By | 21 May 2018

Stroke Spotlight: Kay Ambrose

May is American Stroke Month, so in this issue of the Pulse we are featuring the story of Kay Ambrose from Denver, who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke last year and still teaches piano, but just a little slower than she used to. Read more about Kay and share your story.

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On January 4^th, 2017, I was headed out to go roller skating when I had kind of a dry cough. Then my ankle buckled. I didn’t feel bad - I didn’t have a headache or anything. But when my arm went dead and I couldn’t stand up, I knew it was a stroke. I was able to little by little by little get myself over to my purse where my phone was. I called 9-1-1 and got to the hospital where they found out I had a hemorrhagic stroke. Now, after more than a year, I can walk with a quad cane. Recovery has been slow, but each day I can see things are improving. I had been told many times that I wouldn’t see improvement after a year, but that hasn’t been true. My nature is that I don’t want to give up – I keep working at it.

Before my stroke, I was a piano teacher and had my own band. I’m fortunate that it was only my left hand that was affected, so I can still play well with my right hand mostly, although my left hand can still play a little. I’m still able to continue teaching a little bit today. I can’t drive, but fortunately I have someone who can help me get around. I miss roller skating and having some of the freedom and independence I had before my stroke, but I’m glad to be here and able to do as much as I still can. I want other people who have had a stroke to know that they should keep fighting to improve every day.

Pulse State - CO

Showing 1 reaction

Connie Adams commented 2020-04-23 18:55:43 -0400
Dear Kay,
Thank you for sharing your story.
Keep up the good work 🙌🤗

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