SHAUNAVON — Chandra Anderson is an active member of the community. She’s perhaps best known for her many years of teaching at Christ the King School in Shaunavon and her love of music, singing and playing guitar.
She has also taught English Language classes in the community and continues to help newcomers as they settle in the town. In her retirement, Chandra and her husband, Ted, can often be seen walking through town or on the TransCanada Trail. She is an avid and strong swimmer, participating in early bird swim and aquacise at Shaunavon Swimming Pool throughout the summer and leading indoor aquacise in the winter. She is diabetic and maintains good nutritional habits. Chandra loves the outdoors and gardening, and she works tirelessly to take care of others.
On Sept. 24 of last year, Chandra woke up with a headache on the left side of her head. She noticed that the right side of her head was numb from the top, down the side of her face and ear, to the top of her right shoulder. She had never experienced this numbness before, although she did have occasional migraine headaches. The headache was not excruciating, so she took Tylenol and continued her daily routines.
She continued to walk, attend aquacise and work in the garden, digging potatoes and carrots. The headache and numbness continued for two more days. Then, her symptoms escalated.
“On Friday, Sept. 27, I woke up shortly after 6 a.m. I tried to throw the covers off, but I couldn’t get out of bed. My right arm was not working. I finally got out and headed to the kitchen. My husband, Ted, was downstairs watching the news, so I called him and then called 8-1-1.
I got a recording asking me to leave a message and that they would call back. They did call back shortly and, after hearing my symptoms, the operator told us to call 9-1-1 immediately. Ted, a former paramedic, was assessing the weakness of my arm when the paramedics arrived.”
Chandra was having a stroke. Initially, she could not walk and was paralyzed on her right side.
"It was such a scary experience," she stated. "I could not hold up my right arm; it just drooped. I had an awful time at first (feeding and dressing myself and going to the bathroom) because I could never find my arm. My right arm did not feel a part of me at all, and I still do not have the feeling back on my right side and arm.
“To be honest, Ted and I were both shocked. I swam almost every day, all summer. I walked regularly and ate right; it just didn’t make sense,” explains Anderson. Christ the King School has participated in the perennial Jump Rope for Heart campaign for many years. Chandra says, “Did I ever think I would be a beneficiary of those efforts? Never."
A stroke does not discriminate among age, gender or race. The effects are different for each individual. Severity depends on many factors: type of stroke, the side of the brain where the stroke occurs and regions of the brain affected, the size of the damaged area in the brain, the body functions controlled by the affected area, the amount of time the brain area had no blood flow and the time it takes to receive treatment. The three types of strokes are: Ischemic (caused by a clot or blockage in a blood vessel in your brain); Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) also known as a mini stroke that usually disappears within 24 hours but is a warning of a potential impending stroke; and, Hemorrhagic caused when a weakened or diseased blood vessel breaks open and interrupts blood flow to the brain cells.
Everything went like clockwork with the response to Chandra’s stroke. Shaunavon EMS transported Chandra to Swift Current, where the stroke team was ready and waiting. A CT scan revealed a medium brain bleed (hemorrhagic stroke), and within an hour, she was on her way to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon by ambulance. The day after her stroke, she also suffered a seizure, so she was put on medication for that.
Another scan revealed that the bleed had stopped. The seizure may have simply been her body and brain’s response to the stroke trauma, as she has been seizure-free since.
Chandra spent three days in what she describes as an ‘absolutely chaotic ER’ at Royal University Hospital, which was at three times its capacity when she arrived. She was then moved to the Medical Intake Unit, where she spent another two days before 小蓝视频 transferred back to Swift Current Regional Hospital, where occupational and physical therapy was available to help her begin her rehabilitative journey. She has high praise for her neurologist and other health professionals on her care team.
The next part of her journey involved waiting for a placement at Wascana Rehab Centre in Regina. Following a delay due to getting Covid and having to be isolated in Swift Current for ten days, Chandra was able to go to Wascana on October 18, where she spent the next month rehabilitating from the effects of the stroke.
“I was very lucky to be able to go to Wascana. Dr. Patrick at Wascana’s Wolfe Stroke Care Unit asked me several questions. He said, ‘Are you depressed?’ I said, ‘No, Dr. Patrick, I’m not depressed, but I do want to get better. Am I sad? Yes, because I can’t believe this happened to me.”
She says, “I knew I had a choice. I either go forward and do the best I could, or I could wallow, and I’m not a wallowing person. I knew that I had a job to do. I’ve never been away from my husband for that long. But was it the right thing to do? Absolutely.”
Chandra’s rehabilitation at Wascana took various forms. The former Grade One teacher laughs when she describes the basic fine motor tasks she practised that may have been activities in her former classroom.
“Writing, clipping things on a string, beading, stacking or flipping checkers…it was just like Grade 1, at times.” Chandra adds, “I was also able to use the swimming pool there. They couldn’t believe how good I could swim in the pool. There is also rehabilitation available in Saskatoon at the City Hospital, but the wait would have been longer to go there, and they have no pool.”
“In the beginning, I was using a two-wheel walker. As I progressed, I moved to a four-wheel walker, and eventually, I could walk around a little bit and go outside, too. It made me cry, I was so happy.”
Chandra’s love of music became part of her rehabilitation, and she extended her musical talents to fellow patients when she formed a small choir at Wascana during her stay. “Ted brought in my guitar; it was good therapy for my arm. Then, I started a choir because I thought singing might help some who were struggling to find their words due to stroke. We sang some folk songs and Christmas songs, as we were getting into November. We even had some harmony going on. It gave us purpose and some fun, in addition to 小蓝视频 therapeutic.”
Chandra and Ted have been spotted on the TransCanada Trail since her return from Wascana. “They did say because I was in good shape to start with, it really helped my recovery. But, sometimes the picture on the outside is not the whole picture. Some people see me and think, ‘Oh, she’s back to normal.’ I want others to see that they can get through this, but it’s hard because I can’t do the same things I used to. I run out of gas, and I can’t push through; I need to rest. But I want to give people hope. I’m progressing, and every day is getting a little bit better.”
“What have I learned?” she ponders and replies, “Keep going, do the best that you can. Try to be positive. Be thankful for what you’ve got. Keep things simple, be kind to yourself. I’ve learned that anyone can have a stroke: babies, children, young mothers in their 30s. It can happen to anyone; it happened to me.”
Strokes are time-sensitive, and it is important to call 911 if you suspect someone is having a stroke. Remember the acronym FAST:
Face - is it drooping?
Arms - can you raise both?
Speech - is it slurred or jumbled?
Time to call 9-1-1
