Healthy people have strokes too
Margaret Cunningham, 61, is “semi-retired” from her role in digital communications. She is a hobby writer who particularly enjoys writing articles with a reflective viewpoint. A lifelong passion of health and fitness means she is known in her community as “that lady who runs.”
“Some things we can control and some things we cannot. In a split second your life changes forever. Your previous life is no longer, you are now on a different path.” – Unknown
When I first spot Jennie Williamson at the gym two things stand out – her striking fluro-pink gym gear and the absolute focus and commitment she is putting into her training session. Jennie has just completed her twice weekly programme – four sets of 12-15 reps including chest presses, leg presses, dead lifts, leg extensions, lat pulldowns and core work – the list goes on and on. As a former fitness instructor and body building enthusiast, her workout should have been a doddle. That final dead-lift of 74kgs is impressive, but it’s not until Jennie releases the weight and walks away that you notice her left arm and leg weakness. In 2007 Jennie suffered a major stroke which affected the left side of her body, leaving her unable to walk. This is her story of recovery.
Fit and healthy people have strokes too. When you think of the ‘typical’ stroke patient, the mind readily drifts towards someone who is elderly, possibly overweight, has high blood pressure, doesn't exercise and probably smokes. Jennie, in her late 40s when she suffered her stroke – did not fit this picture. She lived and loved fitness.
“I ran, did triathlons, body building as well as managing a garden centre. That’s my other passion - gardening. I didn’t drink or smoke and ate healthily. If it was physical, then I loved to do it,” she says.
For the former Miss Bay of Plenty Fitness and holder of a New Zealand body building title Jennie’s stroke appeared unexpectedly and without warning.
“I never had a day off work, but on this particular day I had been unwell with a sinus infection so had stayed home. I lay down for a nap and when I woke up I felt a stabbing pain in my head, my speech was garbled and my left side in spasm. Not that I recognised it at the time, but I was having a stroke,” says Jennie.
Jennie had suffered an ischemic stroke – one brought on by a clot in a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. Unfortunately, Jennie missed the ‘golden hour’, a term used to describe the hour immediately following the onset of stroke symptoms, and didn’t receive the clot-busting drug TPA (tissue plasminogen activator). TPA is effective only for a few hours after a stroke. Time is brain – the sooner medical treatment begins; the more likely brain damage can be reduced and a better physical and mental outcome achieved.
“Because I wasn’t an obvious stroke candidate doctors first associated my symptoms with a migraine. It was well over the four-hour mark before I was diagnosed with having a stroke. Had I been diagnosed sooner and received the clot-busting drug, things may have been different. I was very bitter about this for a long while.”
Jennie spent three days in ICU and 10 weeks in hospital. The wonderful rapport she had built over the years in her Hawera community became evident in the early days of her stroke.
“I loved it in hospital. Because it was a small town and I was well-known in the community as the ‘gardening lady’ I had plenty of visitors – it was a very social time for me and there was never a dull moment – always a crowd around my bed. Funnily enough going home was a struggle for me,” she recalls.
Unable to walk due to the paralysis down her left side and dependant on her husband, who also worked a 12-hour day, for most of her care, Jennie struggled to come to terms with her ‘new life’.
“I’m stuck in my wheelchair, looking out on my two-acre garden. I couldn’t drive and had to depend on people taking me places and doing everything for me. I couldn’t do anything.”
For someone who thrived on independence this was a very difficult period. I fell into a big black hole and revelled in my own misery for a long while,” says Jennie.
It’s hard to imagine this when you talk to Jennie today. This vibrant, well-toned, fit looking wife and active grandmother is as busy today as she was pre-stroke. Jennie is adamant she wants this story to show that when a life changing event strikes, you can you pick yourself up again even if it looks and feels insurmountable at the beginning.
Concerned about her spiralling depression Jennie’s husband John sought help from their doctor who recommended Jennie visit a grief counsellor. Jennie explains that people often think of grief as associated with death or the loss of a close family member or friend. However, grief can be a symptom of loss of all kinds. After a stroke, for the survivor, grief can be associated with loss of a way of life, mobility, confidence or independence. Jennie says working through the five stages of grief with a counsellor was the best thing that could have happened.
“I was very woe is me, very bitter and negative. The struggle was mental as well as physical. I didn’t realise I was grieving. Once I had accepted my loss I was able to move on.”
What really sticks out in Jennie’s mind through that dark period though are the stern but wise words from her husband John.
“He said to me, ‘I’m sick and tired of hearing what you can’t do, look at the things you can do’. He was right. I could still speak, I could still think, I could still feel and I could still see. I had lots of friends and support. I was alive. All I had lost was my mobility and there was plenty I could do to work on that. I wanted to be a decent nana, a decent wife and a decent mother again.”
Jennie moved from victim to survivor. From a wheelchair, to a walking frame to … well… just walking. Learning new skills, re-learning old skills. Rehabilitation after a stroke is about getting back to normal life and living as independent a life as possible. It involves taking an active approach to ensure life goes on. Because of Jennie’s fitness background she outgrew what stroke rehabilitation could offer and by this time Jennie saysshe just wanted to ‘get back out there’ and stop hiding herself away.
Now living in the Bay of Plenty Jennie joined Ocean Blue Health and Fitness in Papamoa under the guidance of Personal Trainer, Kevin Bonds. Kevin, whose qualifications include specialising in pre and post rehabilitation, says that when Jennie first came to see him she was still using a walking frame. On her first visit and, much to Jennie’s horror, Kevin told her to leave the walking frame at the door saying he wanted her to focus on her ability, not her limitations.
“I could see she feared falling, but I knew I could support her if she physically needed it rather than relying on the frame. I wanted her trust the process, be out of her comfort zone so she could adjust her mind to allow her body to do the task at hand and eventually have that trust transfer to herself,” says Kevin.
Jennie’s rehabilitation program was, and is, focused around her enjoyment of life. Kevin says he wanted her to have the ability to do the everyday things she loved - going to the beach with her grandchildren, traveling to Beach Hops, spending time gardening, really living and thriving in her life again.
“To get there we focused on strength, balance and core and, as her body and mind got stronger, so did her confidence to accept new challenges. Every little improvement was a major milestone. Now that fear is no longer a factor for Jennie, the sky is the limit for her.”
From victim to survivor to thriver. It’s been 10 years since her stroke and for Jennie rehabilitation will always be work in progress. Our interview is cut short because she needs to dash off to get groceries before she picks up the grandkids who are spending a week with her during the school holidays – now that’s thriving.
Recognising a stroke
Common first signs of stroke include:
- Sudden weakness and/or numbness of face, arm and/or leg especially on one side of the body
- Sudden blurred or loss of vision in one or both eyes
- Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding what others are saying
- Sudden loss of balance or an unexplained fall or difficulty controlling movements, especially with any of the other signs
How you can tell if someone is having a stroke
Use the FAST approach
FACE – Is their face drooping on one side? Can they smile?
ARM – Is one arm weak? Can they raise both arms?
SPEECH – Is their speech jumbled or slurred? Can they speak at all?
TIME – Time is critical.
Stroke is always a medical emergency. Act FAST. Call NZ 111 or AUS 000