Interview 53
He had a stroke due to a clot which came from his heart aged 55. The stroke caused right sided weakness and aphasia. Medication’ perindopril (blood pressure) simvastatin (cholesterol), warfarin (anticoagulant).
This man has severe speech problems following his stroke. He had his stroke at the age of 55 he is now 59. His stroke was due to a clot which came from his heart and prevented the flow of blood to the left hand side of his brain. He now takes warfarin to prevent another clot, perindopril to control blood pressure and simvastatin to reduce cholesterol.
The stroke mainly affected the speech areas of his brain and he now suffers from a condition known as expressive aphasia where he struggles to find words and make sentences. He communicates using a combination of speaking a few words and writing things down. His ability to read large amounts of text has also been affected. He had some help from speech therapy in and out of hospital but did not find it helped very much and would have liked more.
The stroke also caused some weakness in his right hand and arm but this has now improved.
Since the stroke he has had to give up work. He feels it is important to keep occupied and has instead pursued his hobbies of restoring classic cars and painting, although feels his painting is not as good as it used to be. He enjoys travelling and has travelled to America since his stroke.
He is a member of ‘Connect’ a Charity which helps people with aphasia. He feels that speech problems after stroke are not well understood and is keen to raise the profile of aphasia.