May 23, 2024 felt like a typical Thursday morning. I woke up and went to clean out the cats’ litter box - well, for those of you that know my cat woes, clean up pee off the floor right outside the litter box. When I was done, I stood up to head back to my room to get ready for work and experienced a bright flash and couldn’t see clearly. I felt lightheaded, so I stood there for a minute trying to shake it off…but I couldn’t shake it off. I laid back down for a little bit, but that didn’t help either…something was wrong with my vision. I called my eye doctor and went in for an appointment later that day. Initial evaluation indicated a swollen retina. My doctor didn’t want the retina to become detached, so he advised that I take it easy for the next couple of weeks and come back to see him.
On June 4, 2024, I went back for that follow up. While I could tell my vision wasn’t back to 100%, I thought it had improved slightly. But when the field of vision test they told me should take 3 to 5 minutes total took 3 to 5 minutes per eye, I knew things weren’t better. My doctor reviewed the test results with me and said it was clear my vision issues were being caused by something further back than the eye; he told me the results looked like what he would see in an 80-year-old stroke patient, but that was not something he could diagnose, and I would need to see other doctors.
A STROKE??? Surely it wasn’t that…I was only 38 years old! One MRI later, on the eve of my 39th birthday, it was confirmed that I did have a stroke.
What followed was a series of tests to determine the root cause of my stroke. The culprit - a patent foramen ovale. A patent foramen ovale is a small, flaplike opening in the wall between the upper chambers of the heart. It usually causes no symptoms and rarely requires treatment, but in my case, this allowed a blood clot to make its way from the right side of my heart to the left side of my heart and up to my brain.
While this was definitely an unexpected life event, and the vision I lost on May 23, 2024 has not returned, I feel so incredibly thankful that the effects of my stroke were relatively minor and doctors were able to plug up that tiny little opening in my heart to prevent this from happening again.
I'm walking in the Heart & Stroke Walk because I know how lucky I am. I'm walking in gratitude for my recovery, in support of others still fighting, and in hope that research and awareness continue to save lives. Help me reach my goal today.
