‘I couldn’t talk to anyone about my strokes’
A NORTHERN Ireland woman who survived two strokes has backed a new counselling service to help survivors and carers readjust from the Covid-19 crisis.
The Stroke Association has secured £48,903 in National Lottery funding for its First Steps project.
The six month initiative offers one-to-one telephone or online counselling as a direct response to the pandemic. Sessions will help clients develop emotional resilience, readjust to life after strokes and reintegrate to life post-lockdown.
Around 4,000 people have a stroke or mini-stroke every year in Northern Ireland. There are almost 39,000 stroke survivors.
They include Denise Watson (47), who was rushed to Antrim Hospital in January 2018 after experiencing symptoms at her home in Belfast.
“My stroke seemed to come from nowhere really,” said Denise, who is originally from Fermanagh. “I didn’t have any health issues or at least nothing I was aware of. That day, I was at home, cleaning and tidying upstairs when I felt a numbness down my right side.
“I continued what I was doing for a while but the feeling got worse and so I looked in the bathroom mirror. I couldn’t see anything wrong but when I tried to speak, my speech sounded very strange to me. It was very frightening.”
A brain scan at hospital later revealed she had suffered two strokes. She recalled an episode three weeks prior when she had lost her vision temporarily, but had put it down to the effects of a severe migraine.
After returning home to her husband John and three children a week later, her fears of falling ill again were confirmed when she suffered a mini stroke in April 2019.
“I felt very anxious and emotional every time I spoke about my experience,” she said.
“I couldn’t even say the word stroke to my friends or family. I didn’t talk to anyone about how I was feeling because I felt like I didn’t want to worry them even more.”
She thanked staff on the Royal Victoria Hospital’s stroke ward for their care and referring her to the Stroke Association’s counselling service earlier this year.
With the help of her counsellor Marie, Denise finally felt able to openly discuss her fears without the feeling of burdening her family.
A report published by the charity in 2019 found that 45% of stroke survivors felt abandoned after leaving hospital.
Marie Penney, project manager of the First Steps Emotional Support service at the Stroke Association in Northern Ireland, said stroke survivors here were already experiencing isolation and fear.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has turned lives upside down and we’re hearing every day how it affects people emotionally and psychologically,” she said.
She added: “We believe everyone deserves to live the best life they can after stroke and it’s a team effort to get there.”