“Everybody has gone through something that has changed them in a way they they could never go back to the person they once were.” – unknown
“Hi, my name is Teresa and it has been two years since I had my stroke.”
I went to my Zumba class after dinner. Two songs after, I felt something different. I didn’t know what it was but I felt a bit disoriented, so I told my friend that I will just go home. Went to my car but I didn’t even know how to open the door of my car. Left? … right? What’s happening! I finally was able to open my car door, sat there for a bit and I decided to call my husband. But… how do I call him? I look at my phone and stared at it and I don’t even know which button to push. Hmmmm after a few minutes I was able to call my husband and we went home.
But that wasn’t it… that was just the start of my long ordeal … severe head pains which I can’t even remember up to now (in a way that’s a good thing) but it was my husband who told me that I was in extreme pain while I was waiting for the doctor. Then when the doctor saw me, he requested for an ambulance and sent me straight to the ER.
( Fast forward… One year after my stroke, last November 2018, I was given the ok to travel again. And that has been a huge part of my recovery process, because as what Oprah said: “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.” 😉
… loss of vision. My friend and my husband was in the hospital with me. I slept most of the time but when I woke up I asked her where my husband was and she pointed to him and said that he was just there. I turned my head just a bit and I saw him there, and that’s when I learned that I couldn’t see much… just sort of a tunnel vision.
(Fast worward… Last year I had passed the visual field test/driving exams and was allowed to drive again).
… loss of memory. Doctors came in and out of the hospital room asking me my name, what date it was, where I was, who the Prime Minister of Australia was and it was a struggle to know the response to such easy questions. Stroke impacts the brain, and the brain controls our behavior and emotions. I had feelings of irritability, forgetfulness, carelessness and confusion. Up to now, I am still having problems with my memory, information retention, short term memory, etc.
(Present… Doing this blog helped me so much. I am able to use my brain, practice with my grammar and even with the technical side of doing a blog. I have gone a long way from the first time that I was in Rehab when I get frustrated because I could not even remember how to turn on my phone.)
