TIA and Minor Stroke

Now that’s, that’s a very, that’s an interesting question. I went and saw my GP and I explained what had happened, and she said, “I think you’ve had a stroke. Now, we’re a part of the [study name] programme and so what I would most strongly recommend to you...” - and she probably said something like this, but, you know, my memory has faded, and all that happened before erased everything. It’s eighteen months ago. I have trouble remembering things that are eighteen months ago. Always have. It’s not part of age.

 

And she said she recommended this. And obviously she gave me the choice, because I said, “Yes, do, please.” And so that’s when she called it. She didn’t say, “Sit up. I’m going to call.” She did ask me a question, because she said, “Would you like me to contact these people?” And I said, “Yes.” I said, “Yes, do let me contact these people. Yes, please.” But whether she offered me an alternative, like, I don’t know what the alternative would be. Presumably the alternative - yeah, I know what the alternative is because it’s on the notice board about FAST. And the alternative is, “Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect 200, to your nearest Emergency.” So I guess in my case there’s a little local hospital, sort of one of these daytime hospitals, but it does have an Emergency during the day. And I suppose with hindsight, and of course this is all because it’s happened before, but with hindsight, if this happened to me, I’d go and see the doctor and she would send me off to our local clinic. And I would trundle over there. And they’re pretty effective too. And so they would presumably have then stuffed me into an ambulance or put me on a right bus for the hospital.

 

But, no, I don’t really know the answer to that, because it wasn’t important. She said, “Look, there’s this research study. Would you like to join it?” Well, of course, I mean, obviously I have to join it, don’t I? I mean, that’s what I do. I’m a researcher. I said, “Oh, wow, that’s great, fascinating”, not thinking that I’d had any event, and I was just going to be a control.

Yes I certainly did. No, it seemed to have been done in a most thoughtful way and understanding way. And I’ve only got a sort of gratitude to the whole system for how well it was run and how thorough it was, and the sort of, the dedication of the people who were running it.

 

No, I don’t think I have, [laughter] no.

 

First time, yes [laughter].

Well, I thought this is an opportunity which one’s jolly lucky to be given, and it wouldn’t only be helping me, but I just hoped it would spread usefully for a great number of people.

I feel extraordinarily fortunate that I live where I do, close to a major research group, who’ve been tremendous. They’ve communicated throughout this whole experience from day one what had happened, why it had happened, what was likely to happen, and what they were going to do about it. I was asked, “Would I like to take part in a research programme?” Very happy to do that. And throughout that research programme it’s been them that have told me what was required, explained it, made it happen, facilitated everything. So all I’ve had to do is go along with what they’ve – and that’s been nothing difficult, nothing disturbing, nothing unpleasant at all. And you actually feel you’re doing some good. What’s really reassuring is to know that you’re in the hands of people who not only care about you as a human, but they’re caring about this particular ailment. So that they are at the - as far as I can make out - they are right at the front end of probing what is, what’s happening, what the causes are and how to mitigate. It’s fabulous, delighted to have, that this happened here. What it would be like to be, to have a TIA in a country which doesn’t have our service, I don’t know. Or perhaps to, to have a TIA in the UK but to be a long way from a major hospital. I don’t know. I’m just very glad that it happened where it happened.

 

This was the day after I’d had the TIA, before they actually discharged me from the hospital. They came and had a talk with me etc, and said that I could be discharged, and the doctors moved away. And then one of them came back, the consultant came back, and said they were doing the sort of stroke consultation and he thought I would be a suitable candidate for it. Would I like to go ahead? And I agreed, because I can’t do a lot to help other people now as I used to, when I was on the ambulance service, but perhaps by providing information, whether it be sort of vocal information or physical information, it could help people in the future. And this is why I agreed to go ahead with it.

 

 

It wasn’t really a factor, but afterwards I thought, “Well, they’re going to keep a closer eye on me anyway now, so, what’s the point of refusing?”

And I found this very good with the research programme, because I was able to go as a controller, because I haven’t suffered any heart problems or stroke problems. And I found that I didn’t panic over anything at all, and I would, my advice is to anyone else who experiences the same thing, do not panic but don’t hang about waiting. Get on to the paramedics to come out.

 

And with this, with this research programme going on, I was able to go along, answered a questionnaire, did the same sort of test as my husband was having done, and I don’t know what the outcome was, whether I was better at the answering the questions they put, or whether he was better than me. But it gave a sort of in-look as to how someone who hasn’t experienced any strokes or heart problems, and compare it with someone who has.

 

And I think a very good idea is for a wife, husband or partner to be involved so that you can ask questions, and know what might happen in the future and what to be aware of. And while we’ve been on this I’ve found that they’ve been very helpful in answering any questions that either of us have asked.

 

 

Yes, I think it is. Yes, that they can find what’s going on with, in different people, and also that those that are affected can get the information that they require and not being kept in the dark.

 

 

I think, yes, you do, because, normally, if you accompany someone on a normal sort of interview or a check-up then you haven’t got the same opportunities to enquire over things.

No.

 

No, not at all.

 

Yes, I think so, yeah. Now I realise that, yeah, it could help somebody else perhaps, you know, yeah.

 

My own benefit to start with, yeah. Yeah, my own benefit to start with, yeah.

 

I have to be sort of brutal and say that that’s what made me do it, you know. But now I sort of feel all right, and the doctors have sort of given me the all-clear, if that’s the right word to use, yeah, if I can help someone else now that’s fine. I’ve been helped, so now is the time that if I can help someone else that’s fine, yeah.

 

I think probably there is, that if you are given this offer, do accept it, [laughs] because I think it - apart from all the help and the support - I think it sort of opens doors that you probably wouldn’t have ever come up to in the ordinary course of things, but to be able to take part in some research thing I think is really a great privilege and a tremendous help.