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Samantha S.  Survivor February 7, 2012 started out as a great day. I was in the best of moods and felt like nothing could stop me. I was in my last semester of college and had a big interview coming up. I was out running errands all morning and came home to do some homework. I was about ten minutes into my homework when suddenly I couldn't read, write or talk anymore. I thought I had just wore myself out. When I started talking again about 10 minutes later, I was slurring my words. I knew instantly, something was wrong. My boyfriend drove me to the hospital where they did blood tests and a CT and everything came back negative. They misdiagosed me as having an allergic reaction. They gave me a steroid shot, and sent me home. What had actually happened, was I had a TIA. The before symptoms of a stroke. I got home in the late afternoon and woke up around 8:15 a.m. on February 8, 2012 and my speech was slurred again. Once again my boyfriend drove me to hospital, but on the way there something changed in my face, I looked in the mirror and noticed when I smiled, the right side of my face wouldn't move. I knew then that I was having a stroke. After a lot of tests and many doctors we found out what happened. The doctors described it as a one in a million chance, the perfect storm, I had a small hole in my heart and a clot got into my heart, my heart beat at just the right moment sending the clot through the hole and into my brain. My birth control caused the clot. I now was facing my right hand (and I'm right handed) not working, my right face not working, and slurred speech. It has been two weeks since my stroke and I have recovered faster than the doctors ever would have realized. I have most of the movement in my hand and face, and my slurred speech is at it's minumum. I did lose some of my periferal vision out of my right eye, but not much. And doctors are not sure if I'll gain full strength back in my face. Thanks to a loving family, friends, boyfriend, and God I was able to make it through ok. Although I still have a heart surgury to go through, all will be ok. I have postponed graduating college until December and am not currently working. But I have faith that through it all, I will become a stronger person. |
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