A YOUNG mum forgot her newborn baby’s name after suffering a severe stroke that left her partially blind.
When Nicola Brown, then just 24, kept apparently waking up in the night without being conscious, doctors told her she was sleepwalking.
But the new mum, from Llanberis, north Wales, was having seizures which resulted in a stroke which also left her unable to process information properly – or remember the name of her newborn daughter.
Nicola, now 35, said: “My partner would wake up and I’d just be staring at him not responding.
“Before my stroke I worked in various pubs and clubs in my local area. I began to have seizures in my sleep but the hospital kept on sending me home saying I was sleepwalking.
“That happened four or five times but on one visit and by chance a neurologist came to see someone else while I was there and the hospital asked if they could just take a look at this one scan.
“I’ll almost never forget his words: ‘Walton [Hospital] now!’
“I was 24 years old when I had my haemorrhagic stroke.”
Nicola considers herself “very lucky” that her stroke, probably caused by genetic fault she was born with, happened shortly after she’d arrived at Liverpool’s Walton Hospital.
“It was while they were prepping me for theatre I haemorrhaged. I was haemorrhaging for 80 minutes before they managed to stop the bleeding,” she recalled.
“As a result I have been left partially-sighted, which was very difficult to adjust to in the beginning.
“I have the bottom left corner of my sight in both eyes missing.”
She said her doctor, Professor Bob Rafal, was her “hero”.
“I dread to think where I would be today [without him],” she admitted.
“I remember being in the North Wales Brain Injury Services feeling very helpless, frustrated, scared and confused.
“’Why did this happen to me?’ and ‘I never hurt anyone’ were some of the thoughts that kept on going through my head.
“Recovery is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was a mother to two young children – a four-year-old son and a six-month-old baby girl. My left arm was in the typical stroke position.
“It was extremely difficult to change and look after my baby and I’d often forget her name for a very long time.
“My mother told me that people used to approach us in the street and ask me how old my baby was.
“They’d ask ‘What’s her name?’ and I did not know. I always used to have to turn to my mum and ask these questions.”
Nicola lost the ability to properly and accurately recall information but managed to overcome this with the help of assistive technology which has transformed her life.
With the help of this technology on her computer Nicola, who did not dream of going to university before having a stroke, found the courage to take a foundation degree at Bangor University.
Last year the former bar worker graduated with a BSc (Hons) in neuropsychology and is currently in the middle of an MSc with ambitions to do a PhD.
Nicola said: “I started studying because I met someone who said, ‘I understand what you are going through.’
“I was very angry about that and thought I would learn about it so I can be experienced and work with people and really know what they are going through.
“I am honoured to have survived and to be surrounded by such inspirational people who have motivated me and pushed me to my limits every day.
“Hopefully one day I aim to complete a PhD and to help others in a similar situation to my own. I can truly empathise, understand, and appreciate the difficulties people experience after a stroke.
“My advice to someone who has recently had a stroke is to never, ever give up. As the saying goes: ‘What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’. It’s tattooed on my arm.”
Nicola said the years of her life between 24 and 29 were “a bit of a blur” as she struggled to recover and look after her children, now aged 11 and 16.
Strokes strike every five minutes in the UK…
It’s vital to know how to spot the warning signs of a stroke in yourself or someone else. Using the FAST test is the best way to do this:
- Face: Can the person smile? Has their face fallen on one side?
- Arms: Can the person raise both arms and keep them there?
- Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say? Is their speech slurred?
- Time: If you see any of these three signs, it’s time to call 999.
These are the most common symptoms, but there are other signs that you should always take seriously. These include:
- Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body, including legs, hands or feet
- Difficulty finding words or speaking in clear sentences
- Sudden blurred vision or loss of sight in one or both eyes
- Sudden memory loss or confusion, and dizziness; or a sudden fall
- A sudden, severe headache.
If you spot any of these signs of a stroke, call 999 straight away.
Information supplied by stroke.org.uk
Nicola, who uses a system called Dragon Dictate to help her read and write on her laptop, is now chair of head injury charity Headway in Gwynedd.
Nicola said: “I thought it had ruined my life and there was no hope but I also wanted to understand what had happened and help others,” she said.
“I think studying helped my recovery because I am using my brain rather than being a bar worker.
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“I did A-levels and an access course at Coleg Menai and then went to Bangor University.
“Education for me has been a lifesaver. I love it. My arm is better now. I think it has helped me physically that I used my brain.”
Earlier this week we told how a 13-year-old had a stroke at 13 that left her face paralysed – but doctors thought it was just a migraine.
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/i-forgot-my-babys-name-after-life-changing-stroke-at-24-but-doctors-thought-my-symptoms-were-sleep-walking/
News Pictures I forgot my baby’s name after life-changing stroke at 24… but doctors thought my symptoms were ‘sleep-walking’
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