Hi Katrina, thanks for reaching out.
Unfortunately, medical records can often be confusing to understand. The best person to explain your stroke, and put your medical history into plain English is your General Practitioner (GP). Your GP would be aware of your medical history pre and post stroke, and be able to discuss what has happened to you in relation to relevant stroke risk factors, lifestyle, and medication.
If you would like to discuss this further or have a specific stroke question, call our Health Professionals at StrokeLine on 1800 787 653.
Hi Kat,
For me - and I can only talk about what I needed - I didn't want another superior health professional talking to me from across their desk, about me, with no concept on how the very act of me sitting in this power imbalance affected me.
I needed to feel safe, comforted and reassured at every step of the way, and my experience of that need did not include any Dr. I knew of. But that was just my experience and there are very big personal reasons why I felt like that.
Trust your gut Kat, think about who you trust to go through at your pace, with you in control of those precious pieces of information which discuss you in medical terminology. Put you as a feeling, living human first.
All the best.
Sue xo
Hi Sue,
100% agree. I don't want another doctor telling me things in medical terms. I was just completing a questionnaire about my stroke and burst into tears remembering some of my early treatment and how dispassionate some of the people were about my care.
I don't feel like I am able to understand things at the moment, and I just need someone to tell me things in plain English. Did you find someone like that? I might just have to shelve this need until I find someone.
Take care,
Kat x
Okay, dispassionate is not the opposite of compassion... indifferent? Unsympathetic?
Hi Kat,
I had a very limited amount of paperwork - however I did go over it with a fine tooth comb, calling on my basic knowledge of medical jargon from my nursing days. I took some paperwork to the Royal Women's Hospital last year and had somebody look over notes from then with me.
My notes from my discharge out of rehab are a scrawled mess of diagnoses/labels which I struggle to read but get the gist of - yes I was very unwell. I allowed myself to look at them with - they are just someone else's opinion. I feel nothing when I read them now - but for a long time they were such a big reminder of how objectified I had been and as I read the notes I wanted to feel what everything mean't not just read it. For example "Ataxia" I thought about that word, defined it, looked at myself in a situation where yes I could really see myself, hear myself with ataxia and then feel how it was to be in that moment. Everything I felt left me so sad, sad, my smiles felt life smiles of emptiness at that time - so yes there were big big emotions. There needed to be!! And even how that had affected the way even my husband engaged with me - he was learning off medical staff rather than being my partner.
The most comfort I have found over time is my fantastic working relationship with my psychologist. I trust her. I am also very happy to say I have a fantastic GP now too :-)
Getting to the point where you feel like you are struggling to take anything new in sounds like you are in a tricky spot in life. Take a deep breath, let it all out and give yourself a big hug. You are doing the best you can..I did this many times, it didn't necessarily fix anything but it just reminded me that I was always trying to be as kind to myself as possible.
Take care my friend xo
Sue
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