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Videos realted to Health, uploaded by TSC members

• Humbling and Frustrating
• A miraculous recovery

On june 15th, 2005 I was home from college and living my life like an average 18 year old. When out of nowhere I suffered a massive brainstem stroke. Like several young people I had no idea what stroke or heart disease was, but I was in fact walking around with an undetected birth defect, a PFO.  I never knew about the hole in my heart until I was in the emergency room fighting for my life. I spent the next month and a half relearning how to walk, talk, dress myself and other simple daily tasks that we all take for granted. I never realized how valuable something like walking was until I lost it. Not only did I have to relearn how to do things like talk, walk, tie my shoe and drive, but I also had to relearn how to do things like tell a joke, make friends, when its appropriate to laugh, how to start a conversation... A stroke is a lifetime journey. I've been continuously improving but I now understand why I need to take care of my body. I am now a first time mom working a full time job and returning to college. I still deal with the aftermath of my stroke everyday but I finally feel like a "normal" young adult. I enjoy sharing my story with other young people to inform them of things they have probably never thought about.