Eleven months after a debilitating stroke changed her life, Susan Kynaston is still working hard to “retrain her brain”.
Susan suffered a number of small brain bleeds in December last year and was flown to Townsville Hospital where she was operated on and spent four days in ICU. She spent four months in hospital in total including Christmas, her 71st birthday and her wedding anniversary.
The stroke left her bed-ridden and unable to eat or drink – she spent months having to be fed via a tube both in hospital and at home.
Recovering from a stroke was a long and frustrating experience with many difficulties along the way. But Susan was dedicated and willing to work towards improvement. She set herself small goals including getting to church on Easter Sunday.
“I always led a very active life so sitting in a wheelchair for the rest of it just wasn’t an option for me,” she said.
“I’ll never be the same and I have to embrace that and be realistic moving forward.
“Life has changed and we have to adapt – but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Susan left hospital on April 8. Beside her every step of the way on her health journey, both in and out of hospital, has been her devoted husband Allen.
Susan’s ongoing rehabilitation program started when she in hospital and included different therapies designed to help her relearn both physical and cognitive skills. This included learning to walk again. Her rehab was centred around repetitive actions and tasks and creating new communication pathways in her brain.
Susan describes Mackay Base Hospital’s Community Health and Therapy Services (CHATS), a multidisciplinary team of allied health and nursing professions, as “warm, compassionate and caring” and the reason she has regained so much dignity and independence.
Physiotherapists helped improve the movement and functioning of her body; occupational therapists worked to re-wire her brain and improve daily function as well as make some home safety modifications; speech pathologists enabled her to finally transition from being tube bed to re-introducing texture in food and drinks and assisted with swallowing exercises; the dietetics team provided nutrition supplements and advice on nutrient absorption.
CHATS senior occupational therapist Jemma Ryan said Susan had consistently demonstrated her motivation, positivity and determination throughout the highs and lows of her stroke rehab journey in the last six months.
“Susan started in the Transition Care Program (TCP) with CHATS upon discharge from hospital and has achieved many goals such as independently applying her own make-up,” she said.
“One of Susan’s big occupational therapy goals was to return to playing the piano – this has had great meaning and purpose throughout her life.
“With hard work and persistence, she is now able to play the piano and is close to playing an entire favourite song of hers.”
CHATS physiotherapist Darcy Bogaart said Susan’s major goals in hospital were around building strength and they worked on sitting, standing, stepping and walking for two to three hours a day. After she returned home, the goal was to get back to the hobbies she enjoyed including church, shopping, singing and seeing shows at the MECC.
“Since day one she has held this incredibly positive and optimistic mindset despite all she has faced and her strong work ethic has been a major part of her recovery,” she said.
“She has never shied away from having big scary goals to work towards including her dream of returning to volunteering at the hospital in the paediatric ward.”
Susan still attends both one-on-one and group therapy sessions every week, including a falls and balance class.
“The staff are all so wonderful and I’ve had the absolute best care, both in the hospital and here at CHATS – they even picked me up and brought me to my appointments for the first 12 weeks after I went home,” she said.
“It’s been very hard work, sometimes we are visiting up to four times a week for appointments, but just look at what we’ve been able to accomplish.
“I never thought I’d be back up on a treadmill and walking, so for me that’s a real milestone.
“It’s been a long and trying journey but I have a lot of peace as I never would have thought I’d have the gumption to get to where I am now after my stroke. It’s miraculous.
“I’m proud of myself and it shows anything is possible when you have the right support. My life really is blessed.”
