Im having a stroke – How to know if youre having a Stroke
Im having a stroke – How to know if youre having a Stroke
Well, fun and games over the last 10 days. I had a stroke in the workshop which was Interesting Times to say the least. I captured the exact point where I’m having a stroke and displaying the symptoms. Im really sorry if you find this a bit upsetting, I actually streamed it to facebook as it was happening and people werent sure If I was being serious and when they realised it was then concern and worry kicked in.
I thought long about putting this up and i need to talk it through and get over some key issues so that if it happens to you, a friend and loved one then you have more of an understanding and get the right help as soon as possible. Its going to happen to some of you and if i can help with passing on some information its the least I can do.
Im in the workshop cracking on, nothing hard, a bit of cutting on the evolution saw while Vinny plays with the arbortech outside. (see i must be better if im name dropping tools) Just cutting away some 2×4 or something. I grab the saw with the right arm and it feels weird, numb, almost like pins and needles. I also feel slightly out of sorts, a bit weird, this 1st lasted maybe a minute. I talked to Vinny about what happened and make him aware. I go back inside and have another 2 episodes each one getting slightly more intense, I have to sit down, arms losing power, speech is getting slurred and I have trouble swallowing.
I spoke to Vinny again and yes, we reckon im having a stroke and needs sorting out. Cue phone calls to NHS direct and then onto direct emergency service 999. In hindsight rather than ring NHS direct or your out of hours service ring the 999 service immediately for advice.
Please do NOT think about going to bed or letting someone go home so they can go to bed. Its really important you deal with this the first time correctly to stop any irreversible damage.
I had some more attacks, you can see a severe one in the video, they were quite amusin as they were happening, your brain knows to control the muscles but it just struggles to do it. The neural connections at that point are being starved and are failing and youre watching yourself out of control, the mind is still thinking as normal but the control to the side of your body is just gone. I had mine on the right, usually its on the left.
Dont be tempted to take Aspirin or other medication until you’ve seen a specialist.
There are clots and bleeds, if youre having a bleed then you could be making it worse. The way to find out is with the CT scan and when this is examined they can determine the best course of action for you.
For me it was a clot and they used a clot-busting drug to clear the clot and then start stabilising my blood-pressure(BP) as well as adding saline to stop me from dehydrating. You may experience some bleeding from orifices, I had a nose bleed but I was warned it could be any hole. It was at this point that a head ache started to kick in.
Hourly BP test and when your pressures high they can be quite uncomfortable. They match the output of the BP stabilising drug with your test results to stabilise and reduce it and it did work slowly over the next few days. The headache matched the BP, if the BP was high then the headache was bad, this would then make me retch which made the BP high, a bit of a vicious circle. Try to drink water as you are able, and make that effort to do so.
I slept for pretty much 4 days solid and even through some of the hourly BP tests, the body says ‘Sleep, I want to recover’ and thats what youll do and itll carry on after that a bit and you may find yourself falling asleep at any time. Drink and eat, the hospital food I found to be really good.
Theres going to be changes, I had forgotten things and Ive shed a few tears over things that normally i wouldnt shed a tear over. The barriers that control emotion have taken a bit of a knock and crying and laughing are far close to the surface.
They signed me out on the 7th day and it was good to be home in my own house, to see my loved ones, Mr.Butters had missed me greatly and we had a lot of hugs.
The care I received was great, a lot of good people working hard to make other people well. It cant all be perfect, this is people working with people.
Going forwards Im regaining my strength and getting over this with changes to diet, drinking, smoking and exercise. No workshop activities for a while or heavy lifting or things that put my mind at stress.
Ill cover it a final time, dont go to bed. I spoke to a number of people and on the first one they wanted just to go to bed and sleep it off. This makes the second one you have so much harder and youll really damage yourself.
Thank you for watching.
Great video Bongo very informative but very happy your on the mend
take care of yourself mate. iv been watching you from the start but never commented before. just make sure u take it easy and get lots of rest. i know u will be chomping at the bit to get back in to the workshop but it was a serious thing u have just been through even tho u was lucky. so dont be a stubborn bastard this time 😉
Just glad your ok fella all the best pal.
wow… you’ve really hit me hard mate. All the best to ya. You are one strong bastard. Get Yourself Strong get yourself right and you scared the f*** out of me.
Thank you for a very interesting insight into a dreadful trauma it made me think about looking after myself you take care
Glad your on the mend thank you for sharing your journey
Blimey! Glad you’re feeling (and looking) better! Well done for sharing and getting this important message out there 🙂
You nut job. Get well soon pal🖐
Bongo one tough Bastard with a kind heart, glad you pulled through take care mate. From a fellow shed dweller on the Wirral.
Thanks for posting and the advice, don’t go to bed get to the doc, tell mr butters i said hey from South Carolina USA
Hope you get feeling even better- my brother had a major stroke 3 yrs ago and still dont talk right. and yep im a smoker as well – which is another story – i quit for 1 1/2 yrs and it screwed up my thyroid, had weight gain etc and thought i was having a stroke, found out i had a bad thyroid, they gave me so much meds i sweated out salt through my skin in the hot sun yet I felt so cold, and couldnt feel my arm and blood pressure in the danger zone, i quit the meds went back to smoking and fine now and lost the weight i weigh 170 5′ 9..so really i have to stay smoking as it covers thyroid problems – slowing down only when i gotta gotta have one is my goal now ..but yeah man ..
Blimey Bongo!!! Fortunately, your guardian angel made sure that 1 someone was with you and 2 Someone who recognized what was happening. A big Shout OUT FOR VINNY.
Yes you are right about out poor over stretched NHS who despite all their problems saved your life.
So glad to have you back
You’re a real generous fellow !! you’re not up to full chat yet and you’re trying to help, and planing to help others. Thanks for praising the NHS, you get so many self centred arse holes complaining about waiting times and lack of care and attention, when the system is so stretched, it’s nice to hear appreciation for a truly wonderful life saving service. Look after yourself and don’t push yourself to hard, a few weeks taking it easy with Mr Butters is shorter than eternity in a wicker basket🙏. Great information, Thanks 😊
all the best with your recovery Bongo , love watching your video’s and have learned a lot from you , nice to hear you praise the NHS and staff
Wow, crazy that you filmed it, thanks for sharing. I hope all is well in the future
Sorry this happened to you Bongo, but glad you got the treatment you needed in time to keep it from being worse.
It’s a good thing you took good care after the stroke. Glad you made it.
wishing you all the best for a speedy recovery,
It’s good to see you back up & about with Butters m8, sending you positive thoughts, rest up, take care & eat well🍏🍇🍌🍋🍉🍊😉
Get well soon Bongo. Maybe it’s time to the bike back on the road and do some quiet cruising. Glad your ok.
Jesus,very informative video….get well soon and get back to doing your projects ….love your channel.
Great video bongo a big reminder to people as to the effects of a stroke all the best my friend take care buddy
Same happened to me in the heath still not good
press 1 for English 2 for welsh and 3 for some shit of some sort or 4 ..For oohhh fuck it .. l’m dying here
Your one lucky dude and thanks for the video…
What surprised me is the sleepy thing…i wonder if i have had one with my sleep.episodes…
Keep well bongo, mr butters needs you, so do we 👍
I had a stroke 8 yrs ago when I was 25, I wasn’t talking let alone laughing. I was left in the waiting room for over 5 hours as the wife at the desk presumed I was a druggy. Was in a wheel chair for 2 weeks and I still limp and my left arm likes to throw cups of tea away. It’s funny now, as I see it as caricature building. Pleased your well now!
Glad too see you’re better bongo and a ton of good has come out of this. The most informative stroke info I’ve seen,think you’ll save a few folks with this video. But that’s what you do,you’re more of an inspiration to people than you know. Keep smilinging bud.
You, your friends and the hospital staff are all wonderful. A great video. From Hugo
It’s crazy! I was just nattering on with my friend in Bristol about you last week via cam chat. I told him about how I’ve been following you for years and would like to visit you when I cross the pond next year on my way to Ireland for a couple months. I’ll be in England for a week. I’m glad you came out of it ok. This was a pain to watch and I feel bad by giving a thumbs up. I’m been dealing with the same thing here lately where I’ve been hypertension for a couple months and afraid of having a stroke or heart attack. Maybe for a laugh, don’t smoke that strain of weed again my friend…lol. #thepoultrypeople
Bongo, hope you’re doing okay man, all the best from Texas…
I suffered a stroke 28 days ago here in the US. Because of Covid my wife has been working from home. I had the stroke in front of her in our kitchen. Paramedics got to our house in 4 minutes and we live 2 miles from the largest hospital in western Massachusetts. I was fortunate to be a candidate for that drug they gave you. It saved my life. When I got to the hospital I was in critical condition and could not move my arms or legs and could not see. That drug is incredible and the only reason I’m typing you this message. I’m only 52 and this was terrifying. Be well friend.
That’s hard to watch man. I fucking hope you’re ok.
Keep er lit bongo glad to hear your on the mend don’t be over doing it had a feeling you were a toker I suppose when you were having the stroke you thought the weed was strong lol
Hi, What she should have told you is that an ambulance carries drugs that you need and can administer this when it arrives, by going by car you cannot get the drugs until you get to the hospital, so if that will take longer than an ambulance will take to get to you, then an ambulance is the right way to go. you are a very lucky man.
Glad to see you up & about. Cheers.
Hope you keep well bongo, glad you’re making a good recovery!
Man, it sounds like you had quite the party. Bless you and hugs, so sorry you had to deal with something so intense. Shows that you can look at somebody and have no clue what they’ve been going through. I guess one way to make lemonade out of lemons is by making some of those physiotherapy boxes after you regain your strength. I’m praying for speedy and full recovery. You have to get and stay well… Mr. Butters needs you 🙂
Glad to have found your channel man.. Even happier you pulled through that bloody thing alright dude!.
I think I aught to change my diet soon… Smoking definitely is one thing that needs to go first.
Thanks for sharing man, looking forwards to some more vids :).
Strokin the Bongo, hey, lol ! Take her handy lad !
All the very best for your complete recovery – this is good gift from you, Bongo, this cautionary experience – I’ll be sure to act on your advice. Maybe try and keep a journal of your recovery journey – the writing /penmanship/ will be a bit of physiotherapy and the writing /authorship/ may be a good cognitive indicator. Folks, https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/types-of-brain-injury/stroke/
Ah, and Mr. Butters and you as a team – I’m sure – will sort things out. Only good stuff for you and your family and friends.
i’m really sorry this happened to you and so glad your on the mend. Sounds like it’s going to be a real life style changing experience. don’t get to impatient and try to rush your total recovery, just take it one day at a time
Excellent video bongo. Very informative. Cant wait to see you to jump back into your projects. Lots of love from New Zealand
Strokes only happen to old people with dangerous heart disease
Thank you for sharing. That’s a tough one. But people need to know the symptoms so they can do the right thing.
Thank you and all the best to you!
Putting this up, filming during the event, talking about what you went through, how it’s affected you and what you are facing now… Thank you! This is so important for people to see. Medical folks, we can talk until we’re blue in the face but until they hear it from someone they can relate to people just don’t listen. You’ve done a wonderful public service.
Glad your doing good man, I also had a stroke this year and although I’m feeling back to myself it really hit more then I let on to people
Best of luck. I was there 11 years ago but slept through it. Stupid mistake.
Bongo, you are the bravest man i know, look after yourself mate. love to ya
All the best so glad you are on the road to a full speedy recovery take it easy .
Stay safe bongo love your videos you are a ĺegend my friend. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. All the best from a fellow wood butcher