My stroke story

On February 2, I was reading in bed at around midnight. I realized my vision looked strange, and I put my book down on my chest. Then I dropped the book (we think) on the floor, which woke Neal. I tried to speak, but my speech was garbled. Neal called 911 right away.

The last thing I remember was seeing my neighbor, Mary Ellen, waving, while I was wheeled into the ambulance. It's probably good that I don't remember much, since apparently I threw up a lot. 

No headaches, no warning signs proceeded before the stroke.

I was rushed to Mt Auburn Hospital, then transferred to MGH. I was in brain surgery by about 3:00am.

I had a brain hemorrhage on my left side (I think it was in the parietal lobe, but I would have look up in medical records) . The surgeons stopped the bleeding and clean it up.

I stayed at MGH for nine days, then I was transferred to Spaulding Rehab Hospital for about six weeks.

They think that I had a malformation my brain, but they never found a "smoking gun." The doctors at MGH ran every test imaginable, including an angiogram, but found nothing.

Before the stroke, I was healthy and reasonably active, taking care of my two kids.  

My neurosurgeon estimates about 30% of patients of brain bleeds like this have no known cause.

The hemorrhage left me with several souvenirs: expressive aphasia; right side weakness; diminished sensation; motor planning problems.