by Amber Evans

Throughout my 22 years of life, I have heard many people say that I should be thankful for every day God has given me and not take anything for granted. I have had the privilege of living a blessed life and have not ever really lacked any. Because of this, I did not realize how very wise those words were until this past December.

The event of my life I am going to explain really started when I was 18. I was in my senior year of high school and I developed a red spot underneath my left eye. I went to the doctor around October and was told I needed to see a dermatologist. She tried many different diagnoses to remove the spot, but nothing worked. The last option was to take a biopsy of my skin.

I can remember being on my senior trip in Florida when my mom called me with the results. They came back positive for a disease called lupus, which has two commonly known types: internal and external. I was told I had both. I went to see a rheumatologist that summer and started taking a medication called Plaguenil. Honestly, to me all of this was not a big deal. The disease effected manly two things: my skin and the make-up of my blood. The only thing I noticed was my skin and all I had to do was wear sunscreen.

I came to Cornerstone that fall and everything was completely normal—well, normal for me. During the summer of 2008, I switched rheumatologists. She started me on a baby aspirin a day, because my blood work showed the possibility of clotting, which could obviously cause problems. I also remember her talking about how after two to three years a pattern develops so I probably would not have any more problems than I currently had.

That fall I went to school and things changed. I had five classes and did not do a good job of taking care of myself. One of the side effects of the disease for me is fatigue. I need a little bit more sleep than most people and I completely ignored this. I also allowed stress to pile up and fell into a routine of doing everything last minute. I believed I was making it just fine even though my grades were dropping a little bit.

I made the mistake around Thanksgiving to slip when it comes to taking my medication. I had forgotten to take the baby aspirin three days a week and the Friday before exams I paid for it. I had two trans-ischemic attacks, or minor strokes.

I had both of them early in the morning and within three hours of each other, but it was 3 p.m. before I went to the emergency room. I felt really silly for going because I did not believe that anything was wrong. However, the people at the hospital took the situation quite seriously. I was admitted that evening and did not leave until Sunday afternoon. Throughout all of this, I can remember being very calm. One of the nurses even told me that I was way too happy for having been through all of this.

I learned a very valuable lesson during this weekend stay in the hospital. I was 21 and in a wing of the hospital which was full of stroke patients. I believe I was the only one that could walk on my own. Most stroke victims show signs of having had a stroke and need time to fully recover. Not a one person who saw me that weekend would believe that only a matter of hours ago I had had a stroke.

There were not any noticeable signs except on Friday night when some of my reflexes were a little bit slow. In fact, the last MRI I had showed no scars whatsoever of this happening which is pretty much a miracle of God, because most strokes leave signs of their having happened. No scars meant that my brain was able to heal itself completely from the stroke.

This valuable lesson was that life within itself is very valuable and not something to be taken for granted. Many of people live life day to day not realizing the gift God has given. I know it sounds really simple, but honestly, life can come and go very quickly.

I did not expect when I woke up that Friday morning to be sleeping that night in a hospital. Unexpected things do happen and tomorrow is not a guarantee. Today needs to be lived to the purpose God has given with thankfulness and joy for simply being able to experience another day.