Ella is a personal development blogger, habit coach, motivational speaker, and stroke thriver.

Stroke Recovery Stories- Ella's Story



Ella is a personal development blogger, habit coach, motivational speaker, and
stroke thriver. As someone who overcame the huge life changes that stem from
having a stroke at the young age of 14, Ella pushed herself forward and used her
experiences with stroke to bring awareness and positivity to the stroke
community.

Her Story:

“There’s no way this is anything more than a standard migraine,” I thought while
clutching my head sitting on the bathroom floor in tears.
I was confused because I never experienced headaches or migraines, yet what I
was feeling in that moment felt like my head was about to explode. I decided to
suck it up, so I grabbed a book from my locker and headed to my fifth period
grade 9 drama class. I walked into class and immediately passed out from what I
thought was simply the pain in my head. What actually happened was a malformed
group of blood vessels in my cerebellum had just ruptured, and the “migraine" I
felt was my brain absorbing the blood.

On that day, January 10, 2008, not even 3 months after my 14th birthday, I
experienced an arteriovenous malformation
[https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/arteriovenous-malformation/symptoms-causes/syc-20350544] 
rupture in my cerebellum, and 2 hemorrhagic strokes. And boy did that screw up
my plans of playing soccer professionally and being a big shot lawyer.

Since the damage occurred on the left side of my cerebellum and right side of my
cortex, I lost some control over the left side of my body. I also experienced
balance loss, a period of short-term memory loss, a diagnosis of dysarthria
[https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/dysarthria/], and some peripheral
vision loss. Rehab consisted mostly of physiotherapy, the use of a walker (which
was not fun whatsoever), and frequent appointments with a speech pathologist.
And although I was 14 at the time, athletic, healthy, and gung-ho
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gung%20ho] on rehabilitating, a
couple years after my injury I noticed some lasting effects. “Why can’t I solve
math equations as quick as I used to? Why are the passes with my left foot on
the soccer field not going the direction I want them to? Why can’t my left hand
grip the barbell like my right hand when I do deadlifts at the gym?” Although
these effects were minor, stacked on top of each other, they began to get me
down. Long story short, I spent years upon years wondering if my broken brain
meant I was simply a broken person. I constantly teetered the line between
feeling worthless and feeling gung-ho about recovery. Eventually my teetering
became 1-sided and I couldn’t bare the self-hate anymore…



Finally, in June 2017 (brain injury awareness month in Canada
[https://www.braininjurycanada.ca/category/brain-injury-awareness-month/]) I
spoke out for the first time and conducted my first independent public talk on
brain injury awareness. I briefly touched on the physical effects, but most
importantly I discussed the mental rehabilitation + personal development that
led me to become a vibrant person again. After my injury I came to recognize the
beauty of existence. And through the power of habit and a lot of hard work, I
learned to retrain my brain to become the person I am today.

Here I am today, grateful for my brain injury that taught me to love my life. If
you’ve ever hit rock bottom because of a brain injury, mental health, or any
other experience in your life, I want you to know that with the right doses of
self-care, self-development, and self-discipline, you too can retrain your
brain!



I now blog and speak on everything I’ve learned in the past 11 years of
retraining my brain after my injury. I also coach others on using the power of
habit to help them retrain their brains as well!
Years later, I can finally say I wake up each morning happy. I couldn’t be more
grateful for the gift of my brain injury.



We are grateful that Ella has lent her voice to the community in light of
bringing positivity and acceptance to a severe neurological disorder. To keep up
with her you can find her at www.ellasofia.ca [http://www.ellasofia.ca] or by
following her socials @ellasssofia

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and is not
intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or
treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health
provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. If you
think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
Reliance on any information provided by the NEOFECT website is solely at your
own risk.

stroke survivor story

Stroke Recovery Stories - Ella's Story

While cooking dinner at age 48, Patricia Smith felt a funny feeling go up her arm. After disregarding it and having it happen several more times, she knew that something was wrong.

Stroke Recovery Stories - Patricia's Story



While cooking dinner at age 48, Patricia Smith felt a funny feeling go up her
arm. After disregarding it and having it happen several more times, she knew
that something was wrong. It wasn’t long before her words began to slur, and she
lost feeling in the left side of her body. By the time she reached the hospital,
she was unable to walk. After running tests on her, doctors confirmed that she
had a stroke. At first, she was very upset with the news and felt hopeless. By
her second day in the hospital, however, she gained a newfound determination -
telling the Physical Therapist that she "plans on walking out of this hospital."

Q&A With Patricia, a Stroke Survivor
When you first had symptoms, did you immediately realize what was happening?
At first, I didn’t think anything of it. However, as I continued to get that
funny feeling up my arm, I started to become more worried. I called my daughter
who told me to take my blood pressure, which I did. I had a reading of 140/80,
which is normal
[https://www.neofect.com/us/blog/why-maintaining-healthy-blood-pressure-important]
. This confused me even more. As I began to experience more symptoms such as
slurring words and loss of feeling, I knew it was a stroke from my experiences
with stroke victims from when I worked at a hospital.

How long were you in recovery?
I was in the hospital for a total of a week. On the first day of my stroke, I
was very upset over the fact that I had lost my ability to walk. I prayed to God
to help me get through it. By the next day, I was determined to regain my
ability to walk again. My Physical Therapist got me a walker, and I began to
walk with it often to try to train my brain back into the motions of how it
feels to walk. By my fourth day in the hospital, I was able to walk again
without the walker. By the end of the week, I was released from the hospital and
I did some outpatient therapy, however I didn’t need to do it for long because I
was able to walk quite well. I also went to therapy for my left hand, but
unfortunately, by the end of the second session, it became apparent that I
wouldn’t regain full feeling in it.

What types of exercises did you do in your recovery?
Most of my exercises were basic hand therapy actions
[https://www.neofect.com/us/blog/hand-exercise-for-stroke-rehabilitation]. I was
given a ball to squeeze in my left hand to try and increase my strength in that
hand. Another action I performed was simply picking up the ball and putting it
down to work on my motor planning. Lastly, I did some exercises where I would
put pegs in holes on a board to improve my overall hand coordination and fine
motor skills.



What did it feel like the first time you were able to walk again?
It felt amazing. Just to be able to go to the bathroom without a device, without
any help, it was a blessing.

Did you have any previous knowledge of what a stroke was?
Yes, I did. My father was affected by 4 strokes throughout his lifetime so I had
experience with what it was like. Also, my previous work at a hospital brought
me in contact with others that had experienced strokes before, so I knew the
symptoms and effects.

What was the effect on your family during this whole process?
I have 3 kids: David (34), Raymond (29), and Tyesha (23). After I had my stroke,
my kids were devastated. My sons stayed at the hospital with me every night
because they were afraid they might lose me. They were overjoyed when I made my
recovery.


Pictured: Tyesha and Raymond

Have you had any more complications since your stroke?
I still follow up with the doctors regularly. The only thing that has happened
is that I started to get headaches quite often. After an MRI, it turns out I had
several silent strokes and didn’t even know it. I didn’t experience any symptoms
other than a headache and it is though they never happened. Overall, I have made
an almost complete recovery from my initial stroke and have no issues with
walking. My only remaining issue is that I still do not have full feeling in my
left hand.

Do you have any advice for those that could be going through a similar stroke
situation right now?
My main advice is to never give up faith. I was determined that I was going to
be able to walk out of that hospital and I made it happen. Also, having a strong
support system is crucial. It is very easy to feel alone in a situation like
this where you might feel like the people around you don’t understand.



If you want to read other stroke recovery stories like this check out Annie's
story here
[https://www.neofect.com/us/blog/stroke-recovery-stories-stroke-survivor-annie-stroke-physical-therapy]
.

For other helpful rehab articles, visit neofect.com/us/blog

Get started risk-free by clicking the button below.

If you or a loved one are in need of accessible and affordable rehabilitation
support, please call (866) 989-5375 or email contact.us@neofect.com.