I was 25 weeks pregnant with my son. I woke up with numbness and weakness on my left side. I had a droopy mouth and eye. I went to the emergency room. They needed to make sure I could have an MRI because of the pregnancy, so they sent me home in the meantime. After me calling for two days, they said to come in for an MRI. I had the MRI, and they found the clot. I spent the next eight weeks in the hospital. I went home on Heparin until my son was born and then switched to warfarin. I was taken off the thinners since it was thought I had the stroke from getting CMV while pregnant. Eight months later, I was at work when I started dropping everything. My numbness had also been extreme that day, so I went to the emergency room where I was given a baby asprin and sent to the city with a driver. Upon arrival, I had an MRI and discovered a second clot. Through testing, they figured out I'm protein C deficient. I’m on warfarin for life now. Here's the kicker: I was 26 and 28 respectively when I had my strokes. My memory and speech are warped. I'm so tired of the tingles. Published: September 10 ::

I had a lacunar stroke in the pons area of the brain stem. It affected my balance plus many other things. When I had the stroke on Feb. 8, 2007, it felt like a couple of small firecrackers had gone off in my head. I noticed that my balance was affected immediately. I could still walk and function, but it was like I was drunk. I drove myself to the ER (not recommended) where they did a CT scan. Nothing showed up. After a while, they sent me home. Five days later, I went to my regular physician who ordered an MRI. The stroke showed up on the MRI. Thankfully, it was small. I still suffer from symptoms even though I have had four months of physical therapy (PT). I have some numbness in my left arm and a little drooping on the left side of my mouth. Occasionally, I have what my husband and I call “spells.” I have a tingling around my scalp. The doctor said it was caused by high blood pressure even though I was on medication. I was put on Plavix and Zocor. Since the stroke, I've had another TIA where my blood pressure spiked to 223/122. I had to go to the ER for an IV to bring it down. I had some of the same symptoms as with the stroke, but they did go away. My dad had several strokes, one of which was severe. I must have inherited some of his tendency for strokes. Published: September 10 ::