A Year Ago Today: Trust That Small Voice
A year ago today, my husband woke up and said, “I feel off balance, and my ear is ringing.”
I gave it a little while, but he continued to complain that something didn’t feel right. Something in my gut told me to take him to the doctor.
It was a Saturday, so we went to Piedmont Prompt Care near Walmart in Grovetown. By the time we arrived, his right arm and leg were tingling. We checked in, saw the doctor, and they tested him for COVID and the flu.
The doctor came in and told us that my husband had tested positive for Flu A and B.
I asked, “Would the flu cause the tingling in his arm and leg?”
She replied—and I will never forget these words—“Ma’am, it is highly unlikely that he would have the flu and a stroke at the same time.”
We were given Tamiflu and sent home.
Throughout that day, I watched him get worse. I called out of work so I could stay with him, thinking he must have a terrible case of the flu—even though he didn’t seem sick with the flu at all.
The next morning, he sent me a text that was difficult to understand, but I was able to decipher it. He was telling me that he couldn’t walk.
I ran into the room and found him laughing uncontrollably. Those who know my husband know that he does not laugh like that. He couldn’t walk, and his speech was off. He was showing the signs of a stroke.
But in the back of my mind, I kept hearing that doctor’s words: It is highly unlikely that he would have the flu and a stroke at the same time.
I called my best friend, who had suffered a stroke about two years earlier. She begged me to call 911. My husband refused an ambulance, so I drove him to the Piedmont emergency room.
An MRI confirmed that he had, in fact, suffered a stroke.
By then, he was outside the treatment window for the clot-busting medication that may be given to some stroke patients. Thankfully, the lasting damage was limited. He spent a week in the hospital, two weeks in inpatient rehabilitation, and another four weeks in outpatient therapy.
Today, he still lives with some residual effects from the stroke—but he is still here, and I thank God for that every single day.
I share our story because if your gut is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it. Ask questions. Push for answers. Request additional testing. If the symptoms don’t match the diagnosis, speak up.
Doctors are human, and no one knows your loved one the way you do. A diagnosis should never silence the voice inside you telling you that something isn’t right.
I am so thankful that the small voice inside me kept saying:
Keep pushing.
Keep asking.
Keep demanding answers.
That voice may have helped save my husband’s life.
Please learn the signs of a stroke—and when you see them, call 911 immediately. Don’t wait, and don’t second-guess yourself. Every minute matters.
Thank God Thomas is better today and more importantly he is still here!
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