BANGOR — Lee Glynn is celebrating World Stroke Day, observed on Oct. 29 of each year, differently than most people.
On July 29, Glynn’s life changed forever.
“I got up and went to the bathroom and realized I had no feeling in my right hand,” he said. “I went back into the bedroom, I said to my fiancee, ‘Nance, something is wrong. I can’t feel my right side.”
According to Glynn he suffered hemorrhagic stroke. In his case, the blood spilled into the left side of his brain affecting the right side of his body.
“I can pick things up, I can handle things, but I have to tell my brain what I want it to do and what I want my fingers to do,” he said.
While recovering in intensive care, Glynn said, doctors couldn’t tell his family when he would recover.
“It changes everything. I was a farmer. I had a farm in Mercer,” he said.
“A month later I’m coming home from the hospital in a wheelchair, when you can’t move your right hand,” he said.
He said he fell into the deepest, darkest depression of his life.
Glynn credits Angela Wheeldon’s support group for saving his life.
A nurse coordinator with Northern Light Stroke Care, Wheeldon said 80 percent of of strokes are preventable and knowing the symptoms is critical.
“Some of the simple ways to remember stroke is facial droop, arm weakness, speech difficulty and T for time is time to call 911. So that’s our FAST acronym,” she said.
