It started as a normal Sunday. January 29, two and a half weeks ago.
At home, Finn Schjøll felt that spring was on its way. He was very much looking forward to soon stepping around in his rubber boots and doing what he likes best: rooting around in the soil, clearing twigs and brush and soon the first sprouts would peek out in the garden.
New year, new spring, new life. Finn rejoiced.
Knut Bakke (79), Finn’s dear partner of 40 years, was also at home. It was a perfectly normal, nice Sunday.
The intense headache
But then came the headache, an intense, indescribable pain in the head that Finn had never known before.
Could it be something serious? Could it be a stroke?
He could speak, he could smile, he could lift both arms, the three things that should be checked first of all when a stroke is suspected. But the pain in the head was terrible and here there was no time to think for long.
Finn and Knut know that every minute counts if you are affected by a blood clot in the brain. The consequences of waiting and watching can be enormous.
– I realized it was something crazy. I had no doubts, this was not a normal headache, says Finn, who called his doctor friend, Eilif.
– You go straight to the emergency room, said Eilif, but I’m lazy, so I called 113 instead, says Finn with a smile.
Symptoms of a stroke – call 113
Stroke symptoms occur suddenly. Call 113 as soon as possible if you suspect a stroke.
TALK – try to say a simple coherent sentence
SMILE – try to smile, laugh or show your teeth
LIFT – try to lift both arms
Symptoms of a stroke can vary. The most common symptoms are:
Paralysis on one side of the face or body. Language disorders. One may also experience slight weakness in a hand or arm, severe headache, vision problems or dizziness.
It is important to get to hospital quickly. Every minute counts.
Source: Helsenorge.no
He is eternally grateful for that now. Because when the ambulance arrived, it was straight to the hospital, immediately starting treatment with blood-thinning medication.
A foreshadowing of what was to come
But the horrible headache he felt was not a stroke, it was a foreshadowing of what was to come. The stroke struck after a few hours, at two in the morning while Finn was lying in the hospital bed at Tønsberg hospital with angels in white hospital coats at their post.
The next morning the doctors were able to confirm what Finn had feared. He had suffered a blood clot in the brain, the most common form of stroke.
His left arm was hanging and throbbing, the fingers of one hand were numb, he had little feeling on the left side of his face, he could not walk, was dizzy and unsteady, the side vision on the left side was poor.
– But I was incredibly lucky. Imagine being in the hospital and undergoing treatment when the stroke hits you, he says.
THE COASTAL HOSPITAL: Finn Schjøll is at the Coastal Hospital in Stavern. Photo: Vår Staude / Good morning Norway
For the past two weeks, Finn has been undergoing rehabilitation at the Coastal Hospital in Stavern. There he has a small room with a sick bed, a small bathroom, a chair and a table. The view over the archipelago is breathtaking, but Finn is interested in the beauty inside the old wooden buildings from 1892.
The team of people who all want Finn to be just fine. Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists. He is completely moved when he talks about them.
– Everyone here is on my side, Finn says in a thick voice.
– They love their job, and it feels like they love me too.
PRACTICE ON FINE MOTORS: Finn Schjøll practices fine motor skills, putting paper clips on pairs and pinching plastic boxes. Over and over again. Photo: Vår Staude / Good morning Norway
Watch when Good morning Norway visited Finn Schjøll in the hospital in the video at the top of the story.
In the first days after the stroke, he had to have help going to the bathroom. The two meters above the floor to the bathroom was an ordeal for someone who could not walk properly and whose vision was only half-way. He couldn’t tie his shoelaces, couldn’t button buttons. Much was almost impossible.
– I couldn’t open the mobile phone. I couldn’t see the letters. I looked for the letters.
Call, don’t send SMS, was the message to the train of friends who wanted to visit.
Finn’s two daughters have been incredibly worried about their dad, that he would need care and that he would suffer a stroke again. The concerns are shared by Finn’s partner, Knut Bakke. He is 79 years old.
– Knut understands the seriousness and he is scared, I can tell.
– Catastrophic thoughts are completely unknown to me
Finn himself is an irrepressible optimist. He will be fine. Dot.
He trains six hours a day with a physical trainer, with an occupational therapist and with physiotherapist Simen Lundberg, who cheers Finn through the corridors at Kysthospitalet.
PHYSIOTHERAPY: Finn Schjøll trains six hours a day with a physical trainer, with an occupational therapist and with physiotherapist Simen Lundberg. Photo: Vår Staude / Good morning Norway
Up and down the stairs, walking backwards, throwing a ball, walking on a treadmill.
– Go on, Finn, says Simen Lundberg.
TRAINING: FInn Schjøll trains six hours a day, where he goes up and down stairs, walks backwards, throws a ball and goes on a treadmill. Photo: Vår Staude / Good morning Norway
A lot of intensive training immediately after the stroke is what helps, what makes many recover after a stroke, says acting senior physician, Erling Becker Aarseth, at Kysthospitalet in Stavern.
Finn’s attitude and enthusiasm are impressive.
– The training is repetitive, lengthy and quite boring, says the superior.
But Finn has made up his mind. He will be fine, he will manage on his own. After only two weeks he can now tie his shoelaces, he can button small buttons in his shorts.
He will not be able to drive for at least 6 months, but his sleeping fingers are coming to life and he has managed to tie bouquets of all the get well flowers and placed them around the ward.
In a week he will be allowed to go home. He is looking forward to it.
OUT ALONG THE COAST: Finn Schjøll meets Good Morning Norway’s Vår Staude out on the coast at the Kysthospitalet in Stavern. Photo: Espen Aarebrot-Heiestad / Good morning Norway
– Have you thought about what could have happened if you hadn’t called 113? Wasn’t quick enough to sound the alarm? asks Good morning Norway’s Vår Staude, who comes to visit between two of Finn’s training sessions.
– No! I’m not like that, says Finn emphatically.
– Catastrophic thoughts are completely unknown to me. I can’t bear to dig myself down. I’m the kind of person who sings and trolls and is happy. And that’s how it will remain. Just wait, says Finn Schjøll.
