Jennie Wallace was a busy mum and business owner when her life was turned upside down earlier this year by an unexpected stroke.
“II was taken by ambulance to the Ulster Hospital and received the clot busting drug Thrombolysis. I was then taken in another ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital for a Thrombectomy, which is a procedure to remove blood clots and help restore blood flow to the brain.Jennie added: “I don’t have diabetes, I’m not overweight, I’m not a smoker. I'm not out doing drugs every weekend or doing anything that would put me at risk of this. I have a pretty normal life.
“There are certain movements that are really painful. Cognitively, I'm still a bit slow. I generally operate at quite a high level with running a business- it involves doing lots of things at once, and I can't do that now. It is very frustrating. “The fatigue is a killer. There are things I think I can do, but then I'll be knocked out for three days in bed.”
“It took me quite a while to recover from that, because mentally I was okay with the understanding that I had a stroke because I had a hole in my heart; that the doctors would be able to close the hole and I would be okay. While Jennie was “pretty determined” to recover, she says she has found it difficult to find support suitable for her unique situation.
“When I first went, I was really quite low, and my physical side hadn’t really come on a lot. The NICHS staff were kind, helpful and so encouraging. “It also wasn’t necessarily about how fast I could walk; it was about walking with the correct posture. It was also about a better quality of doing things.”
“Having a stroke is a life changing experience. You have to adjust to a different way of life. But recovery keeps going. Just because my shoulder isn't great now, it doesn't mean it will always be like this. I've come quite a long way in six months, so who knows where I’ll be six months from now.” “Stroke can also affect relationships, take away jobs and careers and render some families isolated within their own homes- but NICHS is here to help with expert care and support.