I saw this instagram post about a girl who had a stroke in her 20s, suffered facial paralysis, and uses a wheelchair because walking is difficult for her.

Katherine Wolf is only a couple months younger than me and has lived for 16 years post-stroke. I once read that stroke survivors only live 5-10 years after having a stroke, so that gives me a little hope.

I consider myself v lucky after having a stroke at 41. You can’t tell from looking at me that anything’s wrong—I didn’t suffer any paralysis, so nothing’s droopy, I can still walk. The only things really affected were my balance (which wasn’t great before, as demonstrated by my attempts at snowboarding pre-stroke), my penmanship (which used to be impeccable, but now I only sign restaurant receipts and rent checks) and my voice (which I used to see a speech therapist for). I don’t like talking in person much or the phone because I sound a lot slower, and sometimes the pharmacy or whoever I’m calling can’t understand me and I have to repeat myself. I would rather text or email because you can’t tell anything’s wrong electronically. I’m still able to do my job as a graphic designer, I just work mostly on my laptop instead of my work desktop, because it’s easier now for me to use the trackpad on my Macbook than grip the pen tablet I used to use as a mouse on my desktop.

On the plus side, I have a Disabled Person placard for life so whoever’s driving me gets primo parking, I got a boatload in tax-free disability checks when I was on medical leave last year (which I saved because I assumed I’d have to pay taxes on that money), and I haven’t had one headache since the stroke (I used to take Excedrin every day for frequent migraines).

I haven’t driven since the incident, but I think once I get behind the wheel, it’ll be like riding a bike. The last time I rode a bike, I fell off, though, and I wasn’t that great of a driver before… I totaled my car before this, rear-ended someone in my new car, and drove from SD to LA after the stroke at night even though I had double vision and had to drive with one eye shut 😅 In my defense, I didn’t know I had a stroke until I went to the urgent care clinic a couple days later when I was still feeling off. They were like, ‘You drove here?!’ They wanted an ambo to take me to the emergency room at the hospital, but I wasn’t sure what my insurance covered, so I was like, ‘Nah, my friend, Nori, is down the street at work. She can take me.’ And that was the last time I drove!

I had a regular doctor’s appointment last week with my primary care physician, and she had good things to say about my progress. She took me off one of my pills, so now I only take 9 a day instead of 10 😅 My dad wanted to take me off the anti-depressants, too, because his friend’s wife used to take them, and she ended up committing suicide. I think they’re helping me, though, so I’m gonna keep taking them. Mama needs her Prozac 🤪 The doctor wants me to see a hematologist again, because she tests my blood every few months, and my white blood cell count has been consistently elevated every time. She said she wants to rule out any autoimmune diseases or blood cancers 😳

Welp, I’ll keep you posted! 😅