My stroke story 2
August 2014
I was still coming down for the heady highs of my wonderful wedding celebrations. After weeks of fun, excitement and food, it was time to spend some time with my new husband. We decided to delay plans for a honeymoon, while we figured out our imminent move across the country.
Saturday, 16 August 2014
My parents’ house, Norwich
Just days after the last of my overseas relatives had returned home, I awoke in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. There was a strange sensation in my right arm. It felt less like a part of my own body and more like an alien appendage. It felt heavy and unfamiliar. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I tried to tell my husband, who was still half asleep that that something did not feel right, but the words would not come out. I could not form the sounds and felt my speech shutting down. Panic rose in my chest and my eyes welled up but my husband laid me down and comforted me. It seemed to pass; so, I went back to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I felt a bit better; my speech appeared to have recovered but that strange numbness in my arm persisted. I called NHS Direct (111) and they wanted to send an ambulance immediately, as these were obvious symptom of a stroke or a “Transient Ischaemic Attack.”
I lived close to the hospital and suggested that I could make my own way there faster. Without wasting a moment, we reached the A&E department of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. I was promptly assessed and a CT scan of the brain was done straightway. The results of the scan did not raise anything unusual; so, I was discharged with advice to return immediately for a full CT angiogram if similar symptoms were to reappear. In that moment everything seemed to have returned to normal, and my husband and I drove to my in-laws’ house in Yorkshire, where we were planning on staying for a while.
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
My in-law’s house, Skipton
I woke up again in the middle of the night with a severe headache. The bedroom that I had only been sleeping in for a couple of nights seemed even more unfamiliar in the dark but there was nothing unfamiliar about the horrible numbness in my right arm. I kicked off the blanket and grabbed my head with both hands and shook violently, hoping to wield off this extreme pain. I tried to speak, but at that point, I could form no words. My extensive tri-lingual vocabulary had evaporated. I sat up, pointed and gestured to my husband until he took notice of my unresponsive arm that lay limply on the side of my body. The entire right side had lost all sensation, I could not move. Suddenly, I felt like an outsider looking onto my own form.
My husband called for an ambulance and this time they took me to the A&E in Airedale General Hospital.
A doctor came to see me with no urgency. He informed me that it must be a migraine or a very bad headache. He sent me home with a prescription for ibuprofen and an aura of confusion. He felt there was no need for a CT scan, especially this late at night when the local technician had been sent home for the long weekend. He dismissed the recommendation of the previous doctor and sent me home without further review but with an immobile arm and zero ability to speak. At that point I started to zone in and out of consciousness; I was drowsy and very confused. I went back to my new room in my in-laws’ house and fell into a deep sleep for the rest of the day.
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
My in-laws’ house, Skipton
At this point I must have really started to believe in the regenerative benefits of sleep. When I woke up the next day, as if by magic, both the sensation in my body and ability to converse had somewhat returned but the horrid headache would not yield. It kept coming back, on and off, all throughout the day. By evening, I had had enough, the headache had intensified, so, I took two Anadin tablets and went straight back to bed.
Friday, 22 August 2014
My In-laws’ house, Skipton
It was like a horror movie, I woke up, again in the middle of the night with a sharp headache. When I tried to call for help, both my speech and the feelings on right side of my body were once again gone.
I ended up back at the doctors, this time it was the GP. He assessed me and even called for additional support from an out-of-clinic specialist. These two professionals concluded that I was suffering from an obstinate migraine and I was sent home with the advice to take Aspirin, 3 times a day! He affirmed that there was no need to visit a hospital, these symptoms did not require further care, just rest.
I went back to my in-laws’ home and went back to sleep but this time when I woke up to grab a bite to eat, I did not feel like myself. I could barely open my eyes, my senses and my words were lost in an overwhelming tiredness.
My husband called for an ambulance once again and about an hour later I was back at the hospital. This time the experience was a little less lucid. I remember being sick in the ambulance and not being able to move. I almost fell when I tried to get up... but someone was there to help…
I waited my turn along with the room full of others to meet with a professional. Two long hours later, a doctor finally came to see me. My insides were in turmoil; by this point I must have thrown up the entire sandwich my husband brought me in the evening. I remember waiting in the empty hospital corridors, while I slowly drained away from my own body. I feel into a deep sleep… and when I woke up nothing had changed. I was trapped in this horrible nightmare. I looked around blankly and realised my speech was not coming back.
After a check X-ray at 3 am, I was admitted into the hospital. My husband was sent home… with the promise that the doctors and nurses would take good care of me.
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Airedale Hospital, Skipton
The next morning, I don’t remember meeting with a doctor. I was discharged around 9 am and told to empty my bed. I was all alone; with my thoughts sealed in, I couldn’t even explain that I had no way of going home. I tried to make my way out of the ward, when luckily I bumped into my husband, who was on his way to find me in my bed. He was shocked to see me strolling out unattended in a daze. He sat me down and went off to request a meeting with the doctor, to try and find out what was going on. After what seemed like a very long wait, the consultant in charge came out to reassure him that there was no major concern and he was happy for me to go home. He suggested, I go back to the GP and come back for a MRI scan as an outpatient after the bank holiday weekend.
By this point I was unable to speak even a single syllable and could only stand up with support. As my husband helped me towards the exit and toward the car, I lost all controls on my right side and collapsed in the visitors’ car park. My husband went frantic; he got hold of a wheelchair and rushed me back in to the ward but I was told to leave and wait in the patient’s lounge. I waited, barely conscious, in the hospital wheelchair, while my husband rushed around pleading with the doctors to come and have a look and begging the nurses to give me a bed. I waited, in that chair, in and out of consciousness, for 8 long hours for a doctor to come and see me.
The same consultant, who reassured us that nothing was wrong, reappeared. He reaffirmed that after looking at the week-old CT scan report from NNUH, he was confident that this was a soft neurological signs with no indications of stroke. He discharged me with the advice to return to the day clinic after the bank holiday, to be reviewed by a neurologist.
I was back at my in-laws’ house. My husband helped me freshen up and change. I couldn’t feel my right side. I couldn’t say anything. A strange restlessness filled my chest but the tiredness was too overpowering, I went back to sleep.
My family was informed, they rushed to be by my side but I don’t remember any of that.
Sunday 24 August 2014
My In-Laws’ house, Skipton
My husband found me totally unresponsive in bed the next morning. Another ambulance was called and I was taken to back to the Airedale A&E. They finally carried out the ‘ever-so-urgent’ CT scan of the brain to discover a blockage in the main MCA artery had caused a major stroke, which by this point had caused maximum damage to the brain. The doctor told us it was too late to do anything and had the clot been removed sooner, it would have been possible to avoid this damage.
You would think this would be enough of an ordeal but I’ll tell you rest of the story another time.
For now, I am left with major mobility issues, a severe speech impediment, and deep psychological scars. According to doctors, the recovery at best will be slow, gradual, and partial…
Coming soon for “My stroke story 3”
(Edited by Ayisha)
