27

I was at work, coordinating 11 drivers for a waste management company, when my right arm felt funny. It seemed like a flare-up of carpal tunnel syndrome, except my arm was more numb than tingly. I lifted my arm and it flopped on my desk like a falling brick. I blamed it on an insulin imbalance because of my Type 2 diabetes. The next day, my husband Rich was making dinner when he heard me say something that sounded slurred. He turned to look at me and said my mouth was drooping. He immediately

December

2018

27

Hi, My name is Mandy.  I am a mother of 4 amazing children, a wife, a high school basketball coach, a triathlete, a party planner and an essential oil educator.  March 15, 2012 I was home alone after a workout when my left side began to go numb.  I didn’t feel well and thought I might need a shower, so I got into the shower and realized I was having a hard time supporting myself.  I got out, called my mom for help and ended up in the ICU from a clot stroke.  I was 33. I don’t think any of us

December

2018

18

March 2015, I was experiencing terrible vertigo and horrible headaches for weeks.  I remember feeling like an earthquake happened in my head.  Then I collapsed.  I remember being inside my head but not being able to move my body or speak.  I remember when I saw the fireman’s facial expression after he asked me to smile, I knew.  I had a stroke.  The whole experience was just surreal.  Thankfully I was given tPA within an hour of the stroke.  The worst part was the helicopter ride and brain

December

2018

18

Hi my name is Ronnie and I had a cerebellar stroke on October 27th2017 at age 32.  I didn’t know what a stroke was until I had one. I didn’t know what a cerebellar was either.  I was a normal young healthy guy driving to the expo station in Mid-City Los Angeles, on my way to work when I felt my heart beating so hard it wanted to escape my chest.  I thought it was a heart attack and I would for sure die on this sketchy-looking street. I didn’t recognize at the time, but I was on Smiley street

December

2018

17

Most people I encounter have no idea I’m walking around perpetually confused. Sometimes when people speak to me, I just can’t understand what they’re saying and have to ask them to repeat themselves so many times it becomes awkward. And usually by the end of the day, my neuro-fatigue is so bad that I feel like my brain is buzzing and all I can do is go to sleep. But nobody else sees that. My family sees the mom who awakens early to cook breakfast (because my brain wakes me up in a panic around

December

2018