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imagine being buried alive? exclusive

by katea 

Posted: 19 August 2010
Word Count: 896
Summary: earl grey and family and friends got me so angry i had to prove the doctors wrong! i wouldnt talk,walk or swallow after my tracheotomy and illness but they were thankfully wrong! grit, determination, hope and friendship got me thru. just bloody mindedness!


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hi, wondering if you know of any producers who might be interested in my story to help and inspire others? we have photos. we will offer an exclusive to the right one. Do you know of any producers who would be interested in her story - can you circulate it for her? Its on Face Book and I've copied it out below which is by way of a summary.


Subject: Can you image what it feels like to be buried alive? Lets bring hope and raise awareness for people and their families coping with the effects of locked-in following a severe stroke.
"Hello I thought you might be interested my story? On Feb 7th 2010 I unfortunately suffered a major stroke. My urvival chances were 50/50 and it was utterley devestating. Not any normal stroke for a fit 40 year old mum of three young children, but an awful blood clot to my brain stem which caused me to become paralysed with locked-in syndrome. I used to road run, such as the Sheffield half marathon 1:35 (tagged) 42 min 10kms eg the percy pud in Sheffield then I moved onto fell running with Jaqui and Anita around 12 miles at a time.
Imagine being buried alive, only able to blink.....? Whilst I wanted to die in intensive care, I'm glad I didn't now. I had a headache for 3 weeks and ignored it, but on Sunday 7th Feb and I went to A&E in Sheffield, where I was sent home with likely stress induced migraine and cocodamo to relieve the painl! But I was alread slurring my words and I had blurred vision, and 5 hours later I had a stroke at home and I very neary nearly died.
Medically the odds weren't good and I was on life support for weeks. I could only blink, but I heard and saw everything. I was talked over, and I wasn't given much hope and I've been in hospital since the 7th Feb 2010 I'm still in hospital. My husband and family have been amazing as have the staff on my rehabilitation ward. I can now walk with a frame and I can move and my swallow is improving and I have teaspoons of yoghurt now. I am expecting to go home in Oct. So why have I improved and surprised everyone? Well I was a fell runner so I was young and fit, which gave me the determination, also I am very determined and motivated anyway and I wanted to prove the people who had written me off wrong! I've also been lucky in that I've had the most amazingly supportive family and friends, notably mark, Alison and Anita, and my mum and Dave.
I hope I am able to make a full recovery, I see it that I have no choice but to get properly better and I am hoping my story will bring hope to families suffering from locked-in syndrome and the effects of a major stroke because my family had little as most of the medical predications were for little or no real improvement.
Can you help promote my story so that others can have hope? I write my daily blog on facebook http://www.facebook.com/l/d1214IePGIPAJw2aB9TZ6WaoW0Q;www.facebook. com/kate.allatt, which you can follow. I have progressed from blinking to 'yes and no' to a lettercard, and now I text, email and write my daily blog on Facebook. I have done what I was never expected to do and I want to help others - can you help? I am renewing my marriage vows with my amazing husband in front of my fabulous friends and family".
Kate Allatt

My Mum wrote on my blog: "ICU was a formidable place, the waiting room was grim, full of anxious relatives and sometimes you would sit for ages waiting for clearance to visit on the ward. When you reached the ward it was no easier. Peeping through the windows I would count backwards from ten, summoning up the strength to go in and be strong for Kate, it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Kate was completely immobile but she saw you if you manoevered round to the side she was facing. Conversation was forced but always inclusive, taking the view that she maybe able to hear although we didn't know and sometimes words would fail us and we would busy ourselves massaging her feet, or doing something practical for her even if it was only tidying up her locker. This continued for many weeks but gradually we began to see improvement. The insertion of her tracheotomy was for me a very bad day as I feared it would always remain there, but with this as with everything we had to accept the medical advice and go with the flow. She has the most expressive eyes that speak volumes, and when a laminated A4 sign was put up for visitors saying '1 Blink for no and 2 Blinks for yes', we started 2-way communication. From this she progressed to a lettercard, and as with the blink cards I mostly got it wrong, so imagine the joy when just a wee bit of movement started in her right thumb... well that was then. Now she is as you see in her story, writing her own history and it's a history I hope will encourage and inspire others". Kate's Mum






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