5 Unconventional Therapies I Tried to Rebuild the Dexterity of My Affected Hand After a Double Stroke
I’ve been a leftie all my life, and a double stroke left me with an actual left hand.
When I woke in the ICU at Mills-Peninsula Hospital near SFO International Airport after I had a life-saving brain surgery, the last thing on my mind was what the long-term effects of this would be.
The ischemic stroke I experienced left two-thirds of my brain without blood and oxygen. An ischemic stroke happens when a blood clot blocks an artery from blood flow. The other type of stroke is hemorrhagic stroke when an artery ruptures and the brain is bleeding. Both cases are dangerous, and fast help is paramount. Stroke is among the top 5 causes of death worldwide. According to the World Stroke Organization, 1 in 4 adults over 25 will experience a stroke in their lifetime.
One large blood clot resulted in the right hemisphere of my brain being completely blocked off of blood, and a smaller one hit the back of the left hemisphere.
The larger one on the right caused 100% paralysis of the left side of my body, from head to toe.
The smaller one on the left side caused aphasia, the type — there are five types of…
