Speaker 0 (Sara): Hi. I’m Jess. And I’m Sarah. And we’re from the Geelong Neuro Center. We are empowered people empowering people, and the aim of this podcast is to empower you.
Speaker 1 (Jess): I forget how we even started. Same. Good afternoon, Sarah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Hi, Jess. How are you?
Speaker 1 (Jess): I’m good. Thank you. How are you going?
Speaker 0 (Sara): Good. Excited for another recording today. We’re getting back on track.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yep. Yep. Back on track with neuro connections, is it?
Speaker 0 (Sara): No. Conversation ain’t right.
Speaker 1 (Jess): We might have a blooper there at the start that
Speaker 2 (Mel): we’ll put in. Just wanna make
Speaker 0 (Sara): sure I’m saying it right in the introduction each time.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Today, we are joined by Mel, which is we are so excited to have this conversation with you, Mel. So
Speaker 2 (Mel): excited to be here.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Thank you. Yeah. Welcome.
Speaker 1 (Jess): So would you like to introduce Mel? Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): I can do that. So Mel is one of our lovely clients who’s been coming here for a while. She comes in for occupational therapy and also attends one of our groups here as well, our exercise groups. Super dedicated. So we see you in here every week. So, Mal, she you had a stroke in 2017. Yes. You’re just saying nearly nine years ago now. And that has affected your arm. And today we oh, and your leg as well. Yeah. And today we’re going to, yeah, have a bit of a chat about your experience and even go back to the time when you’re in hospital and your experience now and what you’ve learned. And, yeah. Share your thoughts with everyone else and help other people in this situation as well.
Speaker 2 (Mel): So welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me. No problems.
Speaker 1 (Jess): So, Mal, to get us started, can you tell us a little
Speaker 2 (Mel): bit about yourself? About from when this happened?
Speaker 0 (Sara): Is that what you meant?
Speaker 1 (Jess): Or even just about you and yeah. And then we can go back to the stroke. But just a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. I’m 47 years old. Yeah. 47 years old. I live out in Lethbridge with my husband, Mark, and our dog, Chilly. And I kept to give up I used to be a teacher, but unfortunately, I had to give up my teaching career. But I say this to quite a few people now that even if I wasn’t didn’t have to medically tap out as a teacher, I think I would have resigned like retired anyway because it was just going away from what I got into teaching for.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah.
Speaker 2 (Mel): But yeah, I just sort of help out. We’ve got our own business called Southern Outdoors. There’s a little plug. And so I go and help my husband do some fencing and stuff every now and then. I have through the NDIS some community access each week. So I get out and about in the community and it’s been really beneficial. Thank goodness. So yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. It’s beautiful out there in Lethbridge. It is. It’s lovely. Yeah. Love it. Not far from Geelong, but have that rural community feel. Yes. It’s stunning out there.
Speaker 2 (Mel): It is. It’s absolutely gorgeous and we love our place. So and when I when we first when this first happened, we had the conversation because there was no public transport really out our way. I wasn’t allowed to drive at the time. Mark needed to get back to work, you know, to pay mortgages and stuff. And it was like, should we sell up and move closer to Geelong? And we both just looked at each other and said, not a chance. Yeah. This is our forever place. We love it out here. We’ve got two and a half acres and it’s just perfect for
Speaker 1 (Jess): us. Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Going back to the time when you had your Yep. Do you remember having your street?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I don’t remember. I remember bits and pieces. I had I woke up on the morning of Tuesday, December 19 and I had a really bad headache and I was due to have back surgery the next day because I had a bulging disc and I just remember this excruciating pain in my head and Mark came home from work and I was in bed just crying and he’s like, do you want me to call an ambulance? And looking back, it was probably the best decision we ever made because the ambulance came, they took me to Epworth and then because I was due at Epworth Richmond the next morning for my back surgery, they drove me up there and they were actually wheeling me into Theatre for back surgery and I started spasming and convulsing and I’d actually it turned out I don’t remember any of this. Just remember saying how hot I was and I felt like my head was going to explode. Well, essentially that’s kind of what happened. I had a ruptured aneurysm. Then, yeah, just with different throughout over the next few days, they were doing bits and pieces and trying to stop the bleeding and things like that. And on one of the last stents that they had to insert, told Mark and Mum that there’d be an eighty percent chance that I’d have a stroke.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Wow. And yeah, but you know, the alternative, kind of glad I had the stroke and I’m still here to tell my story. So yeah, but I don’t remember any of that at all a lot. Remember just from family and friends telling because they’d come and visit just bits and pieces. But from the actual time that it happened, I don’t remember any of that. So I just remember waking up and thinking, can’t I move my left side of my body? What’s going on? So yeah, it took a bit of processing for that to go through.
Speaker 0 (Sara): How did you find out? Do you remember?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I’m pretty sure a nurse came and had a conversation with me and just explained because I mean, I was as high as a kite on medication and we call that the because that was brain explosion day and yeah, we sort of make a joke of it because that’s what we do. But yeah, we say that that was brain explosion, Mel, because I was saying things and doing things that I normally wouldn’t do. And so it’s a bit of a blur, but yeah, the nurse came and I still didn’t process it very well. You’re what? I’m 38 years old. What do you mean I had a stroke? Yeah, but then, you know, once I sort of was getting weaned off the meds and was coming back to my old self, well, in version two of my old self, then it was realised, oh, yeah, okay. Well, this is it. I can’t move my left foot. I’m not I can’t walk yet. Like, I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t talk. You know, there was a lot. And it was just like, oh, is this ever coming back? So Wow.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. We got there. Wow. I imagine yeah. I couldn’t even imagine being in that situation.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Oh, it was hard. And I quite often have the guilt of like with my poor husband having to see me convulse and fit and spasm and then him getting kicked out of the room because they had to obviously work on me. I’ve always felt guilty of how must he have felt. And every now and then we have a conversation about it and we both get upset. You know, it’s good for us to talk about it I think too.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Also the timing that you were in hospital at that moment when that happened and not at home where he would have been on his own.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. We quite often have that conversation too, like imagine and about the fact that we rang the ambulance to come out to Lethbridge because had we not done that and that did happen at home, I wouldn’t be here definitely. Yeah. They
Speaker 0 (Sara): definitely reinforce the importance of time, don’t they? When you have a stroke. Sure. For sure. Yep. Get into hospital as quick as you can to prevent
Speaker 2 (Mel): further damage. Yeah. The damage
Speaker 0 (Sara): from there. So in the right spot at the right time.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. That’s right. Like, unlucky, but lucky, I suppose.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So yeah. Yeah. It’s nice to look at it.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. So those early days, so woken up. What did those next few days look like for you?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Just realizing what I couldn’t wasn’t able to do at that time. Like, I’m even like, I wasn’t able to get up to go to the toilet. Like I was wearing nappies and yeah, having nurses and both male and female. And I’ve always been like a very sort of I don’t know what the word is, but Like a private? Yeah, private sort of person. And, you know, I’ve got my old nurses cleaning me up and dressing me and I’m like, no.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Was full loss of independence.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah, it really was. And it was just like, I’m not sure about this. But yeah. And then trying to realise, well, okay, I can’t do this with my hand or my leg. I can’t get out and walk, but surely there’s things I can do. And we started with, you know, the stress balls. Just trying to grasp one of those and press sort of just, you know, it took a while, but just even to hold it, that was enough at one point. And then, yeah, like, and I remember, oh, and the hoist. Oh, that’s just not great in that. Like, yeah, they used to have to hoist me to the toilet or hoist me here, hoist me and I just have really bad memories of that hoist. It wasn’t very nice or pretty for anybody. Oh no. You know? So but that’s what had to be done at the time. So but, yeah, we sort of, you know, as I said, we do joke about a lot of stuff and that’s sort of how we’ve got through these past eight and a half.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Did you joke at the time or it’s now something you have At the time
Speaker 2 (Mel): it was just there was a lot of woe is me. Like, why me? This is not fair. I’m a good person. What’s happened? But now it’s just like we look back and laugh. Just we look back and laugh and, you know, have a bit of banter. But that’s how we cope.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): What were you told? So you were told about the stroke. What were you told on the outlook that first couple of weeks, especially in that acute phase? Were you told it this is what this is going to look like or these are the gains that you can make?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. I think I remember one of the conversations being that, you know, you’ve got to work really hard in that first period of time. And if things don’t happen within that first twelve months or whatever, then that’s it.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Okay. When we say three months.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Oh, is it three months?
Speaker 0 (Sara): Maybe two Well, it’s Like, I don’t know what you were told, a lot of people are told three months.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. It’s very blurry. But, yeah. So it was like, okay, right. Well, here we go. We’ve got to work hard here. And a lot of people like when visitors like family and friends couldn’t believe because I’ve always been a stress head and at times a negative Nancy. But I decided that they couldn’t believe how positive I had been. And I thought, well, I always looked at the fact that I knew that there’s always people in worse positions than me.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Like,
Speaker 2 (Mel): yeah, okay, my left hand side isn’t working at the moment, but, you know, hearing from doctors and nurses that you will walk again and this will happen and, you know, that sort of was like, well, there’s people that won’t walk again. Like, you know, at least I’ll be able to do that. So
Speaker 0 (Sara): So they give you hope that you wouldn’t be able to Yeah.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Sort of were really encouraging and I had good banter with the nurses. Gave I just one of my things that I used to give all the nurses nicknames. Yeah. Like I remember one of my nurses at St Vincent’s, he was, his name was Dan. So he was Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump. And then, oh, I can’t even remember some of them, yeah, everyone got a nickname. And if a new nurse had come on, they’d heard about Mal in room, She’d give you a nickname and they’d, so they’d ask, well, what’s my nickname? What’s your actual name first? And we’ll go from there. So yeah, just glad to have a bit of fun and I kept them all laughing, which was good.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Yep. How long were you in the hospital for before you moved into did you go into inpatient rehab following that? Yeah. Did you go through in
Speaker 2 (Mel): was at I was on the ward for three weeks, think at St. Vinnie’s and then I came down to McAllah And then I was in McAllah for some time. I do have dates, but I can’t remember them very well. But in the January 2018, Doctor Bennett, lifesaver, saw that I had a bleed still in my brain. So he sent me straight back to Melbourne. Wow. Saved my life. He didn’t like to hear that. He’s a very humble man. So, yeah, he sent me back for more and I’ve now got a VP shunt As my new bestie in my head. So, and then on the Australia Day, I came back down to Macalla and I stayed there until the end of March. Pretty much was doing rehab every day, physio, OT and we finally got up and walked and a few days Mark was able to take me out of, we call it day release. Yeah, was over it. Day Where did it go? One time we went down to Port Arlington and met up with some friends down that way. And then another time we went at home, like out to Lethbridge. Yeah, as soon as we drove around and I saw our driveway, I burst into tears. I was crying like a baby. Just because it was like, wow. And then, yeah, I remember just seeing my dogs and just having that familiarity of being at home again. It was amazing. And then, yeah, so I had the inpatient rehab and then once I went home at the end of March, then I started doing community rehab. At first Mark was taking me in and out because as I said, I wasn’t allowed to drive. Then he had to go back to work because obviously we still had our mortgage and we were still working at finances and stuff. Yeah, so we had the volunteer transport coming out to Lethbridge to pick me up and then sort of, yeah. I don’t know. Something happened with the volunteer transport. Lethbridge suddenly became like it was the end of the earth, I think.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So
Speaker 2 (Mel): that sort of fell off the wayside a little bit.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Did you get to rehab then?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I think I just stopped for a Going? Yeah. Stopped going for a period of time. See, this is where the dates get a little bit skewiff. But and then I’m pretty sure COVID may have happened and that didn’t help anybody. No. You know, that was such a fun time for everyone. But then, yeah, through the NDIS, my support coordinator introduced me to this wonderful establishment, Gillum Neurocentre. Fantastic. Yeah, I started coming here. I reckon it’s been two years, maybe three. I can’t remember. But yep. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Fantastic. Did you get onto the NDIS straight away when you had your stroke or how long did it take you?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Well, One of the social workers or something at McAllen came and spoke about the NDIs and there was so much information and, you know, I’m still trying to walk and talk. Yeah. Do you
Speaker 0 (Sara): know your rehab?
Speaker 2 (Mel): And so it sort of was a little bit like, yeah, whatever. We’ll worry about that later. And then, yeah, the submission was finally put in and I don’t think for the first twelve months I really utilised it because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was like, what do I need? What’s this for? Like, they’ve given me this amount of money, but I don’t know what I have to do with it. And I didn’t. And then, you know, I finally had a meeting with my LAC and she went through, well, you can actually do this and do that. And yeah, and then we started, found some community access support workers and they’ve been amazing. Like I’ve had some really good support workers, I’ve been very lucky with. Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (Jess): So it sounds like as well, so there was a lull in rehabilitation Yeah, in that
Speaker 2 (Mel): there was. But I think like a formal rehab program, I guess, but I think I’d learnt enough and been through enough to know that I had to just continue to use that left hand every day. Get it involved in everything that you do. Don’t just let it dangle.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Your structured therapy is important, but almost what you do outside of that is more important because you get so much more repetition through that.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Definitely. So I tried it even now, like what are we? Eight and a half years on. Like I still try to get lefty involved as much but because there was a time where I wanted lefty chopped off. I’m like, what is the point of having this? And this was early on, like very early on when everything was new. I’m like, what is the point of having this left arm? It doesn’t need to be there. Like, yeah, I’ve started walking again. That’s great. So left leg can stay, but can we just chop left arm off, please? Like we don’t need it. But clearly we do.
Speaker 0 (Sara): What was the change? What do you still think about your arm like that?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I think I just suddenly started having little wins, like even at home moving a wheelbarrow like and actually involving lefty in it and yeah, still call it lefty. Yeah. But and just actually involving my arm in things that I was doing every day and it’s like, well, you’re not that useless.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yep.
Speaker 2 (Mel): So, and I just learned to love my arm again. Like, and it’s like, well, you are part of me. This is it, you know? Yeah. Yeah. You’re not like you used to be, but that’s okay. We’ll work on that. So and we’ve been working really hard in OT here as well. So, it’s been good. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Isn’t that relationship with your left arm something that did you have any support with emotionally and mentally for that? Or is that something that you worked through your yourself each day?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Well, that was when I was still at McCalla in community rehab. And I did speak to a psychologist, I think at Macalla for some time, you know, for a period of time because my OT and my physio at the time at Macalla were a bit like, oh, Mel wants to chop her arm off. That’s not a good thing. So they hooked me in with a new team member and we talked through it and then just started loving my arm again because it’s like, well, you are part of me.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. I think it’s so powerful and important because there may be so many stroke survivors listening to this and understanding that’s probably something that not a lot of people think about externally for stroke survivors that learning to love your limbs again and loving what what they can still provide and can do.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. That’s right. Like, because I just thought it was useless. It wasn’t doing anything. I mean, and the hardest part at rehab because I am right hand dominant anyway. Yeah. And it was my left side that was affected. I’m used to just so used to doing everything with my right. As you can see, I’m talking with my right arm. And I remember Danny, my OT, she’s like, well, when you talk, try and have your left arm involved too. Which, yeah, I try. But yeah, just that was one of the hardest things that I found along the way was trying to use left hand because I was so used to doing everything right handed. And that was probably one of the other reasons I hated the arm. I’m like, well, you’ve been useless my whole life. What why do you even need to be there? Yeah. But then it’s not until you go to do something and, you know, lefty joins in and you’re like, oh, well, actually, you are useful.
Speaker 0 (Sara): And part of
Speaker 2 (Mel): you will keep you. Part of
Speaker 0 (Sara): you as well. Yeah. Yeah. Did you have any other challenges moving from inpatient rehab to home? In inpatient rehab, you’ve got people around you all the time. The nurses are there able to help you. Then And when you talking about husband went back to work
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah, the first few months at home with just Mark and I and it was quite a challenge, you know, transitioning to that oh dear because at that point I was still in a wheelchair at home and, you know, in the shower with the shower chair and everything. And there were things that Mark had to do to the house, not like major things, but handles and things before I was allowed to come home. So, yeah, he he got all that done. But yeah, he, you know, if I needed to go to the toilet in the night, I had to Mark, can you wake up? I need to go to the toilet. And, you know, just things like that. So the transition to that was quite difficult. But we got through it. Yeah. Yeah, we made it work.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So, yeah. Bit of a personal question. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. But how was the relationship with Mark as well? Like having to be so dependent on him?
Speaker 2 (Mel): When you say the relation Like did
Speaker 0 (Sara): it change into like being like from your husband or into I’m feeling like he’s my carer or No,
Speaker 2 (Mel): it was still I think this having happened to us, like, you know, we’re husband and wife, we’ve always loved each other, but I think this has made us even more so. And like, yeah, he could have run the other way and gone, nah, this is too hard. I throw my hands in the air. I’m not doing this. But he was there every day. And this is the one that makes me emotional because when I talk about him, you know, the love I have for that guy is amazing because he’s always been there. If I nothing’s too much trouble. If I need something done, he’s like, yep, got it. Like even today. Knowing that I had a big three hour session here at rehab today, he’s like, you’re not driving. I’ll take you and I’ll pick you up. That’s the guy he is.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. He sounds amazing.
Speaker 2 (Mel): He is amazing. Yeah. He’ll love hearing that too.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Should we cut that part? You also he had mentioned to us as well that he has had his own health issues.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yes. So, just over the past two, three years, he’s had a he’s torn a bicep tendon in his shoulder and that put him off work for a little bit of time. Then he’s got severe carpal tunnel in both hands. And then November last year he decided that one Tilly having a stroke wasn’t enough, that he needed to have his own stroke to be part of the, you know, to be truly part of Team Tilly. He had a stroke. But thankfully he’s come through really, really well and he’s back at work and yeah. But, you know, that was tough. Because it happened overnight in his sleep, the next morning we got up and he was like, couldn’t put his dressing gown on. I’m like, okay, FAST acronym, the stroke acronym. Right. Okay. Can you look at me? Oh, yeah. There’s a little bit of drooping there. And I asked him to say a sentence and then I said, put your arms up in the air and his left arm, he couldn’t get his left arm up in the air. And I said, right. Let’s go. We’re going to the hospital. I didn’t call an ambulance because I didn’t know that there was an ambulance station in Panicburn. And previously on the news the night before it had been there was this news story on the fact that ambulance wait times were crazy and stuff. So I’m like, right, just get in the car, we’re going. Had you
Speaker 0 (Sara): got your license back by then?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I did. Yes. Thank goodness. So for four years I wasn’t allowed to drive because I couldn’t pass the tests. And then finally, and I’ve got to have a periodic review every year, which is fine because, you know, your eyesight and things are pretty important when driving. But yeah, for the past four years I’ve been allowed to drive again.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Wow. Did you emotionally take you back to
Speaker 2 (Mel): Oh, it was, yeah. Full PTSD at the time. And then the nurse actually when we finally got in there and I took him inside, one of the nurses actually had a crack at me for not calling the ambulance. And I’m like, well, he’s here now. Can you just fix him? Like No worries. I didn’t know that we had a station in Bannockburn. Like, I had no idea. So
Speaker 1 (Jess): There’s also something I feel like a big push that if you don’t need the ambulance, then and I do feel like there’s that question of, well, do I call them? Do I just drive in? What
Speaker 0 (Sara): do I do?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I thought it well, is it gonna be quicker if I get him in in the car? And, you know Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Also in the moment, who knows what anyone would do.
Speaker 2 (Mel): But that’s right. That’s right.
Speaker 1 (Jess): You’ve been running off adrenaline. Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Just like, we’ve got go. Let’s go. Get in the car. Come on. And, you know, for him to actually agree and get in the car with me and decide, yeah, no, this isn’t right. Maybe I do need to come. That was huge too, because, you know, men don’t go to doctors and they don’t do this. Well, you know, not all men, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Have you found that through your experience of having a stroke, were able to help him after his stroke?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. It’s because like neuro fatigue is huge. Yeah. And even now, like what I say, eight and a half years on, if I’ve had a big day, still need a little bit of a nap. And Mark has never begrudged me for being tired or needing to have a sleep or he’s like, yeah, go and have a lie down and a rest. But it’s funny because now sometimes if he’s, you know, been out at work or he’s done something around the yard or whatever, he’s got to come in and have a little nap. And he’s like, I’m like, yeah, it’s a real thing, babe. Neurophagy is real and it’s like even eight and a half years on, it’s still there.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Has that changed at all for you? You got better? Got worse?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I’d say it’s got better, but I still need my naps. I still get tired. And particularly like, you know, I’m sitting here doing a lot of talking that tires me out a lot too. But yeah, it’s good. I’ve got a good tribe of friends and family around and they know that if I’ve just gone off for a bit,
Speaker 0 (Sara): just leave me be. I just need
Speaker 2 (Mel): some we call it mail time and just need to have a bit of a reset and I’ll be back.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So, yeah. Good that you’ve got some good strategies. Yeah. Yeah. I just have to
Speaker 2 (Mel): walk away sometimes.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Got a mate in a great village around you as well.
Speaker 2 (Mel): I really do. And I mean, at the start that was one of the hardest things because, you know, you would think that Lethbridge was fourteen hours away from earth. You know, it was so hard for people to come and visit. And yeah, I’ve lost friendships along the way, but the ones that have stuck around, like they’re my, you know, they’re everything. They’re here. They show up. And some of my friends, like some of my really close besties, Lenny, Neets, they know that if Don’t just step in and help me. I have to ask for help. And that’s hard in itself to, you know, from a strong independent person that I used to be to actually, I’ve got to ask for help.
Speaker 0 (Sara): What? That would have been really hard. It was.
Speaker 2 (Mel): And still is now. Yeah. Like I don’t like asking for help, but sometimes I’m just Mark understands now because I’ll just do the big and he’s like, do you need some help? Yeah. Yes, I do. And he’ll come in and help. But yeah, some of my friends are just like, I’m not helping unless you ask. Okay. Yep. Which is good though. Like that that’s good recovery too. Like, I enjoy that and I take a lot from that because I don’t want people doing things for me all the time.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. So yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. And you mentioned before, so you had been referred into Geelong Neuro Centre a few years ago now. Talk to us about your rehab journey when you started here at GNC.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. So I started with Georgia in physio and Yeah, I think I’ve had Danny as my OT from the word go and then Archer, you know, went up and went overseas. So I had to, but yeah, then Darcy sort of took over. So now Darcy is my physio and he oversees my group sort of exercise program. And, but yeah, it’s been, I think I’ve hit some really good goals here. Like even just grasping things and helping wheel wheelbarrows around home and stuff. Like I wouldn’t have been able to do that had I not come and just worked on it all the time. That’s the thing that like it’s those repetitive movements. You know, people can say that from the get go, but it’s just like, yeah, whatever. But until you actually, oh, yeah, no, they had a point. They do need to keep doing it.
Speaker 0 (Sara): What else have you achieved? What other goals have you achieved? So you’ve got grasping things using the Werra Barrow.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. So as I said earlier, we’re on two and a half acres at home and we’ve got a zero turn lawnmower and I used to love mowing the lawns pre stroke days. And the zero turn, like you’ve got to have your hand on either thing, but I learned how to actually control it just with my right hand left hand’s there, but I can control it with my right hand to the point that, like, Mark actually filmed me doing it for the first time and then I love mowing the lawns again and to the point where he actually said to me, because he loves mowing lawns too, he’s like, Jack and I could mow lawns
Speaker 0 (Sara): this week. Having a fight
Speaker 2 (Mel): over Christmas.
Speaker 0 (Sara): He has to. I’m sure he could advertise his services.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yes. So, but yeah, like being able to do that and because, you know, when I first came home, yeah, I felt useless. Like there were all these stuff and poor Mark was trying to maintain inside and maintain outside. And I’d be just sitting there going, oh, what do I do? But now, like, we’re pretty fifty fifty now. Like, I can get outside and help out in the yard and collect firewood and things like
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yep.
Speaker 2 (Mel): He draws a line at letting me use a chainsaw. I get that. But yeah. So and then he’ll, you know, help out because I we don’t have a dishwasher. I am the dishwasher. Yep. But occasionally, like, I I try to get left hand in the water as well as much as I can, but right hand does most of the cleaning and a few times I’ll miss things and so Mark’s gotta rewash things. But I got that. Here. But yeah, we we are a good team. We call ourselves team Tilly.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Oh, lovely. You’ve also like you were in a wheelchair when you first came home. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. And then we went to the walking stick and I don’t think I used the walking stick for very long because, and for those that know me, I’m pretty headstrong and I went, I’m not, I don’t need that. Like, I’m fine. And yeah, now we’re walking again and yeah, there’s still a bit of a limp and whatnot, but it’s okay. I feel safe all the time. I don’t feel like, oh my God, I’m going to fall out. Because early on there were a couple of little staggers, but nothing serious where I hurt myself really bad. But yeah, it was, you know, it’s like, come on, we’ve got to work together here. Yeah, but it’s interesting, you know, we were talking about my left arm before and how much I hated it and wanted it off. But even though I wasn’t walking initially, I didn’t feel that way about my left leg.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (Mel): I don’t know. It was odd. Why? And I couldn’t explain to you why that was the case. But yeah, we’re all aligned now. So we’re all good.
Speaker 0 (Sara): What does rehab look like for you here? What do you, what sort of things do you do with Darcy, with physio or in your group and also with Dani as well?
Speaker 2 (Mel): So in the group I do a lot of strengthening exercises and balancing. Excuse me. And yeah, a lot of strengthening and trying to get those muscles that were a bit idle for some time, just trying to build them up. And then in with Danny, know, then I catch up with Darcy sort of every two to three months. He oversees my program and then we look at what we can change and what we can add in and take out and what’s, you know, working, what’s not. And then with OT, I yeah, we do the e stim. We do active just activities where I’m using that left arm and grasping a lot of grasping and Seeing the sabot as well. Sabot. And Diego’s become a new friend recently that I’ve been working with.
Speaker 1 (Jess): So are finding the some of the new equipment? Like the Diego?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Diego’s great. Although some of those games that you’ve I mean, it sounds games, but they’re really hard and you’ve got to get that shoulder movement. Sometimes lefty is like, don’t want to do no, you will do it. But what we try to sort of warm up first and then we get into it. But, yeah, the new equipment’s great. I really enjoy it.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So people don’t don’t know what the Diego is.
Speaker 2 (Mel): We’ve got a couple
Speaker 0 (Sara): of different robotics things here at D and Z and they’re quite new for us. But the Diego, it’s I guess like a support system for your arm so we can like put resistance in or take the weight out of
Speaker 2 (Mel): It’s your almost like you’re
Speaker 0 (Sara): a puppet.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. Yeah. Of course. You get attached. Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. And then it operates through a screen where there’s games on the screen. There’s also VR goggles that can attach to it as well.
Speaker 2 (Mel): I haven’t that far Might have to try that.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Yeah. Yep. And then it just gives a different perspective on rehab. Life makes more fun, eating at practitioners.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yeah. Definitely. Yep. What are the
Speaker 1 (Jess): things you’ve enjoyed most during enjoy most in your sessions?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I I really enjoyed the group because there’s other people there that we might not all necessarily be strokeies, but we’ve all got our own goals that we’re sort of working towards and, you know, there’s a bit of banter in there at the time, which is great. So, and, you know, high fiving and if someone gets up, that reformer on the floor, like, wow, getting up on and off that is next level. I look like a beached whale and it’s so much fun. You know, we high five when we do it without the support or something. Yeah. So and I enjoy, you know, tea, like, just using we seem to use something different every every because I have Danny every fortnight. So, yeah, every fortnight we’re sort of using something different or Danny’s always got different ideas and let’s try this and let’s try that. And, you know, then sometimes I might do something a little bit easier. Oh, well, we need to challenge you more. Yeah, it’s like, oh, man, I’ll try a bit harder to make that a bit more difficult.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Anything you’ve hated? Anything that
Speaker 2 (Mel): you’ve Not the long at all. Enjoy the challenges and yeah, just doing more things that hopefully will continue to help. And yeah, it seems like a very long time since I’ve had my stroke and well, you know, are you going to do anything different? Like, it going to get better? Gonna, sorry, good English. Is it going to get any better? But I think the more I use my arm and it doesn’t matter that we’re not complete. It’s never I don’t believe it’s ever going to be pre stroke but that’s okay. Don’t want it to be pre stroke Mal. We’re version two now. Like we’re bigger and better. I’m doing what I can and that’s enough for me.
Speaker 0 (Sara): How nice. It’s really interesting hearing you say that you’re still making progress now compared to what you were told in the hospital Whether as it’s three months or twelve months, it’s like a very definite amount of time. And I know people that have started here have been challenged by that as well, thinking that I’ve got to work as hard as I can thinking that they’re not going to make the gains going forward. We’ve got so many clients including yourself that continue to make gains all the time.
Speaker 2 (Mel): And it doesn’t have to be massive things like even just, you know, one day my little finger might just because I do an activity where I, you know, have to individualise each finger and raise it up and some days my little finger just does not want to play the games, but then that little win when it does want to participate, it’s like, yep, we’ll celebrate that. And it’s just looking for those small wins. It doesn’t always have to be something big and, you know, because that’s boring. Let’s celebrate the little ones because sometimes it is only the little ones that you have because it can be a long time between drinks kind of thing, if I can say it like that.
Speaker 1 (Jess): And like you said, it’s been eight and a half years now and you’re still making gains. Yeah. That’s right. What are you what motivates you to keep working towards your goals?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Those little wins. Yeah. Like, you know, if and I think that’s what happened with when I was a community rehab at Macalla and then the volunteer transport fell away. And then I think I was plateauing at the time and it was just like, I wasn’t really getting a lot out of it. That sort of changed my attitude as well. Oh, what’s the point? Yeah. Whereas now it’s like, no, we’re going to celebrate those little wins. And that’s what keeps me going is having those little wins. And I don’t know if I didn’t have those little wins, I be like, oh, well, but I think, you know, credit to myself that I do put in the effort and that those little wins continue to happen. So we’ll keep going. That sort of thing, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah, absolutely. Mel, what would you say to someone who has recently experienced a stroke and is just beginning their recovery journey?
Speaker 2 (Mel): Well, cliche, don’t give up, Keep going. Keep working hard. It does get better. It might not be the pre you. Yeah. But just keep going and keep working hard and you will see those little gains and celebrate them. Yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Such good advice. Yeah. Yeah. I’m mindful of the time, Mel, because you’ve got your group to run to through. I do. But is there anything else that you’d like to share that we haven’t touched on today?
Speaker 2 (Mel): I don’t think so. I think we’ve sort of covered everything. And, yeah, I’m really enjoying my time at GNC. Is that what we call it? Yeah. Yep. I just always say neuro centre.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Do you
Speaker 2 (Mel): know what we didn’t do? We never do our wins.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Should we finish off on our wins?
Speaker 0 (Sara): Finish with our wins. Finish with our wins.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Those little
Speaker 0 (Sara): things like you said about. Exactly. Celebrate
Speaker 2 (Mel): the small
Speaker 0 (Sara): things. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Yeah. I’ll go first. Yep. My win is we’re in the middle of our intensive block at the moment and I’m working with a little boy that when we first started working together, which was probably two years ago, he was very dysregulated and very upset in those first especially those first few sessions. We’re doing an intensive at the moment and he’s just giggles his way through the whole session.
Speaker 2 (Mel): I have heard
Speaker 0 (Sara): him as well. Yeah. Cute.
Speaker 2 (Mel): It is.
Speaker 1 (Jess): And he’s just laughing. And I’ve honestly, he’s probably my pediatric client that loves therapy the most right now. And I just apparently, when they drove into the car park today before they even got out of the car, he was laughing and smiling. And that’s that’s what therapy should be. Yeah. Yeah. It should be fun for kids and adults. Yes. But to know that a little boy just loves coming here that much that he’s it makes him that happy just melts my heart. So that was my win.
Speaker 0 (Sara): That’s awesome. Nice. So nice. I will say my win in that I’ve just come from our spinal cord group. So you just spoke about the power of groups and being around other people. We just had a group then with our clients who’ve had a spinal cord injury and they that happens every eight weeks and they just talk about a certain topic each time. But I think it’s such an inspirational group of people. Everyone all our clients are at GNC. Yes, I feel really privileged to be able to be part of that group and listen to their experiences and so nice to be involved. So shout out to Joel Hogan who has organized that.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Fantastic.
Speaker 0 (Sara): And what about your win, Mal?
Speaker 2 (Mel): My win is, the more I think about it is, I was able to finish a fence with my husband. I went out on work. This was last week. I went out and worked with Mark and I try to help out when I can and, you know, I’m gonna say I’m the employee of the decade. He doesn’t have to pay me. So yeah, I liked it when he’s doing a paling fence and I line all the pailings out for him and anything I can do to So sort of that was my little win. I was able to help him finish the fence and yeah.
Speaker 0 (Sara): How good is that? That’s not a little win. That’s a big win.
Speaker 1 (Jess): That’s a huge win.
Speaker 2 (Mel): It’s fun. Enjoy going out there and doing that with him.
Speaker 0 (Sara): So Yeah. Well done. What a good way to finish.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Yes. Thank you
Speaker 1 (Jess): so much, Mel, for coming on and having a conversation with us.
Speaker 0 (Sara): Thank you.
Speaker 1 (Jess): Really appreciate it, and you’ve been so inspiring. And I love seeing you in the gym. And, I normally see you when you’re with Danny. Yeah. Keep out. You’re doing an amazing job. Thank you so much. Awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (Mel): Thank you
Speaker 0 (Sara): for having me. Thanks, pal.