Treat a Stroke as an Emergency and get to Hospital
I had the privilege of working with ND following his stroke in July 2012. He made a remarkable recovery. Here is his personal account of the day he had a stroke. Thank you for sharing your story with everyone.
On Tuesday 24th July 2012, I got up late that morning and was planning to clean the water feature at the front door. But first, I prepared a small breakfast of cereal and toast. While I was having my breakfast, my wife left home to get some groceries. As I was biting into the toast, I decided to get up and take the empty cereal bowl to the washroom. With the first steps I felt a little dizzy and thought that my blood pressure could be on the low side. As I got back into the kitchen I could sense a wobble in my step and held onto the kitchen table. Without realizing that my right leg was no longer supporting me, I started staggering backwards and I lost my balance and landed on my back.
For a few seconds I did not realize what happened. Slowly the picture cleared- I was unable to sit upright because I had only my left arm to pull me up. Did I faint or what happened? I looked at my watch, it was 11:10 and I could not be lying there for too long, possibly a minute at most. I again tried to get up but this time I discovered that I could not find my right arm. Surprise! I reached for it with my left arm and could only feel a rubber object lying alongside my body. It was a strange sensation, it was heavy but without temperature and without movement, just lying there on the floor.
I managed to sit upright now by grabbing onto a handle of the kitchen cupboard. Looking around me I saw the half slice of toast with a bite taken out of it, lying on the floor where I felt my leg collapsing under me. The second surprise struck me- I could not move my right leg! Instinctively , it reminded me of an earlier ischaemic incident I had experienced two years ago. If it is of the same nature then all of the dumb sensation in my right arm and leg would go away- all I need to do is give it time and after a while I should feel the coming alive of my arm and leg.
Minutes passed by, it became half an hour, three quarters of an hour and a full hour. I slowly realized that I had to do something. After an hour and a half I managed to get up by holding on to the table and get my right leg to partially support me- the dumb feeling is taking much longer to go away, I thought. By the time I reached the staircase I knew something different had happened. Hanging onto the handrail, I climbed the stairs and reached the bedroom. I better take another ecotrin pill to make the blood flow more easily- I began with self-treatment. The next thing I remembered was to breathe into a paper bag to increase the amount of CO2 in my blood stream that would cause the veins to widen and supply more blood to where it is needed.
By now two and a half hours had gone by and I then knew that I had a stroke. Now time was of the essence, I need to receive medical treatment. The first three hours after a stroke are vital if there is to be hope of recovery- I was running short of time. I am not going to make the window period of three hours- I need someone to take me to hospital. After another five or ten minutes, I located my cell phone and tried to phone my wife. The third surprise- I can't speak a word! Now all that is left is to send her an sms. It was not easy to type the sms. I could not spell- the fourth surprise. With one hand, I struggled to hold the phone, I could not locate the correct buttons and my eyes were out of focus. I gave up trying to send a message.
I better get out of my working clothes and then try to send an sms. But to get dressed was not easy at all. My right arm hung helplessly and was not stable on my legs. It took me a half an hour to get dressed and thereafter I had another go at the sms. Eventually I got a short sms off to my wife- "Beroerte kom huistoe" ("Stroke come home"). Now I must prepare for hospital, the first thing they will ask is what medicine I am taking. The best thing to do was to pack all of it, incase I forget to mention one or two or have the precise name correct. I went on to pack my other necessities and started to wait for my wife to return home.
By now, four hours had gone by and I realised that the second window period of three hours was also approaching criticality. I fetched a paper and pen and wrote "Beroerte, Dokter" ("Stroke, Doctor") and positioned it on the kitchen table where it could eaily be seen by my wife as soon as she arrives or for that matter if someone turns up at home. I became surprisingly very calm and allowed my thoughts to scan my life as I sat in the TV room. My life had been good and God blessed me all the way- if I now loose the six hour window then I have had my good share and accept the outcome.
After four and three quarters of an hour, my wife arrived home. She didn't realise what the message on the paper meant- she had not looked at her cellphone. I tried to speak but could only make strange sounds. She read the message on the paper again and then realised we should rush to the hospital. The drive there was met with rush hour traffic and took another forty minutes. We arrived at the hospital with only thirty minutes of the six hour window available. Another few minutes were taken up by the initial diagnosis and administration and then followed a CT scan before any treatment could commence.
Six and a half hours had gone by when they gave me the first intravenous injection to dissolve the blood clot. It feels like it had been a long day with lots of waiting for things to happen. As I was moved into ICU later that evening and the lights were dimmed for the night I knew God blessed me again abundantly, as he had always done!! For the second time that day I became very calm. I knew I might not see a full recovery and that the road ahead might take long, but I remain hopeful because on this road I will not be alone.
On Tuesday 24th July 2012, I got up late that morning and was planning to clean the water feature at the front door. But first, I prepared a small breakfast of cereal and toast. While I was having my breakfast, my wife left home to get some groceries. As I was biting into the toast, I decided to get up and take the empty cereal bowl to the washroom. With the first steps I felt a little dizzy and thought that my blood pressure could be on the low side. As I got back into the kitchen I could sense a wobble in my step and held onto the kitchen table. Without realizing that my right leg was no longer supporting me, I started staggering backwards and I lost my balance and landed on my back.
For a few seconds I did not realize what happened. Slowly the picture cleared- I was unable to sit upright because I had only my left arm to pull me up. Did I faint or what happened? I looked at my watch, it was 11:10 and I could not be lying there for too long, possibly a minute at most. I again tried to get up but this time I discovered that I could not find my right arm. Surprise! I reached for it with my left arm and could only feel a rubber object lying alongside my body. It was a strange sensation, it was heavy but without temperature and without movement, just lying there on the floor.
I managed to sit upright now by grabbing onto a handle of the kitchen cupboard. Looking around me I saw the half slice of toast with a bite taken out of it, lying on the floor where I felt my leg collapsing under me. The second surprise struck me- I could not move my right leg! Instinctively , it reminded me of an earlier ischaemic incident I had experienced two years ago. If it is of the same nature then all of the dumb sensation in my right arm and leg would go away- all I need to do is give it time and after a while I should feel the coming alive of my arm and leg.
Minutes passed by, it became half an hour, three quarters of an hour and a full hour. I slowly realized that I had to do something. After an hour and a half I managed to get up by holding on to the table and get my right leg to partially support me- the dumb feeling is taking much longer to go away, I thought. By the time I reached the staircase I knew something different had happened. Hanging onto the handrail, I climbed the stairs and reached the bedroom. I better take another ecotrin pill to make the blood flow more easily- I began with self-treatment. The next thing I remembered was to breathe into a paper bag to increase the amount of CO2 in my blood stream that would cause the veins to widen and supply more blood to where it is needed.
By now two and a half hours had gone by and I then knew that I had a stroke. Now time was of the essence, I need to receive medical treatment. The first three hours after a stroke are vital if there is to be hope of recovery- I was running short of time. I am not going to make the window period of three hours- I need someone to take me to hospital. After another five or ten minutes, I located my cell phone and tried to phone my wife. The third surprise- I can't speak a word! Now all that is left is to send her an sms. It was not easy to type the sms. I could not spell- the fourth surprise. With one hand, I struggled to hold the phone, I could not locate the correct buttons and my eyes were out of focus. I gave up trying to send a message.
I better get out of my working clothes and then try to send an sms. But to get dressed was not easy at all. My right arm hung helplessly and was not stable on my legs. It took me a half an hour to get dressed and thereafter I had another go at the sms. Eventually I got a short sms off to my wife- "Beroerte kom huistoe" ("Stroke come home"). Now I must prepare for hospital, the first thing they will ask is what medicine I am taking. The best thing to do was to pack all of it, incase I forget to mention one or two or have the precise name correct. I went on to pack my other necessities and started to wait for my wife to return home.
By now, four hours had gone by and I realised that the second window period of three hours was also approaching criticality. I fetched a paper and pen and wrote "Beroerte, Dokter" ("Stroke, Doctor") and positioned it on the kitchen table where it could eaily be seen by my wife as soon as she arrives or for that matter if someone turns up at home. I became surprisingly very calm and allowed my thoughts to scan my life as I sat in the TV room. My life had been good and God blessed me all the way- if I now loose the six hour window then I have had my good share and accept the outcome.
After four and three quarters of an hour, my wife arrived home. She didn't realise what the message on the paper meant- she had not looked at her cellphone. I tried to speak but could only make strange sounds. She read the message on the paper again and then realised we should rush to the hospital. The drive there was met with rush hour traffic and took another forty minutes. We arrived at the hospital with only thirty minutes of the six hour window available. Another few minutes were taken up by the initial diagnosis and administration and then followed a CT scan before any treatment could commence.
Six and a half hours had gone by when they gave me the first intravenous injection to dissolve the blood clot. It feels like it had been a long day with lots of waiting for things to happen. As I was moved into ICU later that evening and the lights were dimmed for the night I knew God blessed me again abundantly, as he had always done!! For the second time that day I became very calm. I knew I might not see a full recovery and that the road ahead might take long, but I remain hopeful because on this road I will not be alone.
