I have a story for you, this is an experience that changed my perspective forever. My life changed on July 23rd 2026 forever, I was on the way home from day care with my son in the back seat. While I was driving my foot went numb and I felt “off” and it hit me like the floor dropping from beneath me, I thought it was having a stroke.
My life as I knew it in that moment flashed before my eyes. All I could think of was meeting Father Time, and I was not ready and my son’s life was at risk. I knew I could safely get home, because I was only 3 minutes out. so I arrived home and limped inside with the car on, and my wife drove me to the hospital. We called 911 on the way. Twelve minutes later, I throw myself out of the vehicle and my entire right side is numb and I crawled to a wheel chair. Leaving my son and my wife in the car, I’m fully thinking to myself I’m going to burden them if I even make it out of this alive.
Fastforward the waiting room, the doctor is asking me questions and I just said “I need TNK and my speech is about to go” I felt the symptoms of what feels like tingling crawling over my head in my hair, “reaching” to my cheek, mouth, and tongue. – here we are trapped in my body, and everyone just keeps asking me the day, where we are, my name and what’s happening to me…. this is dreadfully – terrifying. What really gets me is they keep asking and I can’t even answer them fully or normally if at all. They test my blood sugar and I get a CT, I hear an announcement “stroke team ED, stroke team ED” called overhead…. That’s only for one reason… I’m the reason. I can’t help but think to myself some colorful language, and this all must be some terrible nightmare and I need to wake up right f-ing now. I’d be way more riled up if I could move at all is what I’m thinking, and I think I’m surprisingly calm for what’s going on. Then provider hooks my up to the BP cuff, and checks my blood pressure, it’s 168/101… I think to myself… more colorful language and that this is a new record for me. If I make it through this I’ll have to keep track.
Ive made it to what I believe is my VIP suite the stroke room and there’s at least 8-10 people in here, but the only one that matters in here is my wife. She said Riley is safe with her mom and not to worry. Everyone else in here can disappear, if I’m about to die its gonna be seeing her face and the rolodex playing in my mind – yes I was seeing a rolodex of all the best moments of my life. It was dreadful. My wife held my hand, and tears run down her beautiful face, and I try to memorize her face and sketch it in my mind. The doctor says I need you to go to your happy place because my blood pressure is way too high. Sketching her face in my mind and envisioning our son Riley at home playing with us on the floor of the family room makes me feel wholesome. Also what comes to mind is I have so much more to live for and to do for this world.
After some brief discussion, the on call neurologist gives the go ahead to give the TNK. I’m worsening, the doctor nudges my arm to stay awake. I pray an our father, a Hail Mary, and feel some energy and I’m telling that energy I’m not ready to leave this world, I have more to do, more people to help, a son to raise with a wife who doesn’t deserve this. I’m forgetting the questions I’m being asked every minute or so. It takes me more than a minute to get a few words out, and my right side I can hardly lift more the a few inches… The pharmacist there confirms the dosing with the doctor. I am informed of the severe bleed out risk with the clot busting medication, and we ask questions but it’s not like I have any other “options”. Im 31 years old, what am I gonna do say no to trying? what am I nuts? I decide to receive the TNK and we hold our breath. I pray, hope, dream, cry, plea, scream on the inside 3000 times…. for a miracle.
They tell me I’m going to the ICU, I’m going to receive neurological checks every 15 minutes for the next few hours, then every 30 minutes a few hours after that, then every hour for the rest of the 24 hours. The Nurses are spectacular, they start talking with my wife, who I feel might as well be a widower than deal with me after this. I’m gonna be a wreck… Then all the sudden while in the Stroke room with the nurses talking to me, I start to talk and can feel my hand and arm come back with feeling. Soon after that, my legs start to have feeling as well, less numbness and tingling and my face as well.
They do a neurology check and I can lift my arms and legs with the exception of some tremor in them, but I’m strong. My inner monologue goes something like the following: “What the hell just happened to me. There’s no way I can do this without any issues. Thank god I can speak, and I’m still alive. This is unbelievable, there has to be a catch to this”. They whisk me up to the ICU. I get to see the PA covering and he’s very nice. The PA does a neurology assessment… once he’s done he says “oh my god, it worked.” With the biggest smile I’ve seen from a PA in an ICU before. The nurses once again are great, being in an ICU fully conscience and after the experience I’ve had is necessary, but definitely do not recommend. I hardly sleep, I can only think about staying awake since the incident. I worry if I fall asleep, something might happen to me. I need to make it home to my son and see him again. I think to myself, I can do this. It’s a long road, but I can and I will fight. I stay up, meet the endless providers. Long story short, I need to get an MRI to confirm what the brain damage is, but this happens 24 hours after the TNK is given.
The ICU is a busy place, with a lack of privacy. But I don’t care. If this is rock bottom and what a wake up call is meant to look like, message received. I’m 31 years old and having a stroke, and everyone I see tells me I’m not supposed to be here, yet here I am. I get the full work up, the Echocardiogram, the bubble test, the genetic lipid gamut, and the best of the best providers in the country. The neurologist I’m seeing little did I know graduated first in her class and these residents she is teaching all are going to the school she went to. I feel cared for… I should feel better… but I can’t help but worry about…. if this is going to happen again and what damage has been done.
You ever talk to someone and can’t help but think of something else that’s missing from the conversation? Like this other aspect matters too much to forget about? – When we speak to the providers I can’t help but remember I was getting the worst headaches leading up to this event. Additionally I was getting terrible dizzy spells, it all started when the wildfires came in from Canada. I brought this up to them, and they discussed that this could have played a part in the event. I was started on sumatriptan before to help the headaches, but it just made me drowsy, and interestingly I had my first dose 24 hours before this whole event happened. Something else to note is that drug shouldn’t be used in people with a history of stroke. I haven’t had a stroke before, but now that’s completely changed, my whole life has changed now. But I had a feeling that to make sure this doesn’t happen again, these headaches need to be managed, and I’m not taking sumatriptan ever again.
God bless this resident for listening to me, because everyone seemed to be so focused on the stroke and neurology exams that I hadn’t been getting anything for the headaches, so they went ahead and tried something for me for the headaches. Before the MRI they gave me a “migraine cocktail”. Its a mixture of things, IV fluids, IV Magnesium (which hurts like a bitch during infusion – no its not just potassium IV that hurts), oral Benadryl, ibuprofen, compazine and I was pretty tired after all that. Soon after that I’m brought to the neurology stroke unit. It’s where patients go after their ICU vacation has come to an end, I’m placed in a room with a roommate. I am someone that thinks if you can’t be in a peaceful place, then create your own peace somehow and make the best of your situation, being rude or irritable helps no one – ear plugs and and an eye mask go a long way for creating your own peace. I actually met the person next to me and his son Moson, his father has issues and he cares for him. His son spent the night with him, and he lives with his father… in the hospital something like this hit me differently than it would out in the world. The world feels smaller in the hospital, and the people around you matter is my perspective
I am called for my MRI, and the thing that stood out the most is that it’s bone chilling cold in that area. It’s over and done, and I’m brought back to my room. Where my fierce companion wife is there in my room despite it being past visiting hours, she managed to see me one last time after the big scan was done. I slept that evening, and knew the results would be in by morning. I expected some hard conversations were to come, and I needed to be ready for that.
Morning time comes sooner in the hospital, there’s no blinds on windows and my door had to remain open with the hallway lights on because of my bunk mate. Like I said, eye mask 🙂 But its time for blood work, my breakfast comes and its not half bad. I meet the med student, she is amazing as always, then the resident and then the hospitalist says this is all in the neurologists hands, the MRI is not back yet with results. My wife shows up, and I shortly see a what football fans would call a “huddle” forming outside my room…. that must be for me.
My wife and I rearrange the chairs since I have a cramped area and I hold my breath and what feels like dissociate from my body as they walk in. My inner monologue is something between prepared for the worst and hoping I can live a normal life with my family…. I tell my self I’ll do everything I can to move forward and get better.
The Neurologist says my MRI results are back and my heart skips a beat even writing this my body jumps at that memory. I am in my hospital gown curled up in a ball because, underneath I’m feeling vulnerable, like it’s all out in the open now that scan is back and she knows what’s up. I look at my wife, and I’m empty inside. I’ve just spent 40 hours trying to stay alive, and probably slept 4 hours. I have a giant bruise on my back I named Patrick and they marked it with a marker to make sure to track to see if it the bleeding under my skin is going to get any worse. I am a fricking train wreck, pent up like guy that wants to run through a some dry wall. I probably would try that at this point to feel something other than the dread and anxiety inside me. I hold it together though as they pull up my chart and start with the history of my event.
The neurologist asked the fellow to pull up the MRI to show me, and she said the words I was not expecting to hear, “it’s good news”. My body was in shock, and I get up on my knees to look at the screen myself and there it is, picture by picture by picture, zero brain damage… this wave of blood rushes to my face and eyes and I leak the heaviest tears I’ve ever had in my life. Fully in front of this whole neurology team. My wife is also water works as she is just as much in this hell hole as I am and has been doing so much, and we are thankful I am going to live… I am going to walk out of here, and breath, and see my son, my family and spread the love and speak the words to others they should know.
That morning we discussed that migraines can have different… auras, and presentations. I have what they called a complex migraine. They are fairly certain I either had that or a TNK aborted stroke, so I start treatment for both… They said my presentation seems to be that my mirgaines are quite severe, and can mimic a stroke so it’s important to start a treatment for prevention. Auras are tingling of the limbs, numbness of the limbs and face, and it can even impact my speech, but I am not going to die when they present. If there’s ever a worry about a stroke, go to the ED…
A few hours later, that’s right, just hours later I do an assessment with PT and I’m out of the hospital. I was started on nurtec for PRN use but I need to follow up with outpatient neuro for a real preventative plan.
I came home and hugged my son who looked at me in shock sort of at first, like it had been a while. It was a hug I’ll never forget. I saw family, and felt wholesome. It was the beginning of a chapter that I didn’t know how hard it was going to be. This definitely was not in my bingo card for 2026. My wife said to me that she looks at photos of us and she said these people in the picture have no idea what’s about to happen to them (referring to this dreadful event). To that I say, these people have no idea what they are made of quite yet and someone was watching over them. At least I can say I would be around to tell the tail. What started off as a stroke and what seemed to be a my life flashing before my eyes, was a second chance at life and a fresh perspective on what living looks like for me. I will at least be with those that I love the most and get see what I am made of, this story is my miracle.
Thanks for reading my story of my miracle. More to come, as the story continues…
-Slice
Sliceanddice 