Authors OnLine -

Mike Elliott, the author of 'Emotions' recently suffered a major stroke and is currently recovering in hospital. He asked his wife, Barbara to keep us updated with his progress and she has sent us the following article and photo. Our submissions Editor, Wendy Lake has written to him wishing him well from all of us. Some books are a piece of cake to produce and others, for no apparent reason, are an absolute nightmare. Mike's fell into the latter category and despite all the problems we eventually succeeded. Mike and ourselves managed to maintain a deep sense of humour throughout! Please click on the book image to read Mike's excellent book:-

"Mike has asked me to keep you all updated. He is now doing a stroke diary for the Fosse Way magazine and this is one of the submissions. He likes to put in all the details, and as you can see, he hasn't been having much fun. It may be a while before he gets home, but he is still adamant to get to some cricket matches. I'm just worried he will discharge himself!" - Barbara

Strokes are scary. In fact, strokes are double scary. I have discovered that more than 100,000 people in England and Wales have a stroke every year. Yes, that's 100,0000!!! That's pretty scary. Of these more than 90 percent are aged over 55 years. Imagine. Wembley Stadium on Cup Final Day crammed to capacity and within a 365-day cycle everyone in that stadium will have had a stroke. That's double scary. I heard that apparently a quarter of those victims die within the first 3 weeks. That's triple scary. At any one time there are around 50 stroke patients spread between Draycott and Quantock wards here in Weston. This seems rather a large number for such a relatively small place such as Weston-super-Mare
I assume I'm making progress as I have had two moves in 48 hours last week. Firstly, I was moved from Draycott acute ward to Quantock Rehabilitation Unit. Then I was offered a side ward, with just me in it. They did not need to ask twice. Sleep is not something you get a lot of in hospital, but there is a chance in a single room. At least you can shut the door! One of my first reactions to the stroke was to get a chest infection. This is not uncommon as the swallowing reflex is often affected by strokes. I was bombarded with antibiotics and fortunately have now recovered. All my food has to be 'soft' and drinks 'thickened' to aid my swallowing, though I am hoping for a more normal diet in the next week and I'm looking forward to some chips!
Another frequent side effect is the loss of control of basic bodily functions. This has been very embarrassing as I did have a bad case of diarrhoea due to the antibiotics, which at last appears to be clearing. It is being treated with more antibiotics!
Following my stroke, I am paralyzed down my left side, with no feeling in my left hand or left foot. Imagine the dreadful prospect of never being able to pick your nose again! As I am naturally left handed and left footed this causes logistical problems with feeding myself with my right hand. Under the guidance of the Occupational terrorists (physiotherapists) I have made some progress in the last few days. On Thursday and Friday I managed to stand up straight to the surprise and delight of the 'terrorists'. I am also able to bend my left knee slightly. It is a great achievement, but I feel so pathetic at being able to do so little for myself. I am still being hoisted in and out of bed.
Over the coming week I hope to be taking my first steps and transferring myself from bed to chair, albeit with help. I know the physiotherapists are hiding all the Zimmer frames from me in case I do myself some harm. I am determined to get out of here to watch Gloucestershire cricket club win their next match!