Strokeaversary!

Today is my "Strokeaversary!"

A year ago today I had a stroke. Yeah, I thought I was "too young" to have a stroke too. But surprise, surprise, here I am. Stroke survivor.

In the year since, I have taken charge of my health and have really began to listen to my body. I am healthier than I ever have been before. I am more aware of what goes into my body, work out at least 3 times a week and my strength and endurance have improved dramatically.

I do still notice some after effects. 

I continue to have a lisp, especially at the end of the day when I am most tired. But the bonus to having a job where one talks all day long is that the opportunity to practice pronunciation and over enunciate is never ending.

I still notice weakness on my right side. When we are lifting weights in my class, I can see in the mirrors, that I can't quite raise my right arm as high as my left, Similarly, balance exercises on my right foot are shaky at best. But Trudi says she can see the improvement in me since I started almost a year ago.

There has definitely been some damage to my short term memory. Long term seems fine but I find myself writing things down just to retain it, just from the short distance between my bosses office and my desk. It takes hearing something seven times to commit it to memory. For me, it is more like ten.

The most disheartening is the recall for my vocabulary. Any one who knows me well, knows that the ability to express myself thoroughly, has always been very important to me. I find myself reaching for the most common words. It is like I have lost the ability to form complete sentences.

But I am alive.

And for that, I am grateful.