"My Wife’s Stroke"

In June 2023 my wife suffered a serious stroke whilst visiting family in Whitley Bay (Northumberland) and was taken into North Tyneside General Hospital.

She was in hospital for 12 weeks in total- 6 weeks after she was admitted she caught a gall bladder infection and was rushed to Cramlington Hospital for possible surgery.

She was given a CT scan and at this point it was discovered that she also had kidney cancer.

Because of her stroke and her vulnerability, it was decided to treat the gall bladder infection with antibiotics in the hope surgery could be avoided. Fortunately, the treatment was effective, and she was able to return to NTGH to continue her stroke recovery.

The staff at NTGH were attentive, helpful, friendly and very professional and she will always be grateful for the care she received while she was there.

My wife remained in the Stroke Ward in NTGH for a further 6 weeks after her kidney cancer diagnosis and was then released under the supervision of the EDST who looked after her from August 2023 to the end of October.

During this time both the Physio and OT teams visited her every day, initially 3 times a day but as she recovered this was reduced to twice a day and then to a single visit each day.

The Physio and OT teams were amazing, each of them very caring and knowing exactly what was needed to aid her recovery.

At this time, she was still in a wheelchair, unable to walk unaided, very bemused and even at times frightened of what the rehab team would want her to do but they persevered and with their help and after a few weeks she was able to use a walker and on occasion and if supported, a walking stick.

At the end of October, almost 20 weeks after her stroke, we decided it was time to return to our home in Chineham Hampshire.

The Urology team at Wansbeck General Hospital reviewed my wife’s condition, advised a PET scan would be advisable and would refer her to Basingstoke Hospital. She was also referred to our local GP, Hampshire NHS, Stroke rehab, OT. We were advised that the care she would get was unlikely to be as good as she had been getting in Northumberland.

In fact, the care/support was initially totally non-existent. It took nearly 3 weeks to even get a GP appointment and although we were told we had been referred to both Winchester Stroke rehab and Basingstoke Urology, my wife’s kidney cancer we heard nothing.

She was given a GP appointment in early November who told us all was in hand but we heard nothing more from the practice until early in January 2024, when the GP suggested he gave us a weekly call to monitor progress. This continued for about 5/6 weeks however we have not heard from him for the last 6 weeks, although to be fair we have been away for 2 weeks in this period. We have tried numerous times to call however it is virtually impossible to contact this practice by phone.

Despite conversations with Red Cross and her GP she had no contact at all with any Stroke/Care/Support team. Her mood at this time was very low and even thoughts of “ending it all” were regularly in her mind.

In late December, almost 14 weeks after being referred for her kidney cancer, she was given an appointment with the Urology Consultant at Basingstoke Hospital and it was decided that she needed an operation to remove her kidney which was then planned for the beginning of March. The operation has been carried out and she has been told it was a complete success. The Urology team have been very caring and supportive throughout the process and have now referred her to Royal Surrey Cancer for possible adjuvant treatment.

Towards the end of January, we had a very good meeting with the Elderly/Stroke consultant at Basingstoke who reviewed her situation, physical condition and suggested a change in medication and arranged for a further review at the end of April. At this review he suggested a course of anti-depressants to help with my wife’s moods and headache.

Around the middle of February, we had a visit from NH Community Therapy Team (part of Southern Health we understand). My wife was so pleased to finally get some physio/OT support. I had not seen her so happy for months.

The OT/physio was so positive and understanding and we looked forward to seeing them on a regular basis. However, it was then decided a different member of staff would be my wife’s regular contact and we couldn’t have been more fortunate, as they have been an absolute breath of fresh air. They have listened to my wife, her hopes, wishes and her needs, worries and concerns.

They have been and it is, fantastic in the way they have coached my wife with new exercises both for her mobility and fine motor skills and working with her to set goals and targets, such as the way she can climb stairs using both legs as leads. They are very aware of my wife’s mood swings and has made suggestions for her to deal with them including medication and counselling. Based on reviews with this member of staff, we were delighted to learn that they have referred my wife to counsellors, sadly as yet with no response. Both OT/Physios have tried to contact our GP both by email and phone but as yet with little success.

Due to the initial lack of care/support since we returned home to Hampshire my wife is correctly convinced that her recovery progress had stopped, in fact regressed, but thanks to OT support she feels she is now making progress again and is close to getting back to where she was when she left Northumberland.

Since initially writing this review we have had further visits from the OT’s we could not be more grateful for the support we are now getting.

This review may in your terms include a lot of irrelevant information however we felt it was very important to put clearly into context just how much the OT’s input has meant to my wife, her moods, progress and abilities.