Episode: 2286
Title: HPR2286: Surviving a Stroke
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2286/hpr2286.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-19 00:53:28

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This is an HPR episode 2,286 entitled Surviving a Stroke.
It is hosted by Tony Huma, Tony H1, 212 and in about 11 minutes long and Karima Cleanflag.
The summary is, on the second on February I have a stroke, this is my story.
This episode of HPR is brought to you by Ananasthos.com.
Get 15% discount on all shared hosting with the offer code HPR15, that's HPR15.
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Hello, I could pop it radio listeners, this is Tony Hughes in Blackpool in the UK.
This show is going to be a little bit of track on what I usually record, but I thought listeners
might be interested in my experience.
First offer disclaimer, anything I say here is my experience and there's no way intended
as advice to anyone.
Everyone who experiences or is at risk of a stroke is different and you must make your
own lifestyle choices based on professional advice.
With that clear, let's get on with the show.
On the second of February just gone, earlier this year I had a massive stroke, it came
completely without warning, I was out playing bridge with my wife and we were just about
to start a bridge class that we were attending and I sat down at the table and suddenly I had
a mighty white noise in my head, basically.
I thought there was a fault with me hearing aids to start off with and I ripped them out
but it continued and then suddenly I got blind in headache and I just couldn't say what
was going on.
My wife came back into the room at that point and sat down and I had me head in the
hands and I thought I was just suffering from a migraine so she didn't do anything for
several minutes but then one of the people who sat at the table suggested it might be
a bit more serious and she wrote on a bit of paper, Home or Hospital and I pointed to
the word Hospital and then it all kicked in, there was a couple of people who were at the
bridge club we were doctors and they apparently got me on the floor and everything but in
the meantime my wife rang the emergency services and got an ambulance and I was taken to the
local accident and emergency department at the local hospital who were brilliant even
though there was loads of pressures, they were fantastic.
Several hours after getting into the emergency room this is now 5 o'clock in the morning
I was admitted to a ward and at that stage they still didn't know what had happened to
me, they were querying infection, a couple of other things but I got admitted to the ward
and they had me down for a CT scamp which I really had in the evening around about 4 o'clock
and after that scamp it was then confirmed I actually had a stroke. Consulting came up to
see me about 7 or 8 o'clock that evening to talk to me about it because I still had residual
effects 24 hours after the attack they decided that I had a stroke rather than a TIA or
transit schemeic attack or more commonly known as a mini stroke because the effects of that were
offer after about 24 hours. So I usually spent the next 12 days in hospital I've been further tests
a week later I had another scan and at this time an MRI as that gives a clearer picture of what's
gone on in the brain compared with the CT scamp and had the first day of admission and after
seeing that result to the scamp the consult was convinced I had a stroke and was quite amazed
that I've not been more severely affected. As I said the main effect was weakness, slight weakness on
the right side, I also had an effect where my mouth felt really strange and when I was chewing
it felt like I was wearing someone else's full teeth but that was really weird but gradually
over the last few weeks since I was released from hospital. That's gone away pretty well largely.
So all in all I dodged a bullet, I've not had major, major effects so that's not to say
doing other effects like I say. The biggest effect now is that I get fatigue, they call it
post stroke fatigue syndrome and I initially I was tiring after 30-40 minutes exertion but now
that's gone up that I can do something mildly exertive a couple of hours before I start getting tired
and need to sit down or maybe go and have a rest but like I say doing things that could have
previously done all day now take you know after a couple of hours then I'm tired and I need to
go and have a rest but that said things are getting on better. One of the other effects
because it affected me right side and I'm right-handed was my ability to right me,
fine motor control in my right arm went to a certain extent and I found it difficult to hold a
pen steady so right in anything we were right at although it wasn't impossible it was a bit wobbly
and I found doing the signature initially a bit difficult but again that started to come back
as most of the work I do at home writing wise I don't have a keyboard it's not such a major problem.
So how are you seeing what caused it? Well the truth is they don't know. The most severe risks for
severe risks for people are those that drink alcohol excessively smoke, have a very high fat
diet also those that are overweight particularly people who are classed as a beast those with a BMI
over 30 people with diabetes are also high risk but the main other factor which is probably what
to influence my stroke is genetic. I've got a couple of members of mine family my grandfather
and on my father's side my uncle on my mother's side both suffered major strokes which ultimately
led to their deaths and it's probably this genetic factor that may have influenced me having
a stroke because I don't drink I've been vegetarian for nearly 30 years previous to the stroke my
blood pressure was check regularly and was always seen to be within normal range which is one of
our risk factors and although I was a little bit overweight I was about a stone and a half
overweight prior to the stroke but I do even started to lose a little bit of that and I'd lost
half a stone in the previous few months but the other factor is that the prior to the stroke the
blood tests have shown and prediabetic so I'm going to have to increase my exercise which again
is something I've started today and ultimately diet to reduce my blood sugars not a major issue
I've started to attend the gym I started to walk more because I was intending to lose weight anyway
and I actually prefer healthy food so that's all good the main thing I have to watch is not
so much what I eat is how much I must admit I do enjoy my grob and I tend to pile it on my plate
so that was one of the influencing factors in making me overweight was instead of having one
portion of things I tend you to have two and maybe even go back for seconds so that's something
that can be dealt with the other major effect for me is the consultant stole me I can't drive
for three months after discharge from hospital which at the time of recording this is in the
68 weeks away I can't drive now until the 14th of May which means I have to rely on other people
or get public transport the public transport is not so much of a problem but having to walk
from transport stops bus stops and things like that is more of a problem because that's when it
builds into the fatigue so roll on May the 14th although my doctor did say initially to take it
easy and don't think about planning 200-300 mile round trips before you know before you've
checked out you see a look at so I am going to after slowly moving back into driving so really
if you fall into any of the risk factors then maybe you need to think about changing your lifestyle
if you don't have any of the major risk factors in your life don't assume stroke can't be
something that can happen to you because it can't my experience proves it and having had this
stroke I've done further research on the internet and there's lots of information out there
these are these blogs from people that have been in similar position to me that have had strokes
I was reading a blog from a chap who was vegan and very healthy and he had a stroke
so you know it's something that can happen to anyone I've kind of recorded this basically to
to talk about it and get it out me system but I thought I might as well record it and let people
out there in HPR land know what happened and have a little bit of a warning so thanks HPR
listens to listening and I'll be back soon right for now
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