I Laugh...

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my obsession with The Golden Girls. I would watch every episode with my grandparents when I was little laughing at dirty jokes not fully knowing what they meant but happy that there was a show out there that could comfort me and make me think that these women were my Aunties. Even today, I hunt online for episodes hoping there is one I missed, a new episode, a lost episode, something I haven't seen before so I could feed my obsession.

As I get older, my friends and I relate to these 4 women more and more. We actually get all the dirty jokes and look try and figure out which Golden Girl we are. As of this year, I'm Sophia (the shortest in the red). I love being able to relate to things she says even though I'm over 50 years younger than her. "Ah, every day you forget something new". I think I laughed for a good 5 minutes yesteray as I saw a re-run.

The same goes for cartoon comedies of today. One of my favorite cartoons is Family Guy. Recently, I saw an episode where the patriarch, Peter, has a stroke which paralyzes the left side of his body (hemiplegia). This epi makes fun of his condition and while I know that is wrong, helloooo, sometimes we need to laugh. What good is anything if we can't laugh at life and experiences? The episode goes on and Peter is seen dragging his lifeless arm and leg through everyday activities. While crass, again, I laughed. At the end of the epi, Peter is cured of his ailments through the use of stem cells.

I guess what I'm trying to say is when your ailments get you down, laugh. It beats walking around feeling sorry for yourself. Ice cream sundaes can only get you so far right?

Stroke Joke

Friend: So your memory is kind of shot from the stroke?
Me: Yeah, it sucks.
Friend: What kinds of things do you forget?
Me: I don't remember!

*Rimshot

Bonding...

Today I met up with my Dad who was up for a visit from the Caribbean. I love my father. He's awesome. I could talk about him forever. He needs his own blog.  That's how epically awesome he is.

Over some iced coffee and creme brulee that he's not supposed to have (hello heart attack), we spoke about  stroke. I often forget that he also had a stroke...and a heart attack at the same time in 2001. We made fun of memory loss and other things that happened to us. That was the first time we had spoken about his stroke and mine. I felt a new level of closeness between us. It's awesome that we can share experiences, even the bad ones.

I love my Daddy.

The Good Die Young

This is more of a reflective post not concerning stroke but concerning life.

Yesterday, I was saddened to hear of a friend's brother's passing. He was only 33. Healthy, young, full of life and taken. His heart simply stopped. Isn't that something? It just stopped. You think you can prevent anything by eating healthy and taking care of yourself and then life throws you a curveball. I often think that at this age, we are too young to die but when I really get down to it, when I was younger I was saying the same thing when my parents or aunts or uncles had friends pass...They were in their 30s so it really shouldn't come as a surprise to me that these things happen. You can die. You're not invisible. You can break.

We often think that nothing can touch us, that nothing can happen or that it happens to someone else and never to us per se. I don't know...I guess it's moments like these that make us open our eyes if not for just a moment so we can slow down and just be. Ignore the perils of everyday and just pause and recognize that we aren't untouchable and to cherish each and every moment.

Seriously...stop and smell the flowers.
R.I.P. Peter...When I think of you, I always see a kind smile on your face. You will be missed.

Pregnancy After Stroke

Today, I read an article about a woman who suffered over 3 miscarriages. The article was about how sometimes nature just isn't being nature and that there could be serious medical reasons why she was losing so many babies.

One of the reasons was clotting. This freaked me out because I'd like to think that one day I'll have a couple of young scrappers in my life and now that seems a little uncertain. Stroke victims have a risk when they carry. When I was reading this, I started to remember all the bad feelings, hurts and pains I had while recovering and the symptoms I had leading up to the stroke. I DO NOT want to have another one and that seems to be a very real risk if/when I get pregnant.

I know you can get your blood tested for levels of antithrombin and things like that but do I really want to risk that? I already have slightly below levels for certain proteins....what if this ends up hurting me? Having a family is a ways off for me but it's still something I should think about. Hmm...