24 Jul The Golden Window
This story was first published in Pink Magazine of July 2012. Click here for the feature how it appeared.
Part of Elizabeth Hair’s skull may still be sitting in a fridge, waiting to be reinserted. But after suffering a stroke that left her paralysed, the young woman is already walking unaided, following intense rehabilitation that taught her how to put one foot in front of the other again. Alison Bezzina traces her steps to recovery after the tremors that shook up her happy-go-lucky life.
Late last year Elizabeth Hair (41) considered herself a healthy woman with a bright future ahead of her. She held a steady job with a law firm, enjoyed life, and was looking forward to a brand new year, but then, when the festive season brought with it an unwanted Christmas gift, all this threatened to change.
Last December, Elizabeth was celebrating Christmas with family and friends, when she suddenly felt a tremor in her left hand. “I didn’t think much about it at the time,” she explains, “and because it didn’t last long, it didn’t bother me much; but over the next few days the tremor kept coming and going intermittently so I went to my GP to get it checked, however at this point I was told that there was nothing to worry about.
Over the next few weeks, I started to feel weaker and weaker, I lost a lot of weight, and my balance was off. In general terms I felt as though I was coming down with a bad case of the flu, but no one could figure out what was wrong with me so, eventually, I went to a Neurologist. By now four months had passed since I had experienced the first symptom and with just one look at me Dr. Josianne Aquilina knew that something was seriously wrong and immediately sent me for more investigations at Mater Dei. After a myriad of blood tests, an MRI revealed that I was suffering from a slow growing brain tumour medically known as a Meningioma. Typically, this type of tumour attaches itself to the spine, but in my case it had formed towards the upper part of my head. It is very likely to have been there for quite a long time but had only now become critical.
Obviously the news shocked me and my family out of our skins. I for one was terrified and because I had never experienced any symptoms before that first tremor I was incredulous. It never even crossed my mind that it could be something so serious. For a few days I felt as though it was the end for me. I wondered if I’d ever see another birthday or another Christmas. I was, to say the least, devastated. If it wasn’t for the encouragement I got from my family and the health workers at Mater Dei, I don’t know how I would have coped.”
Though slow-growing, the tumour had to be removed from Elizabeth’s brain as soon as possible because it had now come to a point where it was impinging on vital parts of her brain affecting her physical and mental state. “Despite my aggravating fear, within days of my diagnosis, I was scheduled for urgent brain surgery. The surgeons were worried because there was significant risk that I would suffer a stroke on the operating table but, as risky as it was, there was no other option but to perform the surgery in order to avoid further consequences.
Shockingly, when I woke up from the operation I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t swallow, and I had no sensation whatsoever in the left side of my body. I was confused, and disoriented. My head was wrapped up and a piece of my skull was missing. I soon learnt that the doctors’ worse fears had come true. I had in fact suffered a stroke on the operating table, and the doctors had to stop operating, leaving the tumour inside my head. Psychologically this was probably the biggest setback of the whole ordeal, and physically the stroke took such a terrible toll on my body that, three months down the line, I’m still recovering from it.
Although I was entirely paralysed and panicked after the operation, the doctors’ priority at this time was not to deal with the devastating effects of the stroke, but to remove the tumour that was still in my head. Before I knew it I was being flown out to England for more surgery. Because of the state that I was in, I had to lie on my back for the whole journey taking up half an aircraft with all the accompanying equipment and personnel. Despite the confusion and the fear, I still remember being impressed with the amount of people who got involved to make this happen – from dedicated hospital staff to airline and airport workers. Even charities like The Community Chest Fund and Puttinu Cares got involved in order to save my life. It was an incredibly humbling experience which had me thanking God for the many good people I was surrounded with. If it wasn’t for the financial help that we got from charities, my mother wouldn’t have been able to accompany me to England, and I have to say that without her support I don’t think that I would have made it.
The surgeons in Malta had done a brilliant job and though they hadn’t managed to remove the tumour they had made it much easier for the doctors in England to do so. Thankfully, once removed, the tumour turned out to be benign, but as grateful as I was with this news I was still practically paralysed from the stroke. I also had a lot of swelling in my brain which meant that the doctors couldn’t replace the entire piece of skull that had been removed during the surgery in Malta. To this day, more than two months later, I am still waiting for the swelling to subside before the piece of skull which is currently sitting in a fridge, can be put back in. Until then, I have to be extremely careful not to hit the part of my head that is still unprotected because the damage would then be devastating.”
A few days after the second surgery in England, Elizabeth was flown back to Malta. With the rest of the tumour gone, everyone’s priority was now rehabilitation. “The stroke had left me totally dependent on others for my daily needs, and though some movement was slowly coming back, I couldn’t wait to be able do things for myself once again.”
At first Elizabeth started a rehabilitation regime at Mater Dei, but being such a promising patient she was soon referred to LiveLife – a newly launched physical rehabilitation centre that specializes in very intense and very focused physical rehabilitation for patients who have suffered any type of ailment – from amputations, to sports injuries; from general post operative traumas to neurological rehabilitation such as stroke and spinal cord injury.
Elizabeth was one of the very first patients who tried out the facilities and state of the art equipment at LiveLife. This gave her the opportunity to take full advantage of the short window of opportunity that a stroke patient has to make the most progress. “There’s something known as the golden window, which refers to the time when a stroke sufferer will make most rehabilitation headway. I didn’t want to miss out on this as I was adamant to work as hard as I could to get my life back.
I was a full time resident at LiveLife for a whole month,” explains Elizabeth. “During this time I had one to one attention and incredible support. The first time I tried to stand up unaided, I fell over, and it took me days to learn how to put one foot in front of another all over again. On most days I was working out from six to seven hours a day, going from speech therapy to physiotherapy, and from occupational therapy to strength training. Slowly slowly, and thanks to the dedication and hard work of the teams at Mater Dei and at LiveLife, I started to see slow but promising progress. Though frustrated because I wanted to get better fast, when I started to see the first signs of progress I was very encouraged – first I started to speak more fluently and then my pronunciation improved as well, then I started moving my legs, doing weight bearing exercises with my limbs, until I eventually reached my biggest and most important objective which was to walk unaided. Now I’m even climbing stairs without help and, apart from my left arm which I still cannot move, I can say that I’m mostly back to my old self.”
Elizabeth however, is still waiting for one final surgery that will put back a piece of skull that was removed during the initial surgery. “The operation is planned for October, but it depends on whether the swelling subsides enough or not,” she explains pointing at the big gash on the left side of her head. “I’m scared of course. I’ve made so much progress and I don’t want anything to hinder it. Even though the doctors tell me that this is an easy operation I’m still very worried. Thankfully I have family and friends to back me up all the way. My parents and brother have been amazing as were my employers, Ganado & Associates. All were a source of great encouragement from day one and as soon as I was diagnosed they did everything in their power to help me out, both financially and morally.
I will now continue my rehabilitation at Karen Grech so that hopefully even my left arm will get better. Thanks to everyone’s efforts I now have a good part of my life back, and for this, I will be eternally grateful.
