(1/2) “I was still ok, but the doctor put me in the ward. I could lie down, go to sleep, and talk. And then, suddenly, that night, I felt deaf. Whatever you said to me I could not hear. And then suddenly my whole body shook. I thought I was about to die. After that I went into a coma. For 9 days.
“Doctor said I was suffering from brain stem stroke, which means the blood vessel to the head is broken and there’s not enough blood going to my brain, and that 95{eb97150a49149dc6c9e8165e90f1c9129bb6172e02a598b4264a1fc329d7d5bc} of patients die. Its not the normal stroke effect where a person cannot use the left side of their body. The first year, both sides of my body cannot be used. I was like a vegetable. It was horrible. Now I still cannot walk, but I can use my right hand to feed me food. I wasn’t diabetic. The doctor said that it was because of stress. I used to do event management because I was in marketing,branding for quite some time. But I might not get the same job again, since I’ve been like this for 8 years already.
“My advice is do regular checkups, for heart disease and high blood pressure so that you will know about your stress level. And maybe it sounds superstitious but be nice to people. And think of God more. Maybe that can help. Because with stroke, you don’t know if it’s gonna get you. It’s not like smoking where you know you might get a lung disease. Take care of your heart and mind. Stroke is a silent killer, and can hit anyone”.
(Throughout the whole time I was speaking to him, only his right side of his face was moving – lips, cheeks and eyes). (I have also promised to him that I will be writing a news article to raise awareness on stroke patients who suffer psychologically, especially with caretakers who are also mentally abusing them without knowing it.)
Photostory by Mushamir Mustafa
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(This post was first published on May 11th 2016)
