A stroke of realization for Tango Alpha Lima co-host

I just finished doing the rounds of the building that I manage and sat down at the computer to type up a document. After a couple of paragraphs, I started to notice that the words I meant to type were not showing up on the screen. I tried to push through, but something was wrong. I finally gave in to the idea that I was working too much and sleeping too little. I closed the laptop and went to nap it off.

I stopped off at the bathroom and realized I was stepping like a newborn fawn. Something was definitely off. I needed some rest. Then the phone rang. It was Mary Jo Andretti Dial calling me from The American Legion Headquarters in Indianapolis. The irony: she was calling to book me for some voice-over work at the INDYCAR event that was coming up. My voice, however, was betraying me. She thought that I sounded drunk. It was noon. She quickly realized what was happening to me. I was having a stroke. She instructed me to get to the hospital and asked if there was anyone I could call to get me there.

We both knew Jennifer Campbell from American Legion Post 43 in Hollywood where she was my commander for two years. I texted Jennifer and asked if she was home. She was on a hike but asked what was up. I told her that Mary Jo said I needed to go to the hospital. She immediately called and heard my slurring speech for herself. She ran down a hill, got into her car, and rushed to pick me up.

The ride to the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center was tough. I could barely speak. Jennifer, like most people I know, was used to me dominating the conversation. When we got to the emergency room, my walking was labored and unstable. That’s when things started to happen fast.

I don’t like needles, and immediately there were injections and an IV. I don’t trust people very much, and there were several of them there, doing things to me. I was helpless. I managed to demand that my friend be with me. I trusted Jennifer and she demonstrated camaraderie and leadership at this difficult and confusing time. I needed that from my fellow Legionnaire to avoid adding panic attack to my symptoms. I was still filled with anxiety, but I had one of my own there. I wasn’t helpless after all.

Jennifer stayed for hours. She updated Mary Jo and she let our adjutant at Post 43 know that we wouldn’t be at the meeting that night.

There were two instances with the neurological team when I lost it. I proudly tried to hold it in, but that just seemed to make it more dramatic. I was certain that my life was going to be permanently changed. There was no way I could continue as host of the Tango Alpha Lima podcast that I love so much. I couldn’t possibly stay on as director of membership for the American Legion’s Department of California. Could I even keep my job as a building manager? My entire identity threatened, and my physical vessel was out of my control. Breakdown.

In the Legion, we tease each other a lot, but I saw something different in my friend, who I now consider family. She was simply there, and she has yet to tease me about this. At some point, that will have to happen and I’ll welcome it. That’s our experience now.

I was in a medical room for a couple of days before I went to the rehabilitation floor, and this is where the Legion support multiplied. My bed was surrounded by flowers and cards. I had visitors every single day, sometimes getting reminded by the nurses that I was over the limit for company. Department Commander Autrey James and Adjutant Barbara Lombrano visited. Jennifer came back two more times. The calls and texts and social media messages were rolling in, and I’m still not caught up.

I drew strength from that support, and I felt as though I could not let them down. The “woe is me” phase was over and it was time to battle this. I refused to just lay in bed. I borrowed bands from physical therapy and worked on body parts that weren’t functioning properly. I asked for exercises from speech therapy because I was going to have to tell Tango Alpha Lima Super Producer Holly Soria something about my podcast availability.

Even the Tango Alpha Lime podcast was crucial to my recovery plan. I downloaded a recent intro and told every doctor, nurse and therapist that what they were seeing and hearing was the mission. The Legion provided me with a digitized history that was now my goal. Even saying my co-host’s name became a mile marker for progress. Go ahead and say Ashley Marie Gorbulja Maldonado. That took me a few times to get right, even before the stroke.

While in the hospital, one of my visitors, Rocio Palmero, visited and recognized one of the patients. We invited Angela Rose to sit with us. Angela became a friend, and we were the only two younger than Vietnam era on the floor, so we had dinner in the community room and, yes, she is joining Hollywood Post 43. She also knew my Legion friend B.J. Lange who visited us both and got the nurse to let him take us up to the meditation area where we could breathe fresh air.

When I finally left they asked me if I had a ride, and of course I did. American Legion Auxiliary Hollywood Unit 43 President Melissa Card offered transportation.

This was Legion in and Legion out, with a whole lot of Legion goodness in between. That support and camaraderie is something that I’ll never forget. I will preach until someone shuts me up that the most important benefit of membership in The American Legion is the members of the entire Legion Family. The veterans, the Sons, the Auxiliary and Riders all showed up. I’m forever grateful.

Build your network now. Create a band of brothers and sisters who look out for each other. I unexpectedly found that in The American Legion at a time when I needed it most.

Marine Corps veteran Jeff Daly of Hollywood, Calif., Post 43 is co-host of The American Legion’s Tango Alpha Lima podcast.