Doctors Told Me I Had Asthma. Then I Had Four Strokes

One night, I went to bed and didn’t wake up until the next day at 4 p.m. My partner at the time kept coming and trying to wake me up. I vaguely remember being confused, and somewhat coherent, but not able to open my eyes or move. My partner got my mom on the phone, and though I have no memory of speaking with her, whatever I said really concerned her. She asked my partner to take me to the E.R. After doing an MRI of my brain, they found out I had had not just one, but four strokes over the last two weeks. The fourth, and most severe, was the one that caused me to practically lose control of my body. Since strokes happen when there’s not enough blood flow to your brain, the doctors at the E.R. thought I might have a clotting disorder. When they ruled that out, they wondered if I had a hole in my heart because that’s a common risk factor for strokes. I did—an atrial septal defect, or ASD, which I was born with. It’s what ultimately led to my strokes, which left me with a ton of frustrating, lingering side effects, like brain fog and issues with my balance.

After I got out of the hospital, my life had completely changed. Though they were able to repair the hole in my heart through surgery, the doctors told me there was no way I’d be able to continue grad school, at least for now—the strokes had that much of an impact on my brain. That was tough. I had moved to Boston for school, so I was in a city where I knew very few people. I’d stutter and have trouble keeping up in conversations. It really affected my social life. My mood also flipped. I’m usually pretty happy most of the time, but I began to feel anxious and angry over nothing at all. It was hard on my family. I was suddenly no longer the person they’d known their whole lives. We were all scared and confused. It took me about a year, but I started to feel somewhat close to normal again. However, I had no concept of recovery while that was happening. I could only focus on making it to the next day.

During that tough year, one of my best friends from my college team sent me a tweet from US Soccer; it was a call for athletes with cerebral palsy, or who’ve had a traumatic brain injury or stroke, to fill a new women’s Paralympic soccer team. At the time, it was difficult for me to process any kind of information so my friend actually sent in my application for me. I didn’t expect to hear anything, but eventually, someone from the team called to ask if I’d like to attend a training camp. I ended up qualifying for the US Women’s CP National Team in the IFCPF Women’s World Cup in 2022 (where we won gold!).

I still have lingering effects from the stroke. Sometimes I forget what I’m talking about—although thankfully, those instances are few and far between. No one usually notices! However, I still can get overstimulated and am sensitive to noise, which is kind of funny coming from a loud Italian family. On the field, my balance isn’t great. My left side is less coordinated, which makes me more injury-prone. It’s all kind of new to me, and while I’m still adjusting to what life after my strokes looks like, considering what happened, I’m lucky to be alive.

It’s frustrating knowing this might have been prevented if the hole in my heart had been found earlier, but it’s amazing what my body is capable of now that it’s patched up. I remember the first run I went on post-surgery. I called my mom in shock: Mile after mile—I just kept going and didn’t want to stop. I could finally breathe.

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