My name is Jonathan Miller. I am 42 years old living in Dallas, Texas. On February 22 of 2006, while living in Central New Jersey, I was to undergo brain surgery to remove a benign mass, which was discovered (more on this to follow) on the right temporal lobe of my brain. Though the surgery was successful in removing the mass, a blood vessel located on the Thalamus was hit at an unknown point during the procedure. The “bleed” was neither noticed by the surgeons, nor documented, nor discussed in post surgery discussions. In the immediate days that followed, we all knew that something was wrong…and this is where my journey begins…
On September 18 of 2017 at age 39, I suffered an ischemic stroke due to a blood clot that released from my neck passing to my brain stem. It was determined that this event was in no way correlated to the events of 11 years prior.
So indeed, I’m the proud owner of both a CVA (hemorrhagic bleed) and ischemic (clot) stroke before the age of 40 years old. Throughout my journey, several survivors, professionals, and caregivers in the stroke/TBI/paralysis community have followed my recovery over these years. I have become extremely passionate about the cause. So many people have observed my positive attitude to the adversity that was bestowed upon me at a young age. Through it all, I found the will to persevere and find a desired quality of life. When life-altering events such as these arise, people scramble to find the blueprint of recovery. Unfortunately, every scenario is different in the world of TBI and stroke. As the acute stages of my setbacks waned, I wanted a platform to document my recovery process to help others affected after me. Hence, outstroken.com was born. I hope you find the content of these past years useful. And always feel free to reach out with questions, comments, and feedback. Take care of yourselves and one another!
