Tessa’s road to recovery

(No media attention at present time or permission to use photos and associated story without permission). Just 3 days after her 37th birthday, my wonderful wife Tessa, who is mother to our two young children, suffered a large left sided stroke. The stroke had been caused by a rare tumour within her heart which presented no symptoms (Silent Atrial Myxoma).

I had come home in the evening from work to find her on the bedroom floor, still wearing her bed clothes, which indicated  the stroke happened some 8-9 hours prior to me finding her.

Due to her not receiving medical attention within the crucial four hour window she has been left with severe cognitive difficulty, disturbance to her vision, paralysis of her right limbs and Aphasia which is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. 

Tessa has also had life saving open heart surgery to remove the tumor and part of her skull removed (craniectomy) due to her brain swelling caused by the trauma.

Thankfully due to the wonderful doctors and nurses of the NHS, Tessa survived and has now bravely started on her long road to  recovery, albeit dependant on what her brain will allow to be the new normal. 

However, once Tessa leaves the care of the nhs she will need ongoing rehabilitation at home and as an outpatient at private clinics.  Due to the severity of her stroke she requires all disciplines,  making it beyond the means of our family unit.  An example of cost for a private clinic/treatment per week ranges between £7,000 - £11,000.

Tessa is making progress but will require many adaptations to our home, specialist physio, therapy and aids as she currently cannot walk or use her right arm.

Your donations will give Tessa the best chances of recovery and future quality of life by helping fund some of the services and aids she will require.

From the bottom of  our hearts thank you for reading and your donation, no matter how big or small.