In December 2017 I stopped at the post office on the way home from work and as I went to get out of the car I suddenly found myself feeling very dizzy. I had double vision and also became very hot and felt increasingly sick. This feeling lasted for around 5 minutes and I somehow managed to call my fiancée using Siri on my mobile phone. I have honestly never felt that bad in my life – apart from at the end of a very large drinking session! After seeking medical advice via 111, I went home for the evening, taking ibuprofen as the clinician over the phone assumed I had pulled my neck turning to get out of the car.
The headache I was feeling was excruciating. It made me feel very sick and I struggled to sleep that night. I awoke the next morning and as I drove to work I automatically found myself trying harder to concentrate and perceive everything, rather than the usual ‘auto-pilot’ mode which I would normally be in as I drive to work. As a teacher, it was the last day of school before the Christmas break and I didn’t want to bail on my students – I have a lovely bunch of 10-year olds who were all very excited.
I found the morning difficult, despite not teaching the usual English and Maths, managing the classroom was overshadowed by a large headache. I was struggling to comprehend the brightness of my screen or even stand up! At lunchtime I made the decision to go and see a doctor. On this day, all of the doctors were closed for training so I visited the Walk-In Centre. As I waited for an appointment I became very warm and I could feel again the awful pain dwelling in my head. Within a fifteen minute appointment the GP had written an admission form for ambulatory care and sent me up to the local hospital.
Within an hour of being in hospital I had been put on an IV line for the pain and had had a CT scan. The results weren’t revealed to me, although I was put through to another ward with more specialist doctors on. Some time later, my fiancée heard my name as doctors were milling through a report. She heard them mention the ‘stroke unit’, but she didn’t reveal this to me.
A stroke doctor came and explained that I had experienced a large stroke in the cerebellum region of the brain. Within the scan a large area of material had been starved of oxygen, but they believe the stroke passed quickly, therefore no other area was affected. It was only after I had been submitted to the stroke unit for approximately 24hours that the impact of the stroke became clear to me.
The feelings of sickness, loss of balance, some co-ordinational motions and fatigue were now plaguing my life. I felt appreciative to have my own side room at the stroke unit, as this allowed my fiancée and I the time to really take in what had happened. At the age of 24 I honestly feel that one of the main words I can use to describe this experience is unfortunate. An ASD repair as a child is thought to be the cause of the stroke, with other causes being ruled out within investigation.
Since being discharged from hospital, I have been working incredibly hard to build up cognitive tasks such as video-games, reading, writing and typing to prepare me to go back to work. I have also been working hard on various pieces of equipment to improve my balance as well as vestibular processes.
I feel that the Stroke Association, Different Strokes and Facebook have been such a help for me, as they have allowed me to process this event further. In the future I am looking to raise money for various stroke-related projects and charities, as well as working with young stroke survivors to re-assure them at the beginning and during their journey to recovery.
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