My first stroke anniversary
By Verity Rogers
I was driving to my daughter's house on Tuesday, 28th March 2023. She is a hairdresser, and I was going to have my hair done that morning. I felt great driving there, no symptoms whatsoever. We walked to the deli at the end of the street and back for a carton of milk. Back at my daughter's, she made a cuppa before heading out to her salon.
My daughter put the mug on the dining table and as I reached to pick it up, my right hand went floppy. I sat there looking at my hand for a second or so, and I then felt an electric buzz run from my hand up to my elbow and then my entire right arm went dead, and it dropped to my side.
My daughter asked "Mum, what are you doing?" I looked at her to speak, and nothing came out. I have Senior First Aid training, and I thought to myself - shit, I think I'm having a stroke. With my left hand I grabbed a pen on the table and scribbled "STROKE" and pointed to it.
"Are you kidding, do you want me to do CPR?" I shook my head no, I pointed to the word stroke again, and with my left hand made the sign of 000 and the sign for telephone.
An ambulance was called.
It arrived within about three minutes; they plugged me across the chest, set up the machine and said you're having a stroke.
I walked out to the ambulance, got on the trolley, we drove 10 minutes to Lyell McEwen Hospital emergency department. In the ambulance, the paramedic asked me if I knew I had AF (Atrial Fibrillation). I shook my head.
I was anxious in the ambulance and had a quiet word with God, “I'm not ready to go yet. I have a family to look after.” My daughter would be terrified. She was following the ambulance in her car, I still feel emotional when I think about how she must have been feeling, it’s terrible.
My family all arrived pretty much at the same time. My daughter, husband and son, they were all upset, trying to hold it together for me. I held my daughter's hand to try and comfort her.
The AF had caused blood to pool in the top chamber of my heart and a clot had traveled to the left side of my brain. In Emergency, I was thrombolysed, sent off for an MRI scan, then to a bed in the stroke unit.
The stroke left me with a completely dead right arm and hand, and I had no speech.
About 20 minutes after the stroke, I began to regain feeling in my right hand and then over the next few hours my speech began to come back too. But I began to speak with a heavy NZ accent. My daughter made up a little sign for me to hold up which read "quiet please - I want to speak."
In the hospital all I wanted to do was rest, but I had about five different allied health professionals come to assess me, one after the other. I even had a woman from Centrelink who asked me to fill out a form for Jobseeker.
I was discharged two days later, and I felt so incredibly weak trying to walk from the hospital to the car, I should have asked for a wheelchair.
It was unnerving going home so soon after having a stroke, but then I started my rehabilitation at SpARK Rehab, in Modbury.
Their services are fantastic. I attended twice a week, and my sessions involved OT, speech therapy, counselling, cognitive testing and strength training in the gym and hydrotherapy pool.
Over the next three months rehab became my fulltime job. It was intensive and I knew that I had a window of about six months for my post-stroke healing to be the most effective. The entire time during and after my stroke, I was as mentally alert and aware as ever. Nothing had changed there.
After I completed my rehab, I continued to work very hard on my speech - my job involves a lot of conversations, so it was essential to get my speech back. I felt like I was getting somewhere with my rehab, but Centrelink, now that is a whole other story.
First, they lost my medical information and would not acknowledge that I'd had a stroke. I had to try and go back to my part time job two weeks after my stroke, because Centrelink wouldn't approve Jobseeker and sent me to a job placement agency.
This was beyond reprehensible; the stress had an impact on my recovery, and I still resent what we went through. It took three months of hell to get things sorted. I ended up going to my local MP to get their help to get it sorted.
Centrelink made me feel like a fraud.
After four months I managed to get my driving license back. I am grateful to have it again, my independence is something that I cherish.
I'm proud of my determination to overcome the challenges that stroke has put in my way. Sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, speech and mobility. I have fought every step of the way, and my NZ accent is pretty much gone.
To look at me, you would never know that I'd had a physical, mental and financial year from hell. I've put on a lot of weight from the heart medication, but that's my next challenge to get my weight back to a healthier range.
It’s been a real team effort to get me to where I am, one year on from stroke. I have so many people to thank. My Daughter Olivia, first and foremost, for being with me and calling for the ambulance, you saved my life. Then breaking the news and coordinating friends and family. You gave me the motivation to get better by bringing my precious grandchildren to see me.
My husband Ray and son Greg. Ray drove me to appointments, rehab sessions, wherever I needed to go. And Greg, you had not long accepted a new job in Brisbane, and you stayed close by. I can’t express how important it was to have you close.
To my best friend Judy, who constantly visited and drove me each week for our regular catchups whilst I couldn't drive. And to Kerry who picked me up each week for our coffee date.
And to extended family, friends and my workplace who phoned, sent messages, visited and sent flowers.
You are all the people who gave me the strength to fight to get well.
My first strokeaversary has just passed, and I spent it with my daughter. We went for lunch and did a bit of shopping.
It was a day of happiness and joy.
