"Thank you to such a professional team"

I'm relatively young.  I run marathons.  I am healthy as a horse.  I had a stroke.

I was brought into a stroke outpatient clinic for tests following what appeared to be stroke symptoms though by this point I'd convinced myself that this was extremely unlikely.

I was scheduled for several tests that morning.  They all came back clear and healthy.  As a result I convinced myself that I was wasting everyones time.  That I'd probably just had a peculiar migraine or something.

The last test to be done was an MRI which I felt was a very valuable hospital resource that I perhaps was being selfish in my taking up appointment time on.

The scan was done.  The results went through to my doctor (Dr Elamin).  - I'd had a stroke.

I was completely shocked.  Not me ... it couldn't happen to me ...I'm too young.  I'm a healthy guy. This news was horrendous.  But, from the second it was discovered, Dr Elamin was so careful in how he delivered the message.  He paused frequently to make sure I was ok, and to ask if I wanted someone else like a friend or family member with me to help me process.  He then explained clearly what needed to happen over the coming days.  He also again frequently ensured that I was coping with the information.

I've previously brought up to a doctor that I had a family history of a blood clotting condition.  Previously it had been ignored in my opinion.  In this instance Dr Elamin made it clear he would absolutely act on this information.

I was admitted to the stroke ward (Ward 5 - South West Acute Hospital - Enniskillen - Northern Ireland) and felt so reassured by the quantity of tests, scans and assessments I began to receive.  Where it made sense to delay a test to the following day, that was also explained to me.

On the team in the stroke ward was a Dr Pipisin (I know I've spelt that wrong - sorry).  The way she answered my questions was perfect.  I'm an engineer by trade.  I really like accuracy, measurement, & to understand trends.  I felt in such good hands with her.  She answered my questions like I was grading her on a medical exam! :) I know not everyone wants that level of detail but I think she read me very well and knew in my case it was the right thing to do.  Thank you so much!

Dr Pipisin also strove to provide answers to my questions from the cardiology team.  This was regarding specific questions I had in terms of risk of pursuing my endurance sport lifestyle going forward.  I really appreciated her efforts to do this.

I do have more aspects and questions that I would like to explore in terms of my treatment going forward.  I believe I will be given opportunity to raise these in future outpatient appointments.  I didn't think of these things at the time as I was very anxious given everything going on.

The nurses, OT, pharmacist etc were all fantastic too.

I really really appreciated that almost all the nurses took the time to have a laugh with me.  They didn't ever make me feel like they were in a rush to the next room to help the next patient on the conveyor belt.  No, they treated me like a person who needed more than medicine.  They treated me like someone who may be scared and away from family and friends.  They were spectacular.

I'm also a tea/coffee addict.  They kept me well topped up! :) It seems so trivial but given I was stressed already, the last thing I would have needed would have been to be deprived of a cuppa (and a wee biscuit).

Thank you to such a professional team.

God bless you all