Number 14 - Mister Lacunar Stroke ! (stroke journey part 1) 

A stroke of luck - Part 1

Sat here now, 27 months on from having a stroke and looking at this photo taken some 8 hours before I had a stroke, , I see now that I had been preparing for mine for several years. Who knew that being overweight and stressed on and off for twenty years was unhealthy? No-one ever told me!

Looking back I’d had a stressful decade at least: work, personal relationships, and other stresses were self-medicated by food and alcohol. A big, indestructible fella, just kept on making people laugh while criminally neglecting my own physical and mental health.

The best thing in AGES happened to me when I got a job role at Blue Prism – my first practitioner role in 20 years, sexy new technology space, no impossible budget to carry, nor the personal futures of dozens of good people in a fading giant business. I’d dabbled in readying a few startups for acquisition in the recent

years , but I was aching to retire early. The BP role was a breath of fresh air.

Had a wonderful team around me, a great mentor (cheers Em!) and I got contributory quickly. Unfortunately I had already done the damage. After a very busy three months, and just a day after celebrating my probation period being passed during an hilarious and beery evening with Olly and Jacob at a residential sales course,

I went to bed very happily.

I woke for the loo around five in my dormitory room… and I could neither move nor feel my right side properly. Looking back, incredibly, I knew what it was and I was never scared. I just though " Ohh SHIT ! Here we go"...I just treated it like any critical problem I’d encountered during my 20 years as an executive troubleshooter. I knew innately that panic is a useless response to a crisis.

I had the presence of mind to throw on clean sportswear as I KNEW I’d be messed around by medics later,and I tried to make my way to reception. Remember when the landlines in hotels used to be connected?

Me too! Bouncing off the walls I got to reception. My speech was going as my stroke was ongoing and worsening.

A US colleague,Rich Salerno, saw me in reception and he kept me company until the ambulance arrived. I will never forget that kindness.

I was lucky in so many ways: the National Stroke Centre in High Wycombe was only a half hours ride away.

I was MRI’d, cannulated and clotbusted in double quick time. I’d suffered whats called a Lacunar stroke in my left brain stem. A couple of desperately uncomfortable nights connected to a dozen electrodes, drips and whirring machines ensued while the stroke consultant, the wonderful Mrs Tuna, explained very clearly exactly what had occurred and what the best plan of action was. It was gonna get worse before it got better. She explained that my blood pressure had been 227/140 on admission, and that at 20 stone (126 kgs) I was on a collision course with another stroke. Nature has this gentle way of telling a person his body has been abused enough. A photograph taken during the previous day’s course tells an awful story. I look like I’d given up. Thats the one accompanying this post.

The day after I got home the Occupational Therapist visited my home and my rehabilitation started immediately. Kayla , my clever missus had worked as a stroke nurse in the eighties. She locked in step with the OT to resolve my diet and repetitive flexibility exercises. I cannot praise Kayla and the many NHS folks involved in my recovery enough. Hard work physically and emotionally.

In the next part I'll cover my slow crawl out of the hole the stroke had left.