I had a stroke about three years ago, and had a recurrence about two months ago, and I wanted to share these experiences with you for some very practical reasons.

The first time I had the stroke, I was headed for a meeting in a city about 150 miles from Chicago. Seated on the passenger side was the keynote speaker of the event whom I had picked up at the O’Hare Airport.

About half way to the meeting, I started to swerve back and forth - first within my lane, and then across the entire highway. My passenger got concerned and insisted that I let him out of the car. I was equally persistent that I wasn’t swerving.

Somehow we reached our destination. That evening, there was a small party and everyone (except me, of course) sensed that I wasn’t my usual self. They all thought that I should go to bed - which I did.

The next morning, at breakfast, I must have really looked bad because the person in charge of the meeting insisted that I go home. Arrangements were made for my assistant to drive me home.

When we reached the Chicago area, because the car was mine, I insisted that he would drive to his house first and then I would drive home (about a twenty minute drive) by myself. He argued strenuously against my driving, but I was his boss. It took me four hours to reach home and along the way, I had two car accidents.

Maybe the title of this article should be, "Don’t be so damn stubborn."

In the meantime, both the chairperson of the meeting and my assistant called my wife to ascertain that I had reached home safely; I hadn’t, so it made the situation even worse. After I had reached home, I simply said that I felt tired and wanted to go to bed.

It was fortunate for me that my assistant was a good friend of my son; he called to say that I was quite sick. My son came over to our home immediately and insisted that I go to the hospital. It was then, after a battery of tests, it was discovered that I had a four-centimeter blood clot on the left side of my brain. Fortunately, it was a mild stroke.

My only problems were that, in addition to not having a lot of energy - which I usually do, I had no vision on my right side. That was probably the reason for the car accidents; I kept turning to the right because I thought there were no one on my right side.

The dumbest comments I heard, even from the doctors, were that I should have known better, that I should have more sense. My responses were, how would I know I had a stroke; I never had a stroke before.

The reasons for this article are that, (1) if you don’t feel well, do something about it - like seeing a doctor, and (2) don’t be so stubborn, especially when it concerns your health.

As the title of this article indicates, there are values to being sick. For one thing, you will find out who are truly your friends.

The hospital visits, the get-well cards, the flowers, were all overwhelming. I know, of course, that the people were more concerned about my wife than they were about me; how is she going to put up with this stubborn guy?

There were many other signs of good will. Let me share with you some of what happened after the recurrence.

About three weeks ago, a friend of mine and I had to attend the same meeting, about twenty miles from his house. Instead of going directly to the meeting, he drove fifty miles to my house, to pick me up, and then drove to the meeting place which was thirty miles from my house. Instead of twenty miles, he drove eighty miles; and he did it both ways.

About two weeks ago, I played golf with my usual foursome with whom I have been playing for the past quarter of a century. Toward the end of the round, I was getting tired, and my friends took turns pulling my golf cart. The last hole is up-hill, quite steep; they were going to carry me to finish the round of golf.

My wife and I lived on a golf course in the 1970’s and the 1980’s; in fact it was right next to the 6th hole. During the thirteen some years we lived there, my wife played golf with me (which I wanted more than anything else) only three times; and they were only for nine holes each. Now, when I want to play a few holes, she plays with me. For this, I would get sick all over again.

One of the bad side effects of the illness is that I have lost some memory capabilities, and for this, my wife is very concerned.

In the past three weeks, I moderated three twenty-minute TV shows, made a forty- minute presentation at our church district meeting, and did a two-hour monologue for a Korean seniors group. You can imagine my wife’s concerns, especially because of my lack of fluency with the Korean language.

For the past couple of years, I have been thinking and talking about easing off. As an example, I have been telling the people at the Asian American Alliance that this would be my last year as president. Each time I bring up the subject, they didn’t want to hear of it. Now, after the recurrence, it is accepted.

For certain because of the recoveries from my two strokes, I have a new perspective on my life, changing priorities on my activities, a new appreciation for what I have- family, friends, and life itself, and most importantly, a thankfulness that- just maybe-God has plans for me, and wants me to stay here on earth yet a little longer. The trick is to realize the importance of the various aspects of life without going through the trauma of an illness.

In closing, let me urge you to, (1) as I did in my last two articles - Don’t sweat the small stuff, and Smile for no good reason, (2) take good care of yourself, and (3) appreciate life for the wonderful satisfaction it allows you for a life of service to mankind.


Joseph Yi came to America in 1940, at the age of 10, and has lived basically in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Although Mr. Yi’s professional life was in the mainstream society, he has actively participated in the voluntary social services for the Chicago Korean community.