My first TGA was in 2011 at age 56, lasting around 6-8 hours. I remember a time of stress – running my own shop, and looking after my husband’s business paperwork, working around 70 – 80 hours per week.

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     The day of my TGA was dogged with stress, trying to update accounts, build a new web presence for hubby’s business and the constant ringing of the phone, I do remember being stressed to the max…….. and then I woke up in ‘somewhere’ which I surmised to be hospital in the middle of the night. My story, as told to me by my husband and daughter who witness first hand is as follows.....

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     Nick came home from work at around 4pm as usual to find me working at the computer. Seemingly I complained to him of chest pain and took it on myself to ring the NHS help line, who after asking many questions sent an ambulance to take me in to be checked over. The first sign Nick had that something was really wrong was when the ambulance crew brought my shoes, and I was unable to tie my shoe laces…..

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     We reached the hospital and were put into a side room. Then the questions began. Every 30 seconds ‘where am I?’, ‘am I in hospital’, ‘why am I here’ – and this continued, hour after hour while we waited to be seen. At first Nick was concerned, then he found it mildly amusing as he ‘apparently’ realized he could say anything he wanted to me as I would forget it 30 seconds later. After 4 hours he rang my daughter in despair, please could she come and take over, he had to go home to see to the dogs and more-over he was exhausted. 

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     She came straight away. When they took me for an X-ray she asked if she could go in with me, of course they said no, but she was worried because she know that within seconds I wouldn’t know where I was and wouldn’t have a familiar face by my side. She stayed with me until around 10pm when they had finally settled me into bed.

 

     I awoke, in the middle of the night. Looking up to the ceiling it was obvious I wasn’t at home, looking around I realized I was in hospital, but why. I had no pain, but I lifted my hospital gown to find I was covered in metal ‘dots’- the ones they use for ECG – had I had a heart attack?  At some point a Doctor arrived at my bedside and asked if I knew where I was ‘err hospital, isn’t that obvious’, yes but which hospital? I had no clue, absolutely clean slate, no memory since sitting at the computer earlier in the day. I was confused and dazed to say the least. I nodded fitfully for the rest of the night, no one was telling me anything. I hadn’t a clue what was going on.

 

     At afternoon visiting Nick turned up with Mum. The look of worry on his face said it all, and the relief when I spoke to him normally was heart-breaking – he had been up all night worrying that I was having some sort of breakdown and would be stuck in this 30 second loop forever.

 

     I was released from hospital quite quickly, with no answers just the promise of a follow up. My follow up came in the form of an appointment with a Neurologist – who immediately took my United Kingdom driving license away. Living in a small village, with no bus service meant this was a major blow to me, it was a major inconvenience to every part of my life, business and otherwise. He discussed the possibility of a Mini Stroke and or Epilepsy but he didn’t think it was either of those. I was put on the list for an MRI, but this showed nothing, he thought about an EEG but decided the symptoms I displayed weren’t conducive of Epilepsy in his opinion.