At the age of thirty-three, Delanie Stephenson was enjoying life with her husband, two kids, and a teaching job she loved. Blessings abounded, and Delanie thanked God for each one. But it only took a single instant to change it all. A terrible headache struck her on June 6, 2012, and no amount of ibuprofen could take care of it. Delanie had a stroke-similar to the stroke that Delanie's twenty-nine-year-old sister had suffered a year before. What were the odds of two sisters suffering the same ailment? Delanie's entire family was in a state of shock, and the news became worse when the doctors were unsure whether Delanie would walk or talk again. In her memoir, Delanie describes that summer of 2012 in detail, from those first harried days in the ICU to the tedious physical therapy as she slowly began to crawl her way back to recovery. Not only did Delanie walk and talk again; she emerged from her ordeal even stronger and decided that she would never again take life for granted. Filled with intimate details and the amazing resilience of the human spirit, The Calm before the Storm shares one woman's amazing journey from stroke victim to stroke survivor. The Calm before the Storm A STROKE SURVIVOR'S STORY By Delanie Stephenson iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2013 Delanie Stephenson All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4759-9230-4 Contents Acknowledgments............................................................xiPrologue...................................................................xvChapter 1 Life Before......................................................1Chapter 2 The Day My World Changed.........................................13Chapter 3 The First Day of the Rest of My New Life.........................21Chapter 4 The Calm before the Storm........................................31Chapter 5 Moving Day!......................................................39Chapter 6 The Storms of the Century Begin..................................47Chapter 7 The Storm Worsens................................................57Chapter 8 The Retreat (Part 1).............................................65Chapter 9 The Retreat (Part 2).............................................69Chapter 10 Fun, Unexpected.................................................75Chapter 11 There's Something about Mary....................................81Chapter 12 Back Off !......................................................87Chapter 13 Puss 'n' Boots..................................................95Chapter 14 Stopped Up......................................................99Chapter 15 The Funny Ward..................................................103Chapter 16 Nurses Can Be Funny Too.........................................109Chapter 17 Time to Go......................................................113Chapter 18 Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to Inpatient Rehab I Go!.................117Chapter 19 Cracker Barrel..................................................125Chapter 20 The Real World..................................................131Chapter 21 HealthSouth.....................................................139Chapter 22 Unexpected Bumps in the Road....................................143Epilogue...................................................................149 CHAPTER 1 LIFE BEFORE IT WAS THE WEEKEND BEFORE Alex's fourth birthday, and wedecided to have his party in the local bowling alley. Most of thepeople there were family. Kids had fun "trying" to bowl and playingvideo games. My mom and dad, my sister Karen, and her two boyswere in attendance along with several aunts, uncles, and cousins. Thebirthday cake was good, the fellowship even better. My sister and Iwere looking really good. We had both recently lost weight and hada golden hue from the summer on our skin. We took pictures, andeveryone had a good time. That was on Saturday, August, 6, 2011.On Monday, August 8, Karen was to have a scheduled procedure atthe hospital to have a benign mass on her neck removed. I honestlyforgot about it that Monday until my mom called later that day. Ialways wish I had called my sister that Monday morning to hear theold Karen one more time. As of August 10, 2011, my life would never be the same. As Isaid, my sister had gone into the hospital for routine surgery to havea mass removed from her neck, and they accidentally snipped thecarotid artery on the right-hand side. It turned out that the mass wascongenital, meaning it had been there since birth, and the carotidartery was wrapped all around it. They had to tie the artery off. Shewould have only one working carotid artery (she was supposed tohave two: one on each side of her neck). There was some seriousbleeding because of this, and she almost bled to death. I knew shewas going to be in the hospital longer than expected. My mom toldme that the doctors almost lost her on the operating table. Whenshe was in the recovery room, she was all by herself; her husbandwasn't even by