Stroke Recovery: 2 Month Post-Stroke Consultation

We all know this stroke has been a whirlwind of an adventure, it started off as nightmare and it broke me for a bit, I was angry, anxious and unsure of my future. The Stroke Association recently published a statistic saying that 45% of stroke survivors feel abandoned once discharged from hospital and I am most definitely part of that percentage. Although the Community Stroke Team were in touch with my Mum, arranging to see me within 24 hours, I still felt lost. Stroke recovery is a waiting game and survivors switch between being the most motivated people to get their lives back to wondering if life will ever be the same again. I can confirm it won't, life will be different but it doesn't have to be bad.

I've included the vlog this week because it's been a pretty big one stroke-wise. I had the ECG monitor fitted for 48hrs that wasn't half as bad as I thought it was. It barely got in the way and I was allowed to take it of for a little but to have a shower. Hopefully enough data was collected to get some decent results (the kind that say there's nowt wrong with me). I also had an appointment with the stroke consultant and it went so well I can't not write up about it here. I went in with a few questions that I didn't think I would get answers but I have, and they're not bad answers at at that. 

First things first 

The consultant asked me what happened, "I had a stroke" was the short answer but the long one was discussing my life pre-stroke, health problems, blood pressure etc (that were all good and healthy). We then went on to discuss the pill, the coil bleed and the mefanamic acid that I was prescribed not long afterwards. The consultant said the chances of the pill causing the pill are very slim but not impossible especially considering the amount of bleeding I had done that past year. Ultimately the Dr and my Mum ruled the stroke down to tough shit but I'm still pending some further blood test results to see if I have any blood disorders that could cause clots as well as an Echocardiogram to have a good look at my ticker. 

The Dr showed me the images from my Angio CT scan, he was looking at the two main arteries that lead from my heart to my brain, any dark patches on them would indicate that there's some sort of damage that could cause a stroke, thankfully they were fabulous and glowing away. He didn't have the images of my brain but said we could look at them at my next review (I'm honestly dead excited about this), I can't wait to see the brain damage and the blood clot. I'm no longer scared of what happened, I've owned my stroke and I'm fascinated by what happened to me. 

Will it happen again?

Ultimately, there's no knowing but whilst there's no definitive reason as to why the stroke happened there's also no definitive reason as to why it will happen again. The Dr said that out of all the young stroke survivors that he's treated, the ones with unknown reasons are the ones that have a higher chance of survival and don't have any further strokes. It's ironic that I've been so frustrated and anxious over not having an answer to this that the best answer that I could have and find comfort in is pretty much a big fat dunno mate. 

Medication 

I'll be on Clipodogrel (or some sort of anti-platelet) forever, there will be times when my medication will be reviewed and possibly changed but its better to be safe than sorry and whilst my blood is less sticky, it's less likely to clot and go and f*ck my brain up. At first I thought that being on medication forever would be terrible, there's certain anti-biotics I can't take and I can't NSAIDS so I'm a bit stuck in that sense but it's not something that can't be worked around and I'd rather be in a bit of pain than have a stroke again.

Can I have more babies?

Yes! But not just yet. Luke and I definitely want more children and after everything we went through to get pregnant we were thrilled to find that I was ovulating all on my own like a big girl after having Fred (hence the need for contraception) for now, it's not the best time to have a baby and my body definitely needs a break but I will be allowed to get pregnant when we're ready. Obviously I'll be closely monitored, I'll have to take Aspirin rather than Clopidpgrel and just take it easy - it'll be another couple of years until we're ready for another baby but I'm so happy to know it's still an option. 

I can even take progesterone only contraception if I want such as the mini pill or attempt the coil again. The only issue with this is that it's a bit scary and I don't want to end up sending my ovaries to sleep because I don't think we'll qualify for help with waking them up again. We'll see, for now I'm not ready to think about it I need to give myself more time to heal. 

Will I fully recover physically?

Although my body is pretty much back to normal, my lower eyelid doesn't work and some muscle around there isn't doing it's job. The Dr said that it's still very soon after the stroke and these things just take time but there's no reason why it won't come back. The fact that I'm only experiencing numbness as opposed to no feeling at all means that the nerves are working and it's just a case of waiting for the cells to regenerate and work out how to use them.

Going forward 

I'll have another review with the Consultant in two months to go over the last of the blood results and have a look at my echo scan. The Dr seemed unconvinced that they're going to come back with anything which is comforting. Overall, the appointment went really well and I've come out of it pretty buzzing The future that I thought was snatched away from me is back, I can fly (on a plane, not literally), have more babies, live my life and not in fear of it happening again. Having some answers and getting an understanding of what happened has done the world of good and knowing that I'll have definitive answers in two months means that my residence in Stroke-Limbo is coming to an end.