I thought I would share a little success story following my return to work after my stroke in Dec 2021. Hopefully it will give others some hope if they are thinking of going back to work.
I returned to work around 18 months after my stroke with many adjustments in place including returning to a different role. My pre stroke role was exceptionally pressured & post stroke me couldn’t do that any more. Despite the pressures I loved that role. I am a civil servant so am lucky that an alternate role was available for me. I went back on a 16 week phased return but never managed to get back to full time hours. Now I have adjusted financially I am happy to work part time.
I was asked if I would work with a low performing & low morale team & work some magic to improve their performance & morale. Alongside this I was asked to work on a new project & see it through to a conclusion. I accepted the challenge as I was told that I could work at my own pace & deadlines would be minimal. The team had been lacking some leadership and direction so I set to work with them to see what I could do.
Roll forward 12 months & the team have improved their performance significantly & are now a high performing team with significantly improved morale despite the massive increase in their workload. Our efforts have just been rewarded & we have been presented with a special recognition award. They are like a different team and I am very proud of how they have come on. If I may, I will take a little bit of the credit for the turnaround but if they hadn’t come on board I couldn’t have achieved it.
The project work is ongoing but moving along well.
I am permanently exhausted - work takes a lot out of me but it is good for my mood. There was a time when I really thought I wouldn’t be able to return to work never mind achieve what I have.
For all those who aren’t sure about returning my advice is don’t go back too soon. Make sure you build up gradually. Be prepared for the fatigue - it is worse than I thought it would be. Take regular breaks throughout the day. The one thing I found the hardest initially was returning to work made me realise, all over again, just what I was no longer able to do. It took me ages to get past that. I am glad I went back…I’m just hoping for a miracle with my fatigue.
Well done @Mrs5K, it’s amazing to hear what you’ve acheived at work and you definitely should take some of the credit for that special recognition award.
Great tips for others thinking about their return to work and I hope you’re fatigue does get better.
@Susan_Jane@Anna_Moderator thank you both. I am just a little bit pleased with how I have got on since my return to work. I just need a magic fatigue wand then all would be perfect
You have achieved a lot ; which proves that if we can be patient and get the ingredients, and timings right then we can achieve more that we ever thought possible. I say this to myself as much as anyone else.
@ManjiB@pando thank you both for your kind words. I wanted to share my success to show to others that we can often achieve more than we thought possible. I’m very proud of my team & together we have achieved a lot. They look after me well too when I am in the office (I mainly work from home)
I wish I had that advice 3 years ago! But well done to you for successfully going back (under your own terms?) and making it a positive experience.
I had a stroke in August 21 (‘took out’ the whole of my left hand side control) and foolishly went back after just 6 weeks. In hindsight, I think the urge was because I wanted to prove to myself my brain was still working at 100%. Although I was on a Phased Return, from HRs point of view that started the day I went back, and so each week I was ‘requested’ to work a few hours longer. This was alongside regular rehab visits from hospital, and exercises based on that. So I quickly found out what ‘fatigue’ can do to you! After 3 months of this, I decided to pack it in, as I couldn’t keep it up, and effectively retired. If I had waited to come back and then start the Phased Return from that point, I may have had time to adjust to the regular fatigue dropouts and work around them. 3 years on, I am coping much better and could consider returning to the same work but my life has changed now - orchestra rehearsals, choir rehearsals, gym sessions - so no time!!! And happier for that. Regularly meeting people in the various groups plus the brain work required to learn and play songs, keeps me upbeat (very important!!).
@Retrokeyplayer wow returning after 6 weeks must have been such a challenge. Not surprised you found it difficult. It often doesn’t take long for those extra hours to start creeping in. I was very strict initially & i stuck rigidly to my hours. I do now work a bit extra if necessary but in the main I still stick to my daily hours otherwise it impacts me negatively.
Glad you have found happiness in your music. Sounds much nicer than work.
Thank you for sharing this. I am hoping to start a phased return to work in August. It will be pretty much 3 years post stroke, and I’m both nervously excited and slightly terrified.
Fatigue is my biggest problem, and my job was very intense, hence the long wait. I’m hoping that I will be able to find a way to be a valuable part of the team it took me many years to get accepted into and qualify for my profession and I don’t want to lose it because of disability my teams have been very supportive so far though, and I have good people rooting for me, so I am hopeful
Thanks again for your positive story, it sounds really fulfilling. Hoping it keeps getting better for you x
Good luck with your return to work. A phased return will help you loads but please take your time and go at your pace. Before I returned I started to join the ocassional team call and I visted the office for a couple of hours a couple of times just to see how it went.
You will no doubt be very nervous and excited too as it is a major milestone on the recovery path. It honestly won’t take you long to feel like you’ve never been away.
Hi Alice - I am catching up on your story and this recent post is very pleasing. I think you will make an excellent return to work and you deserve to reap the rewards of your chosen profession for which you worked so hard to qualify for and be accepted. Your current situation will not hold you back - you may have seen many examples on this forum of people in your situation who have gone back to work and done well. Others have done well just recovering and so all in all the future looks good.
Your planned return date in August gives you time to prepare, nervous excitement and slight terror are good signs - they indicate you are ready for the next phase.
Ann @Mrs5K has offered some good tips as she has been through this and you could do worse than follow her advice :). Others have also offered excellent advice and shared their experiences. What is important is how you yourself feel about this and it seems to me you are ready.
You flag fatigue as your biggest challenge and that is a good sign as well because you now have something to focus on where you need to improve and it is totally possible.
I would suggest:
you get plenty of rest and sleep every day starting now
build up your strength - Lorraine, @EmeraldEyes has offered some good tips on this if I remember rightly
if you are looking for some outside the baxx or blue sky, but perfectly valid and effective alternatives, you could read up on some of the things Roland @pando has been sharing with us - may be you have already seen his YouTube channel, if not, you may wish to check it out here
do your own research and find what works for you
Nice to meet you and wishing you all the very best.
@Mrs5K made a fair point in preparation for returning to work when she said
If you can just go in for an hour or two prior to a phased return to work, that will be kinder on your brain, avoiding getting it too overwhelmed. Brain fatigue is different to physical fatigue, so by getting all the greetings, well wishing and nervousness out of the way with first, your brain won’t feel so overwhelmed and fatigued. You can go home, put your feet up and think phew, I’m glad I got that bit out of the way. Your brain will thank for that
You are right re the well wishes, greetings etc. Everyone wants a piece of you on day 1 & it’s exhausting. I had already done that bit so day 1 was much easier. It also helped with my nerves about going back as I knw everyone was looking forward to me being back & I almost felt like I had never been away…well apart from not knowing how I was going to get through doing some actual work
my teams have been very supportive so far though, and I have good people rooting for me, so I am hopeful 
x
