Just three weeks after giving birth to her first child, Melissa Broad was hit with a splitting headache. The pain was nothing like she had experienced before, and it had come on her all of a sudden.
She now knows the term for that headache is the thunder clap, and it happens at the point of a burst brain aneurysm, something that can happen to people experiencing a stroke. She booked an emergency appointment with her GP the next morning and was told it was likely just a migraine.
At 29-years-old with a newborn to look after, she got on with her day and went to bed early at 8pm but woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. "My husband Paul explains it as something from the Exorcist, I was rocking back and forth with my head in my hands. At that point, I could not speak, I had completely lost my speech."
Read more: Young woman with cold and flu symptoms dies within weeks
Little did she know, she had suffered a stroke. She and her husband from Creigiau in Cardiff were not aware that the symptoms she had been experiencing were signs of a stroke, even the paramedic who came after Paul made a 999 call didn't pick it up.
"The paramedic thought I had a urine infection, because they said sometimes urine infections in older people make them confused, he didn't think it was anything serious. But Paul said 'This is not right, take her to the hospital, just to get her checked'. The hospital said that saved my life. As soon as I got to the hospital they recognised it as a stroke.
"I had blood clots in my head and neck and the pressure caused a brain haemorrhage, that is what had caused most of the problems with my speech and memory, and reading and writing. It was too slowly acted on."
Melissa, now 42, explained that medics told her the cause was likely down to the fact she had recently given birth, with the heightened risk of blood clots that comes with pregnancy. She added: "They could not figure out why that's the only thing they could link it to."
The bleed was able to be controlled through medication and fortunately Melissa did not need surgery. She was left unable to speak, read or write and also experienced problems with her memory. "I could not remember much about having a baby. I still can't remember the birth and what happened afterwards, I didn't remember being in hospital. I couldn't remember birthdays and I struggled to retain information."
Melissa said she was fortunate that it did not affect any of her movement, but it took her four months to relearn how to speak, and it was a full year after that until her reading and writing returned to normal. However the early recovery was hard, Melissa explained she lost a lot of time with her newborn son, Elis (now 12), due to her time in hospital, and when she did return home she was scared to leave the house.
She said: "I lost a lot of time with Elis those first few weeks and I had to go back to hospital nearly every day once I was home. He was not allowed to be in hospital with me, Paul had him at home and he took another month off with me when I got home from hospital
"I was too scared to leave the house, when you can't speak you can't even go to the shop it is really hard to understand. It affects your anxiety levels, it makes you depressed, not being able to communicate, I could not do anything like that for the first four months. My memory was bad, I had chalk boards all over the kitchen walls"
Melissa was told she would not be able to have anymore children, but went on to have daughters Mari (nine) and Heti (six). She said: "They said at the time not to have anymore children and that I probably would not be able to work again but I was back in work 14 months later. I had two girls after that, they eventually said if you are willing to take the risk."
Despite her recovery, Melisssa still lived with the anxiety that many stroke sufferers experience. She said: "Every time I got a headache, especially when I was pregnant with my girls, I was panicky thinking something might be happening again."
Melissa explained her stroke was not caught soon enough, which resulted in her speech and ability to read and write detiorate in the way that it did. According to Shakeel Ahmad, the National Clinical Lead for Stroke at Public Health Wales, for every minute a stroke is left untreated, up to two million brain cells die.
What are the symptoms of stroke?
Stroke is the fifth single leading cause of death in Wales and the single largest cause of complex disability. A delay in getting treatment for stroke kills brain cells and can sadly prove to be fatal. That’s why it’s important to act F.A.S.T.
The signs and symptoms of a stroke vary from person to person, but usually begin suddenly, according to the NHS. As different parts of your brain control different parts of your body, your symptoms will depend upon the part of your brain affected and the extent of the damage. The main stroke symptoms can be remembered with the word FAST: Face-Arms-Speech-Time.
- Face – the face may have dropped on 1 side, the person may not be able to smile or their mouth or eye may have drooped
- Arms – the person may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in 1 arm
- Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake; they may also have problems understanding what you're saying to them
- Time – it's time to dial 999 immediately if you notice any of these signs or symptoms
Other possible symptoms include:
- complete paralysis of 1 side of the body
- sudden loss or blurring of vision
- dizziness
- confusion
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- problems with balance and coordination
- difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- a sudden and very severe headache resulting in a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
- loss of consciousness
However, there are usually other causes for these symptoms.
Katie Chappelle, Associate Director for Wales, “Every five minutes, someone in the UK will have a stroke. Stroke kills tens of thousands and leaves others with complex and severe disability every year. Acting FAST is the biggest thing you can do to save a life. As soon as you see any of the signs of stroke in yourself or someone else, you need to call 999. Treating mini strokes with the same urgency as strokes is also vital. If you spot any of these signs, even for a short time, it’s important you take action.
"Last year we saw thousands of people with suspected stroke put off calling 999 due to fear of catching Covid-19 or being a burden on the NHS. People could now be living with more severe disability than they otherwise would because they put off calling 999. That’s why you need to know that acting FAST and calling 999 saves lives.”
Transient ischaemic attack (TIA/Mini stroke)
According to the NHS, a TIA, which is also known as a mini-stroke, has the same symptoms as a stroke but they tend to only last between a few minutes to a few hours before disappearing completely. Although the symptoms improve, a TIA should not be ignored as it is a serious warning sign of a problem with the blood supply to your brain and means you are at increased risk of having a stroke in the near future. It is important to call 999 and ask for an ambulance if you or someone else have TIA or stroke symptoms.
Read next:
- New test to revolutionise lung cancer diagnosis rolled out in Wales
- People do not have faith in NHS Wales, says head of the head of the British Medical Association in Wales
- Mum-of-two living in hospital for a whole year desperately waiting for a new heart
- Dad-of-two died after migraines turned out to be rare brain tumour
- Scientists say 'genetic clues' could lead to blood test tracking cancer growth in real time
