It was Saturday September 24, 2005 a typical summer day in Phoenix, Arizona. HOT!!!!! I had come back from a drive clearing my head a bit. I had been arguing with my fiance' (now husband) so I went to "cool off" hard to do in the heat. LOL I had just put pork chops in the oven for dinner and went outside to watch the kids riding their bikes. My 6 year old (now 7) was showing off. He kept saying "watch me mom". I was sitting in the chair on my porch just watching him ride back and forth. All of a sudden I felt really dizzy. All I could think of at the time as to put my head between my knees as I had heard that before if you felt faint. It didn't help it started to get worse. I knew I had to do something because if I fainted I would be behind the rose bush and the kids wouldn't see me to help. I yelled at my son to get John (my husband). Just as I got the words out of my mouth he walked out the door and asked me what was wrong? I told him I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up one or the other. At that point I started throwing up. He stood by me to make sure I was ok. After several minutes I asked him to help me in the house as I didn't feel good. He helped me into the bedroom where I layed down. All I could think of was maybe I had the flue or food poisoning. No pain. No paralysis. Just felt sick as a dog. All I wanted to do was to make the world stop spinning. I hadn't felt like this in many years. It felt like I was really drunk. Have you ever been so drunk the world spins??? That was pretty mush the last thing I remember from that night. I went to sleep and just kept sleeping until the next day. On Sunday John was supposed to go to work but I was still sick so he decided to stay home and take care of the boys for me so I could get some rest. At this point every time I tried to sit up the world would spin sooo fast. It actually hurt. I didn't want to move at all. John had brought in some soup and I couldn't keep it down. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I have had the flu before but this was the worse I had ever had. All I did was sleep most of the day. When I was awake I would get sick and then go back to sleep. By Monday I told John he needed to go to work but I still felt the same. My 19 year old son stayed home and he had called my job to tell them I Had the flu or food poisoning and would not be in. John came home around 3 or 4 and I still was sick. We called the 24 hour nurse on my insurance who told me if I was not better in an hour I should go to the ER as I was probably dehydrating myself. I just kept telling John I was ok but just felt sick. By 6:00 I was still sick. After my son came in and told me "mom you need to go in and see what is wrong"we went to the ER. It took both of them to carry me to the truck as the world was still spinning and I knew I couldn't walk without falling over. After 45 mins I was taken back to be seen. After checking me out they sent me for a CAT scan (I don't even remember having it) At that point the doctor told be it looked like I had a stroke. I don't remember anything else until I had been admitted. I had had 2 cat scans and an MRI and yes it was confirmed I had had a cerabellar stroke. I slept a lot the next few days. Once I got into a spot on my bed where I didn't move because the world was still spinning. At that point I got the worse headache I have ever had in my life. I just layed in one spot and didn't move. After 5 days a therapist had come in and wanted me to try sitting up. LOL Yeah right. I told her if I tried I would pass out because the world was still spinning. John was there in the room with me when we tried. I slowly sat up and just looked at the therapist and said "I'm going" and down I went. I told her I would pass out. The look on John's face was of horror as I went down. Luckily I was sitting as there was no one there to catch me when I passed out. At that point they decided to wait a few days before trying anything else hoping that the spinning would stop. After a week they sent me over to the rehab hospital to get me on my feet. I was assigned a vestibular therapist who has dealt with cerebellar strokes. It was a slow process. I couldn't do much. I was soo tired and got dizzy very easily. The Drs had told me if I could get to the point that I could go to the bathroom with a walker on my own I could go home. Well 2 weeks later I was able to atleast walk to the bathroom so they sent me home. Well here it is 9 months later. I still have problems with double vision and balance. I walk like I am drunk sometimes but I am able to walk on my own. I am lucky that I have very light deficits. (If there is such a thing) I miss being able to do some of the things I used to be able to do but I would rather give them up to be alive and where I am now. I haven't gone back to work. (My job let me go after 10 years of service to them) and I still don't drive but I am working on that soon and then hopefully back to work to get some of the medical bills paid off. For now I have all of you to thank for helping me thru this site. I don't post much but I read a lot and have learned thru others. On February 4th of 2006 I got married to the man who stood by me thru it all. I don't know what I would have done without him. Maybe for our 1st anniversary we can do it again for all the friends and family as we got married by a minister and it was just to 2 of us. That is a whole noher story that I will post about soon. For now I just keep going and count my blessings for all that I have.

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