Stroke! It couldn’t happen to me… could it?

Three weeks ago I felt like a superhero. The sort of person who could clear whole mountains in a single bound whilst wearing my pants on the outside.?Now I’m in bed feeling very sorry for myself after having had a Stroke, immediately preceded by Covid and earlier this Summer by my first, and hopefully last, brush with Skin Cancer.

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This was a small Stroke and not one that, God willing, will cause me any long-term difficulty. It’s something called a Transient Ischemic Attack, TIA, a real entry level stroke but my goodness, it does pack a punch and serves as a big wake up call.

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This time last year I was fit and healthy, major illness was not something that I gave much thought to.?Over the Summer I was diagnosed with early-stage Skin Cancer, my world was rocked but thanks to the great team at Oxford University Hospitals, this was cut out (very neatly) and everything returned to normal.

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Three weeks ago, my wife and I managed to catch Covid and being the ‘superhero’ that I am in my head I soldiered on. It was the worst timing, we run a business I’m Mayor of my home-town and am starting a new Coffee Shop with my son.

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On Covid release day we went out for early evening drinks with two of our closest friends who had also been confined. By 7pm I was apparently making little sense, at least less sense than I should for that level of alcohol consumption. We headed home where I fall asleep, my wife couldn’t wake me and so I stayed sleeping on the sofa until 1am.

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The following morning, I woke at 7.30 on Sunday feeling very odd, wobbly, and tired.?Everything felt most peculiar, there was a loss of periphery vision in one eye, my balance had gone and I felt sick. ?Despite my wife’s concerns I went back to sleep.?At 8.30 I re woke and put my lethargy down to a hangover, despite not having drunk that much. My periphery vision was worse.

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Eventually, much later, I tried to get up, even making it as far as the kitchen table. The room was spinning and I felt awful so immediately returned to bed accepting the fact that Sunday was a write off. I actually fell up the top two steps on the way back, a fact I hid from my wife at the time.

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By about lunchtime my lower legs were feeling unusually heavy, and my balance was shot. Lucy called 111 to ask advice. I protested but by now, apparently, I was talking fluent gibberish, who knew that I could speak another language.?The emergency services person was great when they called back; she persuaded me out of bed and got us on our way to the John Radcliffe hospital within an hour. Once there we were initially advised that we would have a two hour wait. That was, at least, until they saw me. ?A Triage Nurse shone a light in my eyes, looked concerned then called for backup. I was whisked away to undergo a barrage of tests with me becoming more emotional, tearful and confused.

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They did tell me that I had undergone a Stroke and someone must have phoned Lucy to tell her where I was going. I couldn’t then, and for a long while after, easily remember that what I had experienced was a Stroke. The word just wouldn’t stay in my head so in the end I wrote it in my phone so I could let people know. I was admitted.

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Over the following day I made good progress demonstrating thankfully few of the major symptoms before being discharged into Lucy’s care.

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Everything went well and I felt good enough to make some business calls on the Wednesday, that’s when it all went wrong again. By early evening I grew tired, went numb down one side and had to return to bed. Lucy, taking no chances this time, called the ambulance which arrived quickly and wanted to take me back in. Repeated checking of my blood pressure and a call with the Doctor on duty persuaded them to leave me at home. They gave me a pill, told me to go to bed and to show up at A&E the following morning. After undergoing another barrage of checks I was told that what I had been experiencing was common enough and means that I was repairing.

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So now, two and a half weeks on, I’m still getting problems with the periphery of my vision and on occasions, suffer some confused thinking. My BP is way higher than anyone would like and I’m dropping asleep on a sixpence, but all in all it feels like we are making slow progress. I’m actually starting to do some emails and re-engaging with what is happening in the business and the world.

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So my lesson from this. Apparently I’m not a Super Hero and am no longer invincible. I am not much overweight; I don’t smoke at all and don’t drink excessively so it’s hard to see lots of things to change. Before this I would manage three trips to the gym per week and usually 10,000 steps a day.

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What it says to me is that this sort of thing can happen to any of us at any time especially with Covid doing the rounds.

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A few top tips

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If you have COVID keep checking your blood pressure as it can shoot up and cause problems you wouldn’t imagine, even if you are symptom free.

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Don’t wait. If you have any symptoms of a Stroke, call 999 or visit A&E, the sooner you catch it the more chance there is of fixing it, four hours is the magic window.

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Remember to watch for the signs: FAST and the updated and far more appropriate for me is BE-FAST, see the picture. The quicker you get help the more chance you have of a good recovery.?

Don’t believe that it can’t happen to you and take care.