Sarah Remage-Healey

Written By Thomas Claesen
 
 

Sarah and her college sweetheart, Dunkin, seemed like they could do it all. They had three beautiful daughters, the youngest 1 years old. They both worked great jobs they enjoyed in Boston. They were active and had a home they loved. They had just celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary. A few days later while at work during a snowstorm just before Christmas, Sarah had a stroke. She was 33 years old and her life changed forever.

There was no logical reason for Sarah to have a stroke. She was young, healthy, active. No family history os strokes, no high blood pressure, no heart disease. She didn’t think that was happening at first, but sure enough she was having the classic FAST signs of a stroke: Facial Drooping, Arm Weakness, Stability, challenges Talking. Her best friend drove her through the snowstorm to the hospital. She kept going from feeling fine one minute to feeling awful the next. At the hospital it was confirmed she had had a stroke and the process began to figure out why.

After tests it was revealed that she has an unusual connective tissue disorder where the arteries in her neck dissect - they get cuts in them. This caused two strokes back to back. She was able to go home on Christmas Eve only to return to the hospital a few weeks later for a third and fourth stroke.

Since the strokes Sarah has had to change most of her life. She loved her job as a CPA working for Bright Horizons, so much she’s worked there for 14 years. After the strokes doing the complicated accounting work resulted in lots of headaches and fatigue taking away time to be present for her family. She had to cut back to 8 hours a week and she’s thankful her employer has been willing to give her a day to feel like her professional self. Anxiety, fatigue, migraines, intolerance to gluten, dairy and alcohol have all been post stroke conditions to manage.

In one moment her career, her diet, her ability to feel productive and to focus all shifted. It was easy to choose spending more of her energy on time with her family and so hard to give up being an ambitious woman making great strides in her career. Her therapist recommended she focus on celebrating the good moments - birthdays and holidays, which sparked an idea for Sarah. While always analytical and happy in a spreadsheet, Sarah had always also been creative. She started designing birthday invitations and cake toppers for her girls birthdays putting love and care and details and lots of glitter into her designs. She could craft at her own speed, taking breaks when she needed to, as well as be home with her girls. Other parents loved them and started asking her to make them for their kids’ birthdays and special events. Quickly Sarah went from being a stroke survivor to an entrepreneur and designer. Orders came in for mermaid birthdays, Patriot’s game day decor, princess parties and more. SHRH Designs was born and Sarah was given something new to channel her energy and abilities into.

Today Sarah lives in Waltham, Massachusetts with her husband Dunkin and three girls. Her days are a mix of getting covered in glitter for the next SHRH Designs custom order, soccer games, dance, barbies and family dinners. She’s still discovering and recreating her dream life each day since the stroke and she’s so thankful to have amazing family and friends who support her both with grace to go at her pace and encouragement to keep living the big life she always has. She’s thrilled at how her business has grown and that it bring joy to her and her customers. She’s especially thankful to her husband for everything he does and who he is for her and their girls.


To follow, support, and connect with Sarah and place your own order at SHRH Designs you can:

Thomas Claesen

Owner & designer at Clawsun. Originally from Belgium, but now located in Nashville, TN. Drumline instructor in my free time.

https://clawsundesign.com
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