I was somewhat reluctant to include this page but was convinced by my husband who pointed
out that my story may be of help to someone else who has just had his or her life turned
upside down in an instant because of a serious stroke or other serious brain injury.
We never know what is around the corner and what curve ball life is going to throw our way.
All was going well. I enjoyed my job, was fit and healthy, (had completed
the Kepler Challenge
Mountain run five times over previous years along with several other duathlons and runs.
(not in amazing times but completed.) I had tramped many of the tracks in Fiordland
including the challenging Dusky Sound track, and had run over the Milford track in a
day with colleagues. In July 2009 I had completed the three week "Outward Bound" course.
Outward Bound
I coached swimming, was a national referee and examiner and very involved
with both local and Southland swimming being a life member of both. I coached Netball
during the winter months and was a qualified umpire, travelling to Winton every Saturday.
Work-wise I was Head of Technology
at the local form 1-7 College. I enjoyed teaching,
especially in Fabric Technology. I also loved working in my flower gardens and this along
with my membership and involvement with the local Patchwork and Embroidery groups was my
recreation time.
Then without any warning signs my world changed in an instant! On November the 9th 2009 I had come inside from gardening
when I started to feel odd. Half way up the staircase,I lost the use of my leg and arm and
fell. I crawled to the top of the stairs and lay there for ten minutes before my husband
come home, found me there and called 111. Rushed to hospital I had suffered a cerebral bleed
affecting an area of my brain about the size and shape of an egg and fifteen millimetres thick.
I was transferred to the Rehab unit at Wakari hospital in Dunedin a few days later.
The team at there were wonderful and I cannot speak highly enough of them.
If you or someone you know has been through this you will understand the devastation of being
told you need a long period of rehabilitation, to be able to talk again without slurred speech,
walk again only with the aid of a stick, use only one arm for everything including basic
personal hygiene and eating and how to cope with memory problems, plus Aphasia. I was paralyzed
down my right side, my dominant right arm completely useless my right leg a struggle,
speech was slurred, memory and concentration a struggle and I had to learn to cope with
Aphasia (I did later regain some
use of my right knee. That was the only recovery
from my initial condition.
Every other improvement came from learning new skills with the help of a speech therapist,
physios and the other excellent members of my recovery team over the next four months at Wakari
hospital. All the help and support in the world cannot change the fact that I could no
longer do many of the things that made up my life before Nov 9th 2009.
Recovery is a steep hill to climb as any of you will know if you have been or are in the
same or a similar situation, especially the mental acceptance.
At the start, I just did not
accept it! I got very depressed, did not want to be in public
because I thought people would stare at me. I worked well with the physio,
speech therapists and other specialist personal but the mental realization was very tough
to accept. I came home after four months at still not fully accepting my circumstances.
However, there is no going back and the sooner you accept the realization that life is not
the same the sooner you can start to build a new one. It took me ten months to accept the
reality that I would never be in charge of a classroom again and took
early medical retirement from my teaching job and started to rebuild my life.
Sewing, patchwork and embroidery had been my past times and part of my job so I decided that they would
be my go to now. One issue of course only one arm and a left arm at that, it took a lot of
perseverance but I began to master the techniques needed to use my sewing machine and hand
sew one armed. The result of this is the bags presented on this website and other items made for
family and friends. I also returned to embroidery and while there are a few techniques I
simply can not do I continue to produce pieces I am very satisfied with. Other things started
to fill up my life again. After several years of having to rely on others.I eventually gained
approval to drive again from my Neurologist if I could pass the tests.
I did pass all the tests and regained my drivers license. (My car has been modified, accelerator on the left and
knob on wheel to steer with and operate indicators, lights, etc.) I have joined Frenz NZ
,
helped set up a small local group of similar stroke sufferers, returned to the swimming
club to assist the coaches (after the surrounds of the pool became non-slip in a pool upgrade).
I swim
lengths of the local 25m pool during the summer months reaching a peak last year of 30 lengths
a session. Some things I will never return to but even those can be replaced, indoor bowls
as a sport, plus long walks and gym sessions (accompanied by a care-giver). There have been set
backs physically, another aneurism much lower down in the brain that was successfully
coiled
by the neuro-surgeons at Christchurch hospital. Luckily it didn't rupture first!
An operation to lengthen leg tendons to allow my right foot to sit flat on the ground and
to cosmetically straighten fingers in my right hand. More spells back at Wakiri hospital
before the leg issue was resolved with surgery and to recover afterwards but once the mind-set
is in place these become routine and easier to deal with.
It has been quite a journey from the moments walking up the stairs November 9th 2009 until now and I have been helped by a very supportive husband and family. As those who have been through a similar trauma will know with the right mind-set life will get back on the rails again, different of course, but simply a new chapter and if you are just setting out on this journey after a recent stroke or brain injury keep in mind that your life will change and there is no going back, but there is a new life that can be just as busy and fulfilling as the previous one.