SORRY—I HAVE BEEN TO BUSY TO WRITE! IN 1 OF MY LAST POSTS, I MENTIONED HOW I HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY PEOPLE IN MY LIFE. I TRULY HAVE—PAST & PRESENT. FAMILY, FRIENDS, DOCTORS, CAREGIVERS, TEACHERS, ETC. I WANT 2 SHARE ONE FOR NOW:

THE 1ST YEAR OF MY STROKE (WHEN I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL & 1ST BACK AT HOME), EVERY WEEK, I GOT A CARD FROM “NOVA.” NOVA HAD NEVER MET ME, BUT SHE KNEW MK. SHE SUFFERED A STROKE WHILE MK WAS SERVING A MISSION 4 OUR CHURCH, & MK HAD VISITED HER IN THE HOSPITAL. HER STROKE WAS NO WHERE AS SEVERE, BUT I WAS TOUCHED BY HER SIMPLE GESTURE…IT MEANT A LOT 2 HAVE ANOTHER STROKE SURVIVOR THINK OF ME, & MAKE SUCH AN EFFORT EVERY WEEK, WHEN SHE HADN’T EVEN MET ME!

AS I HAVE RE-LEARNED 2 WRITE, MY GRATITUDE HAS GROWN 4 HER. I CAN RELATE 2 THE EFFORT IN JUST WRITING “LOVE, NOVA,” & THOUGH SHE HAS SINCE PASSED AWAY, I WAS BLESSED 2 MEET HER IN DALLAS SEVERAL YEARS AGO, B4 SHE PASSED!

I KNOW HOW I WAS TOUCHED BY THAT, & I’M GRATEFUL THAT I NOW CAN SHARE THAT FEELING BY SIGNING MY NAME! SO WHEN I READ A POST (“THE CHRISTMAS GIFT, BY TARA” AT HTTP://WWW.MAKECHANGETODAY.BLOGSPOT.COM/ ), IT BROUGHT TEARS 2 MY EYES, BECUZ I COULD RELATE! SINCE I AM STILL FRIENDS W/SO MANY PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME WHEN I HAD MY STROKE, & HAVEN’T SEEN ME SINCE I MOVED. I THINK THEY’D LOVE 2 HEAR FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOME1 WHO HAS ONLY KNOWN ME POST-STROKE.

I HAVE ALSO SHARED B4 HOW GOD DIRECTED ME TOWARDS THE DOCTOR WHO GAVE ME THE PBA MEDS, & I HAVE HAD THAT TESTIMONY STRENGTHENED

4 A WHILE NOW, I’VE WONDERED IF MY BODY WAS “GETTING USED TO” MY PBA MEDS (NUEDEXTA), BECUZ IT DIDN’T SEEM 2 BE DOING AS WELL AT CONTROLLING MY LAUGHTER & TEARS–IN THE BEGINNING, I COULD ALMOST CONTROL MY TEARS & LAUGHTER, SO I ATTENDED THINGS (LIKE A FUNERAL) THAT I WOULD NORMALLY SHY AWAY FROM.

BUT WHEN MY PBA MEDS RAN OUT RECENTLY(I THINK THE DOCTOR KEPT 4GETTING ABOUT SIGNING 4 NEW ONES), IT DEFINITELY HAD TIME 2 GET OUT OF MY SYSTEM, & THOSE DAYS WERE A NIGHTMARE! I WAS AMAZED BY THE MANY YEARS THAT MY FAMILY (& I) HAVE TOLERATED IT! I DEFINITELY GOT MORE DEPRESSED W/O MY PBA MEDS–IT’S NO WONDER PBA IS OFTEN MIS-DIAGNOSED AS DEPRESSION! & MY SPEECH (WHICH GREATLY IMPROVED WITH THE MEDS) ALSO DRASTICALLY DECLINED IN A STRANGE WAY–MORESO THAT I’M JUST NOT AS CLEAR, BUT I ALSO HAVE MOMENTS WHEN I CAN BARELY TALK. & I MISSED BEING ABLE 2 TALK (EVEN W/WHAT LITTLE I HAD)! I BECAME EXTREMELY GRATEFUL 4 THOSE MEDS!

WHEN I FINALLY GOT MY PBA PILLS, AFTER MK GAVE ME 1, HE HUGGED ME & WELCOMED ME BACK. LOL BUT I CAN’T EVEN BEGIN 2 EXPLAIN HOW HAPPY I WAS! IT MAKES SUCH A HUGE CHANGE W/NOT ONLY MY EMOTIONS, BUT ALSO W/MY MIND & SPEECH & ENERGY LEVEL!

WHEN I ASKED ANGIE, “HOW DID MY FAMLY & I DEAL W/PBA FOR ALMOST 9 YEARS, BUT 4 DAYS ALMOST KILLED SOME OF US?”, ANGIE POINTED OUT HOW B4 WE DIDN’T KNOW HOW AWESOME IT COULD BE, & HOW IT’S HARDER WHEN U KNOW U ARE MISSING OUT ON SOMETHING THAT COULD MAKE SUCH A BIG DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE! ANGIE IS SOOO RIGHT, & I’M SO GRATEFUL GOD HAS GIVEN US THIS LIFE-CHANGING MED!