I’m Sue and my story begins in 2005 on a cold November Friday morning. Everything was as normal except I woke up with a slight ear ache which I put down to an impending cold. Working in the offices at a secondary school there are always colds and viruses knocking around. I left the house to pick my colleague up.at 7am. It was very dark, snow had been forecast and as I stopped outside my colleague’s house I looked over to my left to see if she was coming and as I looked back forward it happened. It felt like my eyes had been pulled from behind, like stretching an elastic band and then letting it go. They went out of focus as if I had gone cross eyed! I knew instinctively that it was something quite unusual so I went to get out of the car. I swayed to the left and as I tried to walk my vision was blinded and my left side felt numb. It was at this point my colleague was suddenly there and she saw me leave the car and stagger so took me into her house. I didn’t want an ambulance as my husband was at home in bed. At the time he was an off-duty policeman. He arrived and took me straight to the local hospital. By this time I had a severe headache, felt sick, I was numb down the left side and after monitoring me for 45 mins the nursing staff decided it was a severe migraine and rang my GP to be seen straight away by my doctor. My GP said I was having a severe cluster migraine and gave me a strong tablet and I was told to go home to bed.
I suffered most of my life on and off with migraines but this one was very different! The vision loss I usually experience with migraines lasts about 1 hour before the piercing headache kicks in, but this time and hours later my headache was unbearable. My vision was very badly affected and my right eye was drooping. I felt sick and intermittently had pins and needles in both arms. My husband rang the GP again that evening who still said it was a cluster migraine! The next morning I seemed worse so my husband took me to the local hospital again. doctor on duty sent me straight to the main hospital in Cornwall due to my lack of sight and the right eye which was now very droopy. He rang the eye outpatients to see me.
At the hospital I was diagnosed with a Horners Syndrome and admitted. Whilst waiting to be admitted my mouth drooped on the left side. It lasted a couple of minutes.
After days of tests and still unable to see, feeling constantly sick with a horrendous headache so I was given a MRI scan.
This revealed that I had torn my right internal carotid artery. The tear had clotted and it was small clots breaking off that was causing the TIA’s. The main worry now was that this could lead to a full blown stroke!
After 10 days in hospital I was allowed home and spent the next 6 weeks in a wheelchair and complete rest. I returned to work on a very part time basis after 5 months and returned to full time after 9 months. Life had changed. The vision very slowly got better but even today I still have a blind spot which is more prominent when I’m tired.
Once back at work I struggled with tiredness, stiffness, lack of enthusiasm and so in 2009 went part time. I had many hospital appointments for the joint stiffness and fatigue and was told it was ME. I was on lots of tablets and felt my life had ended!
A friend who was a homeopath asked if she could help. Gradually over the past 5 years my health began to improve until I was tablet taking free and feeling so much better. I am 60 now and feel life is as it should be. I have no lingering problems and I do tire but not as quickly as I did a few years ago. I swim, walk, travel. sing and my new found love is Yoga!
I can only say to those who have recently had a stroke or TIA that although your recovery may be a struggle that you should never give up. it might be slow but remain positive. You can do it – and you will.
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