Hi Rups,
Thanks for your reply, it was an Ischaemic stroke, I am lucky with both of my jobs supporting me and talking to the stroke team yesterday in rehab, they are saying the same, you need to rest for a min of six months and you are right the rest of the world can wait. The support and advice that you have all given has been great to hear it from people that are going through the same. thanks so much
Bear
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@Bear i too thought Iād be able to go back to work quickly. It turned out to be 17 months later & i have to say itās still a struggle & iām only working 18 hrs a week at min. Like you i was mega busy pre stroke. Take all the time you need. Rushing on too soon might set you back & could ultimately mean youāre off longer. Time to think about you i think.
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Hi Mrs 5K
Thanks for reading my post. You are right as well as everyone else on here you all keep saying that I need to rest and not worry about work as its still really early days. I need to rest this body that Ive been treating badly.
I wish you all the best and thanks.
Bear
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Hi Bear, I also had an ischaemic stroke 2.5yrs ago and I had it all planned out, I would be back at my extremely busy stressful job (which I love) within 3 months ā¦ well fortunately that plan didnāt work out and I say fortunately because looking back now, to be brutally honest, I would have failed! Life changes in a heartbeat when you have a stroke and the rules you followed pre-stroke are different post-stroke and your brain & body need to figure these new rules out. But that definitely doesnāt mean life will never be the same again, because you are still the same person but with different challenges to fight and win! Everyone has their own timeline because every stroke is different. It took me 9months to get back to work on a very graduated return but have been back full time now for over a year so there is, light at the end of the tunnel you just have to take your time getting there ā¦
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Hi Dave
I am a retired Firefighter of 32 years in Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue. Retired March 2021 and had my stroke May 12th 2022.
Like yourself my stroke was not picked up straightaway until I had MRI SCAN on 13th May 2022.
Had no major signs of stroke before it hit me but in blink of an eye whole left side went numb. Pins and needles and couldnāt walk in straight line. No FAST signs !
13 months on and still have the numbness, pains and needles and all joints on left side are stiff but Iām leading a fairly normal life and walking back to normal. I find that if Iām active and not thinking of the symptoms then they seem to go out of your mind. Itās when you are sitting or in bed , inactive then they are more evident. Iāve learnt to live with the side affects and just hope that one day I wake up and they have gone !!
Itās still very early days for you and youāll be thinking why me, what could I have done but like many of us stroke survivors thereās no rhyme or reason why itās happened .
Keep strong , keep positive and every day is a day of progress
Richie
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Hi Debbie,
Thanks for reading my story. Thanks for the advice. I think a lot of my problem is acceptance as I cant see anything physically wrong and the bit that is not working correctly is in my head.
Big thanks for contacting me and I hope you are on the right path now.
Best wishes
Bear
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Hi Richie,
Thanks for reading my post and your reply, and thanks for your dedication to the job for 32years , Iām still hoping to get my 20year service medal but will wait and see.
Its so shocking how a stroke can strike and without any of the common features. I was so lucky that I wasnāt in my car as driving 80 miles to work when it happened. You are right there are loads of questions of why me could it have had some thing to do with breathing in a load of acrid smoke from a fire a went to a few weeks before or was it from two jobs with stress and loads of lack of sleep. but they are all the unknown questions and like most things you cant turn back the clock, what has happened has happened and how the hard thing is the acceptance, People look at me and say you look great 3 weeks after your stroke youll be back at the station in a few weeks, but guess they cant see the Janet and john rehab exercises the stroke team are giving me and i cant get right or not knowing whats happening one day to the next cause i cant remember. and you are right every day is a day of progress even at this slow speed.
Thanks Richie be safe mate
Bear
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That could just be because your brain is too busy healing and repairing to hold too many memories to the fore. So itās relying on you to make lists and keep calendars up to date so your brain doesnāt have toā¦itās all about team work 
Thatās just how I look at it anyway 
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How you doing now mate?
Kieran 
