rod123

Hi Kel,I think all the emotion is the most natural thing in the world infact i've mentioned before that Merrill showed no interest in this illness what so ever,just takes it all in her stride and that i found hard to understand she also had leg pains like you, so bad that she could'nt even handle the quilt over them at night, this came a few weeks after the sah but did get better as time went on , Merrill will be a year on march 27th and she still has mobility problems, speech,memory hearing and eyes,she had a cranoitomy and a coiling then a shunt fitted a month later, but she still has new problems come along from time to time, so eight weeks is still very early and if you suffer anxiety that can be an illness on it's own, anyway Kel good luck with your recovery Rod

Hi Neil hope you are both well , and hope you had agreat 1st Anni-versary Good luck Rod and Merrill

Hi momo,it's good you got to post your story, it is a very frightening time but you seem to be coming through it, it's nice to read that you got looked after well by the hospital, the treatment my wife received was second to none, but this is not always the case,so its nice to read positives,Wish you well in your recovery,Rod

Hi momo, welcome to the site, i will look forward to hearing more from you Best wishes Rod

Hi Simon thanks for your reply i did speak to gp this morning and she told me that a med 4 will only be issued if requested by dwp,that she would normaly get a letter from them requesting her to issue a med 4, to be honest thats not how i understood it to be but she showed me some paperwork that seems to support what she said, Merrill gets a sick note for 3months at a time so it's not a big deal its just that when i send them in they always seem to lose them,but thanks for the help Best wishes Rod

Hi Yes Merrill too has a card from headway which they sent her and she carries with her all the time if anyone wants one you just ring 0808 800 2244 and they send a couple out even if you don't go to the meetings

Hi have just sent you a pm, as penny says they do set out to trick you and it say on different strokes site that often the form they show you at the appeal bares no relation to what you told them, but they do tell you how to go about the medical anyway a bit of info in the pm good luck Rod

Hi, thanks Karen Louise

hi can anyone help me with a bit of info concerning Med 4 am i right in believing that after you have been sick for 28 weeks you can request a med 4 then there is no need to keep asking for sick notes, as Merrill has now been off work for 11months without the prospect of return in the forseeable future and as dwp seems to lose the sick note when i send it in most times i think i could ask for a med 4 which would make it much easier for me, thanks Rod

Hi Merrill my wife has a shunt and hers was uncomfortable to lay on for the first few weeks as we remember she's had hers 9 months now and it's not caused her too much trouble she did say about a month ago that she had a headache around where the shunt is but thats the only time and now she's pretty much unaware that it's there most of the time it may be that it's different for everyone, so just see whats said by others with a shunt , Good luck Rod

Hi have just been reading some of the answers to this thread and putting what i've read with what Merrills consultant has said Merrill has what he calls high level balance problems, trouble with her speech and gets dizzy when she goes outside and he said this is all due to slow though process and when she used to go out in the car she would always get very tired which at first i did'nt really understand but the car is travelling much faster than you would walk and everything she saw as we went along the brain had to process and he said she was just taking too much in too quick he suggested a blackout be worn when travelling and although this may sound extreme it did make things better for her and usually after a while she would just doze off, don't try this when you're walking though lol!

Hi Noah,as louise just said recovery is different for everyone,and just because 2 people have the same problem, does'nt mean the speed of recovery will be the same, I'm a carer not a survivor,and in june 2009 Merrill my wife could actually walk a lot better then than she can now,recovery is not all steps forward, my own thoughts on this are that because recovery is a slow process you need to look at progress over a period of time say every six months and hopefully you will see it, if you compare this week with last week you may well think you are going backwards,Merrill had problems at six months which she did'nt have at 3 months, (she did have quite a lot done so this may not be applicable to everyone) and i think this is another reason why you should never be in a hurry to do too much,and its been said 4 months is still bery early,best wishes in your recovery Rod

Hi Karen, Merrill has what the rehab clinic call high level balance problems and we've been through the car wash lots of times and merrill say's that it has no effect on her, but i must admit i often feel like i can't decide whether the cars stationary or not i think it's all a bit sureal at times

Hi Norma and welcome to the site,as have been said you are doing really well so early in your recovery,recovery is different for everyone but i think you must be careful not to try and rush it, so don't try to push yourself to do more than your body tells you you can do, Best wishes with your continued recovery

Hi Paula and welcome to the site, look forward to hearing more from you,Best wishes Rod

Hi Geraldine welcome you'll find lots of support here and answers to many question im sure you'll have as you go along, Best wishes Rod

Hi Sarah, You've certainly had your hands full,Glad you managed to get your story on and read it with interest, you sound as though you've coped very well and so welcome to the site and i hope you do have a better 2010 Best wishes Rod P.S Merrill gets flashing lights when she closes her eyes for about 2 mins after she gets into bed each night although i don't think it's as bad now as it was in the begining.

Hi Karen, Merrill was 55yrs old and the arteries affected where arteria communicating artery that was the one that was clipped (i think) and basilar tip that was coiled

Hi John and welcome it's a huge thing thats happened to you and will not only affect you but the whole family, but in time things get better and you will learn to take it all in your stride and it gets easier to deal with, my wife had a shunt fitted which she found uncomfortable to lay on at nights for a while,but as time goes on you you will forget it's even there, so good luck with your recovery and best wishes Rod

Hi Phil great news really hopes she goes from strenghth to strength now and what a pick me up for you a great start to your new year best wishes Rod

Hi Jan and welcome to the site, it is all a bit of a worryat first in more ways than one but it does all sort it self out as you go along and things get easier with time Best wishes Rod

Hi great news you have done really well to get where you are so quick , Best wishes

Hi, thanks for your help again Hope you are all ok and enjoying 2010

Hi all, I've a question on something i was wondering about, Merrill has been on Citalopram for anxiety now for a couple of months now and her anxiety has improved a lot her sleeping has improved too, is that medication something they would leave her on or at some stage should she come off that, also she takes Ramipril for bp, i think that is something she will stay on, am i right about that thanks Rod

Hi Phil, sounds like Sharon is going in the right direction,and as we all know it's little steps, So good luck to you both Rod