I knew I was having a stroke

My name is Phil. I suffered my stroke in September 2014 at home while cooking dinner for my family. At the time I was employed as a Private Banker. I had no prior symptoms like headaches or dizzy spells, but I believe I may have had high blood pressure.

I instantly knew what was happening, so it felt surreal. I knew I was suffering a stroke as I’d heard about the signs on radio just days earlier.

I knew I needed to get treatment fast and luckily we had a friend's daughter living with us who was a trained emergency paramedic. I told her I was having a stroke, so she took over!

I was taken by ambulance to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where I underwent the full gamut of tests and scans. My wife later told me I was put in the ‘family room’ where you are placed if the future is a little uncertain…..

For years I had been involved with footy via the Adelaide Uni Footy Club. My mate from the club Dr Peter Sharley, a senior emergency medicine specialist at the hospital, came straight down to comfort my wife and children.

I spent around two weeks in the RAH before a place became available at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre. I had lost the use of my left arm and leg and the simplest task such as rolling over in bed was impossible. At first, the stroke specialist was sceptical about me being able to ever walk again. He told my wife they would assess me to see if I would need to be moved to a high dependency nursing home for good. Eek!!

I stayed in rehabilitation for six months undergoing daily physio, speech pathology etc. I improved to the stage where I could use a wheelchair and even take short walks using a stick. It felt great to prove everyone wrong. It’s a good lesson in not underestimating the willpower of a person. The quality of treatment and the staff at Hampstead is first class. I owe them a lot and I still keep in contact with some of the nurses today.

One of the biggest impacts of my time there was seeing the huge variety of people who had suffered strokes along with the myriad of effects and severity. Many survivors were in their later years, but a few were quite young - late twenties.

There were some patients whose walking and balance were totally unaffected, while others were unlikely to ever walk again. I was lucky enough to have little to no neurological issues and no speech problems, whereas one of my early roommates was unable to talk.

I had the opportunity to do a series of rehab sessions at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and found my strength continued to improve. When these finished, I started to see a neurophysiologist. This proved to be incredibly successful and I still go fortnightly, which has assisted greatly in my rehab. It’s also helped me to return to some sort of 'normal' lifestyle. I would recommend all stroke patients explore this option as early as possible.

I am still receiving Botox treatment on a regular basis in an effort to reduce the spasticity. I also get hooked up to a computer which measures walking speed using a special mat.

Overall, I could not be happier with the treatment I have received, together with the follow up.

I have now extended that win to walking from home to the local supermarket to do the shopping. This is a huge thing for me and I feel pretty chuffed about it. I have a shopping trolley which helps.

Social interactions like going to watch sport, meeting for a drink at the pub and even entertaining at home have been extremely beneficial to improving my psychological health and providing a positive outlook.

I catch my son's footy game every week and will see every Crows home game at Adelaide Oval this season. Whilst I am unable to work, I had income protection insurance in place which has been critical in supporting my rehab goals and my family.

It would be remiss of me not to thank my wife. I have been almost totally reliant on her to provide transport to and from appointments and emotional support. She took on the carer role and has done a bloody great job. I cannot underestimate the importance of family.

My wife is a teacher and she will likely retire this year. My daughter is an engineer and is currently living in the United Kingdom. We are going over to visit her in late September. My son has since graduated with a degree in physiotherapy. I am very proud of my family.