[MMR]

My hubby has had multiple strokes over the past 5 years (each one milder than the previous one, thankfully), but continues to singlehand.

We work hard not to let fear control our lives; some days we do better than others. But life is for LIVING; waiting for a ax to fall is NOT living. Sailing gives him great joy. I would rather he die from a stroke while sailing, than die sitting at home having never sailed again.

We've made the following preparations:

- He carries a note in his wallet at all times that gives his name, brief medical history, meds he's taking, his doc's name, emergency contact info, etc. If he has a stroke (anywhere, not just sailing) he can pull that out and quickly communicate the emergency (his strokes have impacted his speech)

-he led all lines back to the cockpit, so he does not need to leave the cockpit when singlehanding: if there is a problem with the boat that he cannot handle from the cockpit, he drops sails and comes home.

-he ALWAYS wears a PFD. We are looking at jacklines and tethers.

-he has emergency numbers programmed into his cell phone; when we upgrade our phones, he will program in emergency text messages

We're constantly looking for ways to keep sailing, safely (for him and for those around him who might be impacted by him having a stroke)....