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The mother of the Jonas Brothers, Denise Jonas, has revealed she recently suffered a stroke.
“It was what you call a basal ganglia [because] it was in the basal ganglia area of my brain, which affected my cognitive thinking, my speech [and] reasoning,” Denise, 59, said in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek of the “Got It From My Momma” podcast. “At certain times I would have difficulty with my speech.”
The basal ganglia is a group of structures near the center of the brain that forms important connections, according to the Cleveland Clinic. A stroke occurs when the brain doesn’t receive enough blood, which can prevent the basal ganglia from properly executing cognitive functions.
Denise is the mom of Kevin, Joe, Nick and Franklin Jonas, whom she shares with husband Kevin Jonas Sr. The Jonas matriarch did not provide any additional details regarding when she suffered the stroke.
“If I’m tired or hungry, I can fumble my words around and not think of the right words,” Denise told podcast host Jennifer Vickery Smith of her symptoms. “Sometimes I can’t remember if it’s this or that, and I really can’t.”
Before Denise’s official diagnosis, she said that she experienced a series of “prior symptoms.”
“I didn’t realize it,” Denise admitted to Vickery Smith. “I was at home [and] the symptoms that I had were that my blood pressure had been high. I had gone to three different doctors over the course of six months prior … and I woke up feeling like my arms are weird. It’s terrible, but it’s the only way I can describe it.”
Denise also woke up with the hiccups one morning, which she’s “come to learn is the most missed symptom” of strokes in women.
“You won’t hear about it, but when I Googled it, it was the first thing that came up,” Denise said. “Then, when I had gotten up to go to the restroom, I had a glass of water next to the sink. I was trying to get a glass of water and the movement wouldn’t happen. I was telling my hand, but my hand wasn’t listening to my brain.”
Despite Denise’s stroke, she has tried to remain positive about her health moving forward.
“Although I had this health scare, I always say it was probably the best thing that happened to me,” she said. “I feel like it was a gift … from the Lord. I don’t think most people say that about something but it caused me to really be still.”
She continued, “[Doing things with my family is] the challenge now too. I don’t do things, really. It’s harder now to be in the moment and spontaneous. … Thankfully I know my body and I understand what things I should and shouldn’t do. I know how to say ‘no’ because I never really knew how to say [it] before.”
“Got IftFrom My Momma” airs on UPtv Saturdays at 9am EDT.
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