I'm taking part in the TCS London Marathon as part of #TeamStroke
In 2009 after 18 months of my mum being unwell on and off and countless visits to the GP and A&E, being told she was making it all up in her head, she had 2 strokes back to back at just 38 years old. Always seeing and hearing of these things happening to other people, you never think something like this would happen to one of your loved ones. At the ages of just 10 and 12 my brother and I had to watch our mum turn into a shell of herself before our eyes. After months and months of tests and back and forth to the hospital, it was just luck that the on call doctor that day had seen her condition before and was able to send her for the correct blood test. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called Antiphospholipid Syndrome, finally we had answers but it wasn’t over for her yet. She was left with chorea, memory loss, chronic fatigue and no confidence. She was unable to do daily tasks without being totally exhausted, and needing to go back to bed to sleep for a few hours each day to get her energy back. My grandma would come and help us care for her as being such a young family it was difficult, without the support of her and my dad I don’t know what we would have done. Since then she has had another 5 transient ischemic attacks over the years. She is on blood thinners, amongst a whole lot of other medication as APS has cause lots of other problems as she has got older. However with APS there are 3 different types of anti bodies one can have. She unfortunately has all 3 which is extremely rare, this makes her INR levels quite unstable to manage. She tests fortnightly and is monitored by the thrombosis team at St Thomas’s Hospital. She is such an inspiration to me everyday that she can get up and get on with life. Even though she may be in pain, tired, forgetful she just gets through it for us. I want to run the London Marathon for her, and for everyone else and their families who has been affected by stroke and be doing so I hope I can raise some awareness for conditions such as my mums so that people are able to get the care they need and deserve.
