I had my stroke in October 24. Left with light sensitivity and the dreaded fatigue. I’m a health visitor. I have dropped from full time to permanent 3 days a week. Planned my reasonable adjustments ( lots of wfh, dark mode laptop etc , no meetings for quite some time ) and an extended ( 3 -6 month) phased return. Plan is to start off on 3 hours a week and increase over time. Mostly working from home. I feel mentally ready. But terrified that I’m not physically ready. Don’t know what to do. Scared of going back and ending up off sick again.
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Hi @Seddso I have returned to work after my stroke but had to reduce to part time. I did a 4 month phased return starting at 2 hrs a day. I work from home 99% of the time & have lots of adjustments in place including software to help me read & write which i needed a lot at the beginning.
I was worried about going back & I am not going to pretend it is easy because it isn’t but I am glad I went back. It gives me purpose again & makes me feel useful.
Be prepared for the fatigue it hit me harder than I imagined & it still does after being back 2 years the other thing that surprised me was the first couple of months I felt quite down as going back seemed to remind me of all the rhings I was no longer able to do.
I would say go for it if you are ready. Be prepared to adjust your phased return plan if you need to. Be honest with your manager about how you are getting on.
Before I went back I joined a couple of online meetings to get myself used to a bit of work again & help get me up to speed with what I had missed.
Good luck. You’ll do great I am sure.
Best wishes
Ann
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You’ll be alright - go ahead and do it. Try no to overthink it. You’ve planned it and you know the things you need to watch out for, now it’s a case of doing it.
Wishing you all the best as you return to work.
