NJ comedian/musician Paul Venier recovering from mini-strokes

Paul Venier, known in Jersey entertainment circles as "The Comedy Tornado" for all he does in his shows, is recovering from a series of mini-strokes that he suffered last November 26th.

Venier, formerly of the legendary Jersey rock band, "Salty Dog", who's appeared multiple times on "The Tonight Show," and currently starring in the comedy series "The Gilbert Diaries" and "Fustercluck"  talked to me through a series of texts and videos charting his progress.

"I woke up, walked downstairs, my wife asked if wanted a cup of tea and couldn’t speak. It was weird. I was laughing because I thought if fell asleep on my face a certain way. I was having a stroke and I didn’t know it. She recognized what was going on and immediately call 911," Venier goes on to say.

"Thank God wasn’t in the afternoon because my wife would’ve been at work and I would’ve been alone and would’ve died, or worse yet, a vegetable".

He describes what happened to him.

"I had a blood clot in my neck that exploded into 5 pieces and caused 5 mini-strokes. I was lucky that it only affected my speech and right hand. I couldn’t talk and write for 2 weeks and because I’m right-handed I couldn’t communicate. The staff at Encompass Rehab in Toms River was incredible."

And why it happened.

"It was triggered by what the doctors thought was the flu and case double pneumonia. Plus I was anemic and pre-diabetic. My wife saved my life. She knew I was having a stroke. I was in no pain. I thought my face fell asleep because I couldn’t speak."

Fortunately, Paul says he's expected to make a full recovery

"Full recovery. They are amazed at how fast I am recovering. They never expected my hand and speech to come along this quickly. They don’t realize how stubborn and motivated I am…lol""

When you work with him you realize it. So when will Venier be back making you laugh and raising money for great causes?

"I’m back to filming already but I can’t perform live just yet because I’m on blood thinners and can’t afford to cut myself. I have to wait for the neurologist to give me the all-clear for that."

I guarantee you that when Venier does come back, he won't miss a beat.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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