Lori U.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
By: Lori U.

Survivor

I was a newlywed of just ten weeks when I stroked at the age of 39. I was working as a clinical audiologist in an ENT office. I had a new house, new car, new husband, and in general I had a great life. However, everything changed on the morning of January 25, 1996.

I awoke at 1:30am and discovered I could no longer walk. Thinking it was a dream, I went back to sleep. The next morning, my parents took me to the hospital and I was admitted. By the third day, all deficits had resolved 100%. I was prepared to go home, but at 10:30am on the fourth day I had THE BIG ONE. I suffered a grand mal seizure that lasted for 13 hours. I was put into a drug-induced coma, and went into cardiac arrest. My hospital stay totaled four months and four days, because I had a myriad of complications including numerous drug allergies, a punctured lung, fevers, etc. I have left side hemiplegia and slurred speech, but I was left with all my mental faculties intact. I am not a stroke VICTIM. I am a stroke SURVIVOR.