I'm a Stroke Survivor!

It was probably one of the scariest things that could ever happen to somebody. I had just turned 57 years old. Out of my bad habit, drinking [ I had high blood pressure for over 5 years and I drank a lot. I stopped taking my medication because I thought my blood pressure had been normal for a while. Why should I keep taking a tiny pill every day-- Out of my stupidity--it happened! I fell on to the floor while trying to pick up my eyeglasses which had dropped on the floor inside my office,

It happened on the night of the 27th of December 2010, I was rushed to the emergency room of the Queen Sirikit Hospital, Sattahip.

My family from my hometown was contacted, my sister and brother drove 12 hours from the North of Thailand to Pattaya, visited me in the hospital and

With their connection, they managed to transfer me to the local Hospital in Nan, where I  woke up finally, and I realized that I couldn’t use my right side, I couldn't communicate so that somebody could understand me, and I just thought my life was over. It’s the most frightening thing in the world. Especially if you are a teacher and a writer who has been working in the business for over 15 years and that’s all you know, and now you can’t even talk. It’s absolutely petrifying!

After the initial feelings of not wanting to go on, you realize that there are people who care about you and there are things that you can still do and be the person that you want to be IF you have the determination.

Once that determination is made, then you go to work and do it. And, it took me 60 days in the hospital of solid, constant therapy. During that time, my therapy was 5 hours a day, seven days a week for my hand, my arm, and my leg. Now, I am out of the hospital and we do therapy one or two hours a day, four or five times a week.

I think that everybody has a button. Everybody has a button that somebody can push. 

My button just happens to be a computer. That was my passion. I had been using a computer for 20+ years, Now I’m having my stroke, The rehabilitation doctor walked into my hospital room about 5 days after I had my stroke. He said, "You’ll never be able to use your hands [to type] again the way you did before, if at all. You’ll never work again. You'll probably not really work again in the same business." But, when he said that I'd never be able to use the computer as well as before again, he really pushed my button. And when that button was pushed, I knew that I WOULD do it; I knew that I would work again. I knew that I would be able to do right for my family. But that button was the one thing that put me over the edge.

So, after I decided that I could do it, I got up and tried every way of doing it. It was my ‘job’ for over 16 weeks to make myself better. And eventually, it worked. I’m back. I am typing with one finger, Now I can walk, talk, eat. I have a, 30 year-old (Adopted)son, who can run the business for me, A year-old granddaughter, and a lot of people who care about me. And, I have a story to tell people: If they have determination, if they have that inner person that is willing to actually go out there and grab something and shake it up to the point where they make it work for themselves, then they can succeed — not just at beating the disease, but at beating anything else!!

Written on 27/12/2012

My stroke recovery journey

Lost In My Own Thoughts