Claudia – Why I share my story
Claudia is a stroke survivor from Wichita, Kansas who shares her story in honor of American Stroke Month.
I want to share my story so I can bring awareness to others that may be going through something similar as I did. Many people don’t know about F.A.S.T (Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and Time to call emergency services) or wouldn’t imagine a younger person could have a stroke but it can happen to anyone! At the time of my stroke, I was a healthy 25-year old non-smoker with no medical history. I exercised and ate healthy, around mid-February I was diagnosed with flu type b and an infection in my left ear by a P. A , she instructed me to follow up in a month if my ear pain continued a month passed, and the ear pain didn’t get better so I headed back to Immediate Care explained to the P.A that the pain was still present she examined my ear and told me the infection was clear and advised me to take OTC pain meds. The medications helped So, I continued about my day. The following morning, I woke up with a headache that I thought was due to tiredness. My boyfriend suggested I get more sleep. I woke up around 5:00 pm feeling worse, and that’s when things started getting weird, my phone began to vibrate and I couldn’t move my finger to turn on my phone, I asked my boyfriend for help, he showed me the text, but I was unable to read it. He was very confused by the way I was acting. I began talking to him, but he could not understand me. I felt confused that I couldn’t communicate, he then called for help, and we went to my parents’ house and then to the E.R. No one knew what was going on. Nurses started asking me simple questions, I couldn’t answer, my ear pain was getting worse, so I placed my hand over my ear that’s when a nurse finally asked my family about my ear they filled her in on what had been going on. After a CT scan showed a blood clot in my left transverse sinus vein. I had an angiogram then a thrombectomy. Unfortunately, the first attempt to remove the clot was unsuccessful and I had two seizures during the procedure, the second attempt was done through a different route and was successfully. I woke up from the surgery visually impaired had slurred speech, unable to read, walk or move my arms and fingers, I spent a month in and out of ICU and 2 more months of home doing P.T and O.T to help with my recovery. There were moments, I was in so much pain and frustrated with my condition that I wanted to give up but through patience and lots of prayers, I’m happy to say I fully recovered with minor issues headaches and a slight vision problem with my right eye. I’m working full time and also a mommy to my seven-year-old daughter. Never stop believing because miracles do to happen!
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