Fun and Happiness

Being out of ICU gave me greater opportunities to access therapy. On my first day on the Stroke Ward, the Occupational Therapist came in for an hour. We worked hard on improving the movement in my right arm. I went to the gym for Physiotherapy and saw the Speech Therapist about my upcoming trachy removal.…

GRATITUDE

When we think of gratitude, many of us think of it as simply ‘being thankful’. Thankful to someone for what they have done for us. But gratitude is so much more complex than that. Gratitude is about feeling and expressing appreciation for everything we’ve been given and all that we have (big or small). It’s…

Drawing Strength From the Love Around Me

My stroke is the worst thing that has ever happened to many members of my family and me. My beautiful sister-in-law lost her dear Mum suddenly after complications arose from fairly routine surgery. And my Dad lost his Mum in a terrible accident when he was still a boy. Other than that my family had…

What A Girl Will Do For Botox

After 6 weeks in ICU, I was well and truly medically stable. The only thing keeping me in ICU now was my locked jaw (and the need for a GA everyday to clean my teeth). Keeping me in ICU longer than necessary was bad for many reasons. ICU is often full and I was occupying…

Reckless Parenting?

Sometimes people judge, and label parents as reckless. As parents, we make decisions that are thought out – we choose not to wrap out kids in cotton wool. Each of our children’s personalities suggests they will live lives of adventure. As parents, we believe we have a limited period of time to teach them to…

Meeting Kate

Within just days of my stroke, my Dad had gone in to overdrive – reading everything he could find on brainstem strokes and locked-in-syndrome. He was not willing to accept the prognosis given to me by the medical team. Dad soon came across a young woman in the UK who had suffered a brainstem stroke…

BREAKTHROUGH

PROGRESS On the 1st January 2012, I started to move my head from side to side. Just a few centimetres each way, but it was voluntarily moving muscles in my body! Doctors told me that it was highly likely I would never move a muscle again. So needless to say, this was a big deal.…

Unsung Heroes

ICU at Canberra Hospital is an impressive ward. The staff there work in pretty stressful surrounds. Many patients in ICU are critically ill. Many are in intense pain. Hearing someone cry out in pain must be stressful for the staff caring for that patient, the staff working tirelessly to ensure the patient’s comfort. In ICU…

My Maternal Heart Breaks …… AGAIN

From as long ago as I can remember, I wanted to be a Mum. I completed high school at a highly academic girls school. Many of my classmates dreamed of big careers and changing the world. When I was asked what I wanted to do, I would often answer ‘Get married and have kids’. I…

The World is a Blur

Just after Christmas, I was moved back out of my single room. Pete and Courtney were visiting at the time. Unable to move my head, and with eyes that would not focus, I was still very unaware of my surroundings. Although I had now been in ICU for several weeks, I was completely unaware of…