When you hear about a person whose had a stroke what is the picture that comes to you?
Many times when someone asks me about my stroke, I get these reactions: “You are too young to have had stroke!” or “you look good for someone whose had a stroke.”
If you had asked me a couple of years ago what I think a stroke “victim” would look like, I would have said “old, wheelchair bound and frail.”
I had never pictured myself a stroke survivor. Other than high blood pressure, which I thought I had under control, I did not think I was at risk for a stroke. I lived a healthy, active life. I am learning now that stroke does not discriminate.
These are the faces of stroke: Men and women of all ages, from all walks of life. All of them fighting, surviving, thriving.
I would like to thank the men and women who shared their pictures so I can hopefully change public perception about stroke survivors.
Part of my therapy, my exercise routine is to go for a walk on days that I do not go to the gym. My very good friend and forever neighbor sent me a text asking if I wanted to go for a walk, it was a bit unusual since it was Thursday afternoon and she is usually at work. I jumped at the chance. To be honest, I have been slacking off on my walks. I have been to the gym and use the elliptical or the treadmill. So off we went. I love our walks Tammy and I, we have known each for ages, since our kids were toddlers. We used to spend many summer afternoons well into the evenings playing at the park. Our kids covered head to toe with sand. We’ve had to spray them off with the hose on at the front yard before going inside. Now, our kids are teens, now busy with their own lives . So it is just now Tammy and I reminiscing about the good old days. We also vent, talk about our day, our week our lives. So there we were, on a warm Thursday afternoon walking down familiar paths that we have walked many, many times. We turn around to get back home and I see that my Runkeeper was at 1.85 miles, I of course wanted, no needed to make it to 2 miles. I asked Tammy if it would be ok if we walk to end of the street and around the corner to make it to two miles. I was pushing myself, trying to walk faster and all of the sudden, I feel myself going down, I see the panic on Tammy’s face, I dropped my phone and as if on instinct the first thing I did was to STOP the Runkeeper app. A rush of frustration came over me when I saw that I fell at 1.99 miles! Ok. ok some of you might just shrug it off and think it is no big deal, but another runner would understand the frustration. I felt something warm on my arm, my running capris was dotted with little red spots, the pain now starting to creep up on me. A car pulled up as we sit on the sidewalk, blood dripping on my arm and pants. Two people come out of the car asking if we were ok.