(Sorry to those who received this in an email…I’m feeling a little lazy)

Sometime Saturday evening I started talking oddly. Slurred speech. We wrote it off to my tongue being irritated due to dental stuff. Then Sunday after the paper came, I sat down with the crossword and I realized I couldn’t write normally. So I pulled out a piece of paper and tried to write my name. oh – and the night before I had tried typing a little note to a friend but was having a great deal of difficulty but I wrote it off to being tired and just went to bed. Anyway, I took out a sheet of paper and couldn’t even write my name. It was at this point I began to get upset. I realized I couldn’t communicate. Can’t talk, can’t write, cant type. Kelly agreed that I should go to the doctor on Monday. I don’t have insurance, mind you. Anyway Monday the doctor says my symptoms are consistent with a condition called Bell’s palsy except Bell’s only affects the face. The hand issues are incongruent. So while he thinks it is probably Bell’s palsy, he wants me to go to the ER because he wants to rule out the possibility that I’ve had a stroke. When he said that, my heart dropped. That has been in the back of my mind since the first night but I had yet to say it out loud.  Needless to say, I did not go to ER Monday night.

Little did I know that it is impossible to get a same day appointment with a neurologist. Ultimately they all said the same thing – go to the ER. Grumbling and frustrated, I went to the ER. As luck would have it, it was a slow day so I got seen pretty quickly. Well, every doctor (and there were several) had me do the same neurological tests – squeeze my fingers, follow my finger with your eyes, give me resistance when I push like this, etc. I finally told Kelly that if I had to squeeze one more finger, I was leaving. Well I did have to squeeze another finger and, no, I didn’t leave. But it was this last finger that pointed at me and indicated that I needed to be admitted to the hospital for further tests. I was adamantly against that but because of Kelly’s rational mind and the logic presented to me by a nurse, I was eventually convinced. Might I note that my frustration level was already through the roof because I couldn’t communicate yet several doctors had come in and asked me the same questions over and over (please, if you’re a doctor or studying to be a doctor, please, please read the damn chart before you go in and ask the patient the same questions that other 4 doctors before you have asked). Basically, it was explained to me that they thought I had a stroke and wanted to do some tests.

So I was admitted. And to Presbyterian’s credit, the expedited the tests rather quickly. Almost all were completed the first night. A few were scheduled for the following morning. But all the tests indicated that, yes, it was a stroke. I am 32 years old. So this was a fascinating case for them. What would make a 32 year old stroke? While I love to be the topic of conversation, I usually like to contribute to the conversation. With my compromised speech, however, I was forced into the role of listener. But don’t think I didn’t try to put my two cents in. Alas, that only added to my frustration making me somewhat indignant. One thing that one of the many doctors who travelled through my ER room said stuck with me – “You never want to be an interesting case.”

After they ran all the tests (and I mean ALL the tests), I was pretty eager to get out of there. They never did put their finger on what caused it. And I ran out of there before they could give me any referrals to a speech therapist and occupational therapist.  Luckily, I have friends from an old job that do occupational and speech therapy so I’m hoping to contact them to find out what I need to do next. Plus, the ole internet should have plenty of information to get me started.

Not having insurance really puts a limit on what is available. But I’m feeling pretty lucky that the damage wasn’t worse. I’m heading back to work next week. You know me – stroke, car accident, coma, nothing can stop me from working. I can’t leave the people who need me out in the cold…now, making them wait, well that is a different story. Ha ha.

But seriously, my speech is improving. All I have to do is concentrate. Writing will take some more time but I’m sure it will come back. And so will sewing. Then I’ll be back to normal. Well, as normal as I get anyway. I guess the powers that be thought life was going too well for me and that I needed a new challenge. But I’ll tackle this the same way I’ve tackled other obstacles in my life. What doesn’t kill us,…