Ive been lurking and reading for a week or so and thought I’d register and share my journey so far. Sorry if this post is a long read!!
Started around January with a constant headache and neck pain. Finally booked to see the GP and that same morning had a really sharp pain behind my right eye and couldn’t walk in a straight line. 10 mins later I was back to normal. Doc did a few tests looking for FAST signs and they were all fine.
Next morning while at work I went off balance felt really sick and as a HGV driver I called it a day and went home. Luckily I’d not left the yard yet. My whole left side started to go numb and cold so eventually saw an out of hours GP and he sent me straight to a&e suspecting Posterior Circulation Stroke. They did a CT that came back clear and sent me home with some aspirin and an appt to the TIA clinic in a few days.
At the clinic he did an MRI and an hour later rang to say come back and pick up some more meds you’ve had a stroke in the back of your head.
Fast forward to now and I’ve had a 24hour ecg, another CT with a dye and an echo of my heart. Hopefully the consultant will be back in touch now my tests are done as I’ve not heard from the hospital since the 4th Feb.
Its been a difficult time with being off work and at home full time with 2 young girls. One is 6 and the other just turned 1. Trying to keep positive but theres good days and bad. Ive had to inform the DVLA of my stroke and they’ve removed my HGV entitlements from my license. Hopefully work can find me alternative duties in the meantime when I’m ready to go back.
My balance has mostly come back, I might feel it only when I’m walking around the house in-between rooms. My left side numbness was strange. I could feel touch but nothing when scratched or pain and had no feeling of temperature. Getting close to 2 months since my stroke and I can feel light and heavy touch in my arm but no change from the waist down. I still can’t feel hot things but cold things feel very uncomfortable almost painful. I’m left handed so still learning to test things with my right hand before i go in with my left. I’m keeping the blood flowing and trying to get out and wobble around the village with the pushchair to hold onto. Currently doing about 2-3 miles a day when i can.
Anyway sorry for the long read. If you’ve made it this far I thank you.
@DarrenB Hi & wrlcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your stroke. My stroke presented as dizziness, off balance & although I didn’t think anything of it at the tome I too had a pain behind my right eye a couple of weeks before my stroke. I was told it was connected when I got my diagnosis.
I hope, when you are ready to retutn to work, that your employer can find you alternative duties. But don’t rush back to work too soon. Concentrate on your recovery right now. It’s tough when they take your licence of you especially if that is how you made your living.
Well done on your walking. 2-3 miles a day is a great achievement.
It is still very early in your recovery journey so all the issues you have should improve as time goes forward.
Hello Darren @DarrenB - welcome to the community and thank you for sharing your story with us.
Not a long read and apology not required
Good to see you are making good progress and working on your recovery.
Having spent some time on this site, you will no doubt be familiar with the sort of advice and support you will likely get from those members who also lurk and spend time on this forum
Whether you choose to treat this as a marathon or as a hundred yard dash, I wish you success. You have a lovely family to keep you going and of course you have this forum to turn to as needed.
Taking every day as it comes. Not pushing myself hard just doing what I can when I can. The letter from the DVLA turned up this morning confirming my fears. I’ve got to send my license back to them and they’ve removed my HGV entitlements. I can reapply in 12 months once I’ve had a medical.
Welcome to the Online Community, I’m sorry to hear about your stroke.
It sounds like you’ve made some good progress, well done on walking 2-3 miles. Make sure you rest when you need to, that’s also important.
When the time comes, if you need any support with work remember our Stroke Support Helpline:0303 3033 100 has a wealth of information about returning to work.
Wishing you all the best with your continued recovery and if you need anything whilst you’re using the Online Community, please don’t hesitate to tag me using the @ symbol and my username.
Perhaps this might be a blessing in disguise as it offers you the opportunity to spend time with your young family. I think we don’t spend enough time as family units as we used to in days of old.
You never know, something amazing may come out of this. Certainly, your daughters will get to their Daddy much more than if he was out on the road
