Kim Roy during her 1996 Senior Projects Day presentation at UNH.

A Stroke of Luck

by Kimberly A. Roy (BS ’96)

Upon graduating from UNH in 1996, I moved to North Carolina where I slowly acclimated to the southern culture (i.e. sweet tea, grits, biscuits, and of course, the slower pace). While completing my Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineer and teaching C++ programming at UNCC, I taught electronics at a nearby technical college. This electronics class lasted for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week!!

Soon after receiving my Master’s Degree in 1998, I was ecstatic to be hired by RF Micro Devices. (Dave Weber currently in California often needs a reminder of the current stock price of RFMD - especially compared to the relative increase of HP stock - or lack thereof!) As a RF Design Engineer in the Power Amplifier Division of RF Micro Devices, I was one of the engineers in charge of designing customized power amplifiers primarily for the cellular phone market.

After three short weeks with what I found to be an awesome job with fabulous co-workers and managers, I found myself in the hospital. My symptoms included aphasia, unsteady gait, nausea, severe headache, disorientation, disinhibition, etc. Twenty-four hours later, I was diagnosed at age 24 with an ischemic stroke in the temporal and parietal lobes of my left brain.

As it may sometimes be hard to find, I am certain that there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. In this particular case, I am sure that the silver lining has been the amazing friends and family who have continued to support me during my current recovery.

Soon after my stroke, Amy Bonsall flew to North Carolina from California, where she currently works for HP, to visit me for my 25^th birthday. A few weeks later, John Canfield and Erickson Cabinta visited me. I tried very hard to give them a taste of the southern specialties. I was impressed that John even bought some grits at the grocery store to take back home to his friends and family!

Unfortunately, I had a second stroke, in February of 1999, only five months after the first stroke. My second stroke partially paralyzed the left side of my body. The diagnosis was that migraines induced both strokes.

The second stroke, therefore, complicated my already difficult recovery from the first stroke. Thus, still unable to work and take care of my daily living activities, it was necessary to return to New Hampshire to live with my parents.

How many people do you know that are twenty five years old and have had two strokes?

Again, I was and still am really excited to receive cards, visits and phone calls from some of the "UNH family". It really has meant a lot to me during my recovery. I was ecstatic when John Canfield, Erickson Cabinta, Bernard Mein, Guarav Gupta and Suarabh Gupta arrived at my parent’s home one Sunday afternoon! They received the grand tour of Woodsville and my family. We even drove over two covered bridges – a new experience for some. They fed fish at my uncle’s pond, saw pigs, chickens, goats, and cows, played games with my cousins, and ate ice cream at the Big Scoop Ice Cream Shop!

The most recent surprise was a visit from Dr. Clark and his daughter Margo, with her dog on her motorcycle. They stopped by my parent’s house in Woodsville. Dr. Clark couldn’t remember which house my parents lived in, so he knocked on some houses in the neighborhood asking which house does Kim Roy live in! Of course after he found me, we went for ice cream at the Big Scoop Ice Cream Shop!

Better yet, how many people do you know that have had two strokes and feel lucky?

I would really like to thank everyone that has been so very supportive. I feel lucky to be in the thoughts and prayers of so many people. If you had not heard, I am indeed living with my parents in Woodsville, New Hampshire until I am able to recover from both strokes successfully. Please feel free to get in touch with me. I’d love to hear from everyone! My e-mail address is kimberly_roy@hotmail.com and my mailing address is 17 Elm St. Woodsville, NH 03785.