Nine months ago today, I woke up at 4:00 a.m. having a stroke. Sometimes it seems like I have always been a stroke survivor and sometimes it seems like it just happened a couple of months ago. Thankfully, it no longer feels like it was just yesterday. That's a milestone!

I wonder sometimes if I will ever feel like the old me again. I wonder if I will always be haunted by this fatigue that can just wash over me in an instant, and usually when I'm not in a place where I can just collapse like I would like to.

There are times that I no longer notice I have lost all my right side vision, and times when it seems like it just happened all over again. The claustrophobia engulfs me and my brain struggles to try to see what it can't.

I have come so far since the beginning, when my sister tells me I couldn't speak above a whisper and I could barely walk around the block one time with assistance. I have long since given up the cane and I can even drive now!

I count myself among the fortunate, that the stroke obviously affected my life, but now does not consume every minute of it. I am working two days a week again and even though some days I feel I can't make it to the end, I feel grateful that I can even attempt it. I'm finally feeling well enough to do some things around the house that I've been puttting off and am again waking up with high (although my high is quite a bit lower than it used to be!) expectations for the day ahead. It feels good to be able to say that.