LESLIE, EYEWITNESS NEWS.
(HE)
NOW AT FIVE -- SURVIVING A
STROKE.
IT'S A POTENIALLY
LIFE-THREATENING DISEASE -- WE
OFTEN ASSOCIATE WITH *OLDER
PEOPLE.
(MM)
BUT WE'VE LEARNED----- IT'S
BECOMING MORE COMMON AMONG
***YOUNG PEOPLE.
AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW....
LAST OCTOBER --- THAT SIX-LETTER
WORD TOOK ON ----A WHOLE NEW
MEANING FOR ONE OF OUR OWN.
"There's this fear that no one
can prepare you for because the
way I look at it is I'm 27 years
old and I had a stroke."
(MM)
NOW.... MORE THAN 4 MONTHS LATER
-- CAROLINE IS SHARING HER
STORY... WITH THE HOPE ----IT
CAN HELP OTHERS.
(HE)
IT'S A STORY YOU'LL SEE ONLY ON
EYEWITNESS NEWS.
(CG)
MIKE AND SHANNON --
IT WAS THE MOST EXCITING TIME OF
OUR LIVES.
WE HAD JUST GOTTEN MARRIED....
CAME HOME FROM OUR HONEYMOON....
AND THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK.
IT WAS 135 DAYS AGO I HAD MY
STROKE.
I THROW OUT A RANDOM NUMBER LIKE
THAT ---- TO REMIND MYSELF TIME
REALLY DOES HEAL.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED THROUGH MY
RECOVERY ---- IS THAT SOMETIMES
THE EMOTIONAL JOURNEY BACK TO
YOU --- CAN BE JUST AS HARD AS
THE PHYSICAL ONE.
HERE IS MY STORY.
OUR LIVES ARE DEFINED BY
MOMENTS.
"I Travis take you Caroline to
be my wife."
"I Caroline take you Travis to
be my husband."
"I promise to be faithful to
you..."
"In good times and in bad"
"In sickness and in health."
it was just before 11:30 that
morning. I was taking a pan from
the stove and putting it in the
dishwasher and I was talking to
travis and telling him a story.
something went wrong and she
went quiet. and so I asked her,
'hey, what's going on.' and when
she came back up, she was
slurring her speech and shaking.
my vision was lost. everything
went black. what I didn't
realize in that moment is that
travis had noticed the left side
of my face was dropping.
at that point I realized
something was really really
wrong. so I called 911.
within about 30 seconds, we
heard the ambulance come down
the street. he went outside to
get the first responders. by the
time they got back in, I had
stood up. I was talking to
myself, I was pacing back and
forth. I had jumped up onto the
stretcher and they carried me
out the door and I talked to
them the entire ride to norwood
hospital.
as I sat there and waited, I at
one point heard a doctor come in
and said to the nurses area 'we
need a room, we need to make
room. we have a 27 year old
female who is having a stroke.'
that's when the doctor came in
and he said to me 'he hun. we
just talked to your husband. he
knows. you've had a stroke. and
we need to get this cat scan
done right away because we need
to make sure your corrated
arteries aren't compromised.'
i've never been so scared. we've
been married for a week and a
half and all of a sudden
everything changes.
finally around 11:30 that night
we were taken by ambulance from
norwood hospital to boston
medical center.
I feel like once we got up to
BMC, that's where the search for
answers really began.
all you want is an answer as to
what on earth happened and is
she going to be okay.
they did all the bloodwork. they
checked my heart and it was
fine. they eventually did a
thorough check of my brain to
make sure there was nothing
wrong with the arteries in my
brain and once again I was
clear. we stayed in the hospital
for four days, and that friday
afternoon, we were able to go
home. and when we got
discharged, they handed me this
piece of paper. tells you
everything you need to know if
you physically hurt during my
recovery. they don't give you a
piece of paper to tell you what
happens when you emotionally
hurt during that time. no one
warned me that when I walked th
rough my apartment door and I
was smiling because I was so
happy to be home, that I would
also relive the moment I was
taken out on a stretcher.
there's not a piece of paper
that tells you it's okay to fall
asleep every night. you don't
have to be afraid you're not
going to wake up the next
morning. because I would lay in
bed and be exhausted because my
brain hurt so bad and I wouldn't
want to fall asleep because I
was afraid travis was going to
wake up in the morning and I was
going to be dead.
I think we both consider
ourselves very lucky because it
was not nearly as bad as it
could have been. there has been
very few things that have made
me happier than when caroline
got back to work.
"you get a new lease on life and
a new perspective in living your
life. moments are richer with
people. the good moments are far
better than they were before.
Tomorrow isn't a guarantee. you
don't know how many more moments
you have. So, that's what I plan
to do with this moving forward
is just be here, because I can
be here."
(CG)
LIFE AFTER STROKE IS MUCH
DIFFERENT THAN IT WAS BEFORE.
THERE ARE FAR MORE DOCTORS
APPOINTMENTS...WEEKLY BLOOD
WORK.
BUT I FEEL SO LUCKY TO BE IN THE
SHAPE I'M IN RIGHT NOW.
***BANTER***
(CG)
COMING UP AT SIX...
WE'LL SHARE WITH YOU.... THE
SIGNS OF A STROKE.
AND ---- YOU'LL HEAR FROM MY
DOCTOR AT BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER.