Try To Imagine

Try to imagine how it feels for your life to change in the blink of an eye, Sat at your desk, suddenly paralysis in your hand and you’ve no idea why. You try to make sense and understand, why your arm and leg feel heavy, When you get up to try and walk, it feels like you’ve been on the sherry. Try to imagine going to A&E, hoping you’re not wasting their time, You sit and wait, your name is called, you gone to the front of the line. The nurse asks lots of questions, you have to relay details about it all, You’re moved to another room to find doctors are coming out of the walls. Try to imagine after lots of tests, needles, prodding and poking, You’re told you’ve had a stroke and you think they must be joking. You find over the next few days when you walk, that you have no balance, Even trying to hold and drink a cup of coffee is a difficult challenge. Try to imagine on the doctor’s round, you’re shown the x-ray of the clot on your brain, You can no longer hide from it and you feel the colour from your face start to drain. Eventually you’re discharged from hospital, told you must get plenty of rest, You find the simplest of chores takes three times the effort; your patience is sorely test. Try to imagine talking to someone, and mid sentence you totally forget what you want to say, Everyday sounds like having the TV on, drive you mad, you want to hide out of the way. You find yourself sleeping a lot, hoping that when you wake you’ll be feeling refreshed, Stroke fatigue is one of the hardest things of all; it takes a long time for it to regress. Try to imagine the weeks turning into months, you pine for the life you once knew, You’re constantly being told be patient, going back to work is not yet right for you. The outside world, you once took in your stride, now feels like an obstacle course, You become disorientated, feel weak and dizzy, you think it was never like this before. Try to imagine, according to the Stroke Association statistics, 1 in 4 affected is of working age, It could happen to anyone at any time, even you, whilst you are reading this page.