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.   

Continued from the first column.....

​    I had my follow up appointment 6 months later…….We discussed what had been happening, my health and if there had been any recurrence. He could come up with no answers as to my condition, but he did say the rules on driving had changed. He checked the government site and confirmed that because I was lucid during my event, I was safe to drive – the only warning he gave me is that if I drive during an event I met ‘wake up’ and not know where I am or why I got there. He gave me my driving license back. 

 

     Life after this event was difficult at first, I lived in fear of it happening again but apart from that didn’t feel I had suffered any side effects – apart from completely losing memory of the hours of the event, they are in the ether never to be retrieved.  I did eventually relax and start to live my life normally again. It is my belief that this first event was brought on by Stress.

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     My second event in 2012 was brief…….Lasting only an hour or so following exercise. Luckily I was with my daughter who realized immediately what was happening – I drove her home, and then drove myself home – by the time I got home (to a worried husband because she had rung and primed him) I was fine, back to myself. I spoke to other participants in the exercise class afterwards and they had noticed nothing unusual in my behavior. It is my belief this event was brought on by exercise.

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     My third event came earlier this year (6 hrs - 2017).  Working out in the gym around 9 a.m. with my daughter she realized something was amiss. Apparently I was ‘hitting with weights’ with far more gusto than normal – by the time she stopped me and sat me in a quiet corner the questioning had begun. She is First Aid Trained and checked me for signs of a stroke etc., and then rang my husband who told her to take me home, he would meet us there and take over. We were in my car so I drove us back to her house – she said I managed fine, a slight confusion leaving the car park but then drove back to her house with no problem, I knew exactly where I was going. She then took me back home in her car. I emerged from the event around 3 pm stating I was ‘hungry’ – "Oh good," he said, "you are back." We then had a conversation about what had happened and had a laugh at some of the things he had apparently been saying to me because he knew I wouldn’t remember them. I was fine.

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     I believe this last event was brought on by exercise. I am a Personal Trainer but this hasn’t stopped me, I just take extra care, especially when training on my own. If feel my head ‘feeling funny’ I stop and rest, and so far so good. But, since my last event I have had significant memory loss, I struggle to remember everyday things, things I know I knew in the past – where once I might struggle to retrieve things now there are just blanks – and that is unnerving.

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     I have now accepted that it is entirely possible I will have another event at some point in time – but we have decided that there would be no more hospital visits, that as long as I am not displaying signs of anything else the family were instructed to bring me home to ‘sit it out’ if it happens again. I have a tracker on my phone for when I am traveling on my own (just in case I go missing).  

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     I live a normal life and try not to worry about it, with a few extra precautions – it could be far worse, at least it’s not life threatening.