Catherine Jenkins
My name is Catherine Jenkins and I live near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the US. I was 50 when I suffered a massive stroke on 23rd March 2004, just 10 months ago. I had just come in the back door of our home when I felt my leg and arm on left side go funny, I also couldn't speak though I didn't know it, my husband kept asking me to repeat everything, then I collapsed onto the floor.
Fortunately he was there to help me, he kept rubbing my face saying "you're fine sweetie, you're going to be just fine" and I wondered what was the matter because I felt fine. What was he talking about? He yelled to our daughter, Sarah who was 26 at the time and told her to call emergency services to tell them her mother was having a stroke! I told him he was nuts! Soon after, EMT, policemen and paramedics arrived and swarmed the house, one of them happened to be a friend of mine who made me feel calm immediately. They checked my pulse, oxygen blood pressure; etc declared me stable enough to move and loaded me up. Off we went to Crozer Hospital a 20 min ride, they had a neurologist on staff waiting for me and sent me to CT scan right away, after determining that I was not on any drugs. TPA was administered within 1.5 hrs of the stroke onset and within about 15 minutes, I bean to feel tingling in my arms prior to that I had been totally paralysed and unable to hold my limbs up at all. I had also lost bladder and bowel control several times (Much to my chagrin) I was reassured that this was not uncommon in stroke cases and I thought, "Okay, this must be a stroke" I never lost consciousness but was "out of it" a lot, I remember most things clearly, people who visited me, etc, but not conversations.
I was kept in ER until a room became available on the CICU for me where I remained for 8 days with a heart monitor. PT visited me occasionally, as did speech, showing me how to get my smile to turn upward again (as if that was the biggest of my problems!) I walked the hallways with a walker, followed by a 4-prong cane and then a single cane. I ate pureed food for a week and was discharged with no pt speech or to (Big mistake!)
After being home and sleeping for a week or so, I returned to work (special education teacher) part time another big mistake. I have been back to work since September but in August was feeling poorly, very dizzy, depressed, distracted and anxious. Finally got myself some more physical therapy occupational therapy and speech therapy three months of each with an extension for the speech, for three more months. Dysphasia, Appraxia were both diagnosed thanks to my persistent complaints that all was not right I am still seeing a therapist (lcsw) and a psychiatrist and am currently looking for a new neurologist. I feel the original one downplayed my brain injuries and would like a more empathetic one. I think I've found one, work continues to be a challenge for me, due to the fine motor difficulties manoeuvring around a crowded room is difficult for me and noise is hard to tolerate. I was evaluated by a neurophyschologist who helped me to understand my brain damage.
Thanks to Catherine for sending in her profile. Anyone else who would like to share their story can send it along with a photograph (if you're not shy!)
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