Return to work after stroke
Karenon Wednesday, April 8 2015
23 CommentsWhat was the most challenging thing for you in returning to work?
23 Responses
The first major challenge was managing transport to and from the office. I had been working from home part time for a couple of months so we knew I had the stamina for that. But my office is in Docklands and at the time I was living in the outer suburbs, and the OT would not give me my driving license back. So when I first went back to the office it meant taxi from home to the station and then a 50 minute train ride followed by a 10 minute tram ride and a 10 minute walk (1.5 blocks, 5 minutes for a fit person). And the reverse to get home. So the physio and I had to do special training for managing tram steps, which are much larger/higher than normal steps. There are low floor trams but they are not used on the Docklands routes. After doing that for a couple of months 2 days a week. The OT relented and I got a limited distance license which allowed me to drive to and from the station. As my stamina improved I increased the number of days in the office each week.
I'm working through the driving bit for my caree right now. She wasn't as seriously affected as many with no real physical impairment apart from a slight visual inattention issue. Firstly the extremely professional community based rehab OT arranged an appointment with a behavioural optometrist who did an extensive visual field test and other stuff before saying her vision is absolutely fine for driving. Secondly the consultant neurologist provided a clearance for brain-related issues. Thirdly the GP says she is quite happy to provide a medical certificate (exactly the same as is required for commercial drivers) once a specialist driving OT has certified she is OK. I don't expect any problems with that although I still need to arrange it. Mind you this particular victim was far fitter & with somewhat lower blood pressure than the average stroke victim and currently walks around 10km per week (stroke was late October 2014). Moral of the story is that while its still apparently impossible to predict a stroke, being very fit seems to minimize the consequences significantly.
That slight visual inattention issue was also my main stumbling block with the driving OT. That combined with the fact that I hadn't driven for over 10 months. So she had an expectation that I would be hesitant/fearful, I wasn't so she got scared. I admit I was slightly erratic, and judging distances (particularly when parking) was not ideal during our first test, it took lots of practice to remaster that one, But I still think she wasn't being really objective. And I felt so justified when after our inner city test (which we did as part of the agreement for getting the full license back) the driving instructor took my side when she didn't actually know how hook turns are supposed to be done. She thought I'd done it wrong when I'd been text book perfect. But that more about driving than work. Sorry for hijacking your thread Karen.-Heather
Heather, I think talking about returning to driving after stroke is really important. It's a part of my own journey where I felt overwhelmed and unsupported. I also had visual field testing as my stroke impacted the part of my brain which controls peripheral vision. My major issue was that I couldn't feel anything with my left hand and had poor knowledge of where my arm and hand were when not looking at them. I resat my license with an OT. I Hadn't driven for 6 months and wasn't given any opportunity to practice before getting into a car with the tester. It took my a while to get my confidence back and for a long time the concentration of driving contributed to fatigue. But hey, we got there. I'm conscious that for others, returning to driving isn't an option. Thanks for taking is down this track Heather.
Traveling to work on crowded public transport still causes me major issues. My brain doesn't filter noise and movement and I have tectile defensiveness. Lots of people talking, playing their music too loud and pushing and showing makes me want to be inappropriately rude to strangers.
I'm hearing that there can be lots of challenges in returning to work. I started a new job about 2 years after my stroke about 4 years ago. At first I found it mentally exhausting learning the new role. I started working 3 days a week and didn't work more than 2 days in a row. I have since worked up to doing 9 days a fortnight and now work 3 days in a row. I took a lot of patience and trying different roster combinations to get to a place where I feel my workload is sustainable in the long term.
Returning to work certainly takes time and an employer who's willing to work on it with you. In the end it took me nearly 2 years to move from a couple of hours work from home each week to full time in the office. And I'm only doing that much because work have been able/willing to give me a parking spot in the building, as well as being very flexible about my start times (I seldom get into the office before 10am, I've found it's easier to make up the time at the end of the day than to get in earlier). I still get very tired by the end of the week. I haven't been game to try walking/PT to/from work. even though it's only a short way now that I've moved to Southbank. It's on the I'll get to it list. I also do the occasional work from home day, when I don't have enough oomph to shower and dress in the morning. Thankfully my job can work this way
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