24.11.2020 - it was a beautiful November morning. I did my lashes job and after that headed to the gym. My heart was singing inside because I hadn't been able to train alone for a long time.
I got to the there. I did a quick warm up and started training. And of course, I always train legs when I haven't trained for a long time. Legday is my absolute favorite! 🤩
I did not max, but used weights what challenged me. I still had to make an effort - otherwise there would be no point in doing it!
I had only done two exercises when the stroke process started. My legs started getting weak - right one more than left. But at that time I thought it was because of legday. The third exercise was on a leg kickback machine, that is when I realized that my right leg was strange. Also the right hand began to tingle and get weak. I even wrote to a friend about it. I started doing the second series when the right hand couldn't hold on anymore. I then started grabbing the phone from the ground which I couldn’t do with usual right hand because it did not work at all anymore. That was so terrible moment. My right hand stopped working - it was there but I couldn’t feel it nor use it.
I grabbed my stuff with left hand and quickly went into the locker room. I asked a friend to come pick me up. When I then started putting my bag together, I started to use my right hand several times, but it was gone. The leg started getting more and more numb. I started crying, closed the zipper with my mouth and rushed out of the gym.
The fact that I could move on my right foot was probably all thanks to my adrenaline, but I only realised that later.
As I sat in the car, I started talking and I understood I no longer had the ability to speak. After which I started to hysterically cry.
I was taken directly to the hospital but I refused to go in. I demanded to be taken home, which was finally done. (Believe me, if I have taken a position about something, then that’s how it is and it is very difficult to get me to change my mind, that's why he agreed to take me home. Specially if it’s about doctors, I don’t like to visit them. Nothing against doctors but yeah, you get the idea...)
When I got home, I was able to go to the 3rd floor on my own. I threw the shoes off my feet and lay down on the bed. After the call to my father, I agreed to take myself to the hospital, ie to call an ambulance.
I would like to thank Sander from the bottom of my heart, who was so calm and so good at in this whole situation. I admire how he were able to calm me down at that moment and make me feel safe. I do not have enough words to say how grateful I am to him because of that! So... Thank you! ♥ ️
An ambulance reached me about 45 minutes after the first symptoms, but only 10 minutes after receiving the call. The priority of the call became D, which is designated when the person's condition is life-threatening.
When they arrived, I was already very calm. I just observed what was going on around me and didn't feel anything anymore. My blood pressure was measured to be 250/140.
When the paramedics thought how are they going to get me down from that small narrow staircase, I was able to say the words "me myself" and pulled myself up with my left hand. But the right side of the body was already completely useless by that time, that I couldn’t even sit up anymore. But let's be honest, even if I could have stayed sitting, I still wouldn't have been allowed to do it, because after that "me myself" the whole brigade quickly made a fuss "woow woow, lie down!"
On the way to the hospital, a member of the brigade (Hey, Liisel-Kariine! ♥) was with me at the back of ambulance car. I guess I'll never forget her look - it was so caring, but so confused. I so wanted to talk to her and tell her that everything is going to be fine (to reassure myself most of all), but I couldn't talk. And that's all ... her look and that thought are the last thing I remember. The rest is a black whole, just a few flashbacks...