Trying to get back to normal
well it won't be the old norma, it'll be a new normal
but to get back to a stronger and more agile state
yes last Christmas, Christmas eve
I was just clearing up after dinner
and I started feeling a bit funny
and I sat down and then said
I'll just go to bed and lie down
the family fortunately had a better idea and they
called and ambulance they thought I was not right
so very fortunately even on Christmas eve
all the health services were fully functional
tha ambulance was here quickly
and I was whisked into Geelong Hospital
the neuro team were waiting for me in Emergency
and
they said they'd keep me in overnight
next morning I woke up on Christmas day and they said
"Happy Christmas. You've had a stroke"
I couldn't breathe I had to tell the kids
and I still can't breathe
when I think about that moment I just
got on the phone to Tim our son
and he said "Mum"
I said "Tim"
"I just can't breathe"
and he said "What has happened?"
and I said "Just give me a minute"
and then I tried to tell them
I didn't believe it
I mean I rang the hospital the next morning
and said "Can I come and get him?"
we'd just had dinner it was all fine
and he couldn't put his cup on the coffee table
and that was when it started and
I wasn't sure. I'd never experienced a stroke before
His speech was slightly slurred
but nothing too much you know
it didn't
I mean if he'd had several drinks
you'd have assumed he was just slightly wobbly
But you know when Steve
when we saw him next day
I went in and he was you know not very well
When I woke up then on Christmas day
I just simply could not move my right side
I could not move my right leg, my right arm
couldn't lift a finger or anything
Her immediate reaction was
"We're gonna beat this thing"
and it was a sense of we are gonna beat this thing
and she's been with me all the way
usually you know quietly managing things
and making things easy for me
but also encouraging me to do things for myself
After five days in hospital I went to
McKellar as an in-patient I stayed there for five weeks
Initially I would need two nurses
to get me out of bed and onto my feet
I'd have regular sessions with physiotherapists
and then you know by the time I left I could
move around I could dress myself, wash myself
I could walk from the ward through to the gym
which is two or three-hundred yards
so you know that was something I felt really pleased
and I felt then by the time I could do that
I was ready to go home
so I was doing the physiotherapy most days
I was also doing work with a speech therapist
occupational therapy
primarily around you know different hand actions
and so on
so my hand-writing is fairly slow and laborious
you know I think it's as good as my
eight-year old grand-daughter's but it's
she's rapidly getting better than me
I was doing aqua-therapy
three or four times a week
but initially that was just
hobbling into the pool and they'd put all sorts
of floaties around me and I'd just
float there and they'd push me around
and you know I'd do a few excercises
but then more recently
I've been working with a physiotherapist, Emily
who's also a swimming instructor and she's been
you know trying to get me to swim properly
with my particular special exercises and
all aimed at getting me swimming
and one stage as a flippant remark I said
"Oh I'd like to go snorkelling"
and she seized on that
and you know encouraged me to think that was realistic
which I didn't really think it was
so we've now accepted that as being a goal
that I need to achieve
and that now has become important
something I have to do
Stephen's been a terrific person to work with
he clearly expressed a goal that was
close to his values of what he wanted to get back to
as a result of his stroke
he showed lots of enthusiasm towards
carrying out the exercises and the program
that would help him move towards his goal
he's progressed amazingly well
over the last few months
and he's well on track to achieve his goal of
returning to snorkelling at the beach
The idea was to do it on Christmas eve
which would be the one year anniversary of my stroke
I realise that Christmas eve
there may be other things going on
so that may not be the ideal day
but you know certainly sometime this summer
I love snorkelling
you know the sense of freedom
exploring a different world
the sense of being privileged to
join all of the marine life in their environment
I feel elated
it was fantastic
you know just to get back in the water
and to all the seaweed moving with the waves
it's another section of my life that I've got back
to feel that I can you know go into the water and swim
it's tremendous
I won't be able to keep out of the water
I just want to say thank you so so much
thank you, thank you very much