Please ignore any misspelled words, part of personal therapy is using affected side while on familiar keyboard.
I was lucky. My day started as usual on December 15th. About 10:30 a.m. I had a sudden splitting headache. Got up from my desk and walked to the kitchen to take 2 aspirin, went back into the office and sat down and immediately got nauseated and sick to my stomach.
I went into my bedroom to lie down, thinking I must have eaten something that did not agree with me. Getting up out of bed, I was unsteady on feet and realized something was seriously wrong!
My friend and long-time business partner was in the area and when I called him that something was wrong, he showed up in a matter of minutes, took one look at me and called 911, thankfully, because I was in a state of shock and denial about what was happening.
Rushed to the hospital's ER unit by EMS, I had a blood pressure rate of 240 over 185. Admitted to the ER, running a CAT scan reaveled that I had a hemorrhage in my brain brought on by the high blood pressure, ergo, I had a stroke.
I have made a tremendous recovery in a week with some help and with sheer determination, but somethings remain the same: being unemployed and having no health insurance.
But I was lucky by dodging a great big bullet.
The healthcare system sucks when you don't have insurance. And on top of that, not having a job.
Our healthcare system I got to watch very close up and it is so broken it is full of "career nurses" and tech nurses that do not even know how to administer manual blood pressure checks, instead relying on automated machines to do the job. (Probably have only done one manual to pass for certification.) It is a system that one hand does not know what the other is doing!
My prognosis is good. I have found out which friends are crappy friends and which ones are not.
On Jan. 6th it will be two years ago that: my husband died. During that time, I changed jobs, lost my job, moved to cheaper digs and kept going.
I will be 51 two days after Christmas and don't whether to be happy about that or pissed off. But here I am, still plugging along.
I still don't know what the future holds but this I am certain: whatever your human condition these holidays, there is always something to be grateful for.
I will not be able to reply in a timely fashion due to my disability with typing (this little missive has taken quite a few hours to complete,) but if it merits a reply, you will get one sooner or later!