The Stroke

Abstract

The Gray family sometimes suffered bad health and serious illness. In August 1959, they all succumbed to infective viral hepatitis while on holiday in Alderney. Hal was worst affected, needing hospitalisation after returning to Britain. He was still technically convalescing 5 months later. Ever the scientist, while in hospital Hal interested himself in the biochemical aspects of his hepatitis. He plotted his levels of bilirubin (a marker in the blood showing the course of the disease) and this amused his doctors. However, these graphs were later used to teach medical students. Hal also wrote a witty poem entitled Carboxyhaemoglobin about a constituent of the human body associated with oxygen and indicating how he had changed colour during his illness.Just before Christmas 1962, Freye had a fit and in hospital an unusual form of epilepsy was diagnosed. She was still in hospital 2 weeks later. On 22 January 1963, Hal experienced some dizziness in the morning but felt a little better, so went to work and gave a seminar that afternoon. Another typical thing he did that day was to take a technician to the hospital, because he realised the technician’s supervisor was extremely busy. He had another dizzy spell that evening, so he decided to stay at home the next day, to rest. So the following morning, this “rest” started with 40 min of dictation over the phone to his secretary. Then his speech began to deteriorate. Hal had a tendency to high blood pressure, as did his father. Dr Scott was called to the phone, and after hearing Hal’s speech immediately came to his home and straightaway arranged for him to enter the nearby Mount Vernon Hospital (where his laboratory was located). He had extreme hypertension (elevated blood pressure) and a massive stroke, severely affecting his speech and left arm movement. There was great anxiety for a few days, but slowly his speech began to recover. Five days after the start he began physiotherapy for his arm and after 2 further days walked, but needed to be held up on each side. Progress continued. His blood pressure was near normal within another week and his speaking improved. Within a further week, Freye was visiting him daily, although she was still unwell. There she read to him from Jane Austen’s novel Emma. Soon after, he spent two “experimental” weekends at home. Freye’s worries were compounded while Hal was in hospital because of problems with her mother. Mme Picot had to leave her home to go to a psychiatric hospital in Guernsey. Then she was transferred to another hospital in England near to Northwood. Freye and Crispin went together to Alderney to arrange these transfers and accompany Mme Picot to Britain (Fig. 13.1). Meanwhile, Hal continued to make progress and at the end of March he had returned home, yet still attending out patients’ sessions thrice weekly (Fig. 13.2). The Grays decided to take 3 weeks’ holiday in France from mid-April and for Hal to restart at work in mid-May, so Hal finally took 5 months to recuperate sufficiently from his stroke to return to work full-time. They visited the French Riviera and also stayed in small villages in nearby Provence and rested. Hal wrote from one village, La Messuguière, where they stayed for 10 days, “We continue to enjoy lots of mountain air and sunshine – in a deck chair reading in the mornings and walking in the afternoons.” He also noted that, “Freye liked to hear the waves at Cannes.” They finally spent 4 days in Paris.