I was asked to give a Fireside in Cokeville, Wyoming, about my experience and the things that I have learned. I have been asked to share the talk, since it wasn't videoed. It's rather long tho, so as to keep you all interested, I have decided to break it up so it is more easily read. You're welcome. ;)
I obviously have a blog, but the last post was in 2014, so 4 years ago!! So I am dusting off the blog, and posting here. Who knows if I will actually keep it updated, or even post on it at all!! Regardless, you can find my story on here.
This will give the story of how I got sick, some science, so you can understand what I got, and life lessons that I learned that I think we can all benefit from. Here it is:
XOXO
Shanna
I obviously have a blog, but the last post was in 2014, so 4 years ago!! So I am dusting off the blog, and posting here. Who knows if I will actually keep it updated, or even post on it at all!! Regardless, you can find my story on here.
This will give the story of how I got sick, some science, so you can understand what I got, and life lessons that I learned that I think we can all benefit from. Here it is:
My Journey
Cokeville Fireside 9/25/2018
Introduction:
I am Shanna Taylor. I’m 28 & I had a stroke. Yes, a stroke!! I was 27 when it happened. In November of last year, 2017. I will get to my story in a minute. But I first wanted to get into some science! Yes, I know, BLAH, science. But, I didn’t know what a stroke was, or what Meningitis or Encephalitis was & I had all 3! I had NO idea what I had. So, let me tell you what they are first, and then I’ll get to my experience right after.
Meningitis is an inflammation of the three membranes that cover the brain. The fluid inside the membranes goes into the spine, which is called spinal fluid. Meningitis can occur when fluid surrounding the tissues become infected. Which happened in my case. There are usually 2 types- viral and bacterial. Bacterial symptoms are usually more severe. They both can result in death. 20-50% of adults who have this condition die. Even with proper treatment.
I had bacterial meningitis. So, it’s basically when the lining of your brain swells because of infection. I had an infection from strep throat. The infection was called strep. They think it was carried into the fluid around my brain by the ear infection I had. The infection got into my blood stream, by the ear infection and traveled to my brain and caused swelling. Meningitis can cause deafness/hearing loss, balance, seizures, paralysis/spasms, speech problems, loss of sight/vision problems. That is just the effects that can happen on ONE of the THREE things I had. So, it’s a huge miracle that I am here speaking to you, and not with a whole lot of permanent effects. MacKay, my husband, has a friend at work who has a wife that had Bacterial Meningitis and Encephalitis, like me, but not a stroke. She is in a wheel chair, has seizures, and a lot of complications from the sickness. So, he thought that’s how I would be. It’s a HUGE miracle that I am doing so well.
Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. Rarely life-threatening. Usually from an infection or the body’s immune system trying to get rid of the infection, and mistakenly attacking brain tissue. (Lupus) In my case, it was from an infection. I got Encephalitis because the infection spread from the lining of the brain, to my brain, causing it to swell. So, basically, it’s when your brain swells.
A stroke is widely known; however, I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was something like a heart attack, and that it was bad to get, but I didn’t really understand it. So, let me explain it a little, in hopes to have you guys understand it more!
A stroke is a heart attack for the brain. The brain needs oxygen to operate at high level. The oxygen reaches the brain through blood that is being pumped by the heart. A stroke is a condition that occurs due to a blocked or burst blood vessel in the brain. When blood vessels fail to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the brain, parts of the brain start to die. Within minutes, brain damage can begin and the parts of the body that were controlled by the impacted area of the brain will stop working.
A stroke is considered a severe medical emergency. Usually strokes are caused by blood clots or blockages in the veins. In my case, all blood flow was restricted because of a swollen brain, and so oxygen flow was very slim, thus causing a stroke. The stroke didn’t just affect one side, like it does with blood clots, but my entire brain was affected because the lack of oxygen was to my whole brain. It affected the right side of my body. Those parts went limp and would not work. However, because it was my whole brain, I have some effects on my left side too. More on that in a minute.
Alright, we will start at the beginning. Before all of that happened, I was just on a cruise ship with my husband and son. A 5-day cruise to Cabo, Mexico. Our boy was 4, at the time and we left our little girl at home with my parents, she was 2. It was a company cruise, so MacKay knew a lot of people there, including his sister, who also works there, and her husband. Before we got on the ship, we spent a day in L.A. We drove all night to get to L.A. When I woke up early the next day, in the car, I felt a tickle in the back of my throat. I thought a cold was coming on, and I was bummed it was coming on for the cruise. I had MacKay go to a drug store close, to get some emergen-c and vitamins to fight it. Some people thought I caught the infection on the cruise but no, I took it with me.
When we got on the cruise, I did everything we had planned and got to have a lot of fun, I was just fighting a “cold” the whole time. It progressively got worse. We went to Cabo, Mexico. We did our excursions and had lots of fun on the beach. That night, I remember watching Wonder Woman on the big screen on the top floor of our ship and it hurt my head too bad that I had to turn and watch the reflection from the glass wall. That should have been my first indication something was terribly wrong. MacKay had to help me back to the room, I leaned on him quite a lot, not feeling well at all. My ear was hurting. I remember MacKay saying to me; “I wish you weren’t so tough and would just go to the doctor.” I laughed it off and said it was too expensive (It would be thousands of dollars), and that I didn’t think I needed it. I really wish I would have gone!! Hindsight.
The next day (3 days into the cruise) we were to go back to Cabo and sight see. I was feeling crummy, so I sent MacKay and Brent off the ship without me. I had thrown up the night before, and just didn’t have it in me to explore. When they were gone, I stayed in our room and tried to sleep, but my head hurt too bad. So, I finally gave up and took a shower, and I remember I just sat down and let the water just poor over me. I felt terrible. They eventually came back and wanted to go eat lunch. I told them I didn’t feel well enough to go out, but to bring something back for me. They brought me back a panini and I remember it tasting so dry and bland, I threw it away. That was my last memory for 6 weeks. A nasty panini!! MacKay and my family have since told me what happened, so I will fill in the blanks. My head hurt so bad that he left a note for his company’s doctor to come over. She was right next door to us, (which is miracle 1) His company has two in-house doctors that were on the cruise with their spouses. (miracle 2) Tamera got the note and came over. I was awake and talking, so I’m not sure why I can’t remember. She gave me a pain shot, and I was able to fall asleep right away. MacKay tried to wake me after a few hours and he said I was snoring, but my eyes were half open. He couldn’t arouse me, so he ran to get Tammy. He thought it was a reaction to the pain shot I had been given. She came in and tried to talk to me, but said I was in a manic state. She got the other in-house doctor (whose room was only 3 doors away from ours) and he came in. Mark shined a flashlight in my eyes, and they wouldn’t dilate. One eye was also different than my other eye, which worried them. They knew that was a brain issue, because my eyes didn’t dilate, and told MacKay to get me to the cruise doctor right away. At some point, I must have been somewhat awake, and Tammy asked me to put my chin to my chest. I couldn’t do that. That’s when she suspicioned that I had meningitis. (The swelling of the lining of the brain) Her sister had gotten it a few years ago, and that was one of the things that showed it may be meningitis. The reason you can’t touch your chin to your chest is because the swelling in the lining is too much, and you cannot do it. I started getting delirious then and flailing around (which must have been terrifying) They rushed me to the cruise hospital, where I saw the doctor there.
Mike, my brother in law took Brent, my son, around the ship, so he didn’t have to witness any of that. My sister in law was with MacKay and I. MacKay wasn’t mentally in a place to give a priesthood blessing, he had some shock, but he wanted me to have one. So, Jenny went to the front desk and asked them for one of his good friends’ room number, so she could call him. The front desk did not want to give it to her, stating that it’s against policy to do that. Jenny told them that she had a very sick girl in the hospital and needed to get ahold of Terry Menlove. He is like a priest in our religion, and we need him to give her a blessing. They reluctantly gave her the number. (Miracle #3) He happened to be in his room (Miracle #4) which does not happen often on a cruise, and he picked up on the second ring. She quickly explained the situation and he said he would be right there. He beat Jenny to the hospital when she was only 1 floor away, and he was several. He gave me a blessing and blessed that the doctors would know how to treat me. Up until this point, there was just speculation. As soon as the blessing ended, the cruise doctor walked in and said; “I have this gut feeling that she has meningitis. I am not supposed to do it on speculation, but I am going to give her the antibiotic.” (Miracle #4) See, to tell if its meningitis, you must do a spinal tap. The infection will show in the fluid. They couldn’t do that on the ship. The doctor decided to give me the antibiotic anyway, and he saved my life. I would have died if he had waited till we were on land to do the spinal tap. The lining of my brain would have kept on swelling. So, call it a "gut feeling" but I know what it was. I have no doubt in my mind that the blessing was a way we communicated with our Savior, and he heard our prayers and the spirit whispered to the doctor what to do. God hears us. He loves us. He answers prayers. Sure, without the blessing, He would have known about my struggles, but He was waiting for us to call on him and believe He could do it.
“…Knock and it shall be opened unto you” Matthew 7:7
We have to knock. We have to seek HIM out. Yes, he already knows what we are struggling about, but he is waiting for us to ask Him for help. WE HAVE TO KNOCK.
MacKay is not a facebook guy, but he posted this for me.
Above is the timeline. Each hospital stay, how much I can't remember, etc.
I got to the California Hospital on November 17th. My father in law was able to come join MacKay. Jenny and Mike took Brent home to my Mom. A few days after I was in the hospital in California, my family was able to come. My Mom, Dad, sister and brother. They were all sick with worry, and not knowing if I was going to live. Again, I can’t even imagine what they had to go through. For them to wonder if they would lose a child, a sister. I don’t even want to think about it. My father-in-law said that it was amazing because I was doing really bad before they got there, frothing at the mouth and it really scared him and MacKay. But, when my family got there I started to improve. When they had to go home, I declined. My Mom said that when my Mom and Dad came the second time and MacKay went home so he could go to work, I got better when my parents came and declined after MacKay left. Family and relationships are a huge thing. And they were obviously big in my recovery.
I slept for almost 23 hours a day. My brain was healing and still very swollen, so I wasn’t awake much. But when my family got there, I recognized and named each of them, which they were ecstatic about, and I was quite annoyed, saying; “I know you guys!” My family came for 3 days. While they were there lots of things happened! I had a lot of experiences with the other side, and other things that would just take too long to explain here! I will share a few experiences with you though.
One of them is: when my Mom and Lindsay (my sister) walked in, I was awake and staring at a corner. I looked over to them and said; “Hi” then turned my attention back to the corner. My Mom asked what I was looking at. I said that there was a lady in the corner. I noticed how puzzled they were, and I asked; “You can’t see her?” My Mom said they couldn’t and asked who she was. I said that I didn’t know her, but that she knew MacKay and I. We still don’t know who she was. I think, that the veil is very thin. We are not alone. There are those on the other side, either felt or seen, that are responsively helping. There are angels coming to help us in our time of need. They are not always seen, but they are there, helping each of us in dark times. They want you to succeed! They want us to get through this hard time. They are there to help us.
Another time my parents came into my room in the morning. Usually I was asleep, but this time I seemed very anxious and excited to talk to someone. When they asked me what I was thinking about, I said, very excitedly “They are being nice to my kids.” My Dad thought, “How does she know that?!” We think now that someone from the other side must have known I was worried about them and came to tell me they were alright. When I had been home for a month or so, probably February, I was getting ready at my desk in my bedroom. I have a picture of my Grandma Henderson on my desk.
My, at the time, 2-year-old daughter asked who that was. I told her Grandma Henderson, she said; “Oh yeah! She held me and talked to me and she is nice!!” Jaylee was like 11 months old when her Great Grandma had died. There is no way she would remember her, and up until this moment had always seen this picture on my desk but had never said anything about remembering her. I was shocked. I think both of my grandmas were there comforting my kids while I was away. It is a comforting thought. You guys, God cares. He sends people to help us. He loves each one of us like our own loved ones do, even more actually! He responds to prayers, that we don’t always know all the answers to or even why. Sometimes even the silent worry we have, he knows about. I never said a prayer for my kids, and that they would be ok, I was too sick to even think clearly. But God heard my silent worry. And he sent people down to watch over my kids. He knew that’s what I needed.
My family left after 3 days. When MacKay had to go back to work, he had my parents come back down, and he drove home with his Dad. Around that time, they told my family I had also had a severe stroke. Up until that point (about 2 weeks into the hospital stay) the doctors didn’t tell them that I had a stroke, they said I had stroke-like symptoms. But in fact, I had a major stroke. However, even though I was in the hospital while it happened, and they didn’t catch it, the medication they would have given me, they were already giving me for Meningitis and Encephalitis. So, it didn’t make it worse! Just the knowledge wasn’t there. What a miracle that they were already giving me that medication!! I was transferred to Utah after 2 weeks and 1 day in the California Hospital.
I flew by a tiny plane with my Mom, and my Dad drove their car back.
I was transferred to the Specialty Hospital by Provo Canyon.
I still slept a lot but woke up more there. They started getting me out of bed to do Physical Therapy. My first PT was just wheeling me in my wheelchair downstairs and sitting me in front of the window in hopes that the sunlight would wake me up. It did not. You can see in the picture that I had to have a board for my head or it would flop. I lost my muscles to hold my head up. I finally started to wake up for PT when they tried to wake me up. One PT session that I remember is me on a hand & foot bike. They had to tie on my right hand, because it would just fall off, I couldn’t grip at all. My PT thought I would go about 2 minutes, I went 20 minutes and then was tired. My PT was so excited and shocked! To get me going my sister-in-law; Sara told me to say something that I wanted every time I pedaled one hand. It started out as Chips and Salsa, lemon bars, and it quickly turned into me saying; “Brent, Jaylee, Brent, Jaylee” They became my motivation. I wanted to get back to them. This still gives me chills. They were my motivation. My kids.
The brain injuries that I had, affected my speech. I couldn’t talk very well, or I would say words that were close, but not quite right. I had one of my first PT sessions where I watched other patients play bowling on the WII. I sat there and thought, all these people are old, and I can’t do what they are doing! That’s the first time I realized how bad it was. After that, I was wheeled back to my room and right before I fell asleep, I told my parents; “I didn’t realize the extension” and then I passed out. My parents talked about what I had meant, and they concluded that I meant that I didn’t realize the extent of my condition. That’s the exact moment when it hit me. I didn’t realize how bad it was. I hadn’t tried to sit up, I was sleeping most of the time, but when I started trying, I would just tilt over. I didn’t realize that I couldn’t lift my right hand, or my right leg. I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t feed myself, shower myself. Think right. It was when everything just hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t do BASIC things.
My PT, Drew was able to get me to stand one day. With help, of course, and it was really scary. I thought I was going to fall! I have a video I will show you, of the first time that I stood up. You can see on my face my terror, and then acceptance. You can also see how hard it truly was for me.
In PT I had to play the WII (which I hated because I hate video games) And I couldn’t stand on the foot pad. So, Drew placed it underneath me as I sat. The object of the game was to sit and shift my weight to miss objects in the water, and to also not hit the bank. I was in a boat. It was extremely hard for me. You can see his excitement as I would do something good. He had to get me side grab bars because it was hard for me to not tilt to the side, so those helped me stay up-right. But I love this picture of his excitement. It reminds me of my excitement when my kids would do something relatively simple for us, but incredible for them! It just touches my heart that there are people out there, who are rooting for you. Helping you do things that you can’t. And getting so excited when you make progress!!
There were certain things that I would say a lot. One thing I came to say all the time was that; “It’s trivial” My mom would ask if I wanted her to do my hair, because she knew I liked that, and I would respond with; “It’s trivial” She asked me another time if I wanted to do my make-up, I said; “It’s trivial”.
I usually care about my appearance and tried to look nice. But things were put into perspective for me. The things I usually cared about were just “trivial” things. When things happen to you, you find out what really matters. I had always heard things like that but had never really understood it until then. I started caring only about the things that actually mattered; my husband, my children, my family, my recovery. Everything else no longer mattered at that point. It’s an important lesson for all. Put our time in things and people that matter the most to us, don’t spend our time and effort on things that we think other people want us to do and what they think. Find out what matters to YOU and spend time doing those things. You will be so much happier, I promise! Think of those things that you spend time doing, but don’t LOVE it, and think; “It’s trivial!”
Ok, I will stop here and give you a bit of a break!! In the next post, I will tell of my transfer and stay at Utah Valley Hospital, my recovery after the hospital and the lessons I learned.
Thank you for taking the time to read! I hope you all enjoy it and learn a little bit about my journey!
XOXO
Shanna
Wow. Your story is incredible. Another miracle from your story is that Heavenly Father knew I needed to read about you and feel how much He loves us. And that miracles come from heartbreak and devastation. You are miraculous.
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