A big hello everyone here and just wanted to reach out and share my story and see where it leads…
To begin, I never, ever thought that I’d be suffering a stroke…not at the age of 40….it definitely wasn’t on my bingo card as I’ve been fit and healthy all my life and don’t have any family history of heart disease or stroke.
My story begins in Montreal, Canada as my family were there over Xmas 2025 visiting relatives so not even in the UK! Woke up on the morning of boxing day feeling drowsy/tired/dehydrated and the next thing I know I’ve flopped on the bed and struggling to move my left hand side of my body. Thankfully my wife spotted the signs very early on and called for help and the paramedics got to me super quickly, triaged me and then blue lighted to the C.H.U.M hospital in downtown Montreal.
Once there they performed a thrombectomy on me to remove the clots and then had a 5 day stay in the lovely hospital there. Thankfully my wife had the sense to take out holiday insurance so that took a lot of stress out of it. Due to everyone acting so quickly I went on to make a full recovery, well mentally and physically, I think emotionally maybe not quite there yet which is why I’m reaching out to talk about my experience and looking forward to connecting with other people that may of gone through something similar.
I’m currently waiting for specialist appointments through our wonderful NHS system however things seem to move at a snails pace! In particular I need to see a cardiologist as whilst in Canada I was diagnosed with a hole in the heart (Atrial Septal Defect) and will need to understand what the best course of action will be. Has anyone else had something similar?
@jasonturbo Welcome to the Forum. You were very fortune to receive prompt good care that helped towards your recovery. Some of us on here have not been as fortunate. I am stroke survivor, back at work full time and doing as good as I can be. Never thought in a million years I would be part of anything like this. As for a full recovery I have not met anyone in my life yet who has made a full recovery. If you met me you would not know I had a stroke however that does not mean I have made a full recovery. The just means you cannot see any visible signs. I wish you well I will never be me again ,I will be a variation of me, which is not who I use to be.
@IreneFC , fair point. I thought that way regarding my mum. I’ve been fortunate that I’m in my 40s, so far so good in terms of serious health conditions. My main problem is my asthma. Most days it can be a major problem, especially when an attack occurs. @jasonturbo story proves any kind of stroke can occur at any point in life and how capacity can be very limiting. Hope @jasonturbo recovers well. It’s best to take baby steps. Likewise yourself @IreneFC
Welcome to the community, I’m sorry to hear about your stroke.
It’s great to hear you had some fast treatment which will have helped with your recovery. I’m sure there will be some of our members along shortly with experience of ASD, we do hear from lots of people that it can take some time to get appointments, hopefully the wait won’t be too much longer.
I hope you’ll find this community helpful, there is a wealth of knowledge here so please do ask questions and our members will be sure to answer. If you need anything whilst you’re using the Online Community, please don’t hesitate to tag me using the @ symbol and my username.
Hi @jasonturbo & welcome to the community that none of us wanted yo join but quickly became glad we did. There are many people here with lots of different experiences.
I, like you, was in my 40s when I had my stroke. A bolt out the blue to say the least. But in some ways our age may be an advantage as we have time on our side yo build on our recovery. It’s good to hear you are getting on well. Stroke does tend to play havoc with uour emotions doesn’t it.
You are very early days yet in your recovery journey. We tend to say a marathon not a sprint. In time your emotions will hopefully settle. How long that takes varies from person to person. Getting some specialist appointments come through may help there. You are probably worrying a little about the hole in your heart & seeing the cardiologist will provide some reassurance there.
I can’t comment on a hole in the heart from personal experience but it is fairly common. Not just in stroke survivors but a lot of people have a hole & just don’t know about it.
Hi @jasonturbo I’m glad you got such prompt treatment and are on the road to recovery. Like @IreneFC am back working and to most people fine as there are no visible signs post stroke but there are still some issues with fatigue and fine motor skills on with my left hand but look at this as better than some so cannot complain.
Ironically my dad suffered a serous of strokes and during this we only found out he had a hole in the heart too, unrelated to his stroke but present and been lifelong. Sorry I cannot add any further information other than he has beta blockers since. Best wishes to you and hope your recovery journey maintains it’s progress.
I’m another with a hole in my heart discovered after the stroke, and the consultant said there was nothing to be done and left me with the news, which is quite a choker isn’t it. But I am still here and at last know why I had such a humiliating time at school because I was lousy at sport. So we have disturbing news but not terrible. All the best to all fellow hole-in-hearters.
@Dexster, strange as I have no heart issues but was always good at sport at school then later in martial arts competition. But at times sorely lacked stamina. it was a shock that turns out I had chronic asthma, this answered those lifelong questions in my 30’s . Weirf how we mage then find out something.
I will never be me again ,I will be a variation of me, which is not who I use to be.