21

At 19 years old I was as healthy as ever, I regularly went to the doctor for checkups and never had any health problems. I was at the prime of my life and had so many plans for the future. However, those plans took a sharp turn when I unexpectedly had to be rushed to the hospital due to a stroke. I imagine the devastation my family felt when the doctors would just come to them with bad news, when they said I would not survive the brain surgery, when I could not breathe on my own anymore, when I

October

2019

17

I was taking birth control and at the time it was around the holidays I was at my boyfriend’s family’s house staying the night. I always sleep on my side and for some reason my left side of my body felt heavy dead weight my face became numb and I had an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. My stepmother, who is a nurse, had a pamphlet of stroke signs in women in the restroom one day and I just so happen to read it. So with the knowledge from the pamphlet I had told my boyfriend “I’m having a

October

2019

11

As many of you probably know by now, I am going through a divorce. It hurts. It’s a pain that surpasses my benchmark - a liver biopsy. A pain I cannot put into words. My husband says I’m not the same person post stroke and he’s right. Want to know what I think? I’m better. For starters, I’m more empathetic. When I ask how you are doing, I am actually listening instead of just waiting for my turn to talk. I genuinely care. I’m looking for opportunities to serve you or ways I can be a good

October

2019

01

Thinking you’re going to die is awful, but it’s also beautiful. When I was in the ambulance heading to the ER after my stroke, one of the paramedics grabbed my arm and said, “Stay with us, Tamsen!” The urgency in his voice was what struck me – it was in that moment I had to face the idea that I might die in the ambulance. When you have that moment, your thoughts immediately turn to what you value most in your life. For me, it was my kids. I had an immediate and urgent desire to hold them and

October

2019

01

Life is hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Even if I wasn’t a stroke survivor life would be hard. But because I am a stroke survivor, life is even harder. However, instead of letting it break me, I am determined to let it make me stronger. I am going through the toughest phase of my almost 38 years. And I’ve been through some tough stuff. We all know I had to learn to walk and talk again a few years ago. I also almost died in 2005 from a catastrophic autoimmune disorder and a multitude of

October

2019