Stroke only happens to older adults...people over 50. This is a misconception among many younger people who think that stroke could never happen to them. Dana Todd knows better. Dana was a victim of stroke at the young age of 24. Three days after her 24th birthday, Dana woke up one morning could not feel her right arm or leg and could not speak.
Dana remembered feeling numbness in her right arm the week before her stroke, but she did not make the connection because she was unfamiliar with the warning signs of stroke. Luckily, Dana's boyfriend returned home for something he had forgotten and called an ambulance and her mother.
Dana was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with stroke. During her hospital stay she learned that smoking cigarettes while taking birth control pills probably caused her stroke.
After an 11-day hospital stay, Dana went to stay with her godmother. Her recovery was a long process, which included four months of physical therapy and nine months of speech therapy. One of the toughest parts of recovery was learning how to speak again. "I could hear the words in my head, but couldn't say them. It was very frustrating," describes Dana.
Having a stroke was a life-changing event for Dana. Never a "health nut" before her stroke, now she goes to the gym more frequently and eats healthier foods. Dana spends more time at home with her loved ones and says she finds more time to read materials on health and stroke than she ever did before. When asked what advice she would give to people she said, "Everyone should go to the doctor regularly, know the facts about stroke, not smoke and take precautions when taking birth control."
Dana has returned to life as she knew it before her stroke. She has all of her motor and verbal skills back and is working full time. Although she is finished with her therapy, a part of her experience with stroke will always be with her because sometimes she cannot remember words quickly. "I still get nervous when I talk to new people," she says.
