On March 30 every year, I celebrate myself. Why? I had a TIA (transient ischemic attack), otherwise known as a “mini-stroke”. It came out of nowhere, but changed my entire life.
At the time of my stroke, I was majorly stressed out. I had just turned 30 three months before. I was dealing with the crumbling of my marriage and a special needs child that needed me no matter what. I had lost a lot of weight and had just had my first migraine ever.
One day, I was at work as a mental health associate at a local inpatient mental health facility when I started to feel bad at one point. It was a long day; 12 hours instead of 8. My head began hurting worse than usual and definitely worse than the few migraines I had previously. Throughout the day, I kept feeling worse no matter what I did. I couldn’t hold onto the crayons I was using to color with the patients. I couldn’t think well at one point and that’s when I decided to leave work.
I do not recommend driving when you feel this bad. But at the time, I thought it was a good idea. Once I got home, I tried to go to sleep and moved my right arm, but it wouldn’t move. I burst into tears and my husband called my mother because something was clearly wrong. At this point, my memories get a bit blurred, but I do remember not being able to sign myself into the hospital, so my mother did so for me. I was in a CT machine as soon as the doctors saw why I was there.
It turns out that the migraine was severe and my blood pressure shot up, causing the blood vessels somewhere on the left side of my brain to narrow and one vessel went too narrow, which cut off oxygen to my brain. It just takes one, apparently. I was told that I had had a TIA on the left side of my brain.
Wait, what? I had just turned 30. I was shocked but still feeling awful. I was transferred downtown for better care. I was terrified for my mother to leave me and told her that if I didn’t make it home, to tell the kids I loved them.
I ended up at a hospital that specializes in stroke care and was the youngest person on the floor at the time. I wouldn’t let my kids see me in this state, so my husband was the only visitor that I had during my 3 day stay. When I was released, I was told that I may have after-effects, which in my case, include terrible balance on my right side, speech aphasia, and short term memory issues.
After the stroke, I took a long, hard look at my life. I needed less stress and happiness. That’s exactly what I got. I switched to a more consistent setting at work and learned to let loose a bit.
I am 8 years post stroke and I’m glad to be here. I’m pretty sure the after effects are permanent, but I’m okay with that and have learned to adjust.
Strokes can happen to anyone, at any time.
I was surprised, to say the very least, to have a stroke at the age of 30. People look at me like I have six heads when I tell them about this.
Here are some signs that you may be experiencing a stroke:
- sudden numbness
- sudden confusion
- sudden sight problems
- sudden walking difficulty
- sudden headache with unknown cause
Knowing what to look for can truly save a life, either your own or someone you care about. It’s also important to note that every minute counts.
