I fell and broke my leg.

Hello Caz,

I am so sorry to hear what you’ve been through after your stroke. Falls are always a frightening experience and having such a severe injury must have been awful for you. How have you recovered from your broken leg?  You did incredibly well to be able to get back inside and wait for your husband.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you not feeling safe, and certainly crutches are not for everyone, and having vertigo can make any movement or walking very unstable. It sounds like using the walker and wheelchair is a good safety measure to help keep you safe when moving about. Have you had any input from a physiotherapist, or neuro-physiotherapist for your vertigo?  They can help with exercises to help manage the vertigo and strategies to help with moving and walking.

Have you considered using a personal alarm, or a watch that alerts your contacts to a fall if you have one. There are a lot around, and many look like a normal watch but have the capability to alert your preprogramed emergency contacts. You can also look at a personal alarm that you can have on you all the time, so if you have another fall, you can get help quickly. Give us a call at StrokeLine and we can talk some options through with you.

Feeling like you are a different person and grieving the “old” you can be common and very understandable. Sometimes talking about this with someone can help, and I am sure there will be many others who will comment on your post who have experienced very similar feelings. Have you ever reached out to your GP about a referral to a psychologist through the Mental Health Care Plan? Sometimes talking with someone who has experience in grief and loss can be helpful, they can also help you to figure out your new normal and the new you.

We would love to talk with you on StrokeLine, so do reach out and give us a call on Ph. 1800 787 653. We are available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. You are also welcome to email us if that would be better for you on strokeline@strokefoundation.org.au.  It sounds like it has been a really tough last 8 months for you, so it is great you are reaching on EnableMe for some support.

Kind regards

Siobhan (StrokeLine)