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Grace C.
Monday, May 23, 2011
By: Grace Carpenter
Mother's Day, 2009
Survivor
The Best Medicine
A little more than a year ago, I was healthy and active, busy taking care of my two young children every day. One night when I was reading in bed, I thought my vision looked strange. I tried to say something, and my husband realized something was very wrong. He called 911 right away.
I had a hemorrhagic stroke.
I spent six weeks in Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where I started to relearn to walk, speak, and use my right arm. In the 15 months since the stroke, I've come along way, but I have a lot more recovering to do.
The hardest thing about the stroke is that I can't be as involved in caring for my kids, as I used to be, both because of the fatigue and my aphasia. But as my sister told my kids, they are my best medicine. Although the stroke has been hard on everyone, I think it has brought my family closer together.
About five months after the stroke, I started to write a blog. At first, writing three sentences would take me hours. The writing has helped me improve my language skills, and also has helped me in ways I didn't expect. Now I belong to a small but growing number of stroke survivors who blog about their experiences. We cheer other survivors on. I hope my blog (http://www.myhappystroke.blogspot.com) and other survivors' blogs have raised awareness of some challenges facing stroke survivors, and also that we can share the triumphs.
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