Here, you will find the Nick's story after experiencing a stroke during lockdown. Nick was interview by Hannah.
Please could you tell me your story, what happened and your initial symptoms?
In May 2020 (lockdown) I was working in the garden, doing work on the house. You know that feeling when you get up too quickly and feel dizzy? - mine was twice as bad as that, I then fell. My wife found me face down on the floor and unconscious. When she brought me round, she thought it was heatstroke as it was one of those hot May days during lockdown and I’d been working outside for a couple hours - however I knew it was something else as I had lost vision in my right eye. My wife managed to get me inside and get me a drink and some biscuits, and my vision came back. I then had a nap and woke up feeling worse, with the right side of my body from my face to my thigh being completely numb, this then spread further down my leg to my thigh, however we did not think it was a stroke because the side of my face was not dropping. My wife was concerned and called the ambulance (she couldn’t come with me because of lockdown restrictions - that was hard), I then had an MRI and CAT scan at the hospital, when they told me I had a blood clot in my brain that had caused a stroke, I burst into tears.
I was really frustrated to have had a stroke when I have always looked after my health so well, I don’t smoke, I keep active and I don’t drink much alcohol or have takeaway food much. Yet, in the blink of an eye, my health changed so rapidly.
My wife reminded me that I banged the back of my head really hard recently and it was sore afterwards - however I did not think that that incident could have caused this. It really shows how delicate we are.
I have since had an MRI scan that has shown that the de-clotting medication has removed the blood clot in my brain.
How has this injury has affected your life? Such as the impact on your work, relationships, wellbeing and outlook on life?
It really has impacted my life, I had five and a half months off work, I have had to re-learn information for work (I’m a train driver, which meant I needed to route-learn). This injury has drastically affected my short-term memory, which is difficult and must be frustrating for my wife too with me forgetting something right after she tells me.
It has affected my wellbeing as I cannot do everything I used to, it’s frustrating. However, I try to put a positive spin on everything, “when life throws you curveballs, you have to make the most of it”. For example, it’s frustrating that I will be medically retired, however I was due to retire in 3 years anyway and this way, I am able to spend more time with my granddaughter and family members.
It’s made me realise how delicate we are, how one little thing like the bang on my head can change everything. It has definitely changed my perspective on life.
What support did you have post-injury?
Having support from my family and counselling sessions from work has been helpful post-injury.
I was lucky in that I stayed on full-pay whilst off from work so did not require financial support, but I can imagine how difficult it must be for people without this.
Support from the hospital’s neuro team was really helpful, supporting me from home.
What advice would you give to others who have also experienced a brain injury?
Listen to medical advice post-injury, even if it is frustrating. For example, for me it was hard to not exercise but I had to listen to them to not cause further injury.
Remember, progress/improvement can take time, be patient and results will show. I am not completely like I was before the injury but I am getting back to my near normal post-stroke.
What support do you think would have been helpful for you/for others with similar experiences?
I think it’s important for support to be tailored to each person, for me, it would have been great to have access to the gym (although this was difficult during covid), but is great in helping to avoid post-injury weight gain.
For some people, speaking to people who have had similar experiences may be helpful, this may be especially beneficial for family members to receive support. However my family and I have supported each other through this.
Is there anything you think there needs to be more information about to help others?
There needs to be more information/awareness/education about the other stroke symptoms. I didn’t have the drooped mouth and neither did my friend, but we did both get blindness in one eye. We had never heard about blindness as a symptom before. Maybe having more awareness about this may help with someone getting the right care they need straight away.
Thank you Nick for sharing your story.
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