Nick’s journey: Life after a stroke

Hello world, my name is Nicholas Ryan Kremers and I was born, on February 17, 1982, the same day as Michael Jordan. I’m just a regular guy. I’m 41, married, but separated, and have a 4-year-old son. In high school, I played football and was the kind of guy who was friends with and talked to people from all of the different walks of life. I graduated high school with honors and moved on to college. Although I had a blast, I never graduated from college, although I’m one class away from obtaining my bachelor’s degree in business administration. The day that completely changed my life was just like any other day. I was with my pregnant wife at a friend’s house. I was standing in the living room talking to a friend when I felt a pop in my head. A couple of seconds passed by and nothing happened. Suddenly, I fell to the ground. When I tried to stand up, I fell back down. I was totally confused as to what was happening. My wife yelled, “You’re having a stroke! Your left side is drooping!” She said she was calling 9-1-1, and I instructed her not to, that I was going to be just fine. I tried to stand back up, but I fell yet again. She ignored my commands and called the ambulance anyway. That’s when it all gets fuzzy. I remember coming on a gurney and giving a thumbs-up to a load of family and friends there. When I woke up, I was completely confused. I felt my head, and it felt like I had chainsaw blades attached to my skull. My wife informed me that I had a massive stroke and they had to perform brain surgery to suck out the blood clot. The clot was on the right side of my brain, so it affected the left side. My entire left side was paralyzed. They said that because my stroke occurred on that specific spot, that I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize music, or even decipher a cheeseburger from a hotdog. At times my wife would say something to me to see if I was coherent. I was on a massive amount of pain medication, so I would just nod and fall back asleep. I was in I.C.U. for a month. I was so out of it, I remember waking up crying and screaming for my wife bc I thought the staff were trying to kill me. I was hallucinating, thinking every single person that came in was trying to get me.