Boxing night 2004 I had a pounding headache and was feeling generally unwell so I went to bed early. Next morning when I woke up, the right side of my face had dropped, I lost most of the use of my right side and I could not speak coherently. I was also very confused.
My father in law took me to port Talbot A and E where a CT scan showed I had had 2 strokes. Because I have existing heart problems I was taken to a cardiac ward, not a stroke ward. I was given a few tests over the course of 5 days. As they could not determine the cause of my strokes I was sent home and told to come back when I had another one!
As I was married at the time, they said my wife could look after me. I was not offered any physio, an OT, or any other support. I was basically left to get on with it. It devastated me at the time, I felt my life was over. I needed help with everything, and a 3 year old son I could no longer pick up or play with. The fatigue knocked me for six and still does now some days. My short term memory was almost non-existent too but has improved immensely thanks to puzzle books and quizzes to keep the little grey cells active.
I devised my own physio exercises to regain the mobility in my right side and slowly started to get the use of my limbs back. I was able to drive again some months later which was a huge relief after struggling with lifts and buses. I kept reminder lists of things I needed to do daily which was a great help. Thankfully I was still able to read, although my writing was not great and still isn’t now.
14 years later, physically I have improved to the point where people don’t realise I have had a stroke although I still have some right sided weakness. Cognitively I still forget words and get words mixed up, I still forget things, and my speech is slurred when I’m tired. Otherwise I consider myself very lucky I was not as badly affected as some.
When I joined NPTSG I found something else worthwhile to put my efforts into. This has been one of the biggest parts of my stroke recovery, meeting amazing new friends who I now consider my family too. I learned more about strokes than I would have otherwise. My self confidence and self worth have improved drastically too. One of the best decisions of my life was to join NPTSG, in my opinion an essential major contributor to stroke recovery
