I remember eventually falling asleep and then being woken up in the morning to shower with some pink smelly liquid (pre-op disinfectant) and having to do a pregnancy test (I now understand planned surgery is best avoided during pregnancy (in the majority of cases). The next thing I knew my family had turned up, which confused me as I thought I hadn’t even had the surgery yet, but I had!

The next few days in hospital I was almost permanently confused, until one afternoon I was wheeled along to have a CT scan  Later that day whilst my family were visiting a doctor came to tell me I’d had a stroke. I still do not know the details as to what type of stroke it was. I had weakness in the whole of the left-hand side of my body and I am now registered as partially sighted. I lost my left peripheral vision in both eyes. I didn’t notice the vision loss at first as I was unable to wear my glasses after the operation due to having bandages around my head. I was also convinced I was hallucinating due to the painkillers!

My hospital stay was a very daunting experience for me. I never really understood what was going on and I was constantly confused. My mum and sister both visited me daily making a long journey to the hospital. Their visits became my focus and I was so lucky to have this. They also came up with solutions to difficulties I was having that the nursing team didn’t seem to have time for. For instance, the medical team were constantly asking me to push them with my left or right foot. I could never work out which foot/hand/arm I was meant to be using for these tests! My sister brought in some nail varnish and painted the nails on my left a different colour to those in my right. The care team were asked to mention the colours instead of left and right and this helped amazingly. 

The hospital ward I was on could not find me a bed in a Stroke Rehab unit, so I was sent home. In hindsight this was not an altogether brilliant idea. The local stroke team came to see me regularly, but I really struggled with everything at first. I found noises made by family members scary and the house seemed so much larger. Due to mobility, I also couldn’t cope with having my bedroom upstairs. So, I was very lucky because we were able to convert our garage so that I had a downstairs room and could therefore limit the number of times I had to go up and down the stairs each day.

I joined a local stroke club that meets weekly to play games (like bingo) and have a tea break. I didn’t attend this for that long, but I found the sessions I did attend really helpful for regaining my confidence in going out by myself again. I have recently started a ‘phased return’ back to my old job. I loved my workplace more than I can say in words and they have been really supportive in getting me back.

I was unable to get PIP benefits and would advise anyone who has recently had a stroke to ask a family member or close friend to help them apply for PIP as soon as possible. I think in my case I was denied as I was too far along the healing process by the time I got an assessment.