The direction of your life can be altered in just a few precious seconds of it. In just a snap, the entire left part of my body is paralyzed: I had a stroke!

It's way beyond my imagination and dark fears as I'm only 20 years old!


This is not a typical story about an experience with a particular disease; all possible causes of stroke are cleared. In short,  they can't figure it out despite going through myriad of tests, visiting different doctors, and transferring from one hospital to another.

"I am fighting an enemy that I know nothing about." 

1.  Never abuse your body.

"Okay lang yan kasi bata ka pa naman." (It's fine since you're still young.) That is the most common line I hear when children or young adults tend to eat a lot of unhealthy foods ranging from fatty, salty and too much sweet.

Young people have more threshold to consume such unlike the older ones. That is why they aren't concerned in what they take into their body regardless of its amount. But sickness, when it comes to you, doesn't choose whether you're young or old. Some common sicknesses found in older people also manifest in young ones: diabetic and hypertensive. They are not common but it is possible. If fortunately your body has taken good care of the beating, there's still a chance that later in your life, you'll pay or experience the consequences.

A great example is the story of a priest from the Philippines. He is told by his doctors that he only got a few months to live as his sickness is incurable at this stage. I don't know the specific disease or part of the body that is affected by it.

He told us that he was really fond of drinking energy drinks back from when he was still young until now that he got sick. It's like instead of drinking water, he opts to drink energy drink. If you are not really active and you keep drinking it, it is bad for you especially if it's on a long period of time. His doctor said that such lifestyle is one of the causes of his sickness.

You'll never really know what would happen; one day you may be fine and tomorrow you aren't. I learned that I have to give a great amount of care in what I'm doing with my body. Before this life-changing event, I was absolutely obsessed with bacon (side note: who wouldn't love it?). Kidding aside, I was absolutely careless and I hate doing exercises.

I'm not saying that you go overly cautious in your diet and lifestyle. Just don't abuse it! Be active and eat healthy foods, more importantly, vegetables. What if I ate vegetables back then? Will I still experience stroke? If sadly yes, will it be a mild stroke rather than a major stroke? There is no assurance that you will never be sick if you live a healthy lifestyle. But it is more painful to reach a point that you regret not doing things that will prevent these from happening when you chose to live a healthy lifestyle.

2. Cherish the little things.

The moment I realized that I had a stroke, and half of my body is paralyzed, I miss the things I can easily do before: the little walks that you take outside under the beautiful sky and short conversations you have with your love ones. Cherish it for there is someone out there that badly wants to do those things but he/she does not have the ability or chance to do so.

3. Life is unfair.

It is, and will always be like that. So, I think that we should just live with it and try to work our way through it if it is possible. Whining will never (ever) result into something good.

This is life! Sadly, no matter how hard you work, you cannot have it all. Some may be rich but sick. Some may be healthy but are struggling financially. Some may prodigies but are having love or relationship issues. Some may be lucky with their loyal girlfriend or boyfriend but are separated by hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

4. The power of a strong support group goes a long way.

Once you know that your family and friends always got your back, the burden becomes much lighter. Whether you are in good or bad terms with your family members, they are FAMILY and will be the persons you can run into in dire situations.

5. Everyone and their problems are unique.

Each one of us has our own battles and just because I have this doesn't mean that I'm the only one who suffers greatly in this world.

I may have a disease/sickness that doctors can't determine but there are a lot of people who are even in the verge of death at the same time I'm writing this post.

6. Will power and perseverance greatly matter.

Since one of the manifestations of my disease is stroke, I have to undergo several months of physical and occupational therapies in order to improve and be able to move my paralyzed body again.

My boyfriend always reiterates the phrase "It's all in the mind." It is frustrating and never easy but I was able to overcome all the pain from all those pricks in my skin every time I undergo various medical tests. And I was also able to cope with the chronic head pain I was experiencing. The chronic headaches are massive but sometimes, it is just psychological or you can somehow trick your mind to lessen it.

At the moment, the biggest goal for me is to be able to regain my mobility to a point that I am normal again. And that needs a lot of therapy, perseverance and will power. An hour of therapy at a hospital or at home will never be enough. You must have the drive: therapy yourself at home or through the help of someone else.

Doctors say that I will not be 100% normal again (Maybe only 95 or higher since there's a residual effect in the body), but I want to challenge myself and see how I will end up.

Science and medicine may be advanced nowadays but it cannot accurately predict the long term outcome of a person. You can take Casey Neistat, a famous film maker and Youtuber, as an example. After an accident, doctors say that he will never be able to run again. Through his innate perseverance and will power, he defied expectations. As you can see in his videos, he can now run better than the most of us, and even join, and finish marathons and triathlons.

As blithe as I am before this ordeal, I learned to take life more seriously and view things in a new perspective. Hopefully, I can get through this completely and turn this devastating memory into something in the past that I learned greatly from.