It’s good to be back in action after a rather disrupted June and July. John Lennon is quoted as saying: “Life is what messes up your plans”. Indeed, I had not planned for the event that occurred and disrupted a recent trip to Antrim, and had certainly not planned for four weeks signed off as medically unfit to drive a car!
Television advertisements do not generally hold my attention but I am very glad that Margaret and I both remembered FAST. The early signs of a stroke can usually be detected by looking for Facial changes, Arms that don’t move freely, Speech that is slurred – Telephone for help! I awoke in our hotel, immobile and unable to coordinate my arm movements. Mags called for an ambulance and Antrim Area Hospital was extremely caring, but it wasn’t quite like the trip to the Giant’s Causeway that we had planned for that weekend.
I am now fully recovered from what was technically a mini-stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack; a temporary loss of blood flow to the brain, resulting in symptoms that clear within 24 hours. The cause of this impediment has not yet been found but as a result of very high-tech medical scanning, I now have documentary proof that I am the owner of both a heart and brain. Clearly, on the day of the TIA, they were not getting on together as well as I had become accustomed!
My knowledge of strokes before my TIA was minimal, but I had remembered that TV Gardener Monty Don had vanished from our screens following a similar experience. I found his description of events reassuring from the perspective of having been a similarly busy person who suddenly found that life was unexpectedly different.
However, like Monty, I am extremely fortunate in having made a full recovery with no side effects. The main challenge now is not to recreate the level of work and commitment that I had become used too. Not because this had been part of the cause, merely that life is surprisingly short and deserves full appreciation. Clement Freud’s funniest comment is literally entombed with him, I just want any ‘best before date’ on my headstone to be some way in the future yet!
Television advertisements do not generally hold my attention but I am very glad that Margaret and I both remembered FAST. The early signs of a stroke can usually be detected by looking for Facial changes, Arms that don’t move freely, Speech that is slurred – Telephone for help! I awoke in our hotel, immobile and unable to coordinate my arm movements. Mags called for an ambulance and Antrim Area Hospital was extremely caring, but it wasn’t quite like the trip to the Giant’s Causeway that we had planned for that weekend.
I am now fully recovered from what was technically a mini-stroke or Transient Ischaemic Attack; a temporary loss of blood flow to the brain, resulting in symptoms that clear within 24 hours. The cause of this impediment has not yet been found but as a result of very high-tech medical scanning, I now have documentary proof that I am the owner of both a heart and brain. Clearly, on the day of the TIA, they were not getting on together as well as I had become accustomed!
My knowledge of strokes before my TIA was minimal, but I had remembered that TV Gardener Monty Don had vanished from our screens following a similar experience. I found his description of events reassuring from the perspective of having been a similarly busy person who suddenly found that life was unexpectedly different.
However, like Monty, I am extremely fortunate in having made a full recovery with no side effects. The main challenge now is not to recreate the level of work and commitment that I had become used too. Not because this had been part of the cause, merely that life is surprisingly short and deserves full appreciation. Clement Freud’s funniest comment is literally entombed with him, I just want any ‘best before date’ on my headstone to be some way in the future yet!
This leads on to the announcement that Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust will be proudly sponsoring Monty Don's talk on wildlife gardening at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Saturday 17th October 2009. Tickets are £9 and available from the box office on 08445 767979. See the Trust website for more information.
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