"I wouldn't have recovered near as well without their treatment and support"

In 2021 I had an MCA stroke. I was completely healthy to this point, in my 30s, with no elevated risk factors for any illness or disease.

This stroke - and in my view an associated severe ambulance delay (2.5 hours) - left me with dense left-side hemiplegia overnight. I spent 3 months in hospital in Fife. 2 weeks in Acute Care in ward 42 of the Fife Victoria Hospital and 2 and a half months in the Sir George Sharp rehab unit at the Cameron Hospital.

I started with zero independence and have been working hard to regain my independence.

In the hospital, I worked with a multi-discipline team - physiotherapy, OT, Psychology to start to understand my illness and attempt to regain my independence.

On leaving hospital I could transfer with support using a stick and AFO. My left arm was and is non-functional and my walking gait remains severely compromised.

Post hospital I have self-funded hundreds of hours of physiotherapy and other therapies. I have used the latest technologies for stroke and neurological rehab  at intensive rehab centres. I have also travelled abroad to attend intensive rehab led by world experts in their field.

On leaving hospital I was also referred to PRI Occupation stroke/neuro OT Outpatients where I met my occupational therapists, Lucy and Lois. I think my extensive experience of private centres worldwide qualifies me to opine that both Lois and Lucy provide world-class care in terms of stroke and neurological rehab. I wouldn't have recovered near as well without their treatment and support. I also continue to make progress as a result of their treatment.

Some of the areas that Lois has helped me with include:

Driving - Lois took me through the necessary cognitive assessments to help me back to driving. The importance of driving for my overall life quality and independence cannot be understated.

Fatigue management - tiredness after a stroke is debilitating. I've worked with Lois to monitor and implement tools, lifestyle changes and strategies to reduce and manage fatigue

Brain fog - post stroke my brain has felt like it was operating at 60% its normal capacity. I've worked with Lois to implement strategies to improve brain function and now would estimate I have recovered to circa 85% of my previous cognitive processing ability.

Return to work - Lois has worked diligently to support me with a return to work. Preparing reports, support and assessments, which I am pleased to say has now resulted in me returning to work

Upper limb rehabilitation - I continue to work on rehabilitating my left upper limb and with Lois's expert support we are shifting the arm from completely non functional towards a functional arm. recently I've been able to use it for swimming.

I am extremely grateful towards my therapists in the Stroke/Neuro OT outpatients, they have made major improvements towards my independence and drastically improved my quality of life.

My only complaint would be that with a world-class service, capacity should be increased so that more intensive therapy can be provided.

Additionally with such wonderful therapist and the quality of technological rehab solutions, additional funding for technological rehab tools would be beneficial.