Did you know that Stoke-on-Trent has some of the best facilities to treat & support rehabilitation after a stroke? Don't feel bad if you didn't know that because, let's be honest - we all hope you never have to make use of those facilities.
Acute Stroke Unit Ward 10 is the specialist ward that deals with male patients post-stroke. Padre really made leaps & bounds of improvement under their care. Not only medically but personally too. As the minutes stretch into days after a stroke, there can be some fairly dark moments for even the most headstrong survivor but Padre would have a smile for the Lady Nurses. The patient's family is well cared for too. Admittedly, as much as it wouldn't be my usual hangout, it was comforting to see the same families & staff every day. I quite missed them when we left - I even sent them a card! There's a ward just for the ladies too & if the staff on 10 were anything to go by, then the girls on 9 are in good hands. In addition to a full compliment of highly respected consultants (thank you, Prof. Christine Roffe) & trained nursing staff, the ward has Occupational and Speech & Language Therapists, as well as access to the Royal Infirmary's Health Services. They work swiftly after admission and once they've assessed the patient, provided treatment & stabilised him medically, rehabilitation is begun & he is discharged. Sounds easy right?! In the best circumstances, being discharged is just a taxi ride home. Even in these 'ideal' conditions recovering from a stroke is a long-term process. In my father's case, he was discharged into the care of Haywood Hospital's Sneyd Ward.
The Haywood facility is truly brilliant & whilst my father was in their care we saw just how those rehabilitation services can help families & improve the lives of Stroke Survivors. Sadly, Padre never really took advantage of those facilities. He became very ill, quite quickly & was moved again to more medically-focused ward. I kept a diary documenting my father's progress & my viewpoint of his post-stroke experience. At first, I kept the diary for him. Padre journaled every night & it seemed only fitting that I should 'fill in the blanks' until he could do it himself. As it became apparent that he wasn't going to take up the pen again, I continued the journal for myself. The results may turn up here yet, maybe. It depends how helpful the WWW. would find it!
Padre's Stroke Story might not be the kind of 'Against All Odds' tale that afternoon TV specials are made of, but if it wasn't for the sterling work of Ward 10, his experience would have been far more negative. Every day of my father's post-stroke existence was like panning for gold. The positives were there but some days you really had to search for them.
The fact of the matter is that stroke units like Ward 10 save lives: for a stroke patient, a general treatment ward holds a 14 per cent to 25 per cent higher mortality rate than an acute stroke unit*. So I'm massively grateful to Ward 10 & every other unit like it.
Unfortunately, not every patient has access to the kind of specialist care that North Staffs can provide & rehabilitation suites like Sneyd Ward have limited beds. Stroke Survivors can sometimes find themselves thrust into a 'normal' life feeling isolated & misunderstood. However, The Stroke Association has a fantastic project - The Life After Stroke Centre, housing a post-stroke support network for the whole West Midlands. Please head over & take a look around (and if you're feeling fruity, drop a few pennies in the jar!)
“This new Centre, the first of its kind in the UK, will ensure The Stroke Association can reach and help many more stroke survivors. So please join us now and be part of a unique project that will make a huge and positive impact on the journey of recovery for stroke survivors and their families.” Hilary Devey
That's right, the terrifying new lady dragon from Dragon's Den.
*Royal College of Physicians, (2001), National Sentinel Audit for Stroke - Clinical Audit Report.
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