National Stroke Day 28th Oct

Something that can inflict anyone even if you are in your
teens. Such a debilitating disease.
My Dad had a big stroke when he was 49 and it paralysed
him down his right side. He couldn't talk or walk properly and
dribbled. It was something I had never heard of in those
days as I was only 16.
My thoughts go out to anyone who has suffered a stroke or who has had to look after anyone with one.
Depending on the degree of the stroke it can be a very tiring
and stressful time for all involved.
My Dad was told that he had a stroke because he smoked.
So anyone thinking of quitting good for you.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

Well done for highlighting this. A big stroke is the illness I fear most as I would hate to be so debilitated.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

I too fear strokes more than anything .
My husband had a stroke when our baby was just 3 weeks old and we were running a busy Inn in Dorset.

We had been unaware that when he left the army the previous year with a few vague symptoms he already had a ticking bomb in his brain caused they think by head injuries he sustained while serving in Northern Ireland.

Strokes are terrible things, they can rob some of their mobility and even their personality.

My husband survived the stroke for another 6 years but as a different person.
Gone was the keen sportsman with the brilliant brain and in his place a stranger.

We lost our business and with it our home, I couldn't care for two 'babies' and work an 18 hour day running a business.
The next few years were very hard but I made it through with my son

I try not to think too much about strokes, they belong to a dark place for me...

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

We have strokes running through our family, my husband had one a few years ago took a year to fight his way back into work. Much reduced his earning power over the years since.
Tasha died earlier this year from a massive stroke and Gracie had one when she was born, made her first few years a bit of a challenge.

What shocks me every time is how varied the help you get from the NHS is, my husband was released at 3am after his stroke with no memory of where he lived or even his name ! Wasn't until police found him and took him to another hospital I was able to find him ! Tasha was failed I believe by the GP failing to keep her medications updated, but Grace has a fantastic specialist and her physio team were just wonderful.

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone got the same help

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

I worry also about strokes as my mother had three before the final one which was so massive it left her like a vegetable .... unable to swallow thus needing her lungs pumped several times a day, unable to eat or drink so a feeding tube had to be fitted into her stomach, unable to speak or walk. After 3 months in hospital she was moved into a Nursing Home .... she died 10 days. To me it was a blessing to see the end of her suffering.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

So sorry that a few members have had first hand experience of this awfully cruel, debilitating illness. It's a thing everyone fears.

Does anyone here take a soluble mini aspirin each day as a prevention cure? I've thought of it as there is stroke and heart disease in my family.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

Grace is on a cocktail of drugs has been since she was born, my husband takes a mini aspirin though and so did Tasha right up to her death.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

Yes I do...precribed because of the viscosity of my blood and familial heart disease.

Not recommended unless specifically prescribed.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

You can buy them over the counter and I'm sure thousands of people will take them just out of fear of a stroke. Especially as its such a low dose. I have to say in this instance I don't blame them.

Re: National Stroke Day 28th Oct

Yes the pharmacist advised me to take them, not the GP. Turns out I can't take as I allergic.