May is Stroke Awareness month.

I knew very little about stroke before I had one.

I suppose you don’t really learn anything about things like that unless it’s happened to you or someone you know.

Ever since I had my stroke, it seems to be everywhere. People getting in touch who’ve also had a stroke, or someone they know has, or it’s on a tv programme, or in a film, and it seems lots of celebrities have suffered strokes as well…

Did you know Luke Perry’s death was caused by a stroke? I didn’t either, he was only 52 years old in 2019 and he had an Ischemic Stroke but had a second stroke on top of this in hospital which caused his death. Other famous people who unfortunately died as a result of a stroke are Gene Kelly, Winston Churchil, Margaret Thatcher, Cary Grant and Charles Dickins.

Alex Murphy, a professional ice skater on Dancing On Ice, had a stroke at the age of 23 caused by a hole in her heart that she didn’t know she had. Sharon Stone at the age of 43 had a hemorrhagic stroke, Andrew Marr at the age of 54, Tina Turner when she was 74 and Barry White when he was 58 who passed away about 2 months later.

Stroke can happen AT ANY AGE to ANYONE. It is not just people over 60 years old who suffer with them and it is possible to have a stroke with no underlying issues to cause them. (Read the last sentence again).

Types of Stroke

There are two types of stroke;

• Ischemic (where the blood supply is stopped because of a blood clot – this type accounts for 85% of cases)
• Hemorrhagic (where a weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts)

There are also Trans-Ischemic Attacks (know as a TIA or Mini Stroke). This is where the blood supply is temporarily interrupted. These could be pretty silent and you may suffer just one symptom. It may pass within minutes or it may persist for up to 24 hours. You may think nothing of it, but I would say they are more than likely a warning sign of a stroke and would recommend that if you notice something that doesn’t seem right, call 999 to get it checked out even if the symptom disappears.

I suffered an Ischemic Stroke and had 2 episodes of a TIA shortly before my stroke on the same day.

Symptoms of Stroke

There are two other symptoms;

• Balance – Loss of coordination and balance.
• Eyes – There is sudden blurred vision, or sudden persistent vision trouble.

When I think back to a few weeks before my stroke, I’d been really ill with a bad cough, flu symptoms and I was extremely exhausted. I had this for 2 weeks then went to the doctor. She listened to my chest and said I had a very bad viral chest infection. She signed me off teaching my fitness classes for 7 days. I still did my desk job over this time but had experienced headaches and a little bit of lightheadedness.

I didn’t think anything of this because I’d had a virus. The cough seemed to get better and my chest seemed to be clearer, so after the 7 days I went back to teaching but took it easy. 10th Jan, I was okay, 12th Jan I taught Body Pump. I’d gone easier on my weights but after about 4 tracks I could see stars, it passed (I should have known that wasn’t normal). At the end of that class, I almost blacked out. I couldn’t see the class properly for a few seconds, but again it passed quickly. It didn’t seem right but I put it down to the virus and thought I’d just see how I got on.

Wednesday I taught and was okay. Thursday 16th I had Body Pump again and took my weights down completely. It went okay, no issues.

It was the following day that I had the stroke.

My symptoms were;

• Disoriented
• Felt dizzy
• Slurred speech
• At one point I tried to drink and poured water in front of me
• Members mentioned I was a pale/grey colour
• A doctor in my class was actually taking my pulse from my wrist which I don’t remember and I think she said she struggled to get anything for a few seconds

So … reading through this, I could have experienced symptoms in the Body Pump class 5 days before which could have been warning signs/or a TIA. The headaches could have been a warning sign as well.

It’s also worth mentioning on the day of the stroke I had two episodes of tia’s an hr apart and the stroke happened 4 hrs after the first episode.

Causes of Stroke

As I mentioned earlier, these are common causes of stroke, but not everyone has underlying conditions like these.

I am one of those people. My stroke was caused by what is called a Spontaneous Carotid Artery Dissection. (I’m going to leave this for another blog).

Fundraising in May…

This month I have been sharing information on stroke on my social media platforms, including most of the above as well as parts of my story.

I am also using Stroke Awareness month to set myself a challenge. I decided to do the 2.6 challenge running 26 miles over the month of May.

I am raising money and awareness for The Stroke Association, Different Strokes and Leeds Cares.

Leeds Cares is the official charity partner of Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

I wanted to give something back to the hospital who saved my life. After getting in touch with Leeds Cares, the money will be going to the Neurology Department in the hope that it will help others who go through a similar situation in the future.

Different Strokes is a stroke charity run by younger stroke survivors for younger stroke survivors. They provide help for young stroke survivors, services, support and information around stroke in young people.

I was 37 at the time of my stroke and this charity is a smaller charity, but as they are raising awareness and support for young survivors, I chose them for this reason.

The Stroke Association help to support people to rebuild their lives after stroke. They believe everyone deserves to live their best life after a stroke.

I chose this charity because of the support they offer survivors in rebuilding their life and would like to help others in the future.

I’ve currently raised £746 of my £1000 goal which is amazing.

I feel so proud and fortunate that I am able to do this to help others. To raise awareness through sharing my story, raise awareness for the charities, raise money to help other survivors in the future and to help the hospital who saved my life.

If anyone would like to donate, my page link is;

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CarolineBrady4/1

As always, thank you for reading 🙏 if you do donate, please either leave your name or let me know so I can thank you ☺

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