Brienne
Friday, August 19, 2011
By: Brienne I.

Survivor

"Are you serious!?!" was the response I heard on the other side of the phone when I told my family I had just had a stroke and would be in the hospital for awhile. At age 37, I never thought that would be a phone call I'd have to make. I also never dreamed that as I lay in a hospital bed, I would have to replan everything in my near future.

As a very active, healthy woman and mom of young twins, the words "ischemic stroke", "rehabilitation" and "limitations" were never in my vocabulary. I feel that because I chose to not include those words in my personal life, I was able to recover quickly.

Sure, there are still some physical limitations and my thinking is foggy at times but there is improvement every day. I found the level of frustration was the most difficult obstacle to jump over, both literally and figuratively.

I had been used to getting up to chase the kids in a friendly game of tag. Mentally I was feeling fine but often my leg disagreed. Anger, frustration, pity and depression came and went with the sporadic healing process. No one tells you that it is just as much emotional as it is a physical process.

Knowing that I have two working legs to chase my kids is what drives me to improve with every day. I see my limitations as a friendly challenge of building a stronger and happier person with every day.