National Stroke Awareness Month

May is National Stroke Awareness Month!

I guess it is only appropriate because it was in May four years ago that I had my first stroke. It was in August that same year that I had my last one. Recovery has been a very long road and I'm not done yet, but I faith that one day things will get back on an even keel once again.

So how did I know I was having a stroke? I didn't. I was 29 and completely healthy. I had a migraine the previous night and was still feeling bad that day, but I had a history of migraines and thought nothing of it. My right arm starting tingling and my hand was feeling numb. My right arm and leg felt like they weighed about 20 pounds. The right side of my face felt numb. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. I was slurring my speech and felt very drowsy. I went to the hospital. The admitting nurse believed that I had a stroke and pushed me through. However, when I went to the back, the doctor didn't take me seriously. He barely touched me during his very brief examination. My pupils are two different sizes, a condition known as anisocoria. Every single doctor I have come across has questioned me about my pupils. Except this one. Because he didn't care.

My final diagnosis from this particular doctor from this particular hospital low potassium and a sinus infection.

It was nearly 48 hours later that I got the final diagnosis from my neurologist via MRI that I had indeed had a minor stroke. Over the next few months I was subjected to numerous tests to discover the reason as to why. The cause of my stroke was an un-diagnosed congenital heart condition. I had a hole in my heart that produced no murmur, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, nothing. What it did do, was allow blood clots to flow up to my brain, causing a stroke.

In August 2010, I underwent open heart surgery to correct the situation and suffered another stroke during the operation. When I woke up, I had no feeling in my right hand, parts of my face and couldn't talk. Now, four years later, I still have a loss of feeling in two of my fingers, parts of face, and I still garble my words from time to time but that is nothing compared to the phantoms pains I have in my right limbs. I now have chest pain and shortness of breath, but the causes of those remain a mystery. Good news is, I have an appointment tomorrow with my cardiologist to be reevaluated. Again.

That's my stroke story. What's yours?