Nikki Bruce thought she was just a “bit off” when she went to her shift as a security guard in Cairns last year.
She gave her boss the heads-up that she didn’t feel 100 per cent — which would possibly end up saving her life.
The now 61-year-old didn’t know it, but she was having a stroke.
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“It was a great shock to me,” Bruce told 7NEWS.com.au.
“There were some little signs that something was different.”
Bruce had only just changed careers to security and had a job working nights from 10pm to 6am.
“I was tired on the second day and I thought it was nothing,” she said.
“I was just starting the shift work.
“When I went to work the second night my voice had started to change, just in a little way.
“I told my boss that I was a bit off.”
When Bruce’s boss checked on her, he noticed her face was starting to droop.
“He said, ‘I think you’re having a stroke’,” Bruce said.
“I didn’t believe it.”
Bruce knew the signs of a stroke — facial drooping, an inability to lift your arms and slurred speech.
“I could still lift my arms, I didn’t feel sick at all,” she said.
“I was in denial but it started to sink in that something was wrong.”
Her boss rang emergency services and Bruce was ultimately diagnosed with a “tiny clot deep in my brain”.
“Doctors said … the clot was in ‘expensive real estate’,” she said.
“It was in a part of the brain that controls movement — walking and talking.
“My speech is still affected.”
However, she said it could have been a lot worse.
“My boss possibly saved my life by recognising the signs,” she said.
“He certainly minimised the damage.”
‘Change is a challenge’
Bruce was in hospital for four weeks before she was discharged to a community health centre, where she underwent nine weeks of intensive rehabilitation.
She worked with a speech pathologist but also sat down with a psychologist to talk through what to expect.
“I function very well in my life today and I’m very grateful,” Bruce said.
Bruce credits her high quality of life in part to her “very wide support network”, including health care professionals and her friends and wider community.
“They’ve been very good to me,” she said.
“I go twice a week to Spinal Life, (where I) work with an occupational therapist.”
With “help and repetition” Bruce has made improvements such as regaining some movement in her hands.
The emotional toll of recovery is intense, Bruce said.
“The support and kindness you get from others, it gives you a little bit of hope,” she said.
“(But) 50 per cent of people get depression and I can well understand why … everything is different.
“Nothing will stay the same.
“It takes a lot of effort and a lot of energy.
“Adapting to change is a challenge.
“It takes a lot of courage to get through the day.
“I’m just living life the only way that I can.
“Each of us is doing our best.”
Everyone’s recovery is different
Every stroke survivor’s recovery journey will look different, Bruce’s occupational therapist Georgia Fowler said.
Many survivors live “with residual impairments for the rest of their lives”, she said.
These “difficulties” can include:
- Mobility and balance issues on one side of the body
- Arm and hand weakness and reduced coordination on one side
- Visual and perceptual problems
- Speech and language difficulties
- Reduced mental health and social isolation
- Cognitive impairment
There are two types of strokes, Fowler said.
In an ischaemic stroke a blood clot blocks blood supply to a part of the brain, while in a haemorrhagic stroke a bleed in the brain is as a result of a blood vessel suddenly breaking.
“Different symptoms or impairments can result depending on the area of the brain impacted,” Fowler said.
While the three main symptoms of stroke are well known, Fowler said people may just have one or a few of the symptoms.
“Act on any symptoms/signs immediately, as receiving medical attention will greatly improve your chances of surviving the stroke and minimising the resulting impairments,” she said.