I had a mild stroke at the age of 36. I had heard of stroke; I just didn’t know I was eligible for one in my thirties.  I was having a stroke and did not even know it. Luckily, I went to the emergency room and was diagnosed right away. I was experiencing loss of control and feeling in the left side of my body, followed my an immensely painful headache and dizziness. Once I was admitted to the hospital and my stroke was diagnosed, doctors told me that I would likely be in the hospital and then a rehab hospital for 5 weeks, as I would need to retrain my brain to control my left leg, which I was unable to move at the time. I was shocked, and as a mother of two young children, wife, and fitness instructor,I was devastated. Fortunately, the day after my stroke, I regained movement of my left leg and was discharged just four days later. My doctors attribute my being in good physical health as big factor in recovering so quickly. My doctors determined my stroke was caused by a blood disorder, called factor V leiden, that increases risk of blood clotting, as well as they found I had a small hole in my heart that allowed a clot to pass to my brain.