In this special Mother’s Day YouSoRock Spotlight, we follow Bridget Chiovari’s experience surviving a hemorrhagic stroke caused by an AVM. This is a difficult ordeal to go through as an individual let alone as a pregnant mother in her second trimester! So read on and be inspired by Bridget’s immense strength and determination to survive and thrive not only for herself, but for her children.
In the evening of September 14th, 2016, I went for a hike with some friends and all of our children. I was 25 years old, I worked at a golf course, I was an avid hiker, and I was also 24 weeks pregnant with my second child.
We had taken a break on the trail to let our children run around and play. As I went to go pick up my daughter to put her back into the hiking carrier, I felt a “pop” go off in my 
head. This was followed by some intense dizziness and the worst headache of my life. I assumed it was pregnancy related. When I got home, the vomiting started. I thought I had just “overdone” it, and I needed to rest, I tried to fall asleep, but the pain in my head was getting more intense.
I knew that something wasn’t right.
My husband brought me to the hospital where they confirmed my thoughts that it was simply “dehydration.” Due to the pregnancy, I wasn’t allowed to have any real painkillers, they gave me some Tylenol, hooked me up to a saline drip, and an hour later sent me home.
On the way home, I knew that something was terribly wrong. The pain in my head was now greater than anything I had ever felt. At this point, my words weren’t making sense when coming out of my mouth. The movements of my body weren’t matching up with what my brain was trying to tell it to do, and in this moment, I thought to myself, “I’m going to die.” It was so intense to know this feeling in your mind, but not be able to voice it.
When we got home, I was in and out of consciousness. I wasn’t able to walk so my husband carried me into bed to try and get me to “sleep it off” as the hospital had advised. Sometime in the middle of the night, I tried to get out of bed and I ended up falling pretty hard on my face. My husband knew that this wasn’t just dehydration and took me back to the hospital where he demanded a CT scan be done.
The doctors came out and informed my husband that the scan showed there was a 
massive bleed in my brain. If they didn’t perform surgery, they told him I would only live a couple more hours.
So into surgery, I went…
They placed a tube into my skull, that helped drain the unwanted fluids in my brain, and helped the swelling go down. This took time though. Two and a half weeks I was hooked up to this drain. This strange tube coming out of my head, that would drain this strange liquid. Some times it was clear, other times it was just all blood. I was very heavily medicated, but still in so much pain daily. The only thing that was keeping me relatively at peace, was the fact that my baby was still doing perfectly fine in my tummy. They monitored him very closely and all of the medical team was on standby in case an emergency c-section had to take place.
After two and a half weeks, doctors took the drain out. I spent a total of three and a half weeks in the ICU. When I was released to go home, being back with my daughter in my own home filled my heart with so much joy. A month after my hospital release, I went in for a CT scan to get a better look at my brain. It showed that the bleed was caused by a ruptured Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), which is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain. The arteries are responsible for taking oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain. AVM’s are very rare and it’s estimated that only 1% of the population have one. I guess I’m just that lucky.
I find peace in meeting other stroke survivors and raising awareness about the topic. So many people believe strokes only happen to older individuals, but in fact, a stroke can happen at any age. They do not discriminate. It’s very important to be your own health advocate and know the warning signs of a stroke. If my husband hadn’t advocated for me, I wouldn’t have just lost my life, but my precious son’s life as well.
To continue to follow Bridgette’s journey follow her at @bridgetclarice on Instagram. Connect with more stroke and brain injury survivors on the YouSoRock Facebook Support Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/yousorock.
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