[Personal Experience] Episode 1: "The Stroke Came Suddenly"

One summer day, a blood vessel in my brain ruptured.

Early July 2022—as the summer heat was beginning to set in, I never for a moment imagined that a blood vessel in my own body would rupture.

The day before, I had gone out for a light drink with a colleague after work. It was a completely normal night.
It was an ordinary, peaceful day, no different from any other.

The next day, I had the day off from work.
I woke up a bit late and headed to the gym to get some exercise. I finished a light stretch and was just reaching for a machine to decide what to do that day, when—

A strange sensation shot through my body.

At the back of my head—right around the occipital region—I felt a dull, heavy sense of discomfort.
It wasn't the "excruciating pain" or "impact" people often talk about. It was hard to describe in words, lacking a clear outline of pain. But my body was clearly signaling that something was "not right."

The discomfort vanished immediately.
I told myself, "Maybe it was just my imagination," and stood in front of the machine.

But—my body wouldn't move.
Even when I tried to move them, my arms and legs wouldn't listen to me.
It felt as if someone deep inside my body was holding me back, saying, "Stop."

It wasn't that I was physically unable to move. But my body was instinctively refusing.
At that moment, I still hadn't realized that my body was trying to protect itself.

I gave up on training that day and lay down in the gym's rest area.
I felt somewhat sluggish. My head felt a little heavy.
After a while, a dull, throbbing pain shot through the back of my head again.

I don't suffer from headaches. But I thought, "Well, it should be fine if it's just this much."
If I sleep, it will get better. That had always been the case.

—But this time, it was different.

The headache continued the next day.
I only thought, "Huh, maybe I have a cold?"
Just to be safe, I took some over-the-counter headache medicine. It certainly worked. But when the effects wore off, the pain returned.

Before I knew it, the frequency of the medicine increased from once a day to twice, then three times.

Even then, I didn't think it was a big deal.

—Who would ever imagine that a blood vessel in their brain had ruptured?

The day I first learned the term 'Department of Neurology'

One day, about 10 days after the onset.
Feeling that something was truly wrong, I finally started looking for a hospital.

"Internal medicine? But it's a headache... which department should I go to?"
It was only after looking it up that I learned there was a department called "Neurology."

I felt a bit uneasy, but I went to a nearby hospital thinking, "I'll just get a quick check-up."
As soon as I finished at the reception, I was told to get an MRI, and I underwent the test with a light heart, thinking, "Well, it's just a precaution."

When the test was over, I was called into the examination room without even a moment to wait.

For a moment, I didn't understand what the doctor was saying.

"A part of a blood vessel in your brain has ruptured. It is a vertebral artery dissection. You need a detailed examination at a larger hospital. Given the situation, you will be admitted immediately."

—It felt just like a line from a movie.

Was it really that serious?
I have pain, but I'm talking right now, I'm standing, and I should look normal.
My mind couldn't keep up.
"Why me?" "Why did this happen?"
My thoughts were spinning in circles.

A disease name I had never even heard of.
Is my life in danger?
It was the moment I had to face "illness" head-on for the first time, something I thought was the furthest thing from my life.

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From that day on, my life and my state of mind changed significantly.
Next time, I would like to quietly write about the journey from the detailed examination to my life during recovery.