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I Will Keep Doing Things I Can’t

How My Can-Do Attitude Has Made My Life Better

I was supposed to have a C-section. I delivered the baby in the usual way, 6 weeks premature while I was still hemiplegic. My left side was totally paralyzed from a severe stroke I had at 26 weeks into my second pregnancy. My older son was 22 months old.

Throughout the 53 days I laid in the hospital, pregnant and paralyzed, at age 35, going into labor naturally and having it progress despite being given drugs to arrest it was the first major surprise of my recovery. Until I gave birth, I’d been given drugs to stop labor several times in order to give the baby’s lungs a more optimal chance to develop.

No one was sure I would walk independently, drive or otherwise enjoy life again. But, I would have none of that. I was young and had two babies who needed their mother.

I struggled with depression for about a year with a powerful mix of organic brain damage, horrible life circumstances, and being postpartum.

I stopped taking antidepressants through mostly sheer force of will after a year. I was lucky I could make up my mind to focus on being happier and grateful to be alive and for everything I still had in my life.