Ian Callinan has a really interesting story to tell around surviving a stroke. Jo Cordell-Cooper, Tasmanian Iconic Walks founder met with Ian in October 2021. Here is Ian’s story, in his words.
I had been unwell the few months before my stroke, having blackouts every so often. I had done all the right things, seen my GP several times, had many tests and scans, seen various specialists etc and I was cleared 6weeks before my stroke of anything cardio or neuro/brain related. I was told if I had a bad turn, or felt off-colour, to sit down to keep myself safe from any falls.
It was early in the morning of 3 September 2020. I woke to ringing in my ears and thought it would pass. I waited a few minutes but the ringing persisted. I didn’t think too much of it until I got out of bed and was very wobbly on my feet, struggling to walk down our hallway.
My wife was a few minutes late leaving for a morning walk when she noticed me struggling to move, not being able to walk with my right leg, not speaking clearly, and feeling nauseous. She sat me down thinking it was another bad turn. I deteriorated pretty quickly and was very unwell. Within 20mins of me waking up, my wife had taken me to Calvary A&E as the symptoms were different and more severe than when I’d had the blackouts some weeks earlier.
I had further tests as the day progressed and after 4pm, it was confirmed via an MRI that I’d had a stroke in my right cerebellum at some stage through the night while I was sleeping but it had only become obvious when I rose to start my day. I was then transferred to the Royal Hobart Hospital to be cared for by neurological specialists and I was assigned a care team there.
At the time of my stroke I was 37. A very fit, healthy young man with none of the normal risk factors (diabetes, high BP, high cholesterol etc.) so it wasn’t clear what might have caused it.
I had tests but none of the early tests showed the cause; all I wanted to do was sleep.
The allied health team from the hospital started working with me the very next morning with physiotherapy, speech therapy, fine motor skills and encouraging me to rest.
I lost the use of the right side of my body and had to take things slowly, learning to walk and use my arm again. My arm took a long time to regain sensation and work properly again.
A scan a few days after my stroke indicated that a hole in my heart was the cause of my stroke, something I was born with, but was not aware of. A clot got through the hole and had lodged on my brain causing the stroke. I had heart surgery 7 weeks after my stroke to close the hole.
I was home within a week of having my stroke, but I needed help with almost everything.
I spent the first 3-4months after my stroke sleeping and doing physio and occupational therapy at home and at the repatriation centre. I found the encouragement from the staff there, and from my family and friends very important.
One year on from my stroke I am able to walk and use my arm very well. My speech was only affected slightly but is 100% now.
I still get very, very tired and I spend a lot of time resting. The fatigue is really hard to manage at times. I can’t concentrate like I used to, it makes me very tired, and my memory is not great, I can’t do all the things I used to do because it’s very tiring but I do what I can. Most of the effects of my stroke can’t be seen by other people.
Being at home so soon after my stroke gave me the time I needed to rest and increase my incidental activity which were both very important in those early months. Even on the days where I really didn’t feel like it, I did my physio exercises and the tasks prescribed to me by my Occupational Therapist, some of the activities were really hard, and many I couldn’t do to start with. I have no doubt that persisting with them helped me with my physical recovery.
I hope by sharing my story that I’m able to raise awareness of stroke and help other stroke survivors who are on their post-stroke journey too.
