One Year Anniversary: #StrokeWarrior

Loving Every Moment.

A first drawing and a recent painting. And my first sold piece. ❤️

Yes! It’s my one-year anniversary after suffering a stroke and y’all I’m so happy to still be among the living. I consider myself a Stroke-Born Artist. Anyhoo. . .

I sat down to write you a text; then I thought, “Wait a minute”, why write 15 texts when I can write to all of you in this newsletter. (LOL)! So, here goes. Remember, last year this time, I suffered a transient ischemic stroke (TIA) on the right side of my brain. It was terrifying to me, my family, and my friends. I spent two weeks in the hospital afraid and unsure of what life had in store for me. I lived in fear every day wondering if I was going to suffer another stroke while I was in the hospital because they had a difficult time getting my blood pressure to a healthy level (y’all, take yo meds). Medication after medication, day after day, my numbers wouldn’t change; then finally I was released to go to rehab, where my spouse spent every moment with me. I was bed-bound unable to walk on my own. I eventually was able to pull myself up to get onto a wheelchair but needed assistance with that too as well as going to the bathroom. Soon I was relearning to walk again, thank goodness that happened quickly and within a week, I was in the rehabilitation side of the hospital. The occupational therapists, physical therapists, social workers, doctors, nurses, speech therapists, and other staff members were all very helpful and I will forever remember them as my own human angels here on earth. Those people truly love their jobs and it showed every day and night! My hubby, they don’t come any better than him!! He was there every moment and so were my true and closest friends and neighbors. My mother left her home with my nephew and they came to care for me along with my hubby for a month of non-stop love and care. One of my sisters came too. My bestie cooked meals for me and my family after my mother, nephew and sister went back to Michigan. I also had the best-managed care team afterward and can’t thank them enough. I even made some beautiful friends.

If you know anything about TIA, it is exacerbated by an unhealthy lifestyle of smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, excessive drinking of alcohol, diabetes, and even having an irregular heartbeat And don’t get it twisted, people who are healthy with healthy habits too have and will suffer a stroke. Take good care of yourself and please take your medications, especially for high blood pressure. Let me give my disclaimer here and now; I am not a medical doctor or trained medical anything! I’m just sharing my story and hopefully some insights and wisdom to all my followers (family and friends) to do better in the self-care department.

Hello, my name is Michelle Joy Brown and I am obese, have high blood pressure, and I’m pre-diabetic. Leading up to the day before I had the stroke; I was exhausted. Oh, I later learned that I have severe sleep apnea. Why am I sharing all of this? Because most of my family and friends are obese, unhealthy, and neglecting their own self-care. I want to alert those whom I know and love to please get serious about their health and self-care. Trust me when I say, you don’t want to suffer a stroke!

The Good: I now consider myself an artist. Me. An artist. After suffering the stroke, I had to work hard to regain full function in my left arm as I kept breaking things, especially in my kitchen. I even threatened to “child-proof” the kitchen because I couldn’t grasp and hold anything without dropping it. So imagine, dinner time, a plate of food in hand, and crash; on the floor it ended in a terrible heaping mess. And, let’s not talk about my coffee cups! What was I thinking?? I knew my left side was affected, but I guess I was just hoping everything was, “back to normal”, it wasn’t. I needed a miracle and I found my own miracle right here in my own home; I started a hobby, the best thing I could’ve done for my own rehabilitation.

Insight: one day I had a vision and saw myself with a paintbrush. “Hum”, I thought; so I went to Walgreens and purchased a cheap paint brush set. The rest is still developing. Painting helps me focus, it aids me in slow

ing down my thoughts, and it allows me time to do something that I’m growing to love and I’m having fun again. As I write this I’m thinking of all the fun things I can do with my new hobby. Yes, yes! So, with that said, I’m writing a short memoir of my story and hope to bring love and hope to others who are living through the challenge of suffering from a stroke or heart attack. And I’ll be sharing more of my art with you and hope you will see love flowing through each stroke, as I continue to thrive and embrace every moment of my life.

Today I will walk in the hope of my strength and I will be strong even in face of fear.

ps: Time to get ready for that 5K

See how I just dropped that in there!!! Until next time. MJB