THE SHOCK OF A LIFE TIME

Life may surprise you, and not always in a beautiful way. When I was a young boy, strong and healthy, playing sports, baseball, football, running track, riding a bike for great distances, having fun with friends climbing trees, walking to school, and walking the city streets. I would see some of the elderly folks moving around slowly with canes, people being helped by caregivers, people using walkers, being pushed around in wheelchairs, or not able to walk normally while struggling not to fall. I would think to myself, God, why don't you heal them so they can have a healthy life, or why did they let themselves get that way. The thought of being like them worried me. I should have exercised more ate better had more checkups, gotten plenty of sleep as a young person.

I always said, I would never let myself get like that. I thought, how can people let themselves get in that condition it always bothered me so much to see people suffering. As the years passed by, I thought I was untouchable health-wise I felt fine looked good on the outside but maybe not so good on the inside. I was not taking my doctor or my blood pressure and cholesterol medications seriously I thought I was healthy as a horse. Your life can change so quickly and unexpectedly. One day at work I had trouble signing my name and walking like I was a little drunk. I thought I must just be overtired and need some rest.

The next morning, I still felt very strange and decided to go to the emergency. To my surprise I had a stroke, luckily it did not kill me. However, I now need to use a wheelchair, walker, and cane and can't walk normally. Now I am asking myself, how did I let myself get this way? When you are healthy, you don't have to think first about how to eat food, stand up, walk, get dressed, shower, walk up and downstairs, and do everything you do daily automatically. After a stroke, you have to think about everything you do first, can I do it? Will I fall? Will I drop it? Learning to walk again, you have to think about every step you take and hold on to a walker or cane for support. When you eat you have to think how I will get the spoon to my mouth or will I drop the glass of water. Everything has to be thought out how to do it with much concentration.

My freedom and independence have gone in a split second; now not being able to drive, you are dependent on others to take you places; I can’t carry groceries, I can't go for long walks or hiking anymore, I can’t ride a bike and go on a long bike ride, I definitely can't go jogging. All these things that I can't do now are not easy to overcome, but I am trying to overcome them one day at a time and hoping to get my independence back, slowly, I will be back to normal someday I am positive of that. I count my blessing, I can see, I can hear, I can smell, I can taste, and I can experience life, maybe not the way I would like to, but I am still alive. So I am thankful, some strokes are deadly or a lot worse than mine.

If you are healthy, stay that way, exercise, eat healthy foods, listen to your doctor, and take advantage of being able to do whatever you want for the rest of your life.