What are you having today, lemons or lemonade? Stroke survivors have clearly been burdened with bushels of lemons. When Neale Mahon received his shipment of lemons, he immediately began concocting the best batch of lemonade he could manage. Neale was born with a brain stem tumor that was discovered when he was 3 years old.…
While it can easily be argued that the metaphor “hit like a ton of bricks” may be a little old and over worked, it is nevertheless, an apt description of the way strokes can suddenly and powerfully devastate a life. And, if it is accurate to say that most stroke survivors felt like they were…
Strokes are not known for their subtleties. Nevertheless, on November 26, 2017 J. Neal Isaac got a subtle hint that his life was about to change in a devastating and dramatic way. He was on a routine drive when he noticed that his right foot did not have the same sensitivity as his left. He thought…
A red herring is a literary device that is sometimes used to draw an audience’s attention from the real plot by creating a distracting clue or event. Red herrings are fun and interesting when used in theater. A red herring applied to critical health issues is a much more dangerous situation. At 38 years old…
Strange how life can change. Two weeks before the stroke, I was in Maui with my son, Stephen. Less than one week before the stroke, I had a birthday party at my house, being 53 years old. Pictured is me in Hawaii right before my stroke. As you can tell, I was not too overweight,…
Denae Du Charme has a tattoo. It is a simple one. No skulls or fire or animal totems. In the center there is a red ribbon with a loop. Above the ribbon it says Stroke and below the ribbon, Survivor. Across the middle of the tattoo is a date, 4-2-2013, and written on the ribbon is Warrior, which is a fair…
“Dad, I can’t understand you.” John Lummis was at work having a phone conversation with his son when he began having trouble moving his left arm and leg. Initially the arm numbness led him to think he was experiencing the first signs of a heart attack. But when he began having trouble with his speech…
Nine years ago Missi Hedrick went to bed and fell asleep in one world and awoke the next day in an entirely different world. Before February 15, 2011 the world Missi knew was pretty normal for a 41 year old single mom with 3 kids. There was her work at the medical research firm where…
Prior to February 24, 2012 if you were going to pick someone who appeared least likely to be a candidate for a stroke Gwen Myslinski would have been a very good pick. A lifetime of sports and high level athletic competition endowed her with strength, vigor, cardiovascular conditioning and health. Plus, Gwen had a wealth…
By Tanya Fermin Less than two years ago I was living my best life. I am a filmmaker/singer/actress and my first film was being shown at film festivals and was optioned to be shown on television-Nationwide! I am an advocate for teaching people to have the conversation about death, dying and end-of-life decision making. In addition, I had just finished filming the last scenes of…