You will find the real cause of the stroke quite shocking. Most people think that high blood pressure leads to strokes and many people take medication to lower it. After all, high blood pressure (hypertension) is known as the silent killer (Secondscount, 2013). In an effort to lower my blood pressure I was put on amlodipine and ramipril and I had a stroke-in-progression.
Medication side effects are so many and yet it’s not unusual to find one person taking 10 or 20 or even more tablets prescribed by a doctor.
Why did I create a progressing stroke group? There are strokes which do not fulfil the F.A.S.T signs and symptoms. I had such a stroke where the only symptom was my eyes focusing in different directions. It’s only after 4 days that everyone agreed I was having a stroke. By this time, it was too… Read More »
The stroke had both seen and unseen symptoms. Healthcare professionals, family and friends were not aware of the unseen changes. They saw only the paralysis on one side of the body, the drooping of the face on one side and agreed I had had a stroke. What they didn’t know was that there were other symptoms that were not visible to the naked eye. These unseen changes signalled the progression of the stroke.
Whatever happened to patient-centred care? The NHS has gone to great lengths to inform the world that the patient is at the centre of everything they do including the decision-making process. In other words they don’t do anything without the knowledge or permission of the patient. Yet my experience was altogether different. My concerns were completely ignored.
