The Best Birthday

My 13-Year Stroke-Aversary!

Hey friends, Lewis here.

Today is a big day for me. Today, October 7th, marks my 13-year stroke-aversary. And let me tell you, I'm celebrating! I'm turning 13 years old again.

I’m 48 in my "first life," but this date is when I was literally "born again" after a brain aneurysm. So technically, I’m an oversized 13-year-old with a lifetime of experience. This moment of transformation is the first chapter in my how-to guide for life after stroke.

Why the Manual Doesn't Exist (And Why We Need to Write It)

I'll be honest, for the first five years or so, October 7th was a nasty reminder. My ruptured aneurysm in the cerebellum was a very bad day—the kind most people would rather forget. It plunged me into a six-week-long coma, marking the beginning of truly dark days where I questioned if I’d ever make it back.

When you survive something like this, they save your life, run tests, and send you to therapy. But no one hands you a stroke recovery instruction manual. There's no guide for navigating the emotional wreckage, the social awkwardness of dysarthria, or the sheer daily effort it takes to rebuild a life.

That lack of a manual is why I started writing. That’s why I created this collection of stories, and ultimately, why I wrote a book. My life became the instruction manual I desperately needed back then. My goal isn't just survival; it’s to help you move Beyond The Shatter.

The How-To of Healing (Turning Grief into a Birthday)

As I started to move on and find acceptance, those dark days changed. They stopped being a reminder of the crash and became a powerful reminder of how incredibly blessed I am to still be on this earth.

My How-To Tip for Healing: 

Start celebrating!

I celebrate my stroke-aversary as my new birthday. My regular birthday honors my full age, but this stroke day celebrates my second life. It’s part of the healing process that I think most of us should open up to. This is a day that forever changed us, and we are still breathing. That, friends, is the biggest reason for a celebration of life.

Thirteen years ago, my life was abruptly crashed. Well, after four years in a wheelchair, hard intense therapy, and 13 years later, here I stand tall and very proud.

Pay It Forward (The Mentor Guide)

If you are in a good place now, I encourage you to find your own way to pay it forward.

For myself, I found the best job in the world. I have created a new title: I am now a "Stroke Mentor." With my trusty sidekick, we walk into those stroke rooms at our local hospital and talk with survivors, families, or friends - mostly to just to listen and offer hope.

I know exactly how it feels to be in that bed, confused and broken. We spread hope, love, and understanding. It is how I pay it forward, after all—these are the heroes who saved my life! It never gets old, me walking into a room and seeing an ICU bed where I came from is just... 😇

Just to walk into a room from which I came is a living miracle. It’s my way of paying tribute to my new life and proving that transformation is always possible.

If I can make it to 13 (more 2 go!), you can make it, too.

Your life is the best how-to guide you'll ever read.

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Your Guide to Moving Beyond the Shatter

If my story resonated with you, I want to put the same tools I used into your hands. I wrote my book to be the exact instruction manual I desperately needed back on that first day. It's filled with the hope, practical strategies, and personal blueprints for building your new, remarkable life.

You don't have to navigate this journey alone.

Click below and get your How-To Guide for life after stroke now!

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