27

I believe we’ve all asked ourselves “Why Me?” at one point of our lives…Why did this have to happen to ME? And “Why Now!?” I found myself asking these very same questions about four years ago. Little did I know that I was about to survive a rare and severe “pons stroke” while I was on a business trip in New York City. Did you know that strokes can happen at any age? Anyone at any age at any point in their lives can have a stroke. And I was no rare exception to this rule. We certainly never

July

2018

26

I went from disabled to independent (or so I thought) while skipping the time in between. I stopped asking for help. I felt like if someone saw me do something one time and I asked for help the next time they would feel like I was taking advantage or that I didn’t really need help. I have never liked to admit when I can’t do something. It makes me feel like a failure. There are certain things such as filling out forms at the doctors office that I simply cannot do because of my inability to

July

2018

24

Calling today an “anniversary” doesn’t quite feel right. An anniversary feels like a happy day, like a celebration. But today for me is filled with a lot of conflicting feelings. Anxiety, worry, fear, sadness, anger… all the “big bad uglies” (as I call them) gradually have felt more muted over the last two years – but – they always seem to climb to the surface as the day 7/11 nears. BUT… as I sit here thinking back over the past year the big difference between my one year and my 2nd year

July

2018

23

Sometimes I can’t come up with the right words. Yeah, it’s shocking, I know (insert sarcasm here). Many reading this may struggle with aphasia, while others either care for or know sometime who does. It is super frustrating because the word(s) that we want to say are in our heads but the connection between our head and our mouths isn’t working properly. People jokingly try to make me feel better when they forget words themselves and say things like “See, even I can’t come up with the right words

July

2018

19

I suffered a major stroke at 24 on Xmas day 2004 - a month after giving birth to my son. It took about a month for the doctors to realize there was something wrong with my vision. They kept doing the "wiggly finger test" I called it. When you cover one eye and they move their finger around and you have to say when you can see. I didn't understand the importance of this test or why they were doing it to me sometimes 3 times a day. They kept saying you will go back to normal in a few weeks. And

July

2018