In the months since my stroke, I’ve gone from someone who thought it only affected older people, to realising it can strike anyone at all. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, rich or poor, male or female, black or white, fat or thin.
It has been a real eye opener that I’m sure is lost on a great number of people (as it was on me).
There is no real point to this post, it is just an observation. However, I have found this forum (and the other work done by the stroke association) has helped me tremendously for which I am so grateful.
You, Ladies & Gents (on the forum) are a huge part of why it works so well. The feeling of togetherness and a shared experience makes your words so much more meaningful and I want to thank you for helping me along my road to recovery .
I’ll stop gushing now, but remember, we are all in this together!
Hello again Mark, @Ingo66. Stroke does not discriminate nor is it discerning. In the early months of recovery, I felt that I wanted to get better, and rejoin “regular society”, I thought it an aphorism to become immersed in my condition and defer to having a disability. However, when I met other stroke survivors, and got talking, I realised that there were so many who were managing much more debilitating symptoms than I was. I am in contact with barristers, gardeners, lorry drivers, headmasters, teachers, carpenters, disc-jockeys, librarians, lawyers, nurses, retirees, police officers, &c. We are from all walks of life and have had to put the brakes on suddenly to redress a circumstance many of us would have thought inconceivable before stroke. I couldn’t walk away from it. Everyday, there are new survivors joining this community, and everyday someone is suffering in silence or having to face mortality prematurely. After a while, it does feel like being a stroke veteran, and a community of stroke veterans make a stronger support network for others experiencing this unnerving predicament. It has a special place in humanity because what has been afflicted is the very seat of consciousness. If I injure my foot, my brain can use all its faculties to manage that condition, but if I injure my brain?
Hi Rups @Rups (sorry for the late reply, I was working this afternoon) I agree with what you say about always someone worse off. I was in hospital with someone that could not talk or feed themselves and in rehab with a guy who was left blind after a haemorrhagic stroke.
You are a stroke veteran and a budding Dylan Thomas!
Your comments are so true
Like all others I thought stroke happens to old people, and never thought I could happen to me even though I was over weight an had high blood pressure .
I was so wrong and urge people the the find out their blood pressure and get it sorted if required