Fighting back from an Acquired Brain Injury

FOUR years ago, Killaloe woman Angela Higgins was a busy mother of nine going about life without much to worry about. Her life was altered dramatically when she suffered a serious stroke, leaving her physically and emotionally affected. But Angela’s life changed for the better again when she became involved with the support organisation Headway, which aims to improve the quality of life of people with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). This is Angela’s story

IN July 2006, Angela, 45, began to get headaches and noticed that her eyesight was giving trouble. “I remember one day, I was going down the main street in Killaloe and my sight went. After that, the headaches started to get worse. My eldest daughter made me go to the doctor. My mind wasn’t what it had been and I was making excuses for things,” she recalls.
Angela went to the doctor, who determined that she was going through the menopause. “He told me that women can get bad headaches during the menopause. I came home with my prescription and thought that everything would be okay.”
Five days later, she got up in the morning as usual and had her breakfast. “I was heading back upstairs and at the third step, I collapsed. I tried to get myself back up but couldn’t manage. The headache was very bad. I did pick myself back up and I got into my bedroom. I was sitting there and I fell down again. My partner came upstairs to see if I was okay and I kept saying that I was grand. I just thought that I had fainted. I went back downstairs again and I was sitting on the settee. I wasn’t aware of it but paralysis had set in. My youngest daughter, who was just 12, was asking me if I was okay. She could see my eyes and one side of my face. She knew something wasn’t right. She got a mirror to show me my face but I couldn’t see anything wrong with me,” Angela explains.
Her eldest daughter brought Angela to the doctor and he diagnosed a stroke. “My family said that it all happened very fast from there. I wasn’t aware of much. I was rushed off to Limerick regional hospital. I was out of it then for a couple of weeks,” she says.
Angela had a 99.8% blockage to the brain. “Another few days or a week and that would have been it. I could not have asked for better treatment in hospital. I had brain surgery within a short space of time and after that I was in a coma. All in all, I was in hospital for three and a half months. I got home for Christmas after I’d been in the Lakes Nursing Home, Killaloe for a few weeks.”
She admits that going home was the most horrible and terrifying experience for her. “In the hospital, I was so well looked after. There is a great need for more support for patients when they go home. The hospital take very good care of patients when they are there but once you go home, that’s it. There’s very little information given on supports that are there, like Headway, or speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. I also feel that there isn’t enough support there for the families of patients and it’s very traumatic for them also. When you go home, you actually wish you were back in the hospital. I think counselling should be available for patients and their families to help people through the adjustment in their lives,” Angela comments.
Once home, her children did everything for her. “Our roles reversed. They were dressing me, washing me, changing me. I was very depressed. I was an emotional wreck and everything was hard. I cannot describe enough the fear, anxiety and the loneliness. I was totally depressed. I had feelings of wanting to end it all because I thought that would be easier for me and for those around me.”
She could walk but was stumbling and losing her balance a lot. “I had a very good physiotherapist. She was more than just a physiotherapist. She talked to me so much. So I decided I wanted to do something about how I felt – I could let the stroke control the way I would be for the rest of my life or I could take back control of how I would be,” she says.
As part of her rehabilitation, Angela also had the support of an occupational guidance counsellor. “He told me about Headway and explained how it could help me. I’ve been coming here regularly since last April. For the first time since having the stroke, I met other stroke victims in the centre. It was the first time that I spoke to others who understood exactly what I felt and what I’d been through. I walked out of Headway the first day and it felt so great that someone totally understood me. It was the first time I acknowledged how low I’d been feeling.”
Angela’s confidence had been completely knocked “I had a fear of talking to strangers but I knew that I should talk to others in Headway because they would understand me. From when I started coming to Headway, every day was like a new adventure and I began to come around. Every day I would try to do something different. I basically had to learn to do everything for myself again. Things that were always second nature, like getting dressed, making food, washing, shopping – all basic things,” Angela explains.
She believes that coming to Headway was one of the best things she ever did. “It’s given me the confidence to talk again and a reason to live. I now feel that there is a reason for me to stay living again. 90% of the change in my attitude was because I came to Headway. The rest came from myself.”
Angela says that in general she feels well these days but she still has regular fatigue and memory loss.
“I wouldn’t say my memory has improved, but I’ve learned strategies to help me deal with it. So now I keep a diary and make notes for myself. I never kept a diary before but it helps me so much now. I write things on a board at home and before I leave the house I check that I have everything,” she remarks.
Angela is currently undertaking FETAC courses with a view to going back to work at some stage. “I’d like to work in care of the elderly or childcare. Headway are helping me to make that happen. Another thing I’d love is to work with animals. I love animals. So I have a goal now, something I didn’t have before coming to Headway. I never had qualifications in anything before, so it’s kind of strange that I’m getting these second chances now after having the stroke. I feel myself that I am achieving a lot now.”
Denis Mangan, manager of Headway, which is located on Steamboat Quay, Limerick says that they specialise in brain injury rehabilitation.
“This assists people who have been ill or injured to rebuild their skills to achieve the best quality of life that they can. We also provide support to families, offer training to other professionals and carry out research,” he says.
He points out that a brain injury can happen suddenly to anyone after an accident, a stroke, or an infection. Headway offers brain rehabilitation through rehabilitative day services, training, community integration, sheltered employment, vocational training, back-to-work and community support, support groups, training workshops, psychotherapy and counselling.
Both he and Angela emphasise the importance of not leaving headaches go unchecked.
“For me, I know now that the problems with my eyesight and the headaches were tell-tale signs of an oncoming stroke. The problem is that people get headaches and don’t get them seen to. Anyone who gets regular headaches or anyone who feels that there’s something not right, should see a doctor because it could be something major. The most important message I can give people is to get yourself checked out regularly,” Angela stresses.
The Mid-West branch of Headway is located at Jutland Hall, Steamboat Quay, Dock Road, Limerick and is contactable on 061 469305.