"I have eight kids. I’m also a neonatal intensive care nurse. So I’m used to helping others. But at 10 a.m. one morning, I found myself on the bathroom floor, desperately waiting for someone to help me.
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move my right arm or my right leg or reach my phone. I couldn’t even get my daughters’ attention when they got home from school.
One of them found me later that afternoon. She called out to her older sister, who called her father, who called 911.
I’d had a stroke. A team of doctors talked via telemedicine and arranged for Memorial Hermann Life Flight® to fly me to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where they could treat it.
In 12 minutes, I was there. An affiliated neurosurgeon performed a special procedure to remove the clot that caused my stroke.
At first, my speech was slurred, my fine motor skills were impaired, and I had trouble finding my words. But with occupational therapy, I’m doing well, and I’m happy to be helping others again."