My stroke Story
The day my life changed forever! One could never understand the affects of a massive stroke until you survived it. For approximately 6 months prior I had been experiencing, what I believed to have been "Panic Attacks", There were multiple trips to the emergency room with no explanation from anyone as to why these "Panic Attacks" were happening. Little did I know i had actually been having TIA's (transient ischemic attacks)
(TIA) is a temporary period of symptoms similar to those of a stroke. A TIA usually lasts only a few minutes and doesn't cause permanent damage. Often called a mini stroke. Usually these mini strokes are a warning sign of what is to come.
April 26, 2021- This is the day of the big one (stroke). At about 12:00 am we dialed 911 because I wasn't feeling right, Paramedics came, I was transported to my local hospital as a stroke alert. I was take immediately to get a CT scan, next i was given a medicine to bust through the clots, wasn't working, so I then was prepaired for surgery. Yes you guessed it "BRAIN SURGERY" I was not aware of it at the time but yes i had brain surgery. Thank God for my wonderful wife who has been by my side through this entire ordeal, she told me I was in surgery for about 3 hours.
So, blood clots in my upper extremities (arms), due to a blood disorder and my hypercoagulable blood, dislodged and traveled to my heart, unaware passed trough my PFO which is a hole in the upper 2 cambers of the heart and pumped to my brain with 2 actually in the brain and a third caught in my Carotid artery. My neck. After surgery i spent about a month in the hospital, I spent another month in a rehab hospital, then finally I was able to go home.
My massive stroke has had many effects on me and my life. My stroke was on the right side of my brain so my left side was effected, I am paralyzed on the entire left side of my body. The day after I had to have another surgery to remove a portion of my skull to allow room for my brain to swell, I am still missing that portion of my skull. I have a sick gallbladder that needs to still be removed. I had the hole in my heart (PFO) repaired. I never expected this to happen. Our whole lives have changed drastically. My wife has been taking care of me through all of this.
We are now trying to raise some money to help us get a new car that is bigger and more reliable with enough room to fit my wheel chair that can get us back and forth to my many appointments that I now have due to all of this. I am hopeful and thankful that god has given me another chance at life.
