My childhood had been plagued by lack of endurance and migraines. In my midlife, I found that miracles had kept me alive. I believe that I've always had an angel with me. In the last article, "Migraines and Miracles in My Life", I gave details of my life with migraines and the problems they caused and how I believed angels are always with me, keeping me safe and alive. There had been a beautiful snowfall on Thursday night in February, so school was cancelled and I didn't have to teach. I was being plagued by a severe headache that wasn't going away, even with medicine. Taking a break from cleaning, I thought I'd enjoy the weather and clear some snow from our driveway and boat for half an hour. The weather was sunny and warm, but I needed to finish my cleaning so I went back inside.



My youngest son had just gotten home from college and was talking to me when a big, loud pop happened. My ears were ringing and everything sounded funny. I was squatting in front of the television putting up videos. I asked my son to help me and he started laughing. I thought he was laughing because I asked him to help me. So, I repeated my request but he again laughed and asked what I was saying. I lifted my arm and waved over the videos to tell him that I wanted him to help me put the videos away but then realized that I wasn't talking right. I asked him to "come", to show him the videos but then I realized that my arm and hand were just flailing between the ceiling and the floor.

He quit laughing and hurriedly came to me and helped me get to the sofa and said there was something wrong with me. He took my blood pressure and told me to calm down. He wanted to call 911 but I shook my head and managed to say "wait". He continued to monitor me until his father came home within the hour. Within a couple of hours, I could speak a word or two, very slowly and decided that I must have had a TA, which is a 'small' stroke. It was late Friday and I didn't want to spend the weekend in the hospital, so I took it easy by trying to read and write. By bedtime, I wasn't writing very well or reading and understanding.

The next morning when I got up, I couldn't walk very well and still couldn't talk right, so I decided I needed to o see my doctor. She gave us a list of tests to have done after she scolded me for not going to the ER. After blood tests and MRI, I saw a neurologist, who confirmed it was a stroke. He tested to see what caused it but didn't find any of the usual things that are evident during a stroke. I didn't have high blood pressure or plaque in my arteries. I didn't smoke, I wasn't obese and did not have uncontrolled high cholesterol. The neurologist put me on blood thinners and sent me to a cardiologist who also started to perform tests. This story continues in My Stroke - Its Causes and My Miracles Part 2