Melanie Barila

Some of you may not know that I'm a stroke surviver. I’m taking on the challenge of Stride4Stroke and raising funds for Stroke Foundation!

Hi Friends, 

Six months ago, life threw me a curve ball and I unexpectedly suffered a severe stroke. 

The day it happened started off like any other day, I was cleaning my bathroom and felt a wave of dizziness come over me, similar to when you stand up too quickly, I waited for it to pass but it got progressively worse.  Lucky for me Frank was working from home and was able to call an ambulance for me.  

The ambulance people assessed me and because of my age and the way I was presenting they put it down to chemical inhalation and told me to rest up and it should pass.  The next day I woke up and couldn't walk properly so we headed to the hospital to get checked out.  After a CT and blood works they thought it was sinusitis which was putting pressure on my ears and causing me to have extreme vertigo.  When I arrived home my eye started drooping and I had numbness in my foot and leg.  I called the hospital and they sent another ambulance out to assess me.  They thought it was consistent with the diagnosis the hospital gave me earlier that day but told me to call back if it got worse.

Over the next six days my symptoms slowly got worse to the point where my face was drooping and I had weakness on my left side of the body and numbness on the right side.  I couldn't walk, swallow or see properly. 

I went back to the hospital and finally had an MRI which showed that I had suffered a Lateral Medullary Stroke.

After a stay in hospital and many months of intensive rehabilitation I’ve learned how to walk again on my own without an aid, I'm able to drive again and I’m slowly making my way back to living my normal life and doing all the things I used to do.

To look at me now, I've been told that I don't look like I've had a stroke but for me it's the unseen deficits that I deal with daily such as chronic fatigue, migraines, muscle weakness, numbness, dizziness and sensory overload.  

My Neurologist has told me that I'm the luckiest unlucky person.  I don't fit the usual profile of someone that is at risk of having a stroke, I'm relatively young, I'm fit and healthy, I don't smoke, or do drugs, I only drink socially and my blood pressure and cholesterol are in the normal ranges. I'm fortunate that I have no permanent lasting effects of the stroke and all of the tests I have undergone have indicated that I have no underlying health issues which could have caused the stroke.  I've been told that up to 40% of young strokes survivors never find answers as to why it occurs.  

It’s been a very challenging time for me and my family but something that was invaluable to my recovery was all the amazing resources available for the recovery of stroke survivors. 

I'm taking on the challenge of Stride4Stroke and raising funds for Stroke Foundation to help prevent stroke, save lives and enhance recovery.

Stroke is one of Australia's biggest killers and doesn't discriminate; it affects anyone, anytime, even unborn babies. It claims more lives than breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. And incredibly, around 600 Australian children experience stroke each year.

By supporting me, you'll be helping to sustain vital programs and resources that Stroke Foundation provides, including:

Preventing Stroke:

• StrokeSafe Talks
• Australia's Biggest Blood Pressure Check
• Information Resources

Saving Lives:

• F.A.S.T. (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) Signs of Stroke Awareness
• Living Guidelines for Stroke Management
• InformMe Website for Health Professionals

Enhancing Recovery:

• StrokeLine
• My Stroke Journey
• EnableMe Website for Survivors of Stroke

Your support goes beyond just a donation; it's a lifeline for individuals at risk of stroke and survivors of stroke.

Thank you for supporting me. Together we can change the state of stroke in Australia for generations to come.