Hi Harriet, you sound a lot like I did 10 months ago, wanting to know what was possibly next for me.
I'm 43 (42 at time of stroke), fit and well with 2 young children. My stroke was down to 3 (possibly more) tiny blood clots that passed through a pfo (tiny hole) in my heart and went up to my brain, rather than going down into my lungs and getting broken down. It was a few months before all the results of my checks, scans, blood tests etc etc were pulled together and I was told the actual cause. I am now on a waiting list for a minor operation which will close the "hole" (docs don't like to call it that but easiest way to explain) in my heart and prevent it from happening again.
It's funny, before my stroke I was suffering from anxiety, and I'm still working to manage it now, however, I have never been anxious about having a second stroke. I took it as happening for a reason and looked for all the good things rather than focussing on the "why me's". I had to give up my job at the time, I'm a teacher and initially had heightened sensitivity to noise so being in a classroom was out of the question. I was lucky to get the option of taking redundancy, but once I started to go for longer in noisy situations, I started volunteering at our local primary school (avoiding the classes my children are in!) and building myself up again.
When I first had the stroke I thought okay, 2 weeks until the easter holidays, then 2 weeks off, I'll be fine to get back to work after that. Nothing had really changed physically, I was just tired, a little confused, forgot the occasional word and really didn't like noise. The reality didn't hit me until 4 weeks later when I still felt tired all the time, despite spending long lengths of time sleeping. I only started to improve once I stopped pushing myself, and allowed my brain to rest. A good friend is a gp and gave me the best advise of all. He told me to think of a baby and the amount of sleep they need. They wake, they learn, their brains develop and grow, and then they sleep while the brain files or catalogues all their learning before starting again. Part of my brain is now gone and the neurons won't regenerate. What will happen though, is that our brains will start to make new learning pathways to replace those that are damaged. This happens at an increased rate initially, similar to a baby learning, and so lots of sleep and downtime was needed - not for my physical side but my mental side. Repeating familiar activities was a good start. While the children were in school I spent lots of time reading, sewing, playing the piano, and trying to make a spaghetti bolognese (in 20 mins, rather than the 1 1/2 hours it took me the first time after!!). Even putting my makeup on was something that took much longer for the first month.
The stroke has changed my life but not completely and in lots of positive ways. I am much happier now than I was 12 months ago. I get lots more time with my children, family and friends. Before stroke I taught piano to small number of children on a Saturday morning. I have built on this as it's something I could continue to do and now have over 20 pupils. Just before Christmas I was offered a job at the school I have been volunteering at. It is only one day a week so manageable. The staff know me and are always there if I need anyone - although this hasn't been the case yet. I am also able to walk there so it eliminates the stress of rush hour traffic. I'm not 100% recovered, but then it hasn't been a year yet, and my consultant told me that the first true marker they use post stroke is 12 months. Yesterday I overdid it and made myself super tired. Today I'm having a lazy day because I'm doing an extra day in school tomorrow and want to avoid being hit by fatigue until at least Saturday afternoon! You'll find your own patterns and markers, it's just listening to them and not trying to be a superhero (as I did yesterday - to my cost!)
It's easy to fall into depression but try to look for the positives. I promise, it does get better. The pins and needles I got in my fingers, the feeling of someone tightening a belt around my head, the need to shut myself in a very quiet space for 20 minutes... all those things are now gone. I do get a tingle around my right eye, as if it's twitching. That's a sign that I'm over doing it, but that's fading too. Don't expect too much of yourself, 6 - 8 weeks(?) is a very short space of time. And good luck
Jane :)