Stroked

This is me... having a stroke.

Except, at this particular moment, no one knew I was having a stroke.
Because that just isn't a common thing for 36 yr. olds.
This was the period at the end of a sentence.
Everything that had come before was over now.
This was the moment "before" and "after" became sharply separated.

The doctor came in and drew a picture that looked like a torn water hose.
A Vertebral Artery Dissection.
A flap-like tear in the inner lining of an artery in my neck,
where the blood was now pooling and forming a clot,
and blocking blood flow to my brain.
Later, part of that clot would break loose 

and cause more damage in the left hemisphere of my brain.
What can I say... it was a bad day.

There is so much more to the story...
and I'll do my best to tell it.
A little bit at a time...
you see, my brain doesn't quite work the way it used to.
But I'm still here.

I'm still here!

Coming Back

And so I've come back. 
This is the place where I wrote my way to healing once before. 
I've tried to write in other ways and places, but this is where it began, and it feels natural to pick up again where I left off. 
Except... everything is different now. 
My words are different... I am different. 
But maybe I can find my self again
by following the trail of bread crumbs that I leave in my own writing.
So I'm Back.