29

My story starts way before my strokes. When I was 18, I was playing Junior Pro Hockey and a massive lump formed on my neck. I went in for a doctor’s appointment and two weeks later I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was not given great odds. Actually, I was told I was going to die. Either the cancer or treatment would kill me....so I figured, “Screw it, lets start treatment.” Four and half years later and more 12-hour chemo sessions than I could count, plus extensive radiation

August

2019

24

A couple months after my stroke, I managed to sloppily pull together a lasagna for my family. It’s one of my favorite meals and I was excited to have it for dinner. It took about three times longer than usual to get it done and I made a heck of a mess – but really, isn’t lasagna supposed to be a little messy? We sat down to eat and I took my first bite. Something was off; it tasted sour somehow. I tried to figure out what I had done wrong to mess it up, but wasn’t surprised because I’d been

August

2019

17

On Halloween 2018 I was out trick or treating with my family. I felt funny when we got home so I went to bathroom and as I came back to my room I ran into the wall. I remember being on the ground but I don't remember falling. I remember hearing my mom call 911 then I wound up in the hospital. I couldn't sit up. I had several clots in my brain and no blood flow; my carotid artery was almost completed dissected. The left side of my body was affected. After two weeks I was finally able to move

August

2019

11

It is exactly 8 weeks ago now (14. June 2019), but it feels like forever - and like no time has passed at the same time.  When I look at pictures from before it all happened, it feels unreal. The same way it felt unreal in the beginning, when I realized my 9 year old daughter Saga was having a stroke. Before all of this, Saga was a healthy, active girl. Best in class and elite swimmer. She was happy most of the time and often came home from school proclaiming “Today is the best day of my life!”

August

2019

03

I was 11 when I had a cerebral hemorrhage. It was March 27, 1992. I was rushed to Dayton Children's to see if I would even survive. After a 10-hour brain surgery to stop the bleeding. I had an anolmy. A weak blood vessel in my brain from birth that while I was growing became tangled with other blood vessels until one day it popped open. My family was my strength through the next couple of years. I woke up after a 10-day coma with paralysis on my right side fully. The physical therapists tried

August

2019