For nearly 30 years — ever since she was about 10 years old — Michelle Spencer endured headaches. Migraines said doctors.
When she was pregnant with her second child, she passed out cold on a visit to Santa's Village with her husband and toddler daughter. It can happen during pregnancy she was told.
About four years later, she was on the phone with a friend and suddenly didn't feel well. Her friend drove over and found her asleep on the bed. For about 24 hours, Michelle couldn't remember things, like people's names.
Fast forward to four years ago. Her toddler daughter was now in high school and Michelle was getting ready to go to her school concert. "I remember thinking something wasn't quite right," she recently told me. "I tried to talk to my husband and he thought I was joking, but then he could see that my words weren't coming out right. He wanted to take me to the hospital, but I bounced right back and wanted to go to the concert."
All of these things were warning signs that something bad, really bad, was going on inside Michelle's head. But because otherwise she felt healthy and led an extremely active lifestyle, she wasn't that concerned.
