29

On 8/14/15, I had started my day with up at 2:30p, at the gym by 3p until 4:30p, then shower, eat and to work for night shift at the hospital. I work 7 on, 7 off and this was day 3 of 7. At 3:15p, I was warming up shoulders and went to lift and all I remember is that I ended up holding on to the handles and was throwing up. In my mind I was thinking, “I gotta get off here and clean this up,” not realizing I was about to be fighting for my life. Luckily there was one other person in the gym at

June

2019

19

Months ago, I joined a local gym that offers 30-minute kickboxing workouts. You move from station to station and every so often a trainer pulls you away from your station to spar. It’s not an easy workout, but it appeals to me because it’s quick and aggressive. I also like that I’m not working out alongside other people who are doing the exact thing I’m doing because that’s when people can easily notice the modifications I make to cater to my deficits. When I started working out there, I

June

2019

19

Dec 18, 2018 was like any other day. I was busily prepping the house for my sister’s visit the next day. That evening I finished the dinner dishes and joined my children (ages 16 and 19) on the couch to watch a movie while my husband snoozed away in the chair next to us. I was suddenly very tired. A warm, comfortable feeling washed over me. I was content. Looking at my children, the Christmas tree. Everything was beautiful and I was so lucky... my heart was full. My oldest daughter turned around

June

2019

19

I had my Stroke in July 2015, I was 47. I’d started a new job 3 weeks earlier and had finished for the summer holidays.  Waking up on the Saturday morning I felt really well rested, but within half an hour of waking, I was getting a tingling , numbness in my face. It came and went and I thought I was getting a migraine. It happened again, this time my tongue was numb and I couldn’t eat properly, I also noticed that my arm was very weak, as I tried to lift a cup it felt like a lead weight.

June

2019

19

STROKE. A word that will make parts of our lives so similar, but yet each one is as individual as a fingerprint. I never thought picking up an extra shift at work, could change my life forever. I’m a dental  assistant,  so taking X-rays was something I did hundreds of times weekly. This time, I had bent down to retrieve something and came up to hitting my head so badly on part of the machine. It’s basically a thick steel bar. I immediately couldn’t focus and thought I’d pass out. I gained

June

2019