May First

May is Stroke Awareness Month. The month that we stroke survivors hug hard.

Why?

It seems every time you turn around it's this day or that day. This month or that month. Well, this is the month that the spotlight turns on us and for that I'm grateful. And every other survivor, their caregivers, their families, not to mention the doctors and nurses who help all of us, they're grateful too.

I'm a bit further down a path I never thought I'd be on. I had my stroke back in '05 and have been living with the aftermath ever since.

I've written about the story and my stroke's residue a lot.

Having mine on a jet 30,000 feet up. Being left curbside, by myself by the skycap, dying. How a guy who never told me his name, a guy I couldn't point out in a lineup today, saved my life.

The coma, the intensive care, the hospital for a month, the rehab for a year. I've told my story so many times I could stand up right now and give you a good half hour on it alone.

But here I am fourteen years on the other side forever changed.

I've said you don't often hear lucky and stroke in the same sentence but I've been lucky. Today most people are surprised when I tell them I've had one. I know. That experience has made me more aware and my life is different now.

How?

I'm thinner than I used to be. The term 'jolly weatherman', which first applied to Willard Scott applied to me as well. I'm no longer ho ho ho and I'll tell you why. I exercise about four or five times a week. It's hard for me to run so I walk on a treadmill on a steep incline. By the time I'm done I'm soaked.

I also changed my diet. I'm vegan now. No meat, no fish, no chicken, and no dairy. My wife saw a documentary on pesticides and hormones and all the bad stuff that animals get fed and found out that all that passes on to us. So she became a vegan. And for all the people who are married they know that if your spouse does something it pays dividends if you do it as well.

So I did.

But let me tell you a little story. She was packing for a trip to Maryland, where we're from, and she casually said she was going to have some crab cakes when she got there. "Hey!" I said, "You're a vegan. You can't do that!" She smiled sweetly and said, "Every now and then, you can."

Flabbergasted is a good word.

So following her lead, every now and then I have a tuna fish sub but they are few and far between. I'll have one, enjoy every bite, and it's back to the straight and narrow. It was really tough going to Five Guys with my twins. They're ordering these burgers and fries and I'm eating peanuts.

All together now, sigh.

When I speak to stroke groups or heart institutions or cardiovascular summits, the stroke survivors are upfront in a special place. Some of them are in wheel chairs. I tell the person who brought me there, "I'll be right back." And I go to them for a group hug. It's like I'm going home. It's wonderful. I have to admit I've shed a tear or two. But it is so wonderful.

Hopefully one day we'll talk about stroke in the past tense. We're not there yet but a person can dream can't they? When you're young you feel you are invincible. Guess what? As you age you get less and less so. You have to help yourself and be more vigilant with your health as you get older. I learned that the hard way.

The more you know the more you know.

May is Stroke Awareness Month.

Every month is special. This one for me? Even more so.


#MarkMcEwen
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