Stroke Victim’s A-Maizing Recovery

At a healthy 31 years of age, happily married and with a thriving business, Solihull Renewal Christian Centre’s Maizetta Trotman didn’t fit the profile of a stroke victim. With the prayers and support of many behind her, she has not only defied the odds but re-emerged with her artistic skills that are blessing others.

Taking us back to the start of 2004, Maizetta picked up the story: “I had three headaches in the same week – I wasn’t the type to get headaches. By January 6th, it got really bad and woke me out of my sleep. Stuart rang NHS Direct, and they called the ambulance for me because the pain was so bad. At the hospital I was given very strong medication but it made no difference, so I was sent home few hours later with the doctors telling me it was down to high blood pressure.

“The next morning I woke up not being able to feel my right leg. I tried to stand up and before I knew what was happening, I collapsed.”

“I was downstairs when I heard a loud bang,” added Stuart. “I ran upstairs and found Maizy on the floor. She looked at me and I knew something was up. She was going in and out of consciousness. I put her on the bed and called the ambulance.

“By the time they arrived, Maizy seemed to be in a very deep sleep. They tested her sensitivity by pinching her on each side, the left was OK but she couldn’t feel anything on the right side, even when they pinched really hard.

Dead

“In the hospital, the vibe changed once she came out from the scan. The doctors were all chatty when they went in with Maizy for the scan, but when they brought her back to the ward, they were very quiet – like they were dealing with a dead person.”

Unable to walk, stay awake for very long or even to eat and drink independently, the future looked bleak for Maizetta, whose career in art and graphic design looked well and truly over. She had a bigger battle on her hands; simply to survive.

Stuart, now 34, continued: “All that was going through my head was, ‘is this really happening?’ It was surreal, like a film. I couldn’t take it all in. I called the church (I attended at the time, now known as Mount Zion Community Church in Aston, Birmingham) asking for prayer. It wasn’t long before two of the leaders, Pastor Calvin Young and Sandra Thomas (who God is now bringing through a similar trauma), arrived to pray.

“All I knew is I had two choices – respond in fear or faith. In a split second, I felt the touch of fear but I had to reject it. This wasn’t the time for fear – Maizy needed me. When I returned home, I asked God what was going on. His clear response was “Psalm 91 – I am right here.” When Maizy had woken up in A&E, I read the chapter to her. Others in the family received that chapter in response to their prayers too.

“Maizy was still slipping in and out of consciousness and was having a problem speaking – struggling to ask her sister why she had a patch on her eye when she came to visit. I quickly started talking to subject and deflect any negative reaction to her attempted speech away from Maizy.

“Later we were told she had a blood clot after suffering a stroke and had a tear in one of her carotid arteries in her neck (that bring blood to your brain and face).

“She had lost the use of her right side. The doctors ruled out operating, which would have been risky or even damaging. They were not sure if she would survive.

“I didn’t know what to think. Why had this happened? When did it happen? What caused it? The hospital said it could have happened at any point in the last eight weeks by any number of things from heading a ball or even turning her head. We didn’t have anything to go on and felt totally helpless.”

Praying

Meanwhile, word had spread across the Christian community and friends and relatives at many churches across the country were praying for Maizetta’s full recovery.

As the prayers went up, the blessings came down and the unlikeliest of recoveries was underway. Maizetta made the equivalent of eighteen months’ progress in a fortnight.

The next hurdle to come down was the feeding tube – which Maizetta no longer needed and had become a frustrating nuisance! She could eat and swallow for herself now thank you very much!

A few days later, Maizetta was moved to the rehabilitation ward and while still sleeping a lot and eating very little, she gradually regained the ability to walk short distances.

In a week, Maizetta was well enough to make occasional trips back home. She amazed the hospital physiotherapists in the rehabilitation ward in being able to climb the stairs and walk along the corridor quicker than they!

Purpose

Stuart, a classically-trained keyboardist and programmer, said: “The doctors said Maizy’s recovery was amazing; that the blood clot was so thick it could have killed her. One of them said had been a specialist in neurosurgery for 13 years and had not seen anything like it. He said ‘she must have a purpose to fulfil.’

Within two and a half weeks, Maizetta was back at home and aside from occasional tingling sensations in her right hand, she had no recurrence of the ordeal.

However, her speech was still a major problem, for which she underwent a course of therapy sessions.

“There were times in which I would not answer the phone or meet people,” she recalled. “I was too embarrassed to let most people hear or see me struggling for words.

The other hangover from the stroke was the greatly diminished use of her writing hand; having made a living as a freelance designer now Maizetta’s etchings resembled that of a small child.

Battle

“I am right-handed and that was the side that was affected,” recalled Maizetta, now 37. “My writing was huge but I didn’t give up – I used a writing aid to help me. I would cry because I just could draw and write like I once could. It was a real battle. How could I work?

“I had to give my upset to God and let him work it out. This is when He revealed to me that a battery only works and has power because it has a negative part to go along with the positive. That told me that this negative experience would give me power too. I didn’t feel it at the time, but I held onto (believed) it.”

While the Stuart and Maizetta’s worlds had come to a standstill, the reality of paying their way was still there. The self-employed couple – raised in Aston and Handsworth respectively – received financial and practical help from relatives as Stuart had to let go of his work as a musician to stay at home and care for his wife.

“It was difficult so I signed on (the dole) and didn’t’ think about work. I would have given up my career if I had to. When it comes down to it, you gotta do what you gotta do. I felt no shame whatsoever because Maizy is my priority. At one point I was caring for her 24-7.

“It was really hard seeing the person you love the most being reduced to next to nothing but I had to believe that God would restore her. We had to take a day at a time, and it did get frustrating watching Maizy having to re-learn how to do things but she improved so much so quickly. I went from not being able to work to being able to take some on to being able to do and earn enough to send Maizy on holiday with her sister and later to go with her.”

Opportunity

“When you go through something like this you see everything in its proper perspective. Coming through this has strengthened us beyond belief; I have learned not to panic, stress or worry, which is the natural thing to do. That’s been my life, as a full-time musician (since 1999), trusting God for the next opportunity – and He has opened some serious doors for me.”

Stuart has since gone on to tour with big name artists including Girls Aloud and Il Divo, allowing the couple to move to swap their home in inner city Birmingham to a bigger property in a plush suburban area in Staffordshire.

Maizetta continued: “I have come to realise that there can be something positive coming out of a negative situation and my relationship with God has changed. Now I call Him ‘Dad’ and feel closer to Him than before. Look at what He brought me through. I don’t understand what it is all about but now my family and friends who don’t believe can see through my experiences that there is a God who answers prayer.”

Now working again as an abstract artist under the banner of Caris Design, Maizetta is producing impressive pieces of artwork that clients have told her have brought peace to their surroundings, including one which takes pride of place in the relaxation room at their home church, Renewal Christian Centre.

Anointing

“One of my paintings was part of a Christian exhibition and someone who was looking at it told me there was an anointing (God-given power to heal and help others) on it. Another person who had bought and displayed another of my pictures in his house told me that there was a “strange spirit” there which has gone since he put the picture up. Because of this many people have said to me that the stroke was an attack, to affect my right hand and stop me drawing. It didn’t work!

“Obviously this illness happened to me, but I still cannot believe it,” confessed Maizetta. To which Stuart added: “A few months after the stroke, a Christian friend told me of a vision they had in which Maizy was laughing as though nothing had happened. That is how it feels, surreal as it was when she got sick.”

Stuart concluded: “Maizy being so ill and recovering so much has helped us strengthen our faith in God so much. He’s in control so why worry? It really makes no sense.”

A-maizing!