Stroke of misfortune

The November 7 cover story (“Help!”) lists the symptoms of many illnesses for which early recognition and appropriate help are essential for a good outcome. Under strokes, it repeats the standard signs and advice captured in the acronym FAST – facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call emergency services.

Having suffered a stroke last December, I can vouch for the failure of such a simplistic approach. I initially suffered from dizziness and slightly unbalanced walking. Two hours later, walking was more difficult and I could not write clearly. At the emergency clinic and at the hospital, they were sceptical that I was suffering from a stroke until they asked me to walk.

I now have a right arm with little movement and a poor outlook and I’m gradually regaining the use of the muscles of my right leg, but there is a long way to go before it will function normally.

Clearly, stroke symptoms are variable and people, including professionals, need to take this into account. Would they have treated me