It seemed like an ordinary evening, but while paying the bill, her right hand began to feel limp and she couldn’t hold on to things.
“In my head, I wanted to ask my friend to help me, but I couldn’t utter a single word,” said Wong, 43.
Sensing something amiss, her friend urged her to drink some water. However, when she saw that Wong was unable to swallow, she suspected her friend was suffering a stroke. She immediately called for an ambulance.
At the hospital, the doctors confirmed it was indeed a stroke. Wong was only 41 at the time and had no family history of others suffering a stroke in their 40s.
Recalling that evening, she said: “I didn’t know it was a stroke at the time, but I knew it may be something related to my heart.”
That’s because in 2015, she had a heart attack and underwent an angioplasty, a procedure to open narrow or blocked vessels that supply blood to the heart.
Among the factors that caused the heart attack were high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. This time, she revealed, a blood clot in her heart caused the stroke.
At the hospital, Wong was not able to speak. “My speech motor was impacted. It was a stressful period of time because in my head I knew what I wanted to say but my mouth couldn’t perform. I was trying to tell the nurse things, but I couldn’t.”
It left her frustrated. “It’s like you are stripped of something that is so important to you on a daily basis,” said the former Penangite, who has been living in Singapore for the past 13 years.
She was also unable to write as she could not move her thumb and index fingers. To make matters worse, she contracted Covid-19 from another patient in her ward.
But she was thankful she could still type on her phone, which allowed her to communicate with her friends and her mother in the UK. “I could recognise and understand things. My limbs were not affected. I could still walk,” she added.
Her recovery was rather quick. “During my stay at the hospital, I started to relearn how to pronounce words. Like a school kid learning how to say ‘la’, ‘ma’, ‘pa’. The first word I said was ‘mum’.”
Wong was in the hospital for 18 days and attended speech and occupational therapy after she was discharged. She returned to her job in the advertising industry about three months later.
Today, the aftereffects of the stroke are still present. “Talking is an everyday thing for normal people. But now, when I talk too much or when I am tired, my speech gets affected,” she said, adding that she still can’t write smoothly.
Another aftereffect leaves her particularly emotional: “I love to sing. Before my stroke, I was quite a good singer. It is my passion. I can still sing now, but only very slow songs because of my pronunciation.”
According to Wong, there is a possibility of another stroke occurring as the blood clot still exists, but she is on medication.
Nevertheless, she remains grateful to be alive today, and admits that the experience has changed her perspective on life.
“You only live once. That’s my motto. Because I have had two near-death experiences, I have started seeing life more openly,” she said.
“I’m trying to live to the fullest, enjoy, pamper myself and travel. Because to me, life is short.”
To mark World Stroke Day today, she has these words of advice: “Age is not a factor. Don’t think that only an old person will get a stroke. Start taking care of your health.
“For people who’ve had a stroke, never give up. Stay positive and don’t lose hope. With determination and a positive mind, you can recover.”