On Saturday, October 21, our mom unfortunately and unexpectedly suffered a stroke. She was rushed to the emergency room where the stroke was confirmed as a Middle Cerebral Artery stroke — a blood clot found on the left side of her brain which stopped the oxygen supply to that area and killed the brain cells immediately. She received an emergency thrombolytic medication and was rushed into surgery. Fortunately, the procedure was successful and the surgeons were able to fully remove the clot and stop the occlusion. She subsequently spent two days in the ICU, followed by two days on the neuroscience unit. We are incredibly grateful that she was stable enough to be discharged home from the hospital on Thursday, October 26.

The stroke occurred on the left side of her brain, meaning that her memories, cognition, personality, and mobility are all still in tact. Because they caught the stroke so quickly, we are grateful that the only deficit she’s experienced is her loss of speech, which is clinically referred to as aphasia and apraxia. She did not lose her ability to understand language, but struggles with verbalizing words even though she can visualize them in her mind. This has also made reading and writing difficult. This has been an incredibly challenging part of her recovery as she struggles to communicate her needs and express herself in the way she could previously. She began working with a speech language pathologist this week to regain her speech.

Although we don’t exactly know what caused her stroke, she is expected to heal and live a full life. Unfortunately since the cause remains undetermined, she is at risk for having this happen again. However, throughout this incredibly difficult time, she has remained positive, optimistic, and is grateful to have her life and a chance at a new beginning. She is willing to put in the hard work it will take to recover, and we are so inspired by her tenacity and strength as she begins to navigate this new chapter.

While we take this time as a family to help her through this healing journey, we humbly ask for monetary support from our friends and family. At this time, we are unsure of how long she will be out of work and how long her recovery will take. Any funds raised will support her living and medical expenses during her recovery until she is back on her feet.

Thank you to everyone who has kept our mom in your thoughts and prayers, for all of the kind messages, flowers, cards, and gifts we’ve received. We are so blessed to have the support of so many wonderful and kind people; it is truly the love from others that will help her get through this challenging time.

Olivia, Carter, and Grace Gall