Heather Strong

A new me for a new year. After having another rough summer with a series of heart testing and CAT scans that came back inconclusive, am going back to work full time back to technology sales as that is what is my third passion (husband and kids being 1st and 2nd). Figured I should stop being afraid of what could happen and learn how to manage the stress that assisted in amplifying my stroke to begin with. Some only live once and many of us were lucky enough to get a second chance in whatever capacity you ended up with after having stroked. Not going to waste my second chance and will live every day as if it were my last and do all the things that I want to do.

June 2003 at age 28 when I had my CIA after a clot escaped from a undetected hole in my heart and then made it to my brain seems like such a long time ago.

I now only have begun to understand how very lucky I was to have survived in the present capacity that I am in after not making it to the hospital a full five hours after the stroke itself. Having been home alone with my two children then under the age of five as my husband was on a business trip, it is a miracle that I am even here to type this. After not being able to speak for a full month, my speech came back to the point where I am about 95% of what I was.

The only lasting effect of the stroke is that I cannot remember things as well as I used to, when I am tired my speech becomes slurred or hard to maintain and there are still issues with my heart palpitating a ton that has become painful. However on the bright side of things, I am still mobile and still have my drivers licence as the stroke did not damage my vision.

Having a stroke forced me to do the inevitable which is to take care of myself first which moms and working moms especailly do not do. My husband and I moved across the country to live in a quieter, less expensive place where our kids can play in a backyard with grass, not on concrete and we dont have to sit in two hour long traffic snarls just to get across town.

Having a stroke has forced me to lose weight that I have been carrying around for seven years since the birth of my first child and identify the reasons why I eat for comfort and to change long established habits for the better.

Peace and love to all in 2006!