Imagine a person who has always lived an active life. Someone who has dedicated his life to helping others, both professionally and in his free time.
And then suddenly one day everything turns around. Basic things like reading, writing and walking have to be learned all over again.
This is exactly what happened to 55-year-old Terje Pedersen.
Turned my life upside down
On Friday 10 November 2017, Pedersen was on sick leave with bilateral pneumonia. The next day he collapsed on the floor in the living room at home.
The ambulance picked up Pedersen and drove him to Ahus, but after a few hours he was rushed on to the National Hospital. He was there for observation for a couple of days, before it was decided that he should be placed in a coma. He had suffered a stroke.
Terje Pedersen has recently been told that he was revived seven times from the time he was picked up in an ambulance, until he woke up from a coma several weeks later.
– COMA: Terje Pedersen was in a coma for several weeks after suffering a stroke in 2017. Photo: Privat
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At a time when life was turned upside down, he used humor and passions such as football and shooting to get his mind on something else.
About stroke
- A stroke occurs suddenly and is caused by a blood clot or bleeding in the brain.
- The disease affects approximately 12,000 Norwegians of all ages each year.
- 44 percent of those who have a stroke are women and 56 percent are men.
- The average age for women is 76 years and for men 72 years.
- Common cause of death and frequent cause of severe disability and long-term institutional care.
- High blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, smoking, diabetes and previous TIA are important risk factors.
- Healthy lifestyle – with a healthy diet, exercise, smoking cessation, weight control and moderate alcohol consumption – and treatment of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation and diabetes, can reduce the risk of stroke.
Source: LHL Stroke
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– I think I was lucky to have had a stroke at a reasonably early age. If not, I think I would have really struggled, says Pedersen.
Will show that it works
Terje Pedersen has always been a hard-working person. One of the first things he said after the stroke was that he was going to get his life back and that he was going to walk again.
Before the stroke, he helped others through activities and the assistance order in Eidsvoll municipality. This is a service for people with disabilities and their families.
Suddenly he was dependent on help himself.
– The will to learn was still there. I never knew enough, I wanted to learn more, he says.
This is also how former colleague Turid Fredriksen knows Terje Pedersen best.
– It has been very decisive. If you tell Terje that he can’t do something, he will refute it. That is what has impressed me the most about the whole man, she says.
In the time after the battle, Pedersen experienced that certain friends and acquaintances approached him in a different way.
– One of the first things Terje said when I met him after he had come home from the hospital was: “You talked to me like people”. But that’s what he was, and he experienced that many people made the conversation sick when they approached him, says Turid Fredriksen.
– IMPORTANT SUPPORT PLAYER: Turid Fredriksen worked with Terje before he had a stroke. For her, it has always been important to see the man behind the illness. Photo: Chrisrémy Berrefjord / TV 2
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Good support device
Early treatment after a stroke is important. General practitioner Tom-Ole Løvås points out that mutual trust and a good relationship between therapist and patient have been important in the work with Pedersen.
– What is unique about Terje in this context is that he has never given up. In all these meetings in my office, he has often talked about the future. When you meet Terje, you realize that he has the competitive man in him.
Furthermore, he says that other patients can also learn a lot from Terje Pedersen in a medical context.
– The inherent ability to do something yourself. Not just medicines and clothes and bends, but actually performing and mobilizing. It is important in many contexts when it comes to illness, he says.
– TRUST: GP Tom-Ole Løvås has played a central role in Terje Pedersen’s rehabilitation phase. Photo: Chrisrémy Berrefjord / TV 2
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More and more young people are affected
More and more people under the age of 65 are affected by stroke, and each year around 12,000 Norwegians get the disease. Obesity is a key cause.
This has also been a problem for Pedersen. He has had type 2 diabetes for over 20 years, which has meant that he has struggled with excessively high cholesterol.
– Now everything is in order there again. Much because of GP Tom-Ole’s eagerness to help me, says Pedersen.
Health advisor and stroke nurse in LHL Stroke, Marita Lysstad Bjerke, is happy when TV 2 tells her about Terje Pedersen’s story.
– Terje’s story shows that anyone can be affected by a stroke, even younger people of working age who are initially healthy. Having an inner drive and guts is absolutely crucial to getting out of the hospital bed. It has everything to say.
Having a multidisciplinary team around the stroke victims afterwards is also crucial, according to Lysstad Bjerke.
– If this is not present in the rehabilitation phase, there is a risk that people of working age will not return to normal everyday life or working life again, she says.
– IMPRESSED: Marita Lystad Bjerke is a stroke nurse and health advisor at LHL Stroke. She believes more people can learn from Terje’s story. Photo: Robin Jensen / TV 2
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Going back
Terje Pedersen has already broken several barriers after he suffered a stroke five years ago. But the battle is not over yet.
– I want to go back to where life was, and I’m on my way to making it happen. I’ll have more of that. That is why I am here, he says.
With this story, he hopes to inspire other stroke patients to achieve their goals.
– Take up again the various passions you had before the battle. If someone says you can’t do it, that’s their opinion. You just have to do it, and once you’ve got it in the right box, it will work itself out.
– THE TARGET: Terje Pedersen thinks it is important to set the limits yourself for what you can achieve after having a stroke. Photo: Chrisrémy Berrefjord / TV 2
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