I recently received a Stroke Association letter about Dr Alan Cameron’s that made me reflect on my own stroke 2 years ago and subsquent treatment as I too was worried about another one.
So my stroke occured 2 years ago in France when I was on holiday and subsequently I spent 5 days in intensive care. Fortunately it turned out to be relatively small and I eventually made a full recovery (my main symptons were expressive aphasia and memory loss). On discharge I was that if I was staying in France I would be fitted with a heart loop monitor that would remain in place for 3+ years to identify signs of AF.
Returning to the UK, I was seen in the private health care system - PHI is provided by my employer - and this identified that I had a hole in the heart (a nice little opening where a clot could pass). But before closing the said hole (PFO) - as a second stroke could happen through this pathway - the doctors wanted to make sure I didn’t have AF so a loop monitor was fitted. Over a year this didn’t detect any AF so the PFO was closed in a simple operation, but I still have the loop monitor to check the PFO closure hasn’t resulted in any AF. So far so good.
This leads to my point that for UK stroke victims, we would be best served by the NHS if hearts are tested for PFOs and other holes and loop monitors are fitted as standard practice as it seemed they are in France (and maybe other countries).
Hi @RikH and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your stroke but good to hear that you’ve made a good recovery. It’s good that you have been checked over for AF and PFO & subsequently had your PFO closed.
I guess it is something the NHS could consider. I wasn’t checked for a PFO until 2 years after my stroke (no PFO) and I had A heart monitor for 2 days but never had a loop recorder fitted.
Apparently 20% of the country have PFO,s butt not everyone has a stroke. With this in mind would you go through heart surgery just in case you had a stroke. I’m sure having had a stroke you would say yes but without knowing what you no now , a lot of people would not want the worry of heart surgery especially if they are told they may never have a stroke . I had my stroke in march 2025 followed by a PFO in march 2026 and still recovering. I think if I was given the option of a PFO in my twenties I would have declined surgery, thinking " it won’t happen to me". I don’t think the NHS have the resources to check every new born
Please don’t take this the wrong way none off us wanted this or deserved it .
I hope your recovering well , keep going , never give up.
Firstly, it’s Hello @RikH and welcome to the community. It’s nice to meet you and thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts.
Secondly, @Russ1 - I really like your comment. It’s a tricky subject to deal with on a forum like this i.e. when we are writing notes to each other and there may be time lapses and other comments coming in between thus making it difficult to be cohesive.
That said, I feel it is worth trying and my input or contribution to this is around the risk element and this is where I feel Russ’s comments is worth a read and a re-read. Of course this is very much a personal view and we will all have our own views on this, but I do think we may
not all understand the way the risk is explained to us (if indeed it is explained to us) by the medical profesionals
all have a different approach to managing said risk.
As I understand it:
the risk will always be there whether it is related to the first stroke or subsequent strokes
the preventative measures may reduce the risk, but cannot eliminate the risk or prevent the stroke from happening
if you are at risk (which I am) a stroke may happen or it may not (and so whilst I can say “it won’t happen to me”), there is nothing I can do to ensure that.
if it happens, I have to accept it (cannot prevent/stop it from happening - only manage the risk) and deal with it!
I believe, and this is my mantra, it’s all about risk and your attitude to it - there is no right or wrong approach to this. It’s the approach you are most comfortable with that will suit you the best.
Thanks for your reply Russ. Your points are very valid, everyone has a different experience, recommendation and take on this. Certainly there is little point to close the PFO if there may never be a stroke. I am in my 60s when I was diagnosed and took the operation when offered, it was done as a day patient and my recovery was a week or so. Hope it helps.
- very fair and pragmatic @ManjiB. I think what you have said about understanding the risk is key and sometimes I know that is difficult, not knowing what questions to ask and understanding the responses isn’t always easy. Stroke Association’s helpline was really helpful for that in my experience. All the best.
- very fair and pragmatic