I am fundraising for Different Strokes because 13 years ago my Dad had a stroke. Before this, when I thought about strokes I just imagined an elderly person who was paralysed down one side. I had very little exposure, understanding or knowledge around what a stroke was, how it can happen and the affects it has on the person and the people around them.
My Dad's stroke was not a naturally occurring stroke, unfortunately it was caused due to a complication during an operation, which also turned out to be unnecessary as he was misdiagnosed. So to start with, most importantly he was in the best place possible for him to receive lifesaving treatment. Initially we were under the impression he would not be able to regain full movement of his right side, would struggle with speech and communication and may need full time care, it looked pretty bleak in the first few days after it happened. After a week he slowly regained movement in his arms and legs, and his speech, albeit slurred and at times colourful language (that often happens)! Luckily age was on my Dad's side he was 47, day by day he got better, and his recovery was remarkable from where we had expected him to be. After a couple of months in hospital rehabilitating he was released home, 'yay' I hear you say! Naively at 16 I thought 'Dad's home, everything will be back to normal'. It was another year before the man that I knew as my Dad started to emerge from his shell, he was quiet, often emotional, angry at times and none of us (my Mum and brother, alongside his parents, sisters and extended family) knew what he was going through or how to deal with his questions, when will I be better? what does better look like? Why do I always have a headache? When will my memories return? And so on.
After about 9 months of muddling through we came across Different Strokes through a friend of a friend. My Dad started going to the support groups where he met other stroke survivors, he attended this sometimes on his own, and as a family we also found it useful to speak to other people's families and see that we weren't alone, we weren't the only ones going through this. The support groups massively helped my Dad's determination to recover and get 'better' whatever that better was. He pushed himself with exercising to strengthen his limp, mental tasks and games to build his memory and cognitive functions, and his mood become much more positive and a 'Can do' approach rather than 'Poor me'.
After 2 years my Dad returned to work as a Financial Planning Manager in a high street bank, where he was successful for a further 9 years! He recently semi-retired as he felt his aphasia was affecting his work but has found great pleasure in being a courier where he doesn't have to speak as a main part of his job, so there are many options out there for people looking for different career options.
13 years on my Dad's stroke and the after affects are still very much part of who he is and our family, but the support we had, and the newsletters we all still read from Different Strokes meant that we learnt to deal with it together and became a stronger family unit and were able to support my Dad and each other much better.
Strokes can happen to anyone at any time, I will be running the Royal Berkshire 10k in May and hope to raise money and awareness for Different Strokes so they can continue supporting families such as mine.
