Stroke Survivor Story: Overcoming the Unknown
Stroke Survivor Story: Overcoming the Unknown
Dan Merritt had a stroke while waiting for a doctor’s appointment on Halloween and then a second later that night. After a third cryptogenic stroke, finding answers became the trick. Learn more about cryptogenic stroke at www.StrokeAssociation.org/CS
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0 -> (ambient instrumental music)
- I love sunrises.
3.96 -> A lot of people love beautiful sunsets.
6.872 -> I love beautiful sunrises, 'cause it says,
9.221 -> hey, you made it to another day.
12.179 -> My wife and I have been
married for 43 years.
14.72 -> I met her when I first
got back from Vietnam.
17.792 -> We have three beautiful daughters
20.111 -> and we have seven grandchildren.
22.563 -> - Dan is the best father
that there could be.
26.712 -> He is not a person or a dad that says no
30.489 -> to any of his girls.
32.961 -> (ambient instrumental music)
39.739 -> Memories start from
that day of just loving.
44.641 -> Oh my gosh, I'm going up to the grandkids,
47.979 -> tradition, hot dogs, the pumpkins,
51.939 -> the kids are gonna get dressed.
53.681 -> - And as I was sitting there drinking,
55.619 -> it was a cup of punch
that they had given me,
57.777 -> I noticed that I was drooling
down the side of my face.
61.081 -> - He comes walking over to me,
63.579 -> not too long after we had arrived there,
66.83 -> and he says to me, or tries to say to me,
71.938 -> motioning, and made some
sounds coming out of his mouth.
76.939 -> It's very difficult to watch a loved one
82.238 -> go through something like that
84.38 -> and not know how it's gonna end up.
86.94 -> (ambient instrumental music)
101.838 -> Once the stroke happened,
I guess I didn't sleep.
106.5 -> I thought, is it gonna happen again?
109.057 -> The doctors didn't know for
sure what was causing the stroke
112.998 -> so I felt like my husband,
Dan was a walking time bomb.
118.929 -> (ambient instrumental music)
131.739 -> - Something is going on with your heart,
133.578 -> we want to monitor your heart activity.
136.5 -> And then Doctor Meyer said, hey,
138.3 -> there's some new technology out.
140.518 -> And I said, well, let's try it.
143.109 -> (ambient instrumental music)
149.289 -> They had a transmitter sit next to my bed,
151.748 -> so every night at midnight
it would automatically
153.729 -> talk to this chip, and so
with my next appointment
157.728 -> with the doctor when he
started seeing the results
160.089 -> from this monitoring, he
said, you've got Afib.
163.99 -> (ambient instrumental music)
175.169 -> It certainly was a lot of relief.
177.47 -> Instead of looking over
my shoulder all the time
179.87 -> for every little finger prick you got
182.659 -> or whatever was happening at the time,
185.209 -> pay attention to your body again.
187.47 -> It's always trying to tell you things.
189.07 -> Either things are doing great or things
191.089 -> are going a little off kilter,
193.26 -> and if it's not real real serious,
195.94 -> obviously keep a log, keep a journal.
198.777 -> Learn by it, examine
it, explore it, persist.
203.91 -> (ambient instrumental music)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py8bM_0RDy8