Sarita
It was November 28, 2007. It was business as usual. We had just got back from a long Thanksgiving break in Ohio and this was just another regular day – and I would have been getting off to work in a few minutes. Yes, it started as a regular day but turned out to be anything but.

I was in the shower and I sneezed. Normal? Yes! Or so I thought. Immediately I felt the left side of my body go numb. My right side felt okay but I could not walk so I yelled out to my husband! The fan in the bathroom was on so he could not hear! So I held on to the wall and gathered as much strength as I could muster to flip the fan switch off. And I yelled again. This time my husband heard me. He thought he had heard the cat meow and came over to investigate and found me. I could not walk or see very well so he picked me up and laid me on the bed and then called 911. As I lay there I told him to get me dressed-I was going leave the house fully dressed-even if it was on a stretcher! They got there in three minutes and rushed me off to Presbyterian hospital. In the ambulance they asked me if I knew where we were headed and I said yes. I was aware of my surroundings all the time. I could hear them talk. I apologized that I had not had time to comb my hair and he laughed and said that it was okay! My husband followed in the car.

I was there at the hospital in ICU in five minutes and they got me settled in. The TV was on in the emergency room. Why on earth is there a TV in the emergency room? Mitt Romney was speaking, I recognized his voice and said so to the doctors. They laughed almost with relief. They asked me to do certain things-some of which I could –some not. I could barely see but saw an outline of three doctors standing at the foot of my bed. My husband too. I remembered telling them who my doctors were. I could hear them say it was an intracranial hemorrhage. They were discussing possible causes. I asked for the phone –I tried to call work to tell them that I was not going to come in.- Left a message for my boss and also called a friend and told her to let him know. That was the beginning... of a long journey and one that I am still on.

Long story short, I spent 3 days in ICU and a total of 23 days in hospital. Five days in neuro and then the rest in rehab. They knew I had a bleed but they did not know what exactly had caused the bleed. The CT scan showed blood in the brain but that had to clear before I got a firm diagnosis. The immediate plan was to focus on recovering. And that I did. It was a slow and harrowing process. I could not swallow or chew on the left side so I was on pureed foods at first. Could not walk. My left side of the body was weak. I had facial paralysis. My speech was slurred but that did not seem to stop me! I underwent physical, speech and occupational therapy. Had to learn a lot. Those 23 days were long and hard. I went through the whole cycle of grieving. I was depressed about my situation and then finally accepting of what I could not change. I knew one thing – I was going to fight as hard as I can!

I finally went home on Dec 19th just in time for X’mas. I spent the next few weeks recovering and then went back to the neurosurgeon and for an MRI in early Jan. The blood had now cleared from the brain. He looked at the MRI and told me that it was either an AVM or a cavernoma that had bled and told me was referring me to Dr Duke Samson at UT. Southwestern. He said Dr. Samson was the best and would take care of me.

I met Dr Samson in February 2008 and he had me do more MRI’s. The results were in. I had a bleed from a cavernous angioma also known as a cavernoma or as I now affectionately call it a “cavvie”! The cavernoma was located on the pons - on my brainstem. I was apparently born with it. It was an abnormal cluster of capillaries in the shape of a raspberry. The good news was that even though it was on costly real estate in the brain- Dr. Samson said he could get to it and take it out. The alternative to taking it out was living with it but I could have even more devastating bleeds-ones that could cause permanent damage. So for me it was not an alternative. I had to have it out! I was going to have brain surgery to get the wretched thing out. The craniotomy was scheduled for April 18, 2008. I had to be careful until then. No heavy lifting, no strain, no bending and certainly no sneezing. I could not do anything that would cause another bleed.

I had brain surgery in April 2008. Thanks to Dr Samson it went off like a dream! I felt no pain - the pain meds worked. Spent 6 days in hospital and then many weeks in therapy learning how to walk again and regain my balance etc. I went back to work on July 18, 2008. The only apparent residual problem was that my left eye had gone in toward the nose after the bleed and I had double vision as a result! I was going to have to have eye muscle surgery to fix it. I now felt equipped to handle a couple of eye muscle surgeries. But it was not a couple. I’ve had seven eye muscle surgeries and still have one more to go in April 2010. Tremendous difference. I gained so much from each. I wear corrective prisms and have a range of single vision. They are now working to improve that range. If you look at me now you can barely tell. I still struggle with some balance issues because of the position of my eye and the movement of the eye. I have a muscle or two that don’t work as well as they should, some weakness on my left side, which I feel when I climb stairs. Hopefully the balance issues will sort out after the next eye surgery. I know it will. I have faith in myself - my ability to fight, faith in my doctors, in the powers that be.

Yes this was a journey. Recovery from this devastating illness can take years and trust me I know. It is now a little over two years and I am still recovering

This is a long hard journey. But there are a lot of people that travel this difficult road with me and make this recovery possible. First - my husband Johannes who took my hand and walked me through the roughest spots on this road. Then there was Dr. Samson who was absolutely wonderful. There were the multitudes of doctors, nurses, and therapists in Presbyterian and at UT Southwestern who made this easier for me. Some are now my friends. My family and friends from close and far talked with me everyday. My bosses, colleagues and friends at work played an integral part in my recovery. The company –PPAI- held my job for me for 8 months and I am so certain that knowing that I could go back to work gave me that extra impetus and drive to get better as soon as I could. I wish everybody had access to healthcare like I did!

As strange as this sounds, I came away from this experience a stronger and a better person. I now have a different perspective of life and of humanity. I hope this stays with me forever. I have a renewed faith in mankind, in science and in life itself!