演员运用幽默, vulnerability to share what life after 3 strokes is like

像洛杉矶的许多演员一样，迈克尔·舒特也有第二份工作. As a bartender at a restaurant, he had flexible hours and a reliable income with benefits.

Shutt worked the day shift so he could devote his evenings to a theater company where he acted, 导演, 生产, 帮助开发脚本等.

在一个忙得不可开交的酒吧里, 他感到一阵电流穿过他的身体. 突然，他无法控制自己的左手. 他的脑子一片混乱. 他说话有困难.

几个同事注意到有些不对劲. 舒特无法解释. 每个人都继续工作.

Although his left hand remained numb and his mind foggy, he worked the next day. 第二天，他打了踢球. He was a pitcher known for precision; that day, he gave up a run by walking the first four kickers.

第二天晚上, 一个星期天, 当他去开一瓶酒的时候, 他不记得也不知道是怎么回事. 周一早上，他终于被送进了急救中心.

舒特的血压高到危险的程度. 他被送进了急诊室.

核磁共振结果显示他患有缺血性中风. 他48岁.

缺血性中风是最常见的中风类型, in which a blood vessel in the brain is blocked by either a clot or by a buildup of fatty deposit and cholesterol.

Shutt hadn't been to a doctor in years and was unaware of having high blood pressure, 中风的主要原因. 医生给他开了控制血压的药. After a few days in the hospital, his deficits from the stroke were mostly gone and he headed home.

“如果再发生这样的事情, 立即拨打911，告诉他们你觉得自己中风了,当他离开医院时，一位护士告诉他.

“沙巴足球体育平台就是大脑，”她补充说.

舒特把这次中风当作一记警钟. He cleaned up his diet, exercised regularly and lost 20 pounds in a few months.

三个半月后, 2015年9月, Shutt went through an upper-body workout and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. 走下楼的时候，他的视线开始模糊起来. 他抓住栏杆，慢慢地走出门去.

His first instinct was to get to his car, but he couldn't see well enough to find it. 他用钥匙扣打开了汽车的车灯和喇叭. He put the key in the ignition, then thought, "You should not be driving."

沙巴足球体育平台就是大脑，他记得. 他拨打了911.

“我想我中风了，”他告诉911接线员.

在医院，舒特接受了抗凝血药物治疗. 他几乎立刻又能看见东西了.

Doctors could find no reason for his second stroke, but they kept Shutt in the hospital for testing. 当这一切结束时，他第三次中风了.

在接下来的一个星期里，休特开始认真对待他的新现实. 他有严重的重影. 他的左半身几乎不能动了. He could feel words forming in his brain, but they wouldn't come out of his mouth. He also had prosopagnosia, or "face blindness," meaning he couldn't recognize people's faces.

感到沮丧和困惑, he was moved to an acute care rehabilitation facility to work with all sorts of specialists.

“我要成为有史以来最好的中风患者，”他告诉自己.

布兰登·卡雷特(Brandon Carrette)是拜访过舒特的众多朋友之一. They'd met playing kickball and bonded over their Boston-area backgrounds. 卡雷特比他小20岁左右，把他看作哥哥.

Carrette也是一名注册护士. When he first saw his friend in the hospital, he knew that Shutt would be facing "a new normal.他成为了Shutt最大的支持者之一.

“把‘不能’从你的词汇表中拿掉，专注于你能做的 可以 ”卡雷特对他的朋友说. “每天写下你的小胜利，你就会看到进步."

如果舒特记得医生的名字，那就赢了. 他自己走了10英尺? 把它添加到列表中.

His faith in neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change and adapt, kept him going.

大约一个月后，休特出院了. 他回到家，继续接受门诊治疗. 他的父母搬来和他一起住了半年，以帮助他.

The following summer – roughly a year since his first stroke – Shutt completed outpatient rehab with mixed results. He could walk, but his vision did not improve, and he could hardly use his left hand. 他有时神志不清，有时极度疲劳.

When doctors told him he'd likely never regain full use of his left hand, 他开始证明他们错了.

他每天都打字. 一开始，他的左手只能坚持几分钟. 随着沙巴足球体育平台的推移，它演变成一个小时，然后更长.

Shutt had already started writing his thoughts as a way to process them. Now he started typing short first-person stories filled with humor, love, sorrow and vulnerability. 他开始表演，记住每一句台词. 他感到了目标和激情.

寻求戏剧朋友的帮助, Shutt继续制作了一个90分钟的节目，名为“游泳课”,由他自己主演.

“这是典型的迈克尔风格，”卡雷特说. "He 可以 find humor in the negative and then express deep feelings about it. 看到他在创造力上茁壮成长真是太棒了. 他让我神魂颠倒."

这个表演是Shutt重塑自己经历的方式, 他的局限(比如他的视力)和他的感受.

“中风已经够难受的了，”他说. "What no one prepared me for were the moments of isolation and loneliness that goes along such an invisible injury."

Shutt hopes his performance 可以 spread awareness of stroke symptoms and the idea that "time is brain.他还想传达中风幸存者的信息 可以 do.

“我拒绝让中风定义我，”他说. "Instead, I chose to use the stroke as an opportunity to redefine myself."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.

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