People don't realize that certain incidents can happen to them until it actually does directly affect their lives. I have always thought my parents would always be healthy and basically live forever. It sounds ridiculous, but how many of us adolescents and young adults are actually aware that our parents will eventually die one day? We truly don't think about it until it has hit us in the face and it's the only reality we have.

On November 16th, my healthy mother, who is a nurse, had a stroke. Someone who always took care of the sick and dying, was now being taken care of as a patient. Thankfully, her stroke is what is known as a TIA or Transcient Ischemic attack, which is basically a warning stroke. A TIA is a type of stroke, which in the medical field is known as the "troublemaker". This is because of it's characteristic of coming and going so sudden.

Before my mother initially had the stroke, she noticed she felt a feeling of greatness and felt like she could conquer the world. She had plans to do grocery and Christmas shopping, and to meet my father later for banking. it seemed as if it would be a normal day for her. As soon as she entered the shower, she noticed that she felt incredibly weak all over. Then, she described an intense pressure in shoulders or other parts of your body, as if someone was pushing her body down. This is when she got out of the shower to lie down for a moment.

She looked in the mirror and felt overly confused. She described this moment that she was aware of herself and surroundings, but felt as if she and time were slowing down around her. This is what oxygen depletion does to the brain, which is a majority of what a stroke is.

My mother laid back down and noticed she felt extremely sweaty, or dyphoretic. The stroke was wreaking havoc in her body and throwing off normal processes. After a few minutes, she noticed she started feeling somewhat better. The intense pressure was gone and she wasn't sweating as much anymore

However, when she looked in the mirror again, her whole body was pale and gray. She also noticed that her left side of her face was distorted and that she had no control over it anymore. This is when my mother, the nurse, knew what was going on. She called my father to come home quickly, but then realized she should call her coworker that lives down the street from us.

Her nurse coworker could barely understand what she was saying, because she was now loosing the ability to talk. All that our neighbor could understand was, "Come...here."

By the time that my father and our neighbor were at our house, my mother was feeling weak and loosing control of the left side of her body again. She had finally lost all ability to speech, in which my mother said felt like she had a sock on her tongue. This is the feeling of slurred speech in stroke victims.

If there's anything that my mother learned from this, it's that life is so meaningful and can be cut short so quick. She's realized that she can't worry about the small things all the time. She needs to cherish life and look at the bigger picture. That very day, she prayed to God that she couldn't die today, because she has so much left to see and do.

My mother also realized that self-care is truly important. As someone who is in the medical field, you'd think that would be common sense. However, that is not always the case. She was always quick to tell others that they need to eat better, relax, and exercise, but never helped herself in the process. This traumatic experience has made her realize that she also needs to take care of herself, so she can continue taking care of others as well.

My mother, the nurse who had stopped on the side of roads to aid hurt strangers and do everything in her power to save her patients, was the patient for once in her life.

Mom, I love you and you're the strongest person I know. Things like this happen for a reason, because sometimes we need a wake up call. God realized this and knew that it wasn't your time, because you have so much more things in life to experience. You're the best mother and nurse anyone could have.