Don't ignore any warning signs!

If you have dizziness or vision problems, get it checked out quick. I was having dizziness almost to the point of blacking out when turning my head (i.e. - when backing up the car).
When I turned to look forward, the dizziness would dissipate and my vision would clear. I was thinking it was vertigo or syncope?
I did go to doctor and they performed a EKG and thought that it had an unusual spur on the waveform. They referred me to a heart specialist with a 2-week wait before they could get me in. I figured I had time. The good doctor did also.
Unfortunately, I had a stroke a week before my appointment. It was from a blood clot in my neck at the base of my brain. That explained my dizziness when turning my head.

It was a sudden and early retirement. The right side of my body and the left side of my face lost motor control. My right arm and leg have mostly come back.Other things have come back also. Learning to stand, walk, climb stairs, bathe & dress myself, read & write and brush my teeth again were big victories. When I feel the limp side of my face twitching, it is hope that the motor nerves are coming back. I still have touch sensation.

The doctors have asked me not to ride a bicycle or drive a car. I'm OK going straight, but if I follow a turn, the world spins. I have learned to trust my dominant eye and that helps with balance and orientation.

My biggest problem is breathing as I only have a half of my diaphragm working. The diaphragm control nerve is still dead on the right side. There is surgery that could help, but the doctors want to wait and see if the nerve comes back on its own. They would like to give 2 years to see what comes back before any surgery. I am still on blood thinners because of the clot, so surgery at present is off the table.

I am grateful for what has returned. There was little, if any cognitive damage and I still have my sense of humor. There have been no new strokes since.
My belief in God is unshaken. I feel a warm hand on my shoulder at times and I call it God's hand.

Scary stuff! Very glad you're recovering from this... that you're above ground, to recover from it!

I can't say anything- I'm a procrastinator. But you're right- warning signs need to be heeded.

Glad, you made it. The problem, in my case, is: what are warning signs and what is just silly nonsense!? Even if I have no Munchausen syndrome, I seldomly can assess my wellbeing adequately. Sometimes I'm feeling like I'm dying — with nothing more, than a microscopic little splinter in a finger, and the other time I apologize for bothering the medics with my unworthy troubles, whilst having just broken my leg. Some of my Docs literally roll their eyes, when I enter, whilst on other occasions they seemed extremely serious. The problem: I can't say, in neither case, why they react in this ore that way.

Being OCD and a hypochondriac, it can be really hard for me to know when it's serious. Dr Google would have had me dead long ago (I no longer check Dr Google). I now restrict myself to checking to see if stress can cause a symptom; over the years I've had an impressive array of various things all of which can be present with stress and anxiety. Between that, and my tendency to obsess, I often have to turn my mind off when it comes to things I feel. Which, I realise can be potentially a problem; but if I were the kind to report everything, I'd be one of those patients they'd roll their eyes at...