I can truly say that fitness saved my life. Or, at least, greatly changed my quality of life. Black Friday 2014 my boyfriend (now husband) and I decided to enjoy dinner out. As we waited for our entrees something happened that no one would have ever expected. I had a stroke. 35 years old. Peak physical condition. And I had a stroke.
I still remember it so clearly. I was mid-sentence when the words came out a garbled mess. I stopped realizing what had happened and tried to speak again with the same result. Jason was sitting to my left and grabbed my arm. I saw him do it but couldn’t feel his hand on my arm. I could feel water running out of the left side of my mouth. He looked at me and said, ‘I think you are having a stroke.’ He knew the signs due to ads on sports talk radio (what are the chances). Facial drooping, arm weakness, slurred speech. I had it all. He quickly got under my left side and helped me to the car. The hospital was ½ mile down the road and he knew he could get there faster than an ambulance could even arrive.
We got to the hospital. A hospital I had passed 1,000 times. The side of the building said Stroke Trauma Center. I had never even noticed, but felt like I had guardian angels all around being that close to a hospital and a stroke trauma center on top of all else. He took me to the front desk and told them what had happened. The nurse had me smiled. I do so with just one side of my face. They wheeled me back right away and injected me with TPA.
As the night went on, I realized if I thought slowly, I could speak slowly. I was regaining movement in my extremities and face. Walking around the stroke wing was surreal and humbling. The scans began that night to see what had happened. One doctor thought I had a TIA (mini stroke) based on how quickly my body was recovering. The next day was filled with more test, OT and PT.
Three days later I walked out of that hospital on my own. No outpatient PT or OT. Every doctor and nurse that I worked with attributed my recovery to my level of physical fitness. If you take care of your mind and your body regularly, it will repay you. Don’t neglect it. Tomorrow isn’t promised. I am beyond grateful for all the support of the CrossFit community and for the opportunity to bring to people’s attention that fitness truly can change the quality of your life. For me, quite literally.
