Moira's Story - Ischaemic Stroke at 58

Hi, my name is Moira and I’m from Edinburgh. I was 58 when I had my stroke on the 25^th January 2023. I woke up that morning with a headache, but I just put that down to being dehydrated. I took a couple of paracetamols and got on with my day. I’m a self-employed Tour Manager but in between tours I do dog boarding and day care for dogs when their owners are away. I was going to be looking after a dog for the next few nights and got ready for her stay. Moss was dropped off at lunch time and so mid afternoon I took her out for a walk. Around forty minutes into the walk I felt my left leg go weak. I thought I was imagining things and so I continued walking and went home. The weakness had gone, and I never thought anymore about.

The rest of my day was completely normal until around 10pm when I was in my bed playing on my phone and my left hand stopped working. Again, I dismissed it and just thought I was tired. I went to sleep and woke around 2am to go to the loo. When I got out of bed my left leg felt weak and at that point I did search the Internet for stroke symptoms. The F.A.S.T. came up but my face looked OK, I could raise both hands above head and I could speak, as I told Moss to stay in her bed. I decided that I hadn’t had a stroke and that I would be 100% OK when I woke in the morning.

I woke at around 7am to take Moss out. However, when I got out of bed I slid to the floor, my left leg wasn’t working. I managed to pull myself up, I put on some clothes & shoes and then I staggered to my front door. When I opened the door I then realised that there was something seriously wrong with me and that I mustn’t go outside as I could fall. I phoned a friend and said could she come and help me as I though I might have had a stroke. In the meantime, a neighbour, heard me crying & came to my aid. She took me into my lounge, and she let Moss out and then she came and sat with me until my friend showed up. My friend arrived and immediately phoned 999. I was able to speak to the operator and after various questions an ambulance was dispatched and would be about 30 mins. Once I knew help was on its way I was quite calm. I was more worried about what was going to happen to Moss the dog.

The ambulance arrived and they did various tests. My blood pressure was really high but -my pulse rate was ok and so was the ECG. I got taken to hospital and got seen really quickly, my BP (blood pressure) was still high, but not too bad. The doctor said I would need a CT scan. After the scan, the doctor came in and said that I had had a lacunar stroke in the small arteries deep within the right side of my brain. He said when my leg went weak that was a TIA (transient ischemic attack) and when my hand stopped working was when the stroke had occurred. I was really shocked at the diagnosis. I led a very full life travelling all over the world, I didn’t smoke and rarely drank and tried to eat a healthy diet. I enjoyed walking and I looked fit and healthy. I kept wondering ‘why me?’

I had left side weakness in my arm, hand & leg. I also had numbness on the left side of my face, and I had emotional lability. I laughed lots and not always at appropriate times.

I set myself goals during my 6 weeks stay; the first being to go to the toilet independently. The next was to tie my shoelaces with one hand and another was to walk with a stick and not a frame!!

With the excellent help from physiotherapists and OTs I achieved all my goals and more and I was able to go home. At home I was assigned a reablement team who came into see me twice a day. As I lived alone I was determined to try and do as much as I could myself. After four weeks I was down to one visit in the morning and then after another few weeks I was on my own.

I also got referred to a centre where I had a care manager, physio and OT. I did an upper limb class for around twelve weeks and then a fitness class for around six weeks. I was determined to try and recover as much as possible. My emotional lability was still bad and so I got referred to a neuropsychologist to help with my emotions.

I was desperate to meet other people around my age who had had a stroke and so I searched online and found Different Strokes. I find the Facebook group immensely helpful and very understanding. I especially enjoy the virtual meetings.

So, one year in since my stroke I have achieved a lot, and my walking has progressed and I’m able to move my fingers. I still long for my old life, but I have started singing in a choir and I attend a local fitness class. I’ve even managed to look after one of my regular dogs! I have decided to put my Tour Manager job on ice as I really need to concentrate on getting as well as I can. My goals for the future are to get on a plane and go on holiday and to manage writing again with my left hand. I am incredibly lucky to have a great group of friends and family and they have all helped me in different ways along my stroke journey.

My one key thing to share with other survivors would be to try and stay as positive as possible.

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There are 100,000 strokes in the UK each year with 1 in 4 happening to somebody of working age or younger. Different Strokes aims to promote independent stroke recovery and help these younger stroke survivors reclaim their lives.

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