A young mother-of-three has gone through three strokes in her lifetime. All within the span of only a few years.
She thought it was just migraine
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Julie Foster first realised that she suffered a stroke back in 2013, when she was expecting Oliver, her third child. Then, when she became pregnant for the fourth time in 2015, she suffered another stroke. During her treatment, doctors then also found signs of an older stroke that happened when she was pregnant with her second child, Grace.
She shares that back then, she just thought it was a simple migraine, but a recent CT scan for her third stroke revealed some damage to her brain that’s most probably caused by a previous stroke.
Julie shares, “I had my first stroke in March 2013. I woke up one morning and was watching TV with the kids when I looked down and saw I had kicked my leg but couldn’t feel it.”
“I knew something wasn’t right, so I phoned an ambulance and was taken to Sunderland Royal.”
“When it first happened we thought it might be a trapped nerve, but then the scan came back showing that I had had a stroke.”
“It also showed signs of an older stroke, and we think that might have been when I was pregnant with Grace and went temporarily blind in one eye. We put it down to a migraine at the time, but now we think it may have been a sign of a stroke.”
She had to terminate the pregnancy
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Sadly, because of the risk, Julie and her husband, Steven, had to make the very difficult decision of terminating the pregnancy since the risk of going through with the pregnancy was too great, especially since Julie had already suffered three strokes. She was 5 months pregnant at the time.
Julie’s third stroke had left her unable to use her right arm, and her hearing, as well as her memory, have both been affected. It has also affected her speech and movement, and she now requires care from her husband Steven.
Thankfully, Julie is recovering from the ordeal, and hopefully, she will be able to live a normal life once more.
Risks during pregnancy
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While modern medicine has made great strides when it comes to keeping pregnant mothers safe, there are still some risks involved during pregnancy. And while a lot of pregnancies aren’t complicated, it’s still better to know more about them than being left in the dark.
- Miscarriage. About 10-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and 80% of miscarriages usually happen within the first 12 weeks. The first sign of a miscarriage is usually bleeding or spotting, so if you encounter these signs, it’s best to contact your doctor.
- Premature birth. About 12% of babies are born prematurely. Premature birth happens when a mother starts to have contractions before 37 weeks of pregnancy. In these cases, the baby is delivered prematurely, and a lot of care has to be taken in order for the baby to survive as being born prematurely can have a lot of risks for babies.
- Preeclampsia. Preeclampsia happens to about 5% of pregnant women. Preeclampsia is a serious condition that can cause high blood pressure, kidney damage, and a host of other problems. It usually occurs during the last trimester.
- Gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes wherein a pregnant mother’s blood sugar level drops. If you have gestational diabetes, you should work closely with your doctor in order to manage your diabetes better.
- Stroke. While relatively uncommon, being pregnant can cause a stroke. Stroke during pregnancy usually happens to younger mothers, and there is a risk of about 8 cases in 100,000 pregnancies.
Source: dailymail.co.uk, medscape.com
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