Sheena Dix of Decorah says she’s doing well, considering what happened to her brain nearly a year ago. Dix experienced a stroke in early February of 2024 at the age of 46.
“I don’t remember having the stroke,” Dix said. “I was just going into the bathroom to get ready, and the next thing I knew it was three weeks later and everybody was telling me what happened.”
Dix said she didn’t experience any potential warning signs immediately before her stroke — no sudden head ache, no tingling sensations or loss of feeling. But she was told her teenage daughter found her on the bathroom floor that afternoon, about 10-30 minutes after her physicians estimate the stroke occurred. The girl called her father, and soon an emergency call was placed.
Dix said doctors at Decorah’s WinnMed facility determined she was having a hemorrhagic stroke, which is often associated with a ruptured blood vessel bleeding into the brain, according to information from the National Institutes of Health. Dix said she was quickly airlifted to a Mayo Clinic facility in Rochester, Minnesota.
“When I got to Mayo, they decided I needed to have surgery — a craniotomy — to get rid of the hematoma that was sitting in my brain,” she said. “A big blood clot was sitting there, and I wouldn’t be able to heal or do well until that was out of there.”
Dix said her doctors were at somewhat of a loss to explain what led to her unexpected stroke. She said any number of things might have combined to form the proverbial perfect storm that particular day, but she said her doctors pointed to an abundance of stress as one of the more major factors — Dix said she was going through a divorce at the time, she had just started a new full-time job after serving as a social worker for elderly individuals, and she was also a full-time student at that time, aiming to become a funeral director.
“They said I was probably having blood pressure surges, even though I didn’t have high blood pressure or anything,” Dix said. “Going into that, I was a fairly healthy person, exercising, eating decently. I’m not overweight. I don’t have high blood pressure. I didn’t have diabetes or anything that tends to be an indicator for strokes.”
Dix was told she spoke and answered questions during the three weeks of therapy following her surgery, but she has no memory of that time.
“When you’re told that you’re saying things and doing things but you have no recollection of it, it’s very weird,” she said. “I thought that I would remember more, but I don’t. Emotionally, it was very tough. The whole thing was very tough.”
Dix said she was surprised by how many different emotions her experience brought on — particularly feelings of anger — and she recommended anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances speak with a therapist or join a support group with whom they can be open about their internal struggles.
“Find help however you can, and don’t be too proud to ask for help and take advice from the people who know best,” she said
She also encouraged others to be honest with their doctors about symptoms they are experiencing — she said she herself experienced headaches for years, but it’s unclear whether those were related to her eventual stroke.
“You’ve just got to be really patient and trust the process,” Dix said of her recovery. “Me being a social worker for elders going through all kinds of different things, that helped me a lot to know that perspective to start with, but most people aren’t going to know that going into something like this. Trusting the doctors, trusting the therapists and really putting the work in has helped a lot too.”
Dix said it also helped to be surrounded by a caring community.
“I’m doing well because of other people,” she said.
An online fundraiser created in mid-March of 2024 raised nearly $15,000 for Dix, and she said a benefit dance was also organized to support her. Dix recalled her father and her friend Misty Kerndt moving into Dix’s house following her return to be sure she was able to keep her various appointments — Dix and her daughter were later welcomed into Kerndt’s home when Dix could no longer afford the mortgage payments on her own home. Dix went on to say it seemed supporters were coming out of the woodwork as friends, family, churches and past employers provided aid in various ways.
“It really is a community thing, and Decorah is such a great community,” Dix said. “I’ve always thought that.”
Sheena Dix of Decorah experienced an unexpected stroke nearly a year ago at the age of 46. She said she is doing well today, because of the support she received from her friends, family and community during her recovery. (Photo submitted)
Did you know …
The World Stroke Organization reports that a person suffers a stroke once every three seconds across the globe each day. Globally, there are roughly 12.2 million new strokes each year, and one in four individuals age 25 and older will have a stroke at some point in their lifetime.
In its “Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2022,” the WSO reported that the number of individuals who will have a stroke in their lifetime had increased by 50 percent over the previous 17 years, which underscores a need for the general public to better understand stroke and its controllable risk factors. Such variables include avoiding smoking, eating a healthy diet, minimizing if not eliminating alcohol consumption, and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle.
“I’m doing well because of other people.”– Sheena Dix
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