In March 2015 at the age of 38, Kavita Basi suffered a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage, a life-threatening type of stroke caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain. Here Kavita shares her story to continue to raise awareness of stroke.
I was taken into the accident and emergency
wing of the hospital on 17 March, 2015, with a life-threatening subarachnoid
haemorrhage. I was only thirty-eight years old and had always been a healthy
person. I was successful, career-oriented, and travelled the world while
working too many hours with no time to relax and think. Then, one night, I
suddenly became extremely ill, and my whole world fell apart. I was in the
hospital for nearly two months, and after four intense brain surgeries, I had
difficulty understanding what was happening to me and why.
What expectations did you have for your treatment,
rehabilitation and recovery?
I didn’t understand what had happened to me therefore I was
not in the right frame of mind to be able to have any expectations , also
considering that this had never happened to me before it was all a new
experience. However I was given very basic detail on how my recovery would
progress and didn’t find this helpful.
What was your experience of treatment and/or rehabilitation?
My journey to recovery has been challenging, my perspective
has drastically changed, as I now see the important things in life I had to
relearn how to do the simplest tasks, like climbing stairs, re-tuning noises due
to losing some sense of hearing, severe constant headaches as a result of
watching any TV, leaning how to use my mobile devices without having motion
sickness. My personality changed, and I was left with short term memory loss,
intense mood swings, an emotional state of mind, being very direct when
talking, having the black and white thinking and losing that middle ground of
understanding. This new life also had a major effect on my relationships,
family, and view of work.
What has helped you in your recovery?
- Starting my own blog and youtube channel
- Writing a diary to get my emotions out and help with memory loss
- Tools on mobile device like notes and sharing calendars have helped with memory loss
- Therapy at the priory – with confidence and understanding
- Neuropsychology – which I still attend helped with other tools to adapt to give me a more normal life
- Neuropsychology for my family – this has helped my relationships as they now understand
- Talking to others – by joining health unlocked forum
- Walking – daily to help my high anxiety and keep my focus and fitness
- Diet – eating healthier to keep my fitness
- Not going to loud places – it hurts my head and ears when I’m tired.
What have been/are your fears?
That
it will happen again
How did your family and friends feel and respond?
Its
been very difficult for my family to understand this just as much as me and
maybe even more difficult for them as they have not experienced the daily
challenges. By making some of them go to talks from charities or neuropsychology
with me has really helped them to understand better.
How and why have you got involved in stroke awareness and
advocacy?
I
have got involved since I came out of hospital because I felt so alone in my
early days of recovery and didn’t want anyone else to feel the same which is
why I started to get so involved in helping others. So I started my blog,
website www.kavitabasi.com and then I
wrote my book Room 23 Surviving a Brain Haemorrhage.
