We all roll with what we deem to be normal life routine without perhaps realising the potential impact on our overall health.
A stroke is a very serious bi product of a busy adrenalin fuelled existence.
Causes of stroke are broadly speaking individual, damage is very different each time as is the recovery journey.
But it can be a useful positive thing to make positive health dietary and lifestyle changes. And give a reset to stress and non helpful pressures.
The psychological aspects of stroke are massively underestimated imo. X
Ive bolunteered for one of the resesrch projects listed on here around working age stroke survivors and their psychological approach to recovery. Student is cslled Charlotte Fisher i think x
I have wondered what life is like now compared to pre-stroke. Obviously things have changed since my stroke but I am looking forward to getting back to close to how things were before - and that is my challenge and ambition going forward
@SimonInEdinburgh i agree. Different doesn’t always mean worse / bad. Could definitely do without some of the challenges I’m currently experiencing as you no doubt could too. But how boring life would be without a challenge or 3.
I had my stroke (tia) in November. I’m aged 76 and considered myself to be quite fit. Prior to November my wife fell down the stairs and suffered multiple fractures. I confess I subsequently lost the plot and ate badly and drank too much! When she was discharged from intensive care I thought everything would be ok! Instead a few weeks later I couldn’t get up from the settee , totally unaware I’d had a stroke. I feel I dodged a bullet. I was quickly taken to hospital and loaded with apixaban. If you could see me now you probably wouldn’t know I’d had a stroke. The water tablets have reduced my swellings and I’ve just had a round of cardio conversion . I’m still very fatigued and could sleep for England! My appetite is poor and I seem to only want simple foods. Am happy with chicken and fish and soup! If I eat lunch late a bowl of cereals will suffice in the evening ! I no longer drink alcohol. A lime and soda or Diet Coke are fine. I frequently forget my cup of tea and forget to put a capsule in my Nespresso machine. With the onset of warmer weather I hope to get out more. All very boring but I consider myself to be lucky!
I don’t a stick but am very much permanently knackered! I’ve stopped drinking alcohol and not missed it! My appetite is poor, I seem to like simple foods like chicken, fish and soup! Am not bothered by driving but I must get back to it. Can’t wait for bed at night!
Fatigue is a big issue with me! I literally could sleep for England. Now it’s getting warmer I hope to go walking more. Brain fog occasionally creeps in ! Hopefully it wall pass?
You went through a tough time there @Richard3. Hope your wife has recovered ok from her fall. Then to be hit by a stroke…that’s unlucky. Spunds like you’re getting on ok though. Nivember isn’t that long ago in sttoke terms so the fatigue & other things you’re feeling are quite normal. I still get fatigue 17 months on. My appetite isn’t great still either. Hope you manage to get out more now the warmer days are here.
I had my stroke almost 12 years ago now.
I still get moments of fatigue and find i cant manage in crowd situations when there is a lot of talking going on. Having said that i did go back to scottish country dancing about 3 months after my stroke and have kept that up though not doing the proper steps correctly! Then last july i had a heart attack which put me back quite a bit. But once again i rallied round and am off to a dancing week in Llandudno tomorrow!So what i am trying to say is never give up and to keep on going.
@Cara_phoebe welcome to the club. My stroke was 17 months ago. Doing ok although just when I think i’m moving forward I have a setback. Like everyone I guess. I think it’s fab that you got back to dancing so soon after your stroke.
I took my dad to llandudno for his last holiday so it will always have a special place in my heart.
Thanks so much @Mrs5K . What you’ve written is both inspiring and a wake up. I had my strokes (two) in April 2020 as a result of Covid. I’ve recovered well, astonishingly according to doctors. But I don’t feel astonishing! There was loss; losing touch with work friends, no more cycling or driving, and a forced retirement from my main hobby of scuba diving, which I loved and which I taught. I lost the sense of invulnerability that I had, even when I worked as a foreign correspondent. There stroke has caused difficulties; friction with the family, arguments with my wife. I have found a wonderful therapist, and it’s helping. But as you all know, there’s no quick fix. I do have one strong group of friends whom I swim with and who have been amazing. My family has also supported me and made me feel loved. What you - and my wife - have inspired me to do is not to sit alone, both self-pitying and scared, but to get on with it. I’m beginning to reach out. Like others, I am retired. I may have had to miss my last year of work, but at 67 I would have been retired now anyway. Life really is a glass half full, or half empty. And I wobble between the two. But you are all an inspiration to stay half full, or even to top up the glass. Today I reached out to five friends that I had lost touch with. As they say in the Spanish-speaking countries that I lived in when working, adelante!
