Ville Magazine l Insider Access for City Lifestyle May/Jun 2016 / Health & Fitness Issue | Page 35
HEALTH CHECK
CM: During your stroke, you couldn’t get out of bed. Do you
remember or can you explain the physical effects that you were
experiencing?
BC: After driving home from the doctor’s office, I laid down on the couch
with my family dog Casper. Twenty minutes later I woke up to Casper
barking and running around the room frantically. I tried to get up and
calm him down and realized that half my body was asleep. I waited a
few minutes to see if it would come back, but it didn’t. My cell phone
was on the opposite side of the room, so I basically had to drag half my
body weight across the room to grab it and call my mom.
CM: What was going through your mind at the time?
BC: I remember feeling scared, because I had no idea what was going
on with me. I thought about how everyone would react if I didn’t make
it, and that thought was what motivated me after the stroke to not
allow myself to get depressed or wallow in my own misfortune. After my
mom arrived at the house and I saw her reaction, I knew whatever was
happening was not good. I remember feeling extreme guilt because I
felt responsible for making her feel terrified. When my dad met up with
us at the emergency room, I remember the look on his face. His look is
probably the one I will remember for the rest of my life. My dad never
cried, except when my grandpa died, and the look that he had on his
face crushed me.
CM: Do you still experience side effects from the stroke?
BC: Yes. Recovery from brain injuries is usually measured in years not
months. When you damage your brain in any way, it takes a long time
to rebuild old connections. I still deal with fatigue and also have a
dissected artery. Basically, my left artery collapsed on itself causing a
major clot to form and eventually break off, which cause the stroke and
affected the right side of my body. For 9 months after my stroke, I was
not able to fly and had to pay close attention to symptoms.
If I allow mysel