General News
5 December, 2024
Stroke victim issues passionate warning
Edenhope's Jo Grant is living proof people need to pay attention to their body and the signs it is giving them.
She's also appreciative she is alive to share her story in observance of World Stroke Day recently (October 29), to remind her community stroke can happen at any age.
“Don’t wait, if you have unexplained symptoms, because every minute counts when you’ve had a stroke,” she said.
“I was one of the lucky ones; so many others have died as a result of stroke."
“Listen to your body and seek medical help immediately.”
Ms Grant's stroke happened in the occipital lobe, in a part of the brain that transmits visual data, so she has blind spots in the right of both eyes.
Vision issues were what finally made Ms Grant visit the doctor, 18 years ago, following a list of unexplainable symptoms.
“I was in bed, after doing some exercise, and suddenly got the worst pain in my head; it’s described as a thunderclap headache and it was dreadful,” she said.
“I was hanging over the side of my bed, with intense nausea.”
With hindsight, Ms Grant would have rushed to hospital, but her 28-year-old self waited for the debilitating pain to subside and went to sleep.
Now, critical medication can prevent lifelong brain damage, but it must be timely.
The next day, in the office, blurry vision prevented Mr Grant using the computer to complete work.
She was also, devastatingly, exhausted but it was another week before she went to the doctor.
Even after presenting to emergency, then undergoing brain testing, Ms Grant didn’t take her symptoms seriously.
“I had this phone message telling me to get to the hospital immediately, but my daughter had just gone to bed,” she said.
“I ended up in the Royal Melbourne hospital for seven days, but it was too late".
“You’ve got four hours to dissolve a clot in the brain, to prevent damage.”
In the ensuing years, Ms Grant had to re-learn how to read and juggle her toddler with an ever-present blanket of exhaustion.
“I could see words and read them individually, but comprehending sentences was really hard,” she said.
"I made myself read one newspaper article every day and challenged myself to get the gist of it.
“The newspaper was easier, because articles were divided into columns, but some days it would take hours.”
Ms Grant 'tears up' as she remembers her daughter’s first day of school.
“She came running up with a book and said, ‘I can read to you now mum’,” she said.
“I always read to her in bed, but the stroke took that away from us".
“She was so excited at the idea of being able to read to me instead.”
It was a difficult time, but Ms Grant came to understand when her body needed rest and refused to let her vision impairment define her career or lifestyle.
“I don’t have a lot of depth perception, so that caused some issues when I got back into horse-riding,” she said.
“I expected the horse to jump at a different time, so there were a lot of falls.”
Ms Grant is the Primary Health Coordinator, at Grampians Health Edenhope’s ‘Health and Wellbeing HUB’, where she manages a list of programs and staff delivering allied health services to the community.
Until now, Ms Grant hasn’t revealed the ongoing effects of stroke with many acquaintances or colleagues.
“I don’t want people to ever feel alone, like I did in the months and years after my stroke,” she said.
“I want the HUB to be a place that people walk into, if they’re feeling isolated or confused or struggling to cope."
“We might be able to find equipment and aids to help, link you with a the right service or simply listen to what you’re going through.”
Signs of stroke include a drooping face, difficulty moving limbs and slurred speech.
A sudden, intense headache, accompanied by nausea, should also be treated seriously.
If you, or someone you know, is exhibiting these symptoms phone triple zero (000) immediately.