Predictably great: We helped Graham learn to communicate again by text after stroke 26 April 2024 Graham Millar, 52, lives in Perth. A father of two grown-up sons, he had a stroke in August 2022. Further investigation revealed that Graham needed an urgent heart operation to fit a pacemaker. He has since returned to his job with Aviva Insurance on a part-time basis and was supported in his recovery by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland. Few people would point to stroke as lifesaving, but Graham Millar certainly believes he would not be here unless he’d had a stroke. Follow-up monitoring after he’d been discharged from hospital revealed a serious issue with his heart, and he was immediately called back to hospital for a vital operation to fit a pacemaker. I wouldn’t have had any contact with anyone at all if it hadn’t been for CHSS. So the emotional aspect of that support was really important Graham said: “If I had never had the stroke, I would have carried on as normal and probably just dropped dead. I know not many people would say thanks for having a stroke, but it saved my life.” The 52-year-old is now on the road to recovery and had the help of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland through its online peer support group and a one-to-one volunteer who helped him with his language skills. Graham, who lives in Perth and has two grown-up sons, noticed something was off in mid-August last year when he had trouble with his speech. A few days later, he realised he wasn’t making any sense when he talked. His son called the GP who suggested Graham go to A&E at Perth Royal Infirmary. He said: “My legs were working fine, so I walked to hospital where they saw me really quickly and then transferred me to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. They ran a lot of tests and told me I’d had multiple strokes. That explained why my speech had gone funny a few days before. “I was released after a couple of days with a monitor attached to me. I dropped it back to Ninewells on the Monday morning, then that night I got a call telling me I needed to get back to hospital urgently. The monitor had shown up a heart defect I never realised I had. “I was in hospital for about a month waiting for the op to happen – it was the safest place for me to be, and I was grateful to be on the ward.” Unfortunately for Graham, there was little follow-up on the stroke because he’d had to go back into hospital. But things began to look up when Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland got in touch. Finding Support The stroke had affected his speech and language, and he was struggling even to use his phone. Through CHSS, Graham also managed to get six occupational therapy sessions with the NHS. But Graham credits the one-to-one sessions with CHSS volunteer Sam and the regular online meetings of the CHSS affiliated Perthshire Stroke Group for pushing him on in his recovery. He said: “My work has been great and kept in touch with me. But when I left hospital, I wouldn’t have had any contact with anyone at all if it hadn’t been for CHSS. So the emotional aspect of that support was really important. “The biggest thing for me was regaining the ability to do my job. I’m too young to retire, I have to keep working. I felt fine in myself, but I hadn’t realised just how affected I’d been by the stroke, and that only became apparent when I tried to write. I couldn’t even form the words. “I had to Google the alphabet as I couldn’t remember what came after o – I ended up singing it to myself like a wee kid would do. “Sam, the CHSS volunteer, was great. She really helped me with my communication skills. The job I do is mainly using a keyboard, but I couldn’t recognise letters at first. Predictive text was a godsend. “I went back to work for two hours a day, twice a week about a month ago. And from this week I’m now up to four hours a day, three times a week. Along with the communication issues, the biggest fallout from the stroke has been fatigue and tiredness. I’m trying to regain my stamina by walking home from work, but I do struggle with tiredness after a few hours in the office.” If you’re living with the effects of a chest, heart or stroke condition or Long Covid and looking for advice and information, please contact Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0899. You can also text NURSE to 66777 or email adviceline@chss.org.uk.