouble speaking or understanding others; cognitive delays; headache; and seizures, according to Mayo Clinic.
Wu had two brain surgeries before she turned 30
Moyamoya literally translates to "puffs of smoke" in Japanese, which is meant to describe the tiny arteries that characterize the disease.
According to Mayo Clinic, people with moyamoya disease develop many small arteries in an attempt to supply the brain with oxygen because the brain's mainline for oxygen delivery, the carotid artery, has been blocked or narrowed.
People with moyamoya can have strokes or mini-strokes triggered by anything from exercise to a cough. They are treated with medication, such as blood thinners, or with revascularization surgery to slow the progression of disease.
When Wu was diagnosed, the doctor told her she would need to prepare for brain surgery and some major lifestyle changes.
She had two brain surgeries before she turned 30 to reduce her risk of future mini-strokes.
'Timing is key' when it comes to detecting strokes
Wu said she still experiences some numbness in her left wrist and tingling in her fingers, even after her surgery.
She said she uses the acronym FAST to determine whether she is having a stroke: checking her face, arm, and speech for abnormalities and acting quickly if she thinks something is wrong.
"Timing is key," she said. "If I had a stroke, I don't think I'd be here today."
Knowing the signs of stroke and keeping a journal of her symptoms has helped Wu gain some peace of mind throughout her recovery, she said.