I have my first consultant appointment next week which I’m hoping will give me some answers and hopefully the green light to return to work the following week.
I have such mixed emotions about everything but I’m determined to stand up and fight for the fair treatment for all fellow SS returning to work.
I know opinions are circling already around work and questioning my compenancy! I don’t and won’t know the full extent of my capabilities unless I try. I feel angry that others are making assumptions with no real idea what I have been through or how I feel inside. Like many others of you will understand only a SS will truly understand. I want to try and see how much I can cope with to see how I get on, to see what I retain and how much I can remember. I feel as long as my employer supports a slow return I have every chance of returning successfully. I refuse to let the stroke beat me and ruin my life. I need to keep going for my own mental state, for my children, but most of all for me. I feel so incredibly lucky to be alive and I need to make the most of it. I still get terrible fatigued mostly late afternoon/evening but I care and cook for my family I do all the things o did before (almost) although slower. I do feel I start to slur slightly if I’ve been talking too long in conversations but I know it’s still early days.
Thank you to all of you who support and comment without you all well I don’t even know. I hope my post makes sense. Happy Friday
Your post makes perfect sense. You don't mention your age but if you are of working age, it's only natural that you want to get back working. It can be done but expect it to be challenging - it took me four and a half years to find acceptable employment and I saw a great deal of the hidden attitudes you mention - one job excluded me because I could not drive and they only had one office to work at. I have been commuting and working full time now for almost four years. I regard it as a great success but it has physically and sometimes emotionally taken its toll.
Like with much of life after stroke, take getting back to working one day at a time - you're not the same as you were pre-stroke. Your employer has a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments. No-one can predict how well you will perform in your job - not even you. You can only give it your best effort.
I was successful in my return to work - running multiple projects simultaneously and travelling solo internationally. There have been times when I didn't listen to my body or behaved in unconventional ways but I got through them all. You can too.
Hi, well done on 10 weeks! Its quite early to be thinking of returning to work but it depends on how you feel, what you don't want is to go back to soon and then have to go off again because you have pushed yourself to quickly. I had my stroke in August 2017 and I was a full time teaching assistant, I was all for getting back within weeks like yourself but it was a full school year before I returned, I went back in Sept 18 for two mornings a week for the first term and since the New Year I have been doing 9.30-2.30. I do get tired but think I will cope. What I am trying to say is take it slowly. I have an amazing head teacher, I can stop if I need a break, and as I can no longer work in the classroom due to the volume of noise and number of children I have been given my own little area where I work with small groups of children.
The stroke fatigue will allways be there with good days and bad, my worse time is the supermarket shop!!! I try to avoid on line groceries as I do have to push myself to go out.
There are lots of lovely people on this site, who are ready to listen and help if we can.