Stroke survivor Warren Janett is setting up a support group for people in Ashburton who have had a stroke.
It will be an informal group to get together over coffee and conversation, with the occasional guest speaker.
‘‘I set one up after my stroke in 2001 … we started off with two or three people at home and it just grew from there,’’ he said.
‘‘We had around 12 in the end, coming along on a regular basis.’’
There was a mixture of men and women sharing their stroke experiences.
‘‘Men, especially men who have been independent, can find the (stroke) experience quite it very difficult to come to terms with,’’ he said.
‘‘The reality is you have to come to terms with it, one way or another because it’s not going to change.’’
‘‘It was beneficial for me too… when you talk to someone else who’s had one it’s like a bond really,’’ he said.
After his first stroke Warren was completely paralysed on his right side and could not speak for a couple of days.
It was described as a ‘‘hefty stroke’’ following bypass surgery.
‘‘They all affect people differently. It took me a long time to recover but I worked on it,’’ he said.
Since then Warren has had a further two strokes; one in 2003 and the last in 2021.
There has also been a Transient ischemic attack (TIA); a brief blockage of blood flow to the brain.
TIAs often results in temporary disability. Warren couldn’t move his leg.
‘‘(They) are like a bit of a warning’’.
‘‘It blocks temporarily then it goes again and you get everything back within a few hours.
‘‘They can tell you something is not right. It can affect you for ages because it affects your brainwaves,’’ he said.
Following a stroke people could recover but may experience after-effects such as tiredness, fatigue, memory loss or limitations with speech and walking.
‘‘Having a group allowed people with similar problems to talk about them,’’ Warren said.
– Anyone interested in the attending the stroke group can contact Warren by phone on 022 1727416. Partners were also welcome, he said.
