I had a stroke so..

orangebuttercat

Hi everyone, Im Bob. I'm 42 years old and suffered a major stroke around 4 years ago. It was absolutely related to my unhealthy lifestyle. I had to relearn how to walk, speak, and all that fun stuff that comes with having a stroke. When I was hospitalized, I weighed in at around 320 lb.. When I was able to I began focusing on losing weight, and being healthy and got down to a low of 238. I have slowly creeped back up to the 275 mark, and decided to return to my healthy ways of about 2 years ago.

I just wanted to introduce myself, and say I'm ready to live life again!

happieharpie

HEY BOB! You can do it! Compared to all the REALLY hard stuff you've already done, and the experience of weight loss you already have, your already on your way! Get to work right now- one forkful at a time!

Loislaine61

Hi Bob,

You can add me as a friend if you like. I will be glad to help encourage you. :drinker:

I'm so sorry you have had a stroke, but it sounds like you are fighting back.

orangebuttercat

Thanks!!
Yes, all the recovery was not fun and insanely hard! Something that I would never want to experience again, or see anyone go through. It should be a lay-up right?

Too bad I love Coke and Hamburgers so much!! Haha

orangebuttercat

I am fighting back, and thank you for adding me!
I was fortunate to be young enough to fully recover, and seeing some other folks who will never recover is so heartbreaking.
I was fortunate enough to be given another opportunity, no way will I waste it!

42hockeymom

Hi Bob, nice to meet you! I'm Lisa, please feel free to add me as a friend, also.

I had a TIA while delivering my now 16 yo daughter. I know all about unhealthy lifestyles and am working very hard to make mine as healthy as possible.

Keep up the good work!

ddky

I'm so glad it didn't take another stroke or a heart attack to get you back on the healthy path. Hang in there, and I wish you the best of luck.

orangebuttercat

Thank you! Yes, 1 is enough!

willbeskliz

I had TIA about 4 years ago and thankfully nothing since. You are inspirational and you will lose the weight. Good luck x

orangebuttercat

Thank you!!

And i'm glad your TIA was not more serious!

willbeskliz

Thank you. I am now on Warfarin to thin my blood and statins to lower my cholesterol. I get my blood regularly checked. I been seen and discharged by both cardiologist and neurologist. I see a haematologist every 6 months. Not one of them mentioned that I should eat more healthily, do some exercise and shift some pounds. My diagnosis is Hughes syndrome known as sticky blood syndrome. But still I shouldn't have been 230lbs and someone that hardly drank water. I am now 209.8lbs, try to exercise 5 times a week and drink 2-3 litres of water. I want to lose another 20lbs and do some kind of 5k run.

orangebuttercat

Sounds like youre doing great!!! I was on Plavix for two years, now its just crestor, BP meds, and pain meds for me! glad to be off it!

Keep up the good work!

jenniferhainessalomon

Hey Bob!!! My name is Jenn. I too had a stroke 8 years ago at 27 years old. Three days after giving birth. I gained approximately 40 pounds between then and January 2013. I started MFP in January 2013 and lost 37 pounds, but I hit another plateau and exercise takes me so much longer than everyone else or I can't do it at all. I am getting frustrated. Maybe you can help me and I you!!! Friend me!!!

Momjogger

Good for you! Health is the best reason to lose weight! I know you can do it. The best thing I did for myself is to only have food in my house that was healthy and stock up on fruit and veggies. Any food that I would overeat, I would not have in the house. It has helped a lot. Good luck.

mattschwartz01

Hi Bob,

I've got an inspirational story for you. I had a friend that had a massive heart attack at thirty years old. After the event, his cardiologist gave him about six months to live with his heart output at the time. At the advice of an N.D., my friend sought out a completely vegetarian/fish diet and meditation with a Zen master. The Zen master knows that rest and breath are essential to life and meditation achieves both. My friend worked diligently with this Zen master to learn how to slow his heart rate down to below levels of sleep. It was a long and difficult journey, but the end result was nothing short of miraculous.

Two years later, at 32 my friend had a normal EKG! His heart was able to repair itself! His cardiologist thought the EKG machine was broken and repeated the test several times over several days. His cardiologist was absolutely astounded - he couldn't believe it. Today, my friend sticks with a strict diet, meditation, and regular cardiovascular exercise. Western medicine is limited in its scope of practice. I think you too can experience healing. Look at meditation and yoga. The benefits are amazing.

I wish you all of the best, Bob!

Matt

Melissakay1222

Hi Bob . . . . nice to meet you! I'm super proud of you for taking this big step in getting healthy and losing weight. I'm here for support if you need it!

benol1

Hi Bob,
Thank you for sharing the story of your experience and welcome to MFP.
Please feel free to add me as a friend as I would be very happy to encourage you to maintain sustainable lifestyle change.
Wishing you all the best,

Ben

USMCnetty90

HI Bob!
Nice to meet you!!!!!
My father in law has had two TIA's in his 60's and my brother in law had one at age 43 - both pretty healthy -

I am happy to hear that you have recovered, even though it was a struggle - prevention is the key now - good luck to you and welcome.

orangebuttercat

Thanks to everyone for all the initial support, and thank you for the encouragement!
Matt, thanks for that story, its quite uplifting to hear someone being able to come back from such a devastating ailment!

And to everyone who has had similar experiences, thank you forsharing your experiences, im not alone.

Annmarie49

You can do this, remember how you felt when you were losing...... it was a great feeling!!! Great on you for recognising you need to stick with it.
It is only 19 months since my stroke, been hard work, however, I am determined... i have put on 10lbs in the year, however, back at it now and determination will win!
Take care and continue on your positive journey......

cmriverside

Bob - save your own life, no one else can do it for you.


You can still have a hamburger and a Coke, but once a week instead of every day. If I had to give up everything I like to eat, I would have never stuck with this and stayed at Maintenance weight for five years.

Just learn to log everything and save room for an occasional hamburger and Coke.

sgfergus26

Hi Bob. You will prevail! I had a stroke 3 months ago at age 32. Scariest experience of my life as I'm sure you know. I was fortunate in that the stroke was minor and the deficits resolved in a couple of weeks. However I've gained 10+ lbs since then. This all happened after I had lost 45 lbs and was in great shape. The docs have no idea what caused it - even after going to see a neurologist at Rush (I see you are from IL too!). Anyhow, I'm with you on the re-weight loss. Best of luck!

orangebuttercat

Glad you're doing well!
Yes, I understand how scary it was. After it happened I was like I feel fine let me go. Little did I know the entire right side of my body was so damaged. The doctors were like, "I think..um no." I was in the hospital forever, and the boredom is what drove me to get strong again. All It took was a tiny piece of plaque to clog a vessel for 2 minutes, which they needed three MRI's to find so it can happen to anyone.

RunForChai

Go Bob==you can do it!

orangebuttercat

thanks shoney!!

mphlab

Hi Bob- good for you- you will do well if you have a good attitude - it has almost been 4 years since my stroke at age 42 (brainstem) and life now is completely different but you adjust! Friend me !
Lynn

emilysuelemus

awesome job your friend did!! I believe the body has the ability to heal and repair itself if we feed it the right nutrients and take care o the temple God gave us!! this is very inspiring and thanks for posting!