Gill, and Life After Her Stroke

My lovely wife, Gill, had a stroke in early February 2020.

Consultants concluded that no typical physical condition triggered the stroke and concurred that unrelenting work-based stress was the likely cause.

This happened just as Covid struck with all its restrictions and lockdowns. Circumstances meant that most of the usual therapy didn't happen for some time, and when it did, it was limited. She eventually received speech therapy and such, at home.

We were hopeful of a full recovery, in time. She did start to speak again and didn't have physical impairments as such. But she has been left with aphasia, difficulty with complex tasks and quite severe post-stroke fatigue.

The size of the infarction in her brain is surprisingly large.

She had worked since age 16, with a break to look after our sons when they were babies. Since the stroke, she is unable to work.

Since August last year, she has also had her mobility further compromised by sciatica.

Despite the disabilities, she remains brave, loving and gets as much fulfilment as she is able to from life.

Some Don't Realise, and Some Choose Not To

Despite the years, some people haven't realised the consequences of her post-stroke condition.

For people who don't know her, that might be understandable, as some stroke sufferers make a full recovery quite quickly. Others stroke sufferers take longer, and some are left with permanent disabilities.

Gill, unfortunately, is in the latter of the above situations.

Some are slow to understand.

But some simply choose not to, and I have no time for this lack of empathy.

The Good Stuff

We love spending time with our lovely grandsons, Leo and Asher, pictured with us above.

We also like spending time away on our caravanning holidays.

Gill also likes to spend time in "Nana's garden" sat under her pergola when the weather is warm enough.