05

Well I’m going to start with me finding out that I was born with a medical condition that I was unaware of my whole life but had felt its ugly symptoms and never had an explanation or reason from any doctor I ever saw. On April 17, 2017 I suffered a grand mal seizure on my kitchen table which was caused my arterial venous malformation in my brain had ruptured causing a level 5 bleed. Next came diagnosis and my first brain surgery. All went well but I chose not to treat it since I originally was

November

2018

05

I have always watched the F.A.S.T. adverts with interest because my biggest fear was to have a stroke no matter how big or small. I wanted to be prepared for the worst. On 20th October I flew to Cyprus arrived at night got to my room and went to bed. I awoke the next morning with pins and needles in my left hand. I thought I had slept on it. Later that day went to pool and chilled, at around 5pm I went back to my room and had a shower ready for dinner. I sat on my bed and that's when it hit:

November

2018

05

I did not know why, that week I was so tired, but now I know. I was returning from a party, and suddenly I was sick, I wanted to go to bed, but I fainted, my ex-boyfriend thought it was alcohol, that's why he did not call the ambulance. The morning after I woke up it was over, I could not move my left hand (I'm left handed) and my face was disfigured, luckily I was able to walk. When we arrived at the hospital on 15.05.2015, everything began, cerebral ischemia due to a stenosis of the middle

November

2018

04

After my first-high risk pregnancy, my blood pressure was high. This persisted throughout my second pregnancy and I remained on medication throughout the pregnancy. The doctors put me on baby aspirin towards the end due to my little one being growth restricted. The stress of a very demanding job where I was constantly on my feet did not help my pregnancy nor my health. I had two scares at work concerning my pregnancy and baby and gave birth to my daughter at 37 weeks. They tried to keep her in

November

2018

02

My stroke journey began in a hotel room in Billings, Montana, where I was taking a few days of classes for my master’s degree in health administration.  It was my second day of the program and I was excited to be on this next step of my career journey.  I woke at 6:00 with a terrible headache, sort of a migraine but the pain sensation was almost electric.  I picked up my phone to turn off the alarm and realized I couldn’t read it.  I knew those were words but they looked like emoji – my brain

November

2018