It's hard to believe it's been 10 years ago. My life could have ended and I would have missed My daughter getting married, the birth of 4 beautiful grandchildren, truly knowing God and a peace that is unexplainable.
I woke up August 2001 just like any other morning. My husband did not normally work from home. That morning he was. I went to walmart to get stain to refinish a coffee table. I got home and got started. After an hour or so, I began to get dizzy and nauseated. I thought the fumes were making me sick. My head started hurting. I had migraines off and on since I was in my 20's. I went inside , sat in front of the AC vent and told my husband to get me a glass of water and a wet rag. Then it hit, a pain in my right temporal region that felt like a mega brain freeze when you drink something frozen. He said by the time he filled the glass with water that I was laying on the floor with my eyes rolled back. In a panic he called 911. They took me to our small town hospital. The doctor there did a scan and told my husband, "she's having a stroke" I was only 41. They told him they could get me to the larger hospital quicker by ambulance than life flight.
I was out, didn't know anything going on. When I got to the hospital, the neurosurgeon was waiting. He told my husband I had about 20 minutes to live. I can't imagine how he must have felt. He said he was signing the papers as they all ran down the hall that allowed the doctors to insert a pressure gauge. The next day I went in for the first of two surgeries. The surgeon cut a large circle out of the right temporal region and laid my skull back down. This allowed the brain to swell without pressure. Apparently that went well because the next day they put me in a straight jacket and tied me to the bed. I kept trying to get up and find water to drink...lol After a few days was the major surgery where they clipped the ruptured berry aneurysm. There were two. After a few days in icu I was moved to a room to recover and be monitored. I was in and out and did not seem to be to upset that I was bald headed and had a head that looked like a railroad track. Eventually I was moved to the rehab section where I stayed a month.
My husband said he was scared to death as we rode home. Wondering how he was to care for me and if he could. I chose the couch to recover. I had terrible vasospasums. (cramps in the brain). I would lay with an icepack on my head which seemed to help. It took about 2 months to fully recover. The only side effect that I have is that I can't raise my right eyebrow, the grand kids think this is funny. Not bad considering.
I know this will sound strange to some. I feel truly blessed that this happened. God got my full attention! It got me in church where I met God again, it has made all the issues I face seem so incidental. What is important to me now is that I put the Lord first and enjoy the gift of having grandchildren. I look at his creation so different. I'll take the dirt road anytime I can. Enjoy the smell and sound of the forest. Spend more time with family, listen more closely, hug a little tighter and laugh as often as I can.
Thank you Lord for getting my attention
Vickie