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In her 20s, Jennifer Rose Goldman was a seeker and a doer. She was trained in yoga and reiki, a healing technique. She practiced meditation and gratitude and recited affirmations. She started an aromatherapy business, mixing essential oils in her parents’ basement in Old Westbury, New York.

Jennifer sold her products around the country, often driving to festivals and gatherings to meet customers. Her favorite part was talking to people about aromatherapy while encouraging them to find positivity and balance.

After several years of creating and selling scents, Jennifer also began working part time at Hirshleifers, her family’s fifth-generation fashion retail business. Ultimately, she decided the aromatherapy business was becoming more stressful than pleasurable. At 30, she closed her shop and joined the family business full time.

About a month later, she was at work when her speech became nonsensical. A manager called her parents.

Jennifer’s father rushed to the store. He found his daughter on the floor moaning, her left hand clutching her hair, unable to speak or move her right side.

At the hospital, doctors determined that Jennifer had a stroke caused by bleeding from an irregular cluster of blood vessels in her brain. More formally, she had a hemorrhagic stroke in her left frontal lobe caused by a ruptured cavernous malformation.

“I can’t do anything about it until the blood is gone,” the doctor told her parents. “And even then, we’re not sure how she’ll be affected.”

After 10 days – a span that included Jennifer’s 31st birthday – doctors removed the abnormality. While mostly sedated, she relied on a ventilator to breathe and a feeding tube for nourishment.

After three weeks, she received a tracheostomy tube to help her breathe. A week later, she was moved to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

At first, Jennifer couldn’t stay upright, even when sitting. Working with physical therapists, she slowly regained some control on her right side. Eventually, she could sit up on her own.

Cognitive issues prevented her from identifying everyday objects, like a hairbrush or toothbrush.

Six weeks later, Jennifer left the rehab facility. She used a wheelchair for mobility. She moved in with her parents and younger sister.

Therapists visited daily to work on her movement and speech and on performing everyday tasks like brushing her teeth. She began walking using a walker and braces. However, she’d also lost her peripheral vision, which affected her balance.

While Jennifer struggled at times with her short-term memory, she was able to process information in front of her and communicate clearly.

She’d noticed her mother, Caryn Hirshleifer, taking notes on a laptop about everything that had happened since the stroke. Later, Caryn printed them out to review them with Jennifer.

They began sitting together each day in their den to read the entries. Sometimes Caryn sat on the couch with Jennifer nearby in her wheelchair; other times they switched spots, with Caryn in the wheelchair and Jennifer on the couch.

“It was so painful to see how traumatized my family was,” Jennifer said. “But I thought it was important to know everything that happened because I needed to process it all. I knew the only way to integrate the experience into my consciousness was to hear every detail.”

Mother and daughter decided to turn their reflections into a book. It gave Jennifer a challenge and a focus.

Now, 4 1/2 years after the stroke, Jennifer continues to receive physical, occupational and speech therapy. She works part time in the family business.

She uses a walker or a wheelchair, depending on what she needs to do. She still has no peripheral vision, so she’s not steady on her feet. A full-time aide helps her with anything requiring balance.

Caryn admires how her daughter has persevered. She’s not surprised, either, because Jennifer’s always been motivated and goal oriented.

“I always called Jenn my little spider because she’d jump in and weave this web, and if someone removed it, she’d just re-spin it,” Caryn said. “It’s those skills that have permitted her to be where she is now.”

Jennifer hopes her story will inspire others.

“I am a work in progress and forever will be,” she said. “I let myself grieve, but I don’t wallow. I have hope and I have plans. It’s a choice.”

Stories From the Heart chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.