Hello Everyone,

I am putting this out here for people to hear my story but I am also looking for opinions here. I know there isn't really much info and most would say listen to my doctors, which I am, but I just needed to see what you all thought. I am/was a healthy 40+ M. Worked out 5-6 days a week, watched everything that I ate. Now previously I did have hypertension, BP was a little high. Not on any meds at the time. All of a sudden, 6 weeks ago, I felt pressure on the back of my head, left side, and neck pain when I turned to the right. All on the left side. Honestly, I figured I just hurt it lifting either doing shrugs, or something with shoulders or back. But it really started to affect my workouts, hell, even being able to work out. So I took nearly 2 weeks off. After that, I felt great, felt back to normal, felt like me again!! So I started ramping up my workouts again. Wasn't having any issues. Then on a Sunday, I worked out heavy arms, cooked breakfast for the family, and even started meal prepping for the week. That's when I started to feel off. I stopped what I was doing and told my wife something wasn't right. Left side of my face and tongue was starting to get that feeling when a body part is falling asleep. But this didn't last long. It went away. So I got up off the couch and started prepping again. Then it came back a little stronger and my left side of my teeth hurt this time. So we packed up and headed to the hospital. I felt great sitting in the waiting room. The worst episode happened then. In the ER I broke into a sweat, BP spiked 203/110. I couldn't speak and I lost the ability to swallow. This all went away fairly quickly though. Like 10-15min range. I was in the hospital for 5 days. Scans showed I had a Vertebral Artery Dissection. A tear in the inner lining of the left artery supplying blood to the brain. It caused me to have a moderate stroke. Long story short. I have recovered from any facing drooping issues, pain, etc... I don't look, sound, act like someone that had a stroke. I was told I am very lucky. Now I am on 3 BP meds, aspirin and Lipitor. I am feeling pretty good. I feel pretty good all things considered. But I have been told not to lift any weights. For like 6 weeks. Till I get a follow up scan. Then maybe in 3 months I can do resistance bands. 6 months I could pick up light weights. And I have been told lifting heavy weights might be out of the question. I am wondering, your opinions, do think I will or would be able to get moderately heavy? Would it be worth taking gear anymore if I am unable to go to the extreme with heavy weights? Can you build good size muscle with moderate weights and a little more reps along with a better mind/muscle focus? Sounds crazy. So sorry for the rant. But I also wanted to let everyone hear what happened to me. And to not take your body for granted. Listen to your body. I am lucky to be alive. A few doctors told me that I should be disabled because of the type of incident. Any questions about my accident, don't know if it was done lifting or random, let me know. I can try and answer, or at least give you my experience. Thanks to everyone for lending an ear!!