Supporting Spencer through Stroke Recovery

Hello, my name is Marlene Bunston.

On the 30th of December 2021 my sister-in-law Spencer Sloane Wyllie suffered a stroke (brain hemorrhage) while playing a game on her phone before bed; her wife (my sister Meighan) asleep beside her. It was her 35th birthday. Thankfully, Meighan was awoken by strange noises that Spencer was making. More thankfully, Meighan immediately knew what was happening based on Spencer's inability to move her entire left side, her drooping left side of her mouth, and her slurred words; she was able to promptly call 911. The paramedics arrived, confirmed that it did appear Spencer was having a stroke, and were able to get her to the hospital before she became unconscious.

Spencer was taken to Niagara Falls where she underwent 3 CT scans over the day of the 31st of December. All of them showing no change. Spencer had fallen into a deep, seemingly endless sleep within a short period of time after arriving in Niagara Falls. The doctors did not understand why she wasn't waking up (with the exception of pain stimulus at which point she would wake but only for 1 or 2 seconds.) Spencer was transferred to Hamilton General at 6pm the 31st evening in case there was need for emergency surgery. In Hamilton the neurosurgeon placed drains into Spencer's brain to drain the cerebral spinal fluid that was pooling in her brain, keeping her asleep. The drains made a tremendous positive impact and Spencer woke up.

There is still very much unknown as to why Spencer, age 35, had a stroke. She remains in Hamilton with the drains still in her head. She did manage to pull her drains out on January 4th/5th and therefore had a new drain put in on the other side of her head. The 5th of January was a difficult day for Meighan as she had been so pleased and hopeful about Spencer's cognitive improvement in the days before. However, the night Spencer removed her drain did cause some setbacks in her cognitive abilities. Her double vision and hallucinations had returned.

Doctors do not yet know how long she will remain in Hamilton (definitely as long her drains are required), and we don't know how long she will remain in Hospital even after that. She has yet to begin any physiotherapy as she is still too wobbly to even stand. She did manage one time to get out of bed with assistance and pivot into a wheelchair to be taken to the washroom. However, that happened in the day prior to her pulling her drain out and so far not again since.

This is a very stressful time for Meighan and for Spencer. Spencer does realise now that she "hurt her head" (for the first 4 days she kept thinking she was in the hospital because she has Covid). When Meighan tells Spencer that she had a stroke Spencer responds with "Oh... that sounds bad."

Whilst Spencer is showing signs of feistiness and a sense of humour returning, the fact is that when she's "with it" enough - her main concern is her job. She is understandably worried about finances, as well as employment to return to. This absolutely should not be her focus right now; quite simply her energy needs to be focused on getting well.

Meighan is also missing work so that she can be at her wife's side as well as accessible to doctor's for any life decisions she has to make. Meighan has driven to Hamilton twice a day, every day since Spencer has been there on the 1st. With Covid restrictions, Spencer may only have 1 visitor at a time, so her Mom goes between Meighan's two visits and Meighan returns home to St. Catharines to look after their dog and three cats, as well as make important admin phone calls.

As their sister the only thing I can do is ask for support from the people who love them and anyone who is in a position to help. We are sensitive to the fact that these are hard times for everyone. It is very difficult to ask for this kind of support, but we humbly do so.

We just want Spencer to get well and for Meighan and Spencer both to be able to relax at least on the financial side of things.

If you read the whole way through, thank you from the very bottom of my heart for your time.

Thank you to everyone for the continuous messages, thoughts, and prayers. If you're the praying kind, please add Spencer and Meighan to your list.

With my deepest gratitude,

Marlene Bunston