Thanks 
Hi no need to apologise for the length of your post. Although I was older than you (62) when I had my stroke I have knowledge of working in a school as TA. There is no other proffession that is quite like a school setting and the issues of working with children all day. I had to have a whole year off and even when I returned it was for only two 5 hr days. The fatigue and the cognitive issues were the biggest issues. Emotion also came into it, as you know as a teacher you cannot suddenly have a burst of tears in front of children. I would say to your doctor that working in a school requires you to be at 100% fitness at all time, you are dealing with the welfare of children and should not be pushed back until you are fully ready. When I returned HR was involved and they were able to put into place an area outside the classroom where I could do intervention, my head was amazing, I just could not adjust to the noise within the class made by primary age. You are a lot younger that I am and I have no doubt you will be able to return, but do not do it until you are ready, your immune system is low after a stroke, I found for the first 6 months I caught every bug going! and was off again. So please dont rush this. Good luck keep us posted. Wendy
Hi I just thought of something else you need to have working in teaching and that is your memory, my memory was like a lot of others effected by the stroke, which I did not realise until I went back into school, I could not remember names, or how far certain children had achieved, most came back, but again it took time. You are young and you will get there and it may be that your memory has not been effected only you can know that. Onwards and upwards! Wendy
Hello all, I can't believe how many of these comment resonate with me. I am 36 and had a brain injury after passing out (my heart stopped, I have a congenital heart defect) and while I was recovering I suffered a stroke. I have dealt with everything heart related but this I am finding tough. Nothing is the same and when I spoke to the brain doctor he said "you need to come to terms with the fact that nothing will be the same" and he is right, I do not feel as though I am ever going to the same and I need to realise this and be able to adapt to this. I have a young daughter who has been amazing in understanding this but I want to be the fun Mummy as much as I can not the Mummy who needs a snooze each afternoon!
Thank you for this group and I hope to speak with some of you and get to understand what this may mean for me in the longer term. (I am almost 2 months post stroke)
Many thanks for listening
Jen
Aw Jen, hope your doing ok my friend. I'm 6 months from my stroke and I'm going through some crying and anxiety.but I've been told this is normal , so fingers crossed.i hope the lockdown hasn't been too bad for you .hope to hear from you soon .xxx carlene
Hiya everyone,
I'll keep in fairly short and sweet, I was 27 when I had a massive stroke, this was April 13th 2020.
I was in Hospital for 6 weeks, at this time Covid had just started so I wasn't allowed to see any of my friends or family, it was awful because I couldn't read, write or walk. I couldn't do anything other than sleep. I ended up crying in my room night after night, eventually they said that I could go home if I was prepared to, I wasn't prepared! But I so desperately wanted to get out.
I eventually made my way from my room, to the dining room (in rehab) because I was sick to death of not being able to walk, so I clung onto the walls/wheelchairs anything! To make my way there, I made it to the dining room, sat down and found a seat (I was exhausted) I turned to my left, and was greeted by 30+ people who laughed and said 'errr we are having a meeting?' Needless to say, I quickly made my way out of there.
Whilst I was still in rehab, I had my redundancy meeting for work. I was being made redundant from an Airline I LOVED. I fought it as best as I could, even though all I could say was yes/no/f***/s***.
So my question to you is, how do I deal with this? I'm still recovering, what jobs can I go for? How will I know when I'm ready to work again? Were the Airline wrong to make me redundant? What should I do next?
Its been hard, really hard having to deal with all this right at the start of covid, false promises (I know they can't be helped) volunteer work has been cancelled, college has been cancelled etc I just feel like giving up.
Hiya everyone,
I'll keep in fairly short and sweet, I was 27 when I had a massive stroke, this was April 13th 2020.
I was in Hospital for 6 weeks, at this time Covid had just started so I wasn't allowed to see any of my friends or family, it was awful because I couldn't read, write or walk. I couldn't do anything other than sleep. I ended up crying in my room night after night, eventually they said that I could go home if I was prepared to, I wasn't prepared! But I so desperately wanted to get out.
I eventually made my way from my room, to the dining room (in rehab) because I was sick to death of not being able to walk, so I clung onto the walls/wheelchairs anything! To make my way there, I made it to the dining room, sat down and found a seat (I was exhausted) I turned to my left, and was greeted by 30+ people who laughed and said 'errr we are having a meeting?' Needless to say, I quickly made my way out of there.
Whilst I was still in rehab, I had my redundancy meeting for work. I was being made redundant from an Airline I LOVED. I fought it as best as I could, even though all I could say was yes/no/f***/s***.
So my question to you is, how do I deal with this? I'm still recovering, what jobs can I go for? How will I know when I'm ready to work again? Were the Airline wrong to make me redundant? What should I do next?
Its been hard, really hard having to deal with all this right at the start of covid, false promises (I know they can't be helped) volunteer work has been cancelled, college has been cancelled etc I just feel like giving up.
Hi there and welcome! You have had such a tough time since your stroke and so many other aspects of your life are now 'on hold'. The main thing is to concentrate on is your recovery. This has to be your priority and it's really important that you take one step at a time. Are you getting any kind of physio help? Difficult I know during the pandemic but a lot of physios are still working albeit in treatment rooms rather than at hospitals.
In answer to your question as to how you will know you are ready to work again? The answer is you will know! The main problem for stroke survivors is fatigue. This does eventually get better but takes a long time. I can understand your sadness at losing the job you loved. I worked in the travel industry when I was your age and loved it but times are very different now and travel agents, airlines, tour companies, cruise companies are all fighting for survival. The industry will bounce back once everyone has been jabbed so by the time you feel like returning to work even if only part-time at first, the world of travel will be waiting for you.
The good thing on your side is you are young. Your recovery will be quicker as your body is stronger and fitter than older people. The fitter you are when you have a stroke, the more it helps your recovery. It's very easy in the early days to give up and think what is the point anymore. Stroke recovery is very slow but it will come. Don't ever give up and keep fighting. Keep a diary so you can look back at how far you have come in 6 months time. The best words of advice I was given was "Don't look back at how you used to be - look at how far you have come now" :)
Oh boy, you sound like a fighter!! ?? That's a great character trait to have and will be the way to a good recovery, the only thing is, you will need to accept that right now your brain needs plenty of rest. If you allow yourself time to rest, your brain will thank you for it, and get to work on re-wiring all those precious connections. Brenda and Hilary have given you the benefit of their experiences, it's good advice, and you will always get great support on this site. Best wishes xx
Hi, welcome to this forum, so sorry to hear of your stroke at such a young age.
You may also find this a useful website:
differentstrokes.co.uk
This is a UK charity providing a unique service to younger stroke survivors. Hope this is helpful.
Regards Sue
Hiya Jane, thank you for your kind words.
Its really not easy at all ? all I can see at the moment is, covid this and covid that. You're right I should feel lucky to be alive, but I can't right now unfortunately. X
Thank you for this reply, no I'm not getting any physio, I was actually signed off for physio in rehab, I don't know how! ? because I still couldn't walk properly especially without holding onto something/someone!
Im just nervous about job interviews, but I actually don't know when I'll be ready to have job interviews, but I suppose I need to wait until I can volunteer again. X
Thank you lovely, at first I couldn't understand all the hype about joining this site, but now I do understand! X
Hiya Sue,
I've actually contacted dyscover(?) Who said they charge for a Zoom call, I think it was £130. I was shocked actually, but I will definitely look up different strokes. Thank you. X
Do you have a Stroke Co-ordinator in your area? I know some people on here have been able to gain advice about returning to work from them and how to manage your recovery once you start. I was already retired when I had my first stroke but I have the utmost respect for those who do conquer their fears and resume a career.
I know what you mean about NHS physio. It is pretty much non-existent in our area so I went private after waiting 9 months for an appointment and getting nowhere fast!
Strokes do throw all your emotions up in the air so the feelings of nervousness, anxiety and unsure feelings (sorry, I've forgot the word I'm looking for!) are all normal. All part of the healing process - it will sort itself out as your recovery progresses
You're welcome, I hope its useful. Before covid we actually attended a weekly Different Strokes support group local to us, which we both found very helpful in many ways. Hopefully when we can get back to some sort of normal, we will be able to get the group back together. Take care and stay safe.
Regards Sue
Hi,
I can't believe how much I relate to these comments. I had a stroke 10 years ago when I was 18, so I'm a bit late to the party and I wish I'd found this sooner.
I know how lucky I have been and I can see how far I've come. From waking up after a medically induced coma in a dark hospital bed to getting my degree and now working as an animal training and living completely independently. But it's been a hard road. I think I've probably made it harder by not owning up to all the difficulties I've had. Constantly being overwhelmed in situations and the fatigue and the crying. I think I've been in denial about how much the stroke has affected and changed me.
People around me have struggled to understand. I've hated having to explain my 'strange behaviour' to new people. There's always lots of 'you can't tell' or 'that's a bit young' or 'aren't you over it yet? '. I've lost friends and been ignored by family members because they didn't know how to deal with it. When I went back to school my teachers didn't try to help and just said 'well that's good for you though' when I wanted better grades. I was turned down for jobs when I was honest about my limitations. Even jobs within organisations that already worked at and had down for nearly 5 years, 3 of which after my stroke. For a long time I was so angry about it all but now I'm more accepting and maybe a little sad for them and me.
I still struggle with things and I don't know if it's because I was too stubborn to ask for help. Or because I pushed myself to be the person I was before my stroke. But I am able to do and cope with so much more now I'm kinder to myself and don't push myself as much. I think accepting the reality of limitations helps.
Since my stroke I now have fits that are brought on by stress. A Dr suggested that it could be because when I had my stroke I also had fits and was under a lot of stress. So it may be that my brain now thinks 'this is how we deal with stress'. I don't know if I've remembered it right but it has forced me to pay more attention to how I feel. It's very easy to feel guilty for not being as we were but some things are out of our control.
Sorry for this really rambling message. It's my first one. I don't really know what I'm doing.
It's such a shame that you've had to struggle on your own so much. Unfortunately the follow-up and support for stroke can be very hit and miss ?. However, you will always find support, advice and encouragement from the people on this site, and hopefully a great bunch of friends to share experiences with ?
Take good care xx
One of the things having a stroke has helped is for me is to accept people as they are, and not to prejudge on the basis of age. Interesting that word suggestion on my computer puts the word prejudice in when you type prejudge!
It’s really good that the forum doesn’t show your age unless you tell it and so all experiences old or young are treated equally. I guess in life it’s easy to find that you’re dismissing things because that person is too young or too old to know what they’re talking about. Also easy to not realise that you’re doing it! In that respect stroke is a great leveller.
All experiences and views are helpful, and what you learn and helps from day 1 after stroke is the starting point, not whether you’re 22 or 92. If somebody had some answers/tips/ideas about dealing with fatigue/pain/dizziness/etc/etc I’d be keen to hear it, 22 or 92! Pat
Thank you, I think this site will really help.