You may not know this, but a few years ago, I had a stroke!!
😱
That's right, with literally zero risk factors—healthy eating, tons of exercise, perfect blood pressure, no smoking, no alcohol, no diabetes, not even 50 at the time!—I woke up one day unable to comprehend language, speaking gibberish and unaware of my right peripheral field of vision.
To say this came as something of a shock is quite possibly the understatement of the century!!
😆
Rushed into A&E, I experienced the very best of the NHS and over time I was CT, MRI & ultrasound scanned from head to toe and had every blood test going, with the conclusion that we'll never know why it happened and I'm in tip top shape.
It was what they call a ‘mini-stroke’ – a transient ischaemic attack, or TIA, and the symptoms gradually resolved over a period of about 12 hours, with literally nothing left over to show for it.
I woke up the next morning, completely back to normal (well, normal for a Giles Ego Construct 📦)
😉
So what did I learn during that fateful day, other than having it confirmed that we're all on borrowed time and it's completely ridiculous to hold back in life (’cos it could end, any day)?
Well, loads! It was like a potted, mini-version of Jill Bolte Taylor's ‘Stroke of Insight’ in that it was my left brain that got clobbered.
Not long afterwards, I was invited on the popular You Are Not A Frog podcast, to talk about it all, and that episode's just been spruced up and re-released, as it remains one of the most popular episodes they've had.
You can watch the conversation below, or find it on any of the usual links for podcasts (links below).
It's a fascinating subject – enjoy!
Listen to the podcast episode on:
The long and the short of it is that basically I'm still here, for which I am eternally grateful!
🙏🏻
Giles
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Giles P Croft
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