I had a stroke at 47 - 5 things I learned

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I had a stroke at 47. Five things I learned:

My name is Dale Dymkoski and I had a stroke at 47. I woke up one morning, a few months before the pandemic hit, with partial vision loss. I couldn’t see in my right periphery. The furthest thing from my mind was a stroke. 

I am a fitness buff with a master’s degree in exercise physiology. I get certified in CPR every two years. Not trying to throw my credentials around, but just to make clear I have more than a casual familiarity with the body and am regularly educated and reminded what to look for when someone is having a medical emergency. I’d always known signs of stroke to be jumbled speech, confusion, or numbness and paralysis on one side of the body. So when my girlfriend said, “Do you think you’re having a stroke?” I was like, “No way it’s a stroke.” I’ve been working out literally 5-6 days a week for 35 years, and I didn’t have any of those more commonly known symptoms. 

Well, it was a stroke. My girlfriend won that one. And a loss of vision in one or both eyes is a sign of stroke. And strokes can and do occur in young and healthy people. One in seven strokes occurs in people under 50. One in four people have a congenital heart condition I had called patent foramen ovale – PFO – which is linked to strokes in young people. 

Did you get all that? There will be a quiz.

Strokes are very serious and life-threatening. But if caught in time, like immediately, they can be reversed with little to no lasting damage. Survival is a fight against the clock. And I want to spread that message loud and clear so that people can recognize the signs for a stroke, especially young people you wouldn’t expect to be at risk.

Here are five things I learned after surviving a stroke. 

1. Stroke awareness. I already gave you number 1. Recognize the signs of stroke and call 911 immediately. A stroke is occurs when a blood clot gets lodged in the brain which impairs blood flow and kills cells. (I so didn’t expect this to be a science class.) Where the blood clot lodges determines what part of the brain will be affected and what the symptoms will be. Mine lodged in the part of the brain that affected the vision in the lower right quadrant of both eyes.

It is normal to be in denial that something is wrong or to downplay symptoms. Ever start to feel sick and you’re like, “I’m not really sick. I’m fine. It’s just a little… whatever.” There is a powerful anti-clotting drug that if administered within 3 hours of the onset of a stroke, can reverse the stroke and save those brain cells. Recognize the signs, call 911.

2. The importance of sleep and exercise. Recovery from stroke is different for everyone as every stroke is different. I experienced what is called “stroke fatigue”. It is the feeling your head is in the clouds and the insatiable need to nap once, twice, sometimes three times a day. (Which was fine by me. I love naps.)

I also had difficulty remembering certain words (still do), headaches, insomnia and depression. After a stroke, the brain has suffered an injury. Sleep is directly related to the body’s ability to repair itself. Exercise kickstarts the cycle of blood flow which carries nutrients to cells. I always say about exercise – as living beings we are either growing or wasting away. Exercise, in particular resistance training, is our only chance at prolonging our demise on this planet. (Dark, I know.)

Then there was the brain exercise. I got back to playing music. Such wonderful therapy for a brain injury. I wrote jokes about my experience and went up onstage and tried to remember my words. The more I did it, the better I got.

3. Have patience with yourself. This was a hard one for me. I’m not often described as a patient person. Certainly, not when it comes to myself. It was very hard for me to accept my life was forever changed after having a stroke. No matter how incredible a recovery I manage to make. In some ways it was devastating. Losing my eyesight? I’m a lifelong baseball player. I still play competitive baseball (pre-Covid) on weekends. My whole life and identity has been deeply connected to my health and fitness. This is where I need to acknowledge how incredibly lucky I know I am. Just a matter of millimeters where the blood clot lodged and I could have died or been paralyzed. And being in excellent shape at the time of my stroke gave me a huge leg up and advantage at being able to make a full recovery. I still have a blind spot in my field of vision. But because I’m a right-handed hitter, I can still see the pitch coming in from the left side. I’m proud to say that I returned to the baseball field 3 months after my stroke and hit a double in my first at-bat! Incredible, right?

I also went back to work 2 months after my stroke. I wasn’t patient with myself. I so wanted to prove I was okay and that I could do everything I did before my stroke. I went back too soon. I simply did not have the stamina I once did. I believe going back to work too soon is what brought on my insomnia and depression. Then the pandemic hit and everything shut down. I couldn’t work. The universe forced me to rest. Seriously, who’s luckier than me? Having a stroke right before a global pandemic caused the world to shut down. Talk about timing. Everyone says how bad 2020 sucked. I loved it. I needed the year off.

4. Recognize opportunity. I don’t believe everything happens for a reason. I believe everything happens. And you have to choose what to do about it. I am a multi-hyphenate career person. In addition to being a fitness coach, I do standup comedy. I’m also an actor and have written scripts. In the last 4 years, standup comedy has become a passion and obsession. I set up my life so I could earn a good living working as a trainer at a high-end gym, while performing standup at night. Just before my stroke, I was beginning to travel for contests, festivals, and gigs. My skill in one job helped me to invest in my other career. I had just worked my first feature gig. Things were going great.

Then I had my stroke and a few months later the world shut down with my industry among the hardest hit. Have I mentioned how incredibly lucky I am? Just to have been able to take a year off and recover and not feel like I was losing ground on my career path. It’s like the year off gave me the chance to catch up.

During this time, I planned the launch of my online training business, which has been a great change for me. I sleep in, work less, make more, work from home with my dog, all of which allows me more time to write and focus on comedy. Plus, working online gives me the freedom to travel for comedy and not be broke! For me, this was an incredible breakthrough. All because I saw an opportunity to pivot during the shutdown.

5. Accept help. A stroke is a serious thing. People reached out and showed me so much love and support, for which I am so grateful. I am very much a self-sufficient person. It is hard for me to ask for help. But people wanted to help. People wanted to bring food and send well wishes. I learned it is good to let people do good. It’s a good feeling for them and it’s a good feeling for me, allowing a friend or loved one’s healing energy into the mix. Not trying to get all new-agey and touchy-feely, but it’s about flow. If I deny someone’s desire to give of themselves in a genuine way, I am stopping the flow of goodwill. Who am I to do that? That is not beneficial to me, the person giving, or the universe at large.

I am a stroke survivor. I know people see my story as inspirational and about “overcoming adversity.” I understand it. But I don’t really see it that way. I see it as I am the luckiest man on the planet. And now what am I going to do?

Fail at a business venture? Bomb onstage? Please. I coulda died. I’m lucky I get the chance to even try.