Speaking about how she had to start again following the illness, she said: “I had cerebral lupus… I lost the ability to speak, read, write, move, and coordinate. I’m diagnosed with lupus but the lupus was on my brain, which means I had cerebral lupus, I then had a stroke. I lost three days of my life where I don’t remember anything at all.”
She even had to learn how to use a cup to drink again: “Just little things we so take for granted… if you neglect [your brain] it’s going to let you down.”
On waking up after the stroke, she confessed: “It was an odd time… when I came around I was in the hospital and I just remember someone fiddling with my head because they wanted to give me a brain scan. That’s the first memory I have. I remember my cousin Fiona and my mum and people being in the room and talking. I just remember talking and opening my eyes and realizing I was in the hospital. They said I was awake for those three days but I don’t remember any of it.”
She added: “The most difficult part was short-term memory loss. So I would go out and leave my front door open or I would go shopping and leave my car door open. Those kinds of things, so really high risk.”