Sharon Stone has revealed that she continues to experience seizures and migraines, 25 years after suffering a stroke. The 68-year-old actress shared an update on her health in an interview with ELLE Spain.
Recovery and Career Impact
Stone, known for her roles in Casino and Basic Instinct, said that although she managed to recover, the offers of work dried up. "Against all odds, I managed to recover, but the job offers dried up. Back then, if you were a woman and something happened to you, you were finished. I did everything I was allowed to do, as if I were doing penance for getting sick," she explained.
The actress was hospitalised in 2001 after a ruptured vertebral artery resulted in a stroke. She told The Hollywood Reporter that she bled in her brain for nine days and spent two years learning to walk and talk again.
Living with Invisible Disabilities
Discussing her ongoing condition, Stone said: "Since suffering a ruptured aneurysm, I've had seizures and migraines. Stress makes them worse, so I have to take care of myself. People are unaware of, or tend to forget, invisible disabilities."
She also spoke about the difficulties she faced during her recovery, including stuttering and being unable to read for two years. "I was in an ICU for nine days, and the survival rate for what I went through is very low," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Reflections on the Experience
In an interview with Vogue, Stone recalled the moment she woke up on a gurney and was told she was going for brain surgery. She said a doctor had decided to perform exploratory brain surgery without her knowledge or consent. "What I learned through that experience is that in a medical setting, women often just aren't heard, particularly when you don't have a female doctor," she said.
Stone credited her best friend with convincing the doctors to give her a second angiogram after they initially missed the brain haemorrhage. "They discovered that I had been haemorrhaging into my brain, my whole subarachnoid pool, and that my vertebral artery was ruptured," she explained. "I would have died if they had sent me home."
