On the occasion of World Stroke Day, teacher and designer Margot, who suffered a stroke at only 33 years old, tells us her moving story.
- A stroke is the consequence of impaired blood circulation to the brain.
- In France, there are nearly 140,000 new cases of stroke each year, or one every 4 minutes.
- On Saturday November 17, 2018, Margot had a stroke at only 33 years old: she tells her story.
On Saturday November 17, 2018, Margot suffered a stroke at only 33 years old. “I woke up very tired that morning. I also had a general feeling of malaise with dizziness and a slight headache. The pitch of my voice had also become very low and I was completely incoherent: impossible by example of remembering my age or my address, and I was obsessed with the idea of taking a shower”, remembers Margot.
“The emergency services and SOS doctors did not recognize my stroke”
“At first, I put it all down to hypoglycemia because I didn’t have time to eat the day before. But even after I had breakfast, my condition continued to get worse. My father then put me in touch with the Samu, who did not identify a stroke. The same goes for SOS doctors, who first thought that I was suffering from a migraine with aura before finally referring me to the “hospital. Between the start of my symptoms and my treatment, 4 hours passed, which is far too long for a life-threatening emergency.” deplores the young woman.
Once the stroke has been taken care of, Margot’s physical and neurological after-effects are serious. Thanks to 5 months spent in an intensive rehabilitation center, this plastic arts teacher managed to walk again, rewrite and read. “Today, I still suffer from aphasia, neuropathic pain, fatigue, bouts of muteness and outbursts of anger,” she explains. “I have also developed a sort of superpower: my sense of smell and my hearing have increased enormously, I hear and feel many more things than before,” reports the young mother, whose ability to draw, however, has remained intact.
“My stroke turned my life upside down and that of those close to me”
“At the beginning, I felt out of step with the patients at the rehabilitation center, because they were all very old. But by spending time with each other, we got closer, and in the end, I somehow gained 30 grand parents”, positive our patient. “My stroke also fried the “depression” box in my brain, a mental pathology from which I had suffered for a long time before the accident,” she rejoices.
After 21 months of multiple and heavy administrative procedures, Margot has now returned to professional activity as a professor/corrector at the CNED. “My stroke has of course turned my life upside down, but also that of those close to me. My husband, for example, certainly did not expect to become a caregiver at such a young age, and it was also very hard for my twin sister to cope with. Fortunately, My son was only 14 months old at the time of my hospitalization, so he didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation.” she testifies.
It is precisely for her son that Margot decided to tell his story in drawings, regularly broadcast on the Instagram account “My little stroke” and grouped in a comic strip of the same name.
Watch the interview in pictures:
What is a cerebrovascular accident (CVA)?
A stroke is the consequence of impaired blood circulation to the brain. It occurs either when a blood vessel becomes blocked or a tear in a blood vessel causes bleeding in the brain.
In France, there are nearly 140,000 new cases of stroke each year, or one every four minutes. It is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, the leading cause of acquired disability in adults and the second leading cause of dementia among seniors.
Preventing the occurrence of a stroke in a person without a history is mainly based on the detection and treatment of eight risk factors. The first of these is high blood pressure: each 10 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure reduces the risk of stroke by 20%. Furthermore, in people suffering from cardiac arrhythmia with risk factors, oral anticoagulants reduce the risk of stroke by arterial occlusion by more than 60% (this can be detected by taking their pulse and measuring their heartbeat, Editor’s note ). These are followed by excess cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, tobacco consumption, alcohol intake, poor diet and lack of physical activity.