Recovery After Stroke

Recovery After Stroke

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Recovery After Stroke episodes

  • Brain Hemorrhage and AVM Recovery at 27 – Chet Ciccone
    Unraveling the Complexity of Arteriovenous Malformations: Cutting-Edge Treatments
    Navigating AVM Recovery: Comprehensive Insights into Effective Rehabilitation
    Introduction

    Embarking on the road to AVM recovery requires a nuanced understanding of effective rehabilitation. In this guide, we unravel the complexities of Arteriovenous Malformations (AVMs) and delve into cutting-edge treatments that pave the way for successful recovery.

    Grasping Arteriovenous Malformations

    AVMs, disrupting natural blood flow with abnormal connections between arteries and veins, demand expert intervention. Our mission is to demystify AVM complexities, shedding light on innovative treatments tailored for recovery.

    A Closer Look at Neurological AVMs

    Focusing on neurological AVMs, these unique challenges within the brain necessitate specialized care for optimal recovery.

    Precision Diagnosis for Targeted Recovery

    Accurate diagnosis forms the foundation for effective recovery plans. Modern medical imaging techniques, including angiography and MRI scans, empower clinicians to visualize AVM intricacies, tailoring treatments to individual needs.

    Innovative Recovery Approaches
    1. Endovascular Embolization

    A cutting-edge technique involving catheter-guided embolization reduces bleeding risks, promoting targeted recovery.

    2. Stereotactic Radiosurgery

    Non-invasive and precise, radiosurgery targets small, deep-seated AVMs, advancing recovery outcomes.

    3. Microsurgical Resection

    Advancements in microsurgical techniques enhance recovery by meticulously removing accessible AVMs.

    Beyond Treatment: A Holistic Approach to Recovery

    The recovery journey extends into comprehensive rehabilitation, integrating physical therapy, cognitive exercises, and continuous monitoring for a full recovery post-AVM intervention.

    Conclusion

    Navigating AVM recovery is not a solitary endeavor. Embrace the support of communities and resources like “Recovery After Stroke” podcasts. Connect with others on the same journey, sharing insights and triumphs on the path to recovery from AVM challenges.

    Navigate your AVM recovery journey armed with knowledge, cutting-edge treatments, and a supportive community. Triumph over challenges and emerge stronger on the path to recovery.

    The Interview

    Chet Ciccone had one side of his skull removed so that his brain could have space to swell after the faulty blood vessel in his head burst when he was 27.

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    Highlights:

    00:42 Introduction

    01:32 First signs of AVM rupture
    09:39 Recovery after a cerebral edema
    21:45 X Rays can cause cavernous angioma
    26:21 Dealing with Anosognosia
    29:37 Navigating the deficits after a stroke
    42:21 Driving a vehicle after a stroke
    48:05 Post-stroke effects and driving limitations
    55:07 Living with half a skull
    1:13:31 AVM recovery and career path evolution
    1:24:04 Lessons from the stroke
    1:26:21 The message

    Transcript:

    Intro 0:00

    Hello everyone, my book about stroke recovery is now available for purchase on Amazon. It’s called the unexpected way that a stroke became the best thing that happened. In the book you will find chapters on mindset, the brain that resides in your heart, as well as the brain that resides in your gut, you will learn about all the benefits and downsides to Neuroplasticity.

    Bill 0:23

    You will learn the benefits of getting better sleep, you’ll find out about the food that you should avoid after a stroke. The amazing benefits you get from the smallest amount of exercise. You will learn what happens when you follow your heart’s desires and how it can transform your recovery.

    Introduction – Chet Ciconne


    Bill 0:42
    And you will learn about the amazing benefits you get from surrounding yourself with the right people and how to discover your life’s purpose. Go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book to learn more. Now, this is episode 289. My guest today is Chet Ciccone who was 27 in 2016 when he experienced a hemorrhagic stroke due to a previously undiagnosed arteriovenous malformation, also referred to as an AVM Chet Ciccone welcome to the podcast.

    Chet Ciconne 1:17

    Thank you for having me. It’s an honor.

    Bill 1:21

    Pleasure, absolute pleasure. You’re another AVM brother.

    Chet Ciconne 1:25

    That’s right.

    Bill 1:27

    Tell me about what happened to you, man.

    First signs of AVM rupture

    Chet Ciconne 1:32

    In 2016, I was 27 years old and had like a pretty normal day at work. I was working as a geotechnical engineer, it’s a subset of civil engineering, and made it all the way home and decided to unwind and play some competitive video games online, which is not unwinding but is kind of intense.

    Chet Ciconne 2:01

    Yeah, and got my blood pressure going a little bit. And halfway through one of the games that we’re competing in, I just started to feel warm and kinda confused a little bit. And so we finished the game, but I went to the bathroom and just washed my face because I was feeling so warm and uncomfortable.

    Chet Ciconne 2:28

    And just walking to the bathroom, I kind of knocked over some stuff that was in my apartment. And noticed that my balance wasn’t great and my coordination made it to the bathroom and washed my face. But I just knew something was wrong. I had no idea what it was.

    Chet Ciconne 2:52

    And ironically, like at that exact moment, one of my best friends and roommates came home from work. And so he opens the door and he’s all excited like, Oh, hey, like what’s going on? Because we always greet each other. And we’re always excited to see each other.

    Chet Ciconne 3:08

    But he could just tell that something was wrong with me. And I was like because I was not excited at all about it and was just like, Yeah, I don’t feel all that great. And he’s like okay well just sit down. And so I sit down. And he’s asking me questions and whatnot. And as time goes by, you know, I go to move my left arm and I think I’m moving it, you know, just to lean on a door.

    Chet Ciconne 3:35

    But I end up punching the doorframe because I have no awareness of where that arm is in space. I had no control of that arm. And I still had a little bit of feeling because it hurt. But so I was like, that’s weird. Like, I can’t feel this arm. And so yeah, I just couldn’t feel my arm at all.

    Chet Ciconne 4:01

    And my friend who had just come home, he was he had worked in an old folks home retirement home as one of his jobs. So he was kind of aware of stroke symptoms and what to look for. And so as time went on, and I started getting worse, he suspected that I was maybe having a stroke.

    Chet Ciconne 4:23

    It sure didn’t make sense to him because I was 27 and seemed you know, really healthy. But so luckily he and one of my other roommates decided to call the ambulance and they got there and asked if I could walk downstairs I said no, like, I definitely can’t walk.

    Chet Ciconne 4:45

    And I started to lose my memory at this point. I remember the ambulance ride there. Kind of realized that the paramedics were asking me questions to keep me alive and felt like, like they were trying to like, keep my attention. And I noticed that I was like, Okay, this is like really serious. So I was just kind of in a daze or whatever.

    Chet Ciconne 5:12

    And once I realized that, like, my life was on the line I really, I tried to stay focused and answer all those questions and pay attention. And I wasn’t really scared, I was just really determined and focused. And at some point, during the ambulance ride, I started just vomiting over and over, which I guess is common when you have blood on your brain.

    Chet Ciconne 5:39

    And we get to the emergency room. And I checked later, like, because I was playing this online video game, so I have like chat messages with a timestamp on them. And then I was able to look on Google Maps to like when I arrived at the emergency room and is only 45 minutes from, like, the initial onset of symptoms to get into the emergency room.

    Chet Ciconne 6:05

    And I think because of the vomiting and because of my symptoms, they diagnosed me pretty accurately. They even assumed AVM very early on. And so that’s 100% The reason that I’ve been able to recover so well. And for the reason I’m even alive, because you know, I had a roommate come home at perfect timing.

    Chet Ciconne 6:29

    Kind of knew what a stroke could look like. And got me to the hospital, like as quick as possible. So that just shows how important stroke awareness is. And teaching people about the symptoms of stroke, because you never know, who we might save, like, just knowing about a stroke.

    Chet Ciconne 6:54

    So that was that was on April 11. And they were able to stop the bleeding that day, you know, my memory is pretty foggy of some of those times, but they went in with a catheter and shot like some kind of glue it’s called embolization and stop the bleeding.

    Chet Ciconne 7:23

    But they wanted to wait to do surgery for whatever reason, maybe they knew that my brain would swell, I guess the younger you are, in these instances, your brain begins to swell as a reaction to your brain bleeding. And so they’re like, on the seventh, I think their plan was the 18th. They’re going to wait seven days to do a small incision in my skull, go in there, clean everything out, and try to remove the AVM.

    Chet Ciconne 7:57

    But I never made it to that surgery date. I ended up flatlining on the 17 which was a crazy experience. My parents had been staying at a hotel nearby, just to check up on me and support me in all the ways. And it was just another night where I was saying goodnight to them, and they were gonna go back to the hotel.

    Chet Ciconne 8:26

    Said goodnight, love you, all that stuff. They leave. And I don’t know how long after but that’s when I flatlined and so they called back like, Oh, he’s not doing well, you guys have to come back. And what I remember was kind of replaying all the family members that had visited me throughout my whole time that whole week, I had been in a hospital.

    Chet Ciconne 8:55

    And then all of a sudden, I’m with my grandma, like, in this like yellow sky on pink clouds. So, you know, obviously, depending on how spiritual you are, or how scientific you are, because I have been on you know, I’d been on opioids for a week, right? Like being on Dilaudid and painkillers, morphine, whatever.

    Chet Ciconne 9:23

    I’m either hallucinating or I’m in heaven with my grandma. So I feel like, you know, I was actually with my grandma. That’s what I like to believe. But I accept if somebody wants to say that I was just hallucinating on drugs. I’m fine with that, too.

    AVM recovery after a cerebral edema

    Bill 9:39

    I like it. It’s something for everybody.

    Chet Ciconne 9:42

    And yeah, that was it. I woke up and basically, my brain had swelled too large for my skull. And that’s what had made me flatline. So they had to do an emergency craniotomy, where they were just going to do a small circle, just to focus on the AVM. Now it’s a new issue, it’s not just my brain bleeding, it’s, my brain needs space.

    Chet Ciconne 10:13

    So they cut almost a third of my skull off and put it in the freezer. And that just gives my brain room as well. And so I wake up to my mom, and she just is trying to explain, you know, hey, don’t touch the right side of your head, because you had a major surgery, you know, we almost lost you.

    Chet Ciconne 10:40

    And it’s just like a very powerful moment between mother and son, because, you know, I almost just passed away. But then kind of fitting because I am sick right now. The next thing that happened was a doctor came in and was like, just trying to break down like, you know, hey, you probably can’t feel the left side of your body. And I’m like, Oh, I can’t.

    Chet Ciconne 11:07

    And explaining my symptoms to me and why they exist. And he was like, you know, as time goes on, hopefully, you’ll feel better. But maybe when you get sick, some of these symptoms will come back. But it’s definitely like, years later, the first time, maybe a year later was the first time I got sick after my surgery, and I got all this numbness like coming back times 10 On the left side, and it’s really scary to not once you’ve had it once, and you associated with a stroke.

    Chet Ciconne 11:40

    When you get that numbness on that side of your body, it freaks you out, like I’ve gone to the dentist and gotten numbed. And it’s like, really anxiety-inducing. But uh, yeah, notice, like, whenever I do get sick, that numbness come back stronger, and dizziness would come back a little stronger.

    Bill 12:01

    And then does it settle after you get better?

    Chet Ciconne 12:04

    It does, for sure. And now eight years later, like I don’t, I didn’t feel that at all, with this sickness that I have today. So eight years, you know, things have changed so much. And I think that’s why people get so annoyed with stroke survivors when they hear the one-year thing because, yeah, in one year, like a lot of things changed. But so many things have changed in my recovery since just one year, like, smooth find improvements every year.

    Bill 12:35

    That’s my biggest issue is that the people who are just starting their journey, getting ill-informed about the long-term possibilities. And then they do tough, you know, for the first 12 and 24 months, wondering, you know, that’s it is that it, you know, and then probably losing hope. And that’s the point of the podcast is, I love it the most want to get people who are 10 years out, 15 years out, 20 years out, because then we can demonstrate the changes that have occurred in the recovery journey.

    Bill 13:15

    And that, you know, stroke recovery is not like breaking a leg, you don’t have a six-week recovery period, and then you’re back on your feet, a little bit of rehabilitation to get the muscles working again, and then you’re done. It’s unlikely that you know, six weeks in a stroke recovery is you know, 12 months in a stroke recovery. It’s just like you’ve broken your leg like it’s so early on in the journey. And a lot of things have to change and settle. And we can adapt and soak in the brain. And people just need to know that this is a long game, not a 12-month thing.

    Chet Ciconne 13:57

    There are so many factors too. Because like, I like you know, my recovery is not just a straight line, like, oh, now I’m better. Like, it was like, within a year I went back to work, but that was too early. And then I realized that had a regression, tried to switch careers, and got good physically, but I had never emotionally thought about anything that happened to me and PTSD came.

    Chet Ciconne 14:29

    And so then I you know, I’m going from like, Oh, I’m up here and my I’m like 70% better, you know, like, I think I’m better and then got worse than I ever was within my first year of recovery. I would have rather have like, you know, been back in the hospital because I was emotionally just depressed and had panic attacks every day. So like, what is recovery? You know, is it your physical recovery from stroke or is it how you feel just as a human like how happy you are like, you know, because sometimes you would trade depression for any of your physical ailments.

    Bill 15:07

    I’ve got a model that I’m working on to explain what recovery is. And it goes some way. But it’s a very high-level model, it doesn’t break down the details to the next level. But what it does is talk about emotional recovery, physical recovery, and mental recovery. And if you don’t do one of those three, you’re not going to get anywhere near being able to say that you’re recovered.

    Bill 15:38

    Now I’ve got left side deficits, I wake up in the morning, my left side needs to wake up a little, it takes a bit longer, when I’m tired, I get you know, I lose my balance. And when, when it’s hot, my left side plays up. And you know, it’s not as strong and has a little bit of spasticity in the muscles. So it hurts from time to time. And I still think I’m fully recovered. Because I’ve done the emotional work, I know that physically, my AVM has been removed, so it’s not going to bleed again.

    Bill 16:18

    And I’ve done the mental health work. So I’ve been in counseling, where I’ve attended to my emotions and my thoughts. And I’m doing the physical work as much as I can by going to the gym twice a week for an hour in total. And I’m just doing, you know, meeting better, I’m trying to sleep better. I don’t I don’t I don’t drink alcohol. You know, so I’ve done all these things.

    Bill 16:44

    And I’m at that point where I can when people say to me, how are you going with your health, I’m working, I fully recovered, but I don’t have great days, every day, there’s a lot of bad days still because of what I went through. And I just put them down to you know, like, now you’re going through a little bit of a cold, I just put down my stuff too. What’s the It’s like a cold, I’m having a bad day, the symptoms are worse.

    Bill 17:09

    And if I rest, and I eat, okay, and I don’t overdo it. I’ll be back to normal, I don’t know, whatever normal is now for me, you know, normal, my normal self again, in a couple of days. It’s a similar kind of experience. For people who don’t know what an AVM is. It’s an arteriovenous malformation. It’s a malformed blood vessel, it usually is described by doctors as being kind of like a Steel Wall. And because of the way that it, it’s formed in a really clear, tight curly pattern. Small, high bright, high blood pressure episodes, like, just from simple exertion, right chat, like from either playing sport.

    Chet Ciconne 17:58

    Or a video game, in my instance.

    Bill 18:02

    Getting overexcited can just cause it to pop blood vessels to pop because they’re tiny, they’re really little, they’re not massive so they’re a little weaker than normal as well, and they can pop and bleed. And the junk, the challenge is, is whether you can stop the bleeding or not. And in some cases they do. In some cases, they don’t. Some people have catastrophic bleeds, and they don’t make it, and other people do.

    Bill 18:28

    So you didn’t have high blood pressure, you didn’t have any of the regular fast symptoms. You know, you didn’t need to look after your supposed cholesterol levels and your blood sugar levels and all that kind of stuff. You were just the regular guy going about business and didn’t know about this thing that you were born with? And what’s weird is I hear about ATMs all the time, and they’re possible to have all over the body.

    Chet Ciconne 18:56

    Yeah, I have a friend with one in her hand.

    Bill 19:02

    Uhuh. Tell me about that. How would it affect her hand?

    Chet Ciconne 19:06

    I mean, she just has like, a finger that you can see this large vasculature running through it. And so that finger is, you know, less useful, but, uh, you know, I don’t know that she’s gone. Maybe you can interview her too about her whole journey of like, you know, they tried to embolize it, and then it’s failed, you know, I don’t know, I don’t imagine because, you know, AVMs are like one in 200,000 or something.

    Chet Ciconne 19:39

    And, most of them are in the brain as far as I know. So she’s even, you know, more rare, but we don’t you know, I talked to her almost every day, but we don’t talk about, you know, her hand so, I don’t know, you know, how much I’d be comfortable saying.

    Bill 19:57

    I hear you it’s not something they talk about.

    Chet Ciconne 20:01

    It’s more of like a physical ailment, you know, like a visual, probably thing you know, especially as a woman, you know, to have something visible on your hand. That’s, I would assume that’s most of her issues, but I don’t want to speak too much for so her.

    Bill 20:18

    Yeah, yeah. But it’s something different from other people’s strokes in that most strokes. 80% of strokes are ischemic strokes, blood clots, or something stopping blood flow in the brain. And then 20% are hemorrhagic strokes. And hemorrhagic strokes are caused by AVMs or they’re caused by.

    Intro 20:43

    If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. Like now, how long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, and doctors will explain things that, you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask.

    Intro 21:07

    If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke. These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, they’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery. Head to the website now, recoveryafterstroke.com, and download the guide. It’s free.

    X Rays can cause cavernous angioma


    Bill 21:47
    Because of the bulging the bulging of the blood vessel, the aneurysm, and then sometimes they’re caused by a cavernous angioma, which is a similar weird-shaped blood vessel. , You can have a cavernous angioma form later on in life. People aren’t necessarily born with it. And then what’s weird about the cabinet Sanjay is it can be brought on by X-rays. So there’s some evidence that some cavernous angiomas can be brought on and can form after people go through an x-ray, for some reason.

    Bill 22:33

    So there are too many ways. There are way too many ways. That’s what I found nearly after 290 episodes, check this out any ways that people can have a stroke? It’s ridiculous, right? It’s just Yeah. Intense. So you’re, you’ve spent the first seven days in the hospital, then you’ve woken up half your skull’s missing it’s in the freezer. You can’t feel your left side, and then how does the journey go after that? How did they finally kind of rehabilitate you enough to get you home? What does that look like?

    Chet Ciconne 23:11

    So I had a great doctor, because, you know, they gave me physical therapy. Maybe a physical therapist came in one time and, you know, tried to get me to move my left arm and whatnot, and see if I could move my fingers and move my left leg. And it was limited. And they’re trying to get me to walk and I couldn’t yet. And then I’d say within a week. I think I walked while I was still at the hospital.

    Chet Ciconne 23:43

    Maybe it’s it’s hard for me to remember but I got to a certain point where there was like, okay, he’s done, all they care about is can he survive? If he leaves here? It’s like, Sure, we’d love it if you could walk, but not necessary. It’s like, Can you breathe? Can you eat? Can you drink? And then can you walk would be great. And that’s all they care about. And that’s all the insurance companies care about.

    Chet Ciconne 24:07

    And so I was going to be discharged from the hospital very disabled, I would say. And my doctors like no, you know, we know we have scientific studies that show the more rehab you get early on, the better. So we want him to go to this acute rehab center. And so thankful to my doctor for that because I got sent to an inpatient rehab center, which was a huge upgrade in food to as a hospital food was terrible.

    Chet Ciconne 24:44

    I didn’t eat, you know, mostly I was on IV for a lot of the time. But once they were trying to get me to eat the food was terrible. But then I go to this inpatient rehab center, which is you know, everyday physical therapy, occupational therapy, use speech therapy, and good food. And I was there. So if my surgery was on the 17th, I just know I got, what I wanted, I had a girlfriend at the time, and I wanted to get discharged by her birthday, which was May 9.

    Chet Ciconne 25:20

    So when I went to the rehab, I’m not very sure I just know, the surgery was 17th and on May 9, I got out. But uh, so in between there, they transferred me and ambulance to this rehab center. And that’s where, you know, my rehabilitation started. And I don’t know about you. So do you know where in your brain your AVM was?

    Bill 25:49

    I don’t know that the lobe, it’s four centimeters, which is about one and a half, two inches, I think something like that from the ear, from my right ear near the cerebellum.

    Bill 26:02

    Like the back of your temporal lobe.

    Chet Ciconne 26:10

    Where I was going with this?

    Bill 26:12

    You were just about to tell me about where in your head the injury happened?

    Chet Ciconne 26:21

    Yeah, I don’t know. But so mine was in the parietal lobe, which is your main sensory, which contains your primary sensory cortex. And so the right side of my brain, sensory cortex. That’s the reason I can’t feel the entire left side of my body, right? And, oh, this is what I was gonna say.

    Chet Ciconne 26:47

    So people who have right hemisphere brain damage, oftentimes suffer from Anosognosia, which is where they’re not aware of their deficits. And so I was wondering if you experienced this at all, but I had it bad. Like, it’s kind of a superpower, depending on how bad your brain is damaged, because if you’re, if there’s a level, because, you know, if you have very severe damage, you can only recover so much, right?

    Chet Ciconne 27:19

    I was blessed to be at the hospital as quickly as I was. So I have a lot of room to recover. And so not being aware of a deficit, when you have a lot of room to recover, gives you this false sense of confidence, which I think allows for a little more recovery.

    Chet Ciconne 27:38

    But basically, what it was was like, I would think I was fine, and nothing was wrong, which is very dangerous. You can hurt yourself, because, you know, I couldn’t walk. But I was very drugged in the hospital and had to pee. So I just got up to go pee and just stepped right out of the bed and fell. And you know, could have killed myself.

    Bill 27:58

    I did the same thing. Day one.

    Chet Ciconne 28:01

    Yeah. And as probably probably a little bit of not being aware of do you have any other recollection of not being aware of your deficits?

    Bill 28:10

    Well, yeah, a few times. So when I woke up from surgery, they told me I needed to go to the toilet. To just do the regular movement thing, bowel movement thing, and all that stuff. So I said okay, no problem. So I stepped out of the bed on the left side, a big mistake, because my left leg was the one that wasn’t working.

    Bill 28:28

    And there was a nurse, I’m about six foot. Sorry, I’m about five foot 10, somewhere there and this nurse would have been four foot nothing. And she was really small and tiny framed. And she goes, I’m going to help you get there. And just lean on me is what she said. And I’m like, oh, okay, cool.

    Bill 28:49

    So I leaned on her fresh scar just stitched up literally hours earlier, and I’m on my ass in the ward outside of my bed, just screaming. Ahh, yeah. And I had no idea. But then I knew I knew what my deficits were. But then when I was at home, I did get up. So when I was at home just a little while after surgery, I’d say about maybe. So I was in surgery. November, late November. I got home just before Christmas. And then I was at home from about the 24th of December.

    Navigating the deficits during AVM recovery


    Bill 29:37
    And I reckon it was in January, sitting on the couch, no one was at home. They’ve gone to work. Kids have gone to school when schools restarted and I’m having. I’m having lunch. I’m holding a little plate. And I just stand up and I gotta lean or go to stand up and lean on my left leg. And then the leg has just totally collapsed. And I’d fallen onto the couch smashed, didn’t break anything smashed my ribs onto the arm of the couch, fell over and broke the plate onto the concrete, we’ve got concrete floors.

    Bill 30:12

    So that was happening and there was a time when I needed to. Okay, I’m gonna get up off the couch, stand with my right leg, okay, and then now, okay, put your left leg out. Okay, make sure it’s touching the ground tap the ground a few times, and then stand up. And then make sure the knee’s operational and moving, and then move forward.

    Chet Ciconne 30:39

    That’s what’s the difference between you and going home. Right away after your surgery, I got to go to a rehab center where they taught me how to get out of bed. You were a little, probably a little more capable than I was.

    Bill 30:55

    I had a month in rehab, had a month in rehab, they got me back at my feet in a month. And they didn’t sort of say to me, your leg is that didn’t give me that feedback that didn’t say to me, you kind of need to tell you like, what’s happening and talk yourself through this process and don’t step up on your left leg that didn’t give me any of that info. I learned the hard way. But that’s ok.

    Chet Ciconne 31:18

    Yeah, see, I got the whole, like, it was probably really annoying to me at the time. But you know, they focus that I made sure I knew how to get up out of a bed and all this stuff. Where I had to practice that over and over and over. It was probably annoying but very necessary. But another interesting deficit that I had, which is common in the right hemisphere is left-side neglect. Did you experience that at all?

    Bill 31:49

    Neglect how?

    Chet Ciconne 31:51

    So I’ll just explain to you what it was for me. So basically, my brain completely disregarded things existing on the left side, okay. And so I’m in the rehab center, and they have me draw a clock. And I draw a clock. And it starts at 12. When it goes to six, and there’s nothing on the left side. I just don’t even draw the left side of the clock. But I don’t think there’s I don’t think there’s anything wrong. So I’m like there’s my clock. And it’s good, right?

    Bill 32:24

    I never had that. So even though you knew what a clock was before. And when you were a kid, you did all the numbers. And you know that.

    Chet Ciconne 32:31

    I still knew what a clock was. My brain just ignored the left side of the clock.

    Bill 32:37

    So you represent it. Half a clock.

    Chet Ciconne 32:41

    Yeah, and I’m solving word searches. And I find every word on the right side, I find no words on the left side. And, just every single aspect that you could imagine like I go to write a word. And I don’t write the first two letters, because it’s the left side of the word. So it’s just really like, it’s fascinating to me.

    Bill 33:06

    Are they saying Apple is missing A and P? And then are you going I can see that it’s missing it now, or you’re going I know it’s all good.

    Chet Ciconne 33:17

    I don’t remember well enough to answer that question. But I think mostly, a lot of what they were doing early on was confirming things. Because I’m actually in school right now to learn how to be a speech therapist, which was some of the therapy that I received in rehab, because that’s, that’s what I want to do.

    Chet Ciconne 33:41

    I want to work with brain injury folks and help them in their recovery process because I fell in love with the recovery process when I had to go through so um, but from what I gauge they were just kind of based on the location of my brain injury, they suspected certain things. So they would test for them to make sure that they are there.

    Chet Ciconne 34:06

    And then they say, Okay, we have to work on this later. So it wasn’t a lot of like, you know, things like that, that I was terrible at, it’s more like just draw the clock. I’m like, okay, is that good for you? And I’m like, yeah, they don’t say like, okay, no, what’s wrong, and like, you’re missing this and all that they just note it down, because they know, especially there is a lot of spontaneous recoveries, you know, in that first year, and that’s what you know, that’s where the one-year thing comes from.

    Chet Ciconne 34:30

    But they knew that by the end of therapy, I would maybe realize that I was missing these things. And they don’t want to, I think because I didn’t notice it. They didn’t get real with me, probably till a couple of days into this rehab. And I remember when the moment was when I realized that like, Oh, this is going to be longer than a few days. Because I you know, I just thought it was like, Oh, I’m gonna learn how to walk again. And then I’m gonna go back to work and it’s all gonna be good.

    Chet Ciconne 34:59

    But, I go into this room and my physical therapist, she has a deck of cards out on the table deck of playing cards, and they’re all face up. And she gives me a deck of cards. And she says, Alright, all you got to do is flip over the deck, flip over a card, and match it with its twin on the table. And I Oh, that’s so easy. Like, I’ll do, I’ll do with my left hand, even, you know, and I flipped over the card.

    Chet Ciconne 35:28

    And it took me a solid, like, four minutes to, I don’t know what card it was, was had picked a jack of hearts or something, I pull it out, and I’m just looking. And I cannot do it. Like my mental processing whatever it was, it was just impossible for me at that time. And I was like, wow, like, I felt stupid. You know, I felt terrified that this was going to be a permanent thing for me. And that was when I realized that, you know, I had a lot of work to do.

    Bill 36:02

    You know, with a feeling stupid thing? Is that just your insecurities coming up something that you’ve had from the past that have come up, because I’ll give you a little bit of an insight. I have these similar conversations with people and I don’t understand them on other episodes. And I don’t understand because I don’t experience them. So I’m just trying to understand them, right?

    Bill 36:26

    So it took me almost three years to get to brain surgery. So I had one bleed. I never once thought what if this happens again? And then it happened to Ken. And even after it happened again. And they told me it might happen again. I never once thought, what if this happens again? I just kind of went through it. And so okay, whatever. And then I assumed that it wasn’t going to happen.

    Bill 36:48

    And then when it happened, it’s like, Okay, I better do something about it. And then when I couldn’t do the exercises that they told me to do, I was just still thinking like, Wow, I can’t do that. And that was it. There was no you’re dumb, or you’re not intelligent anymore. I’ve never had any of those concerns at all, none. And then the other thing I didn’t do is kind of when I realized I couldn’t walk, but didn’t get worried about it.

    Bill 37:20

    By ashamed that was going to walk. And I just went about what I needed to do to get on my feet. And they gave me two months. They had booked me into their rehab facility for two months. I got out of there in a month. So it’s like, I didn’t I didn’t get the anxiety and the thoughts of all of the stuff that people worry about. I don’t know, maybe I hadn’t couldn’t worry like that. It’s weird. So I don’t know, what was behind your I’m feel stupid comment or thoughts about yourself.

    Chet Ciconne 37:59

    I think a lot of it was this Anosognosia thing where, you know, I was not aware of these deficits. Like, I just thought I was completely fine. And like I was going to be out of rehab in a couple of days, which is crazy. Like, I could not walk. I couldn’t, whatever that is reading, I don’t know, comprehending, playing cards. I don’t know what a real process that is.

    Chet Ciconne 38:24

    But I think it was just the first time that something broke through that lack of awareness. I was so unaware of my deficits, that something finally broke through it. And it just scared me. And, you know, I don’t know if it’s directly like an intelligence thing, but maybe also to just like, you know, because I was an engineer, I considered myself intelligent, or like, I valued that piece of me.

    Chet Ciconne 38:54

    So to like, see me fail at a task that I, you know, thought going in, oh, this is gonna be so easy and completely fail, especially, you know, as time goes on, you’re holding this card in your hand, it’s more and more time, like, you get embarrassed and then you start to think about oh, it’s taking so long, you’re not even focusing on your task. And also, it was like a, it was just an eye-opening thing.

    Chet Ciconne 39:17

    And I think that’s why she did it. Because I had so much confidence and I, you know, just as I was so confident she had to like to bring me down to earth a little bit and like really show me you know where I was. So probably just the length of it, you know? Because I think if anyone asked you, you know to match a card with another card, and you stood there for five minutes failing, you know, it would just kind of hit me.

    Bill 39:45

    I hear you might start feeling a little nervous or what have you, and I get that I get why people would like it, and I get why they would I don’t understand why I didn’t and I don’t know, maybe it was what you said. It’s just that you had the realization, I didn’t have the expectation. But I think I’m intelligent. But I didn’t expect my intelligence.

    Bill 40:14

    So my identity, this is what might be my identity didn’t cop abating when I couldn’t remember a word or fix this or fix that or answer this way to that. I didn’t identify as less intelligent because I couldn’t do this after brain surgery, but kind of associated brain surgery with messing up your head. And it’s like, oh, yeah, that’s what happens after brain surgery.

    Chet Ciconne 40:39

    Yeah, and see, maybe my, Anosognosia thing was just like, you know, I didn’t even have brain surgery. So like, you know, I’m fine. You know what I mean? Maybe I didn’t have that to relate to like a lack of intelligence or something. I just, I just think, Oh, I’m fine. But no, I’m stupid now. You know. So that’s why it’s so the, you know, the things like the left side, neglect, and the agnostic nosy are so fascinating.

    Chet Ciconne 41:08

    No matter how much you tell the person who’s going through at that time, they just can’t, the brain just doesn’t even compute it. So it’s like, and it’s just, I don’t know, it’s an amazing thing. Some people, you know, I was blessed. To slowly feel my left side and neglect disappear, I’d save six months was probably when I stopped noticing it.

    Chet Ciconne 41:35

    But because I had to actively like, turn my head. And like, actively make sure I look at left side paper, if I’m, if I’m trying to, you know, look at some information or whatever, you know, I had to just force myself to recognize the left side of the world for months. But luckily, it went away some people never went away.

    Bill 41:55

    Yeah, was that then more energy-consuming? So when I had to focus when my leg went, when I had to look at my leg and make sure that it was that the foot was landing correctly and my knee was in the right position, it would be exhausting. So did that become more exhausting having to make sure that you’re paying attention to your left side

    Driving a vehicle after a stroke

    Chet Ciconne 42:22

    100% Still, even to this day. So another thing that your parietal lobe does in your brain is, that it’s in charge of proprioception, which is knowing where your limbs are in space, without looking, you can just feel it. And so for my left side, like I used to drive a manual stick shift vehicle.

    Chet Ciconne 42:50

    Once happened, and I got my license taken away. And then I tried to drive again, and I was like, Oh, let me see if I can drive a stick shift full, the clutch is pushed down with your left foot. Well, if you have no proprioception for your left foot, and you don’t know where it is, without looking, I couldn’t push in the clutch without looking, which is not, you know, safe for driving.

    Bill 43:12

    I had that experience. I’m doing, I’m doing what you guys would call 60 miles an hour, I’m doing 100 kilometers an hour on a freeway in a stick shift because we went to hire a car. And I told them, I wanted an automatic and they couldn’t get me one. So I had to drive a stick shift. And for me to drive a stick shift, I have to take my shoes off. So my left foot can have more feeling and know where the clutch is.

    Bill 43:49

    But even then I’m doing 100. So I’m probably in fourth. And I’m looking for a fifth. And I got to change gear, and I got to press the clutch and I press the brake instead. And try and crunch the gear at the same time. And then it’s it’s a disaster. It’s like oh my god, what am I doing? And then I’ve got to look down and put my foot on the clutch and then change gear. And then go again. It’s just Yeah.

    Chet Ciconne 44:24

    So like even on that note, like even today, or you know, current current day, not necessarily today, but uh my friends do like indoor rock climbing in the gym. And so I’ll go with them because I think it’s great, you know, therapy for me and it’s fun. But physically, I’m less tired from the climbing than I am like focusing on your left hand your left foot like that mental exercise I’m so exhausted mentally.

    Chet Ciconne 44:57

    Before I am physically not that I’m you know I’m still physically tired, I’m climbing, it’s hard. But the mental part is so much more exhausting for me, just because I have to focus on the left, I have to watch it. As I do each grab as I do each step with the left foot, otherwise, I’m gonna miss.

    Bill 45:17

    So what about walking next to somebody so I walk next to my wife from time to time, when we go to our or whatever. And I’m always bumping into her, it feels like there’s a magnetic force pulling me into her. And I’m always bumping into her. And she’s always going to stop bumping into me. And I’m not bumping into him just walking in or whatever. And a walk. When I’m walking next to somebody, it looks like I’m drunk I know what it is about when people are next to me, when they’re not next to me, I can walk perfectly straight.

    Chet Ciconne 45:51

    So definitely the girlfriend that I had at the time, I would always make her walk on my right side, just because we’d always want to like hold hands or whatever. And holding my left hand that I couldn’t feel was like, very creepy to me like, is a very strange sensation. So I always prefer just for people to walk on my right side in general. But as far as walking goes, I think I’m very, you know, acceptable. Like, I can feel a slight difference than you know, before my stroke, but I think most people would not notice.

    Chet Ciconne 46:34

    And it’s kind of like a warm-up thing, like you said, when you wake up your left leg needs to warm up. It’s not just right away. So my first few steps every day are probably a little weird. I’d say the bigger thing is one of the biggest struggles of the left side, neglect was always running into things on the left side of me because my brain was not even acknowledging them existed. And it was like the left side of my vision was off. So I was always bumping into things.

    Chet Ciconne 47:05

    And even though that left side, neglect is gone, just the lack of proprioception on my left side, I still, I just went on a snowboarding trip this last few days, and I stubbed my toe there we had a cabin. And the fireplace had this stone base to it that kind of extended out. And I think it’s so nobody puts anything in front of the fireplace, and I stubbed my toe on that thing my left toe like three times.

    Chet Ciconne 47:33

    So that’s painful. So I think balance-wise, obviously I was you know, it was my first time snowboarding, I was able to figure that out. So obviously, you know, I have some level of balance. But I think walking passes as normal to the naked eye can feel slight differences, but nothing I would bother complaining about. Mine’s more like, the proprioception is still an issue and I bump into things and I stub my toe and I kick things with my left foot or trip over things with my left foot.

    AVM Recovery effects and driving limitations

    Bill 48:05

    Yeah, same me doorways, when I’m really tired. I seem to not notice doorways and just my left shoulder. Also just bumps into them. And then, and then my wife’s not allowed to touch my hand when I’m driving. So we drive on the opposite side here.

    Bill 48:26

    Yeah, and I put my hand on it’s an automatic car now so but sometimes the rest of my hand on the shift on the shifter, and then should just be climbed or sweet. And she just laid her hand on my hand. And it’s like, why touch my hand for it? Don’t touch. Something uncomfortable about it, right? It hurts, it bloody hurts.

    Chet Ciconne 48:48

    It hurts.

    Bill 48:49

    If you’re going to touch it, touch it hard, but be rough with it. Don’t just be gentle with it. God’s sake woman. And it’s been eight years since my surgery. No 10 years since my surgery this year hasn’t changed. But she hasn’t learned yet. She’s still gentle and nice. And I’m still an idiot. She still does. Being gentle and nice with me. And I still overreact. But I can’t not. I don’t know. It just messes with my entire being it’s the most age-inappropriate response to something so nice and gentle. And I don’t know how to I don’t know how to not do it.

    Chet Ciconne 49:28

    Something creepy about it. I don’t know. I always call it my ghost arm. Yeah. And it was just like, I don’t know, it’s just I feel it. Maybe it’s just a reminder of your stroke. And that’s all it is. It’s like you have this weird sensation. And it’s just oh, I had a stroke and it just reminds you of it and it’s just annoying. I don’t know.

    Bill 49:48

    One of the things I used to do was chat rooms to tell me if this happened so I used to wear glasses until the age of 40. This happened to me started happening to me at 37 the reason I don’t wear glasses days because I had cataract surgery, and I removed the cataract, and I don’t need glasses, but I wore glasses from the age of five. So after brain surgery, I still had, it because it was so close to my eye surgery.

    Bill 50:20

    Only six months, maybe nine months difference, right, I had eye surgery. And then later on, I needed brain surgery. Because I studied for six or nine months, I still had the sensation that the glasses on my nose had slid forward. And I used to slide them back up with my left hand. But no, there were no glasses there anymore. But I still had the habit of just lifting something that wasn’t their backup. And because the glasses weren’t there, I poked myself in the left eye.

    Chet Ciconne 50:52

    Oh my gosh. So I didn’t start wearing glasses. So when I had my brain surgery, they immediately suspended my driver’s license in America, at least for a year. And then this kind of segues into another part. But like a year, after my surgery, I’m like, alright, let me try to get my license back. But around the same time, I ended up having my first seizure.

    Chet Ciconne 51:25

    So because of my brain surgery or scar tissue on my brain, I’m more susceptible to seizures. They put me on medication. I didn’t like how the medication made me feel. So I stopped taking the medication and I had a seizure. But uh, but back to the glasses thing. I didn’t have to get glasses until I wanted to get my license back. I’m gonna like okay, well, let’s check your vision.

    Chet Ciconne 51:52

    And then like, now, this isn’t good enough, you need glasses. So I was like, Okay, I have to get glasses. So I didn’t wear glasses ever until after my stroke. The stroke was in 2016. I didn’t get my license back in 2021. So that was when I started wearing glasses. Right? But I do even, always use my right hand to pick my glasses up. And when I’m not wearing my glasses, I’ll find myself going to do that when there’s no glasses there. So I relate to you on that. But different situation, because I don’t use the left hand. I’ve never poked myself in the iron. Man.

    Bill 52:31

    It’s so annoying. I did it so many times. What’s interesting is that nobody took my license away. I had brain surgery. I had three brain hemorrhages. Nobody took my license away. I went straight.

    Chet Ciconne 52:46

    Yeah, that’s why I said in America because I don’t know. And I don’t know. Also, like I said, I had a great doctor. I’m very happy he did it. Definitely should not have been driving. And I probably would have tried to just because of my confidence and lack of awareness. But uh, yeah, I don’t know what it is. But in America, if you have brain surgery, or if you have a seizure, they are the doctor is required by law to send that to our DMV, which is in charge of our licenses and stuff. And they are supposed to put your license on hold for a year. And then you get reevaluated and try to get your privilege back.

    Bill 53:34

    I was told not to drive but they didn’t give me a time limit that didn’t say Don’t try for the next 12 months or whatever. Yeah, something like that. Okay, no worries. So, I drove. I came out of surgery, end of out of the hospital, I got home like I said that December, 24th. And then a month later, literally a month later, four weeks later, I was driving I did a five-hour trip to see a friend of mine who lives quite far away from where I live.

    Bill 54:09

    And I still couldn’t feel my left side properly and turning the steering wheel with my left side was not fun because I had to again make sure that my hand was holding the steering wheel and wasn’t going to slip out and all that kind of stuff. And I was so fatigued when I got there. I shouldn’t have done it. But I was so fatigued when I got there. I couldn’t believe how wasted I was.

    Bill 54:33

    And then I had to drive back two days later. And I didn’t tell anybody that it was a problem. But I shouldn’t have done it. Like I would I would not have wanted to be in a situation where I did something, caused a collision, and then injured myself or somebody else. You know, it’s so wrong. But again, I didn’t think because nobody said don’t drive you’re not allowed to drive without taking a license. I didn’t think I shouldn’t be driving. I thought, yeah, I’ll be fine.

    Chet Ciconne living with half a skull


    Chet Ciconne 55:07
    I mean, there’s also another, I’m sure there are people who have had strokes and in America and they, you know, I had, I was missing half of my skull I had to wear a helmet just to walk. So, probably not a good idea to be driving a car, you know, an accident would be fatal for sure.

    Bill 55:28

    Yep. I’m gonna ask a few questions. I don’t have to answer them straightaway all at once. Okay, so the question is how long we live without half your skull. But then were you alright with living with half a skull? Because on your Instagram, you’ve got some awesome images there of how you’ve compared yourself to a mountain.

    Chet Ciconne 55:57

    Sort of like the North. I don’t know if it is, I just went to Yosemite for the first time. But there’s a clothing brand and an outerwear brand called The North Face. And their symbol. Is that a little mountain? Yeah, that’s definitely when I went there. I was like, that kind of looks like me.

    Bill 56:26

    And it does Man. You guys could have been twins. How did you live with that? Emotionally? Mentally? Like, what was that like? That’s an interesting thing to be missing half your brain for some time.

    Chet Ciconne 56:45

    You know, I just woke up, there’s no decision to be made. I just woke up. And that was my life. So when you wake up, and somebody says, you know, oh, you almost died. But they could have your school off. And so now and now you’re not dead? You don’t say, Oh, what did they do that for? You know, like, why did they take half my school? I think I was just, you know, happy to still be around.

    Chet Ciconne 57:10

    And, and it looked funny. I’ve always enjoyed humor and been able to, I always appreciate it when people make fun of me, I don’t get upset at it. I laugh It’s not a good joke, I might get upset. But if it’s a good joke of power, laugh at my own expense. Anytime, right? And so, you know, as far as appearance wise, they said, they put it back later. And I believed in their ability to make me look normal.

    Chet Ciconne 57:43

    Again I feel like I look amazing for what I’ve been through. Yeah, most people would never know. I won’t have this hair for many more decades. But I think for 10 more years, I’ll be able to hide the scar that’s under there. Because it’s a pretty gnarly scar. And there’s no hair growing on the scar.

    Chet Ciconne 58:01

    So I have a little like, racing stripe in my hairline. But so as far as like, appearance goes, I was confident that they would put it back and I’d be passable. The bigger issues were just like sleep. So, you know, I had no skull, all of this was just skin the hair that they left, and then if you touched you’d feel my brain under there. And it was most of my head.

    Bill 58:35

    Did you ever go for the touch?

    Chet Ciconne 58:36

    I did. Yeah, of course. I was curious I had to ask other people like, please be gentle. But add you want to touch my brain. And you know, some people did and most people were not interested. But it’s a you know, it’s a unique situation I had my doctor take cellphone pictures inside my head when they were putting it back in. So I had cell phone pictures.

    Chet Ciconne 59:03

    The first one kind of looks like a chicken cutlet. So there’s a, you have a membrane around your brain called the dura mater. And obviously, they have to cut through that if they’re going to get to your brain. And if they cut through that, that means they have to replace it with something.

    Chet Ciconne 59:19

    So they replace it with a synthetic one. And so he has a picture, they put that in place, we took a picture. Then they put my they call it a bone flap, which is the piece of school that was in the freezer, they put that back in, they screw it back together with these brackets and screws. And he took a picture of that. So I have a literal picture inside of my head of my school, which is super rare. You know, nobody has that.

    Bill 59:48

    I wanted something like that. And nobody did it for me.

    Chet Ciconne 59:53

    The best you get is an MRI or something right now I have literal cell phone photographs of the inside. In my head, but yeah, so it’s just scalp, hair, and then brain. So I can’t lay on my right side at all, I can’t even like couldn’t even lay on my back. Because it just felt weird. I had to sleep on my left side, from April 17 the day of the surgery until I think it was October 19.

    Chet Ciconne 1:00:24

    They put it back in. So that whole period, I have to sleep on my left side, my left side is already spastic, yeah, because I’ve had a stroke, there’s already tightness, and you know, just all kinds of things you’re dealing with, and I have to sleep on the same shoulder. So I had to figure out, you know, eventually, excuse me, I got a, like a wedge pillow in my bed.

    Chet Ciconne 1:00:49

    And that way I could kind of like sleep, not on my head, you know, kind of rest more on my shoulders, and I use like a neck pillow, and the wedge and that allowed me to sleep on my back. But I just had to sleep on my left side for so long that I had so much shoulder pain and tightness. From who knows if it’s from the sleeping or just the stroke, you know, many people just have so much best spasticity anyways, yeah. So I’d say that was the biggest issue I had with it.

    Chet Ciconne 1:01:18

    Otherwise, it was like just a wild experience that I was able to make light of, and I enjoyed taking the funny pictures. And you know, they saw, when they’re going to give you life-saving surgery, and you’re flatline. They’re not like, oh, let’s give him like a nice haircut, they just shave off, you know, and then they saw your head, like, so I had a funny, you know, half my head haircut.

    Chet Ciconne 1:01:45

    So, I had a cousin who does hair, and she kind of gave me a mohawk to balance it out or whatever. So, you know, I just You just make the best of it kind of thing that didn’t break my spirits you know, I think for a woman, you know, too, that would be such a more traumatic experience because I think just hair means so much more to them and to have half your hair cut off. And then just, you know, the way physical appearance is, you know, forced on them to matter more than that as ugly guys. We can live with it a little longer.

    Bill 1:02:21

    We can live with being uglier, even more than we already are. Yeah, I hear you. It’s fascinating to see that image of you and the way your head looks, I have a coaching client who is currently in that state. And then, you know, it’s really, he’s trying to get to the point where it’s not in that state.

    Bill 1:02:53

    And what we’re working on is we’re working on, because he’s not compliant, you know, maybe it’s part of his personality, maybe it’s part of the stroke, don’t compliant with what the doctor’s requests are. So the aim is to try and get him to feel like what he needs to do if you want to get your skull back, is what you need to do all the right things so that you can create the right environment for your brain to stop swelling and for the skull to go back. So you know, we we’ve, yeah, we’ve been working on that all let’s get your skull back on your head.

    Chet Ciconne 1:03:32

    I don’t feel like, you know, my doctors put the onus on me. It was just like, oh, you know, I was eager I was I was like, Hey, can we do it yet? And like, I know this enough. But it wasn’t like, oh, the swelling is not down enough. Because you haven’t done XYZ is just like, Oh, you just have to wait more time.

    Bill 1:03:52

    He was drinking.

    Chet Ciconne 1:03:54

    That’s probably why See, I didn’t even think I had my first drink when I was like, 24. So I was never, I was never a big drinker anyways, and then so this happened. So it was really easy for me to be like, Oh, I’m not gonna do that anymore. So same, but I can see so if he’s if he’s making bad decisions that are still causing his brain to swell and yeah, that makes sense.

    Bill 1:04:17

    Yeah, bad decisions in hindsight, but still more just living the way he always lived. That’s all it’s just that I’ve always had a drink or I’ll have I’ll have a drink. That’s all you know.

    Chet Ciconne 1:04:31

    I don’t know if he experiences this but another interesting thing about that situation is you don’t realize how much and it makes a ton of sense but just having a complete seal on everything. Keeps the pressure inside of your head normal. So like when I was missing if I bent over to tie my shoe or to pick something up Everything would shift in there very quickly.

    Chet Ciconne 1:05:02

    And I would get a sharp, terrible headache almost immediately. And I was like, Is this just my life forever? But no, as soon as they put that thing back on, you know, I’m able to bend over and tilt my head. And there’s not this dramatic shift. And maybe it was like a quick movement of the brain. I don’t know what it was. But just the worst headache, or not the worst headache I had experienced, but very painful headaches. And so just getting that kind of equilibrium back together, got rid of those headaches. And that was huge for me.

    Bill 1:05:38

    I find it very interesting to learn that your brain is missing its skull, and then the dura has been impacted. Where does their cerebrospinal fluid go? Like? Does it leak out? Literally? Are they then able to contain it?

    Chet Ciconne 1:05:56

    So there’s so I’m going to piss off my neuroanatomy teacher. So I’ve taken I mean, I’m in school to be a speech-language pathologist, speech therapist, depending on what you call it. And so I’ve taken a couple of neuroanatomy classes, but there’s the dura is not where the spinal fluid goes. It’s the layer below that, which it’s the dura mater. And then the arachnoid monitor. The arachnoid mater has legs like spider Wade connections, and that’s like a spongy space that has, you know, gaps for the spinal fluid to go through.

    Bill 1:06:45

    Uh-huh.

    Chet Ciconne 1:06:46

    But, uh, I mean, I’d imagine they had to cut through that in mind, too. So I still to answer your question. I’m not, I’m not exactly sure. What would happen to it? But, uh,

    Bill 1:06:59

    I perhaps incorrectly assume that anytime I’ve seen a brain specimen, it’s been in a jar or something like that. So it’s, you know, surrounded with a fluid to keep it intact. And I imagined that the cerebrospinal fluid was fluid, like, in that kind of way. You know, that it seemed liquidy and you could see it gushing or losing or whatever, but perhaps it’s not specifically in that way. And I do recall hearing, you know, people having subarachnoid hemorrhages, and then subdural hemorrhages so that the different spaces,

    Chet Ciconne 1:07:40

    yeah, there are three different membranes, depending on where your bleed is, given those categories.

    Bill 1:07:48

    So the arachnoid layer might be the layer that kind of contains all of the cerebrospinal fluid. Yeah, that goes through a system rather than physically. Allowing the brain to float in it. Correct?

    Chet Ciconne 1:08:06

    Yeah. It’s like, yeah. Oh, no, I don’t want to. Let’s see. We’ll get somebody man.

    Bill 1:08:13

    Yeah, that’s all right. I mean, that’s just us just trying to work it out. I get Yeah, that’s cool. So no, severe loss of brain fluid that they have to refill or anything like that. We just call it the whole thing is just fascinating. The fact that you’re here, and I’m talking to you the fact that the process that you went through was so perfect. 45 minutes in the hospital, immediate, being able to diagnose it immediately, and then action to get that sorted. And then amazing. Doctors, technology, science,

    Chet Ciconne 1:08:55

    how many how many years ago? Does this happen? And they don’t know how to remove your school and put it back in like, how many years ago? Do they just say? Oh, well, sorry, check goodbye.

    Bill 1:09:06

    Yeah. I don’t think it was that many years ago, man in our lifetimes, for sure. I think. I think in our lifetime, you know, for sure. It’s just crazy. I love your sense of humor, though. Not only do you see similarities between between you and the north face of potentially El Capitan, but also there’s a CIT GPT. That’s pretty cool. There’s Netflix.

    Chet Ciconne 1:09:37

    That’s what that was in the deepness of, you know, no job. No school recovery. What do you do you just make let’s make a Netflix logo. Be creative.

    Bill 1:09:49

    So I’d encourage people to go to your Instagram and check it out. I’m gonna have links to your instinct for people to reach out if they need to. As we wrap up ask three questions, what was the hardest thing about a stroke for you?

    Chet Ciconne 1:10:08

    I would say, the mental health aspect of it. You know, when I look at my recovery, I see a great physical recovery. And then a huge mental health dip. As I had to process everything that happened to me that, you know, early on, it felt like a video game, it was like, Oh, I just have to learn how to reuse my left side, like, this is kind of fun. You know, I gotta figure out how to do things differently. This is cool. And then once you kind of plateau, your physical recovery for a while, obviously, I still improved after that. But once I hit that plateau, then everything emotional hit me. And it was tough. You know, just very just panic attacks every single day, you know? seizures, the epilepsy. That was, I’d say a seizure is almost scarier than the stroke was. There’s a level of like, aloofness that comes with the stroke, where you’re not, you know your brain is not working 100%. So you’re not aware of what’s going on in a seizure, like, oh, I, I get an aura where I sense it’s coming. And that’s terrifying. And then the initial, you know, electricity that’s going through your brain that you’re still conscious for, is terrifying. And then the idea of having a seizure, and in the wrong timing, you know, swimming or driving is terrifying. So, that just led to a lot of anxiety, which went along with depression. And then like, what am I going to do? Like, the job I used to work was driving, and I couldn’t drive, I didn’t drive for five years. So what am I going to do with my life? Am I ever going to make money again? Am I just going to be disabled my whole life, that whole just mental health? And identity? Who am I? What can I do in this world still, that was the hardest part of the stroke. And I think it took me a whole, I’d say five years, to just get over the mental aspect of it and to feel like, okay, I’m still myself, I’ve evolved, there’s a new version of me. And but I’m okay with it, I love this new version of me and I have, if I don’t accomplish another thing in my life, I’m still happy to just be here. And, you know, I kind of had to let go of the timelines that you create in your mind. And like, this is all the things that I’m going to do in my life. And like, so this is my idea of success, I had to reach a point where I had to let all of that go. Because it was giving me so much anxiety because it just wasn’t realistic anymore with the stroke. But I you know, that I’ll probably end up surpassing all those original ideas, that I considered were successful with the new direction that I picked. And my new goals, I’ll be, I assume I’ll be even happier. So just that mental hurdle, and redefining myself is just so difficult.

    AVM recovery and career path evolution

    Bill 1:13:31

    I love what you said about you’ll probably surpass all your previous ideas of what success looked like. And that’s so true, man because I’ve done that. And I’m continuing to do that. You know, I might not be a novelist or a literary master. But, you know, the guy before stroke. Did you buy the book? Yeah. Yeah, the guy before the stroke doesn’t write this book like that guy.

    Bill 1:14:05

    He doesn’t have any clue what it’s like to write a book, you know, and to have a four-year project because there’s a four-year project but mitigated done was the stroke brain, and my inability to understand how to put words together on a page and then make a cohesive and then turn it into something useful. That wasn’t that didn’t happen.

    Bill 1:14:31

    I had goals and ideas and thoughts of what success was, and it was all around money, how much money I was gonna make how big my house was going to be whether it had a pool, and what brand of car I had, and all that junk, you know, and being able to get over that. And then being able to focus on what I loved, and do the things that I desired rather than the things that my head was telling me to do.

    Bill 1:14:58

    It was kind of like a real relief. The stroke led to that as it gave me the chance to do these things that I never would have been, and would have allowed myself to do before because I had preconceived ideas of who wrote books and who read books. And I wasn’t that guy, I didn’t identify as that guy. And it’s so cool that you said that, I love it because you will, you’ll surpass all your goals. I know my nice as a result of, I’m going to take some credit for this as a result of what happened to me.

    Bill 1:15:39

    She’s gone into speech therapy. Awesome. Her granddad also had a stroke. And in her first week, I think it was in her first week of work experience when she finished her degree. And then she had to do a placement or whatever it’s called. She’s gone in, and there’s a kid who has been in speech therapy for five years. He’s five or six years old by now. And he hasn’t progressed too far. And she says to the mum, has anyone ever done a mouth check? Have they ever checked the child’s mouth to see what’s going on inside his mouth?

    Bill 1:16:18

    And she said, No. Why? And she said, Well, sometimes, you know what, just check the mouth to make sure that everything is correctly abnormality. Yeah. And she said, Can I check his mouth, she goes, Yeah, checks the child’s mouth. And immediately notices notices, an abnormality in the child’s mouth.

    Bill 1:16:39

    So everybody is trying to work to support this kid, and not giving the kid all of the tools, and then also judging that kid on his lack of ability to improve and questioning his intelligence and a questioning all these things. They all missed the very first step in assessment, which is to open the child’s mouth and have a look inside. Yeah. And she has been able to do that, for the first time she’s ever come across a live patient with her first opportunity.

    Chet Ciconne 1:17:22

    Sad that that opportunity was there but great that she got to be the one. Yeah, unfortunately, nobody thought of that for five, or six years. But awesome for her to, you know, do the right thing.

    Bill 1:17:35

    It’s credit for her all credit to her, but I’m taking some of that credit, too. You know, we’ve spoken about her career, was spoken about all these things, she interacts with me a lot about aphasia and other things related to stroke, and that we have this great thing. And I never wouldn’t have been an adult would have been able to hold a conversation like that. With a human that was working in that space. If I hadn’t been through what I’d been through, I knew how to paint a wall and make your house look good.

    Bill 1:18:04

    But that kind of gets old, you know, like, who cares, your house has got a painted wall on it. And it was painted before it was just a different color. And it was I didn’t achieve much it just changed the color in your house. That was kind of that’s kind of how it’s grown for me, like how I’ve evolved and become this version of myself that I cannot recognize. So I look forward to finding out where your path ends, where it ends, or where it goes.

    Bill 1:18:33

    Because it’s not going to end in just the next thing that you do. It’s going to make a massive difference and your insight as a stroke survivor, when you’re working with people with aphasia or another speech disorder, that’s going to just make you such a better therapist. Because, yeah, so acknowledge.

    Chet Ciconne 1:18:55

    Ultimately, I just, it’s like, you know, what I was doing before was like, went to college and had no idea what I wanted to do. And I was like, well, I’ll pick engineering because that’ll get you a job. And that’ll make it not a waste of time. But I had no connection to it, or like, I didn’t enjoy it, like, you know, sure it was a job that paid. But then, you know, I have a stroke.

    Chet Ciconne 1:19:20

    And I’m interested to use to speech therapy, and I’m interested in it. And I’m very interested in just brain injuries and the community. And I’m like realizing, Oh, this is a career path where like, you know, maybe I don’t make as much money even though it pays well. But you know, my old goals of the engineering where I didn’t care about it, I was just in it because it made money like oh, now I’m like able to make money and do stuff that I find fascinating.

    Chet Ciconne 1:19:47

    And that will be rewarding like I can help someone else on the journey that I went through. I can interact with them, like very early on in that journey, or maybe later depending on you know, where we meet, and Who knows, I could have that one little thing like your cousin did? Oh, did you think about this? Have you, you know, have you thought about how you sleep or what you’re eating, you know, all the things that I had to learn to feel normal again?

    Chet Ciconne 1:20:14

    I can give them one little nugget of information that might revamp the recovery process. So that’s definitely why I think stroke is the best thing that happened to me because I feel like it gave me an actual purpose. In, my career, I feel like as a man, you know, the purpose and the way you make money, or whatever is so important to your happiness. And the fact that I was just kind of mailing it in and just doing whatever because it would pay me I’m so much happier to be on a path where I feel like I’m doing something that I care about, and can also pay me.

    Bill 1:20:56

    In the book in the acknowledgments, there’s an acknowledgment, you read it at the end, it’s to Louise Gilbert, a friend of mine. And before she was a friend of mine, she was a coach. So I was a life coach. So I decided that very early on in my recovery, I was gonna get life coaching, counseling, like everything, I threw everything at this. And she, of everyone who knows me, and Louise knows that I could say this about her, quite comfortably.

    Bill 1:21:29

    And she, the bitch made me stop drinking sodas. If I didn’t stop drinking sodas, she would not work with me. And I’m like, what do you mean, I’m coming here to get your services I’m paying you. That should be, that’s when we’re not. You know, there shouldn’t be anymore. She goes. If you don’t stop drinking sodas, I can’t work with you. That’s it. And I’m like, What are you talking about woman?

    Bill 1:21:59

    You know, anyhow, I just kind of said, All right, I didn’t believe that I was going to stop. I told her I would, but I didn’t believe I would. And I was just going to go back to session one, and we’re going to get kick it off from there. But sure enough, that thing that she said to me made me stop drinking sodas. And that was after my brain surgery. Sorry. And that was after the second bleed.

    Bill 1:22:27

    And that one decision to stop drinking sodas then made it possible for me to take all the other changes and apply them to my nutrition. Stop. Stop smoking, stop drinking, stop eating sugar, stop drinking caffeine, stop eating dairy to an extent. Because I’m great. I have to eat cheese a bit. And that was what snowballed into me improving my health and well-being while I was healthier 37 than I had been, you know, for decades.

    Bill 1:23:07

    And when I look back at the the key moments in my recovery, that was one of the key moments, just that what you said that one little decision that seemed ridiculously unnecessary. That snowballed and became this other thing where now, if somebody says to me, let’s go to dinner, and there’s pasta on the menu, I won’t eat pasta. I don’t know when the last time was that I ate pasta because it puts me into a food coma almost immediately. I can’t cope with it.

    Chet Ciconne 1:23:44

    A food coma for a stroke survivor is a completely different feeling, like the level of brain fog. Yeah, and just like you’re useless for hours until you digest this stuff you’re mentally just you’re there but you’re not wiped out. Yes, yeah.

    Lessons Chet Ciconne learned from the stroke

    Bill 1:24:04

    So I love that. Your next question is what a stroke taught you

    Chet Ciconne 1:24:17

    so much, means so much I spent so. So long, unable to work. Just trying to figure out my seizure meds and trying to figure out my health and the general trend of stroke broke my sleep. It broke my ability to enjoy food. It broke my confidence it broke some friendships, relationships, you know, you find out who’s there even if you’re not available all that Um, and so I had to figure all of those things out. And for the most part, you know, by yourself, you have to, people can tell you certain things.

    Chet Ciconne 1:25:12

    And, for me, at least I know that like, no matter how many times somebody tells me something, it might even be the right thing. I’m not going to learn it until I learn it the hard way, myself. And so just all of those things like, how to eat in a way that I can still function properly. poststroke what I need to sleep I’ve learned who my real friends are, and the people and the relationships that are important to me, who I am, and what I want to do with my life.

    Chet Ciconne 1:25:48

    Stroke taught me, you know, it’s changed my career direction. Just so much there’s I can, I can hardly name things I’ve learned that stroke didn’t teach me like, honestly, the things I like as an adult in. And like the most meaningful things in life to me, I feel like all came from a stroke. Like, my life completely changed. And I feel like so much of it is for the better. So that’s a tough question to answer.

    A message from Chet Ciconne


    Bill 1:26:21
    You answered it. Well, thank you, man. And then finally, what do you want to tell other people who are very early on in this journey? And listening to this podcast? Maybe it’s the first one they’ve listened to in the curious, what do you want to tell them?

    Chet Ciconne 1:26:37

    Yeah, if you’re in the recovery process. Figure out what works for you, it’s not going to be the same for everybody. That’s, that’s the main thing. All of these brain injuries are so different. And it’s great. Which I’m sure you’ve seen, like, interviewed so many people now. And you see similarities and the doctor sees similarities. And it’s like, oh, you have a right side things, you’re going to experience this or Oh, it’s the left side bleed or strokes. You’ll experience this. But it’s not always the same.

    Chet Ciconne 1:27:11

    And so you just got to figure out what works for you what worked with the big main thing that worked for me, I’d say two things. hydration. I put, I put it number one, it’s very close. It’s close between one and two. But I’d say hydration like I wake up and I drink 40 ounces of water. First thing in the morning, before I do anything else. I also have to take seizure medication, so they owe any medication. Hydration is important. But I feel like my recovery started to turn around when I started to drink more water. I don’t know. Can’t explain why, but uh, give it a try.

    Bill 1:27:59

    Are we 80% or 90% water?

    Chet Ciconne 1:28:01

    Something like that who knows, I’ve forgotten it plenty of times. But we’re, you know, your brain needs a lot of water to function. If you’re struggling at all, and you don’t drink a lot of water. Or you drink a lot of soda, replace the soda with water, and do whatever you can. Try drinking more water, and see if that helps you. The second thing is sleep. Like you have to figure out your sleep.

    Chet Ciconne 1:28:27

    If you’re struggling with your sleep at all. Your recovery is going to slow down so much so try different things. What worked for me was you know, I was very sensitive to everything like sound. temperature, the temperature still. I don’t enjoy the heat. I used to love the heat. I used to be a beach person. I love summertime, I could go to the beach. It’s 100 degrees.

    Chet Ciconne 1:28:54

    Who cares? I can’t do that anymore. I have you know a personal fan. I keep one of these on me in the summertime. So this is part of the advice, right? Like the pizza thing. Find a little mocha or a little pocket fan that you can keep with you. And you’re too hot you know, deal with it. Figure it out, get cooler but yes, sleep is temperature the thing and you need a fan because you’re too hot, which was my problem.

    Chet Ciconne 1:29:25

    I could not sleep I was too hot. I had to turn off every light I had to put a sticker over every little blinking light on any device in the room. I wore an eye mask what else did I do oh sound was annoying for me every little sound you know you go to a restaurant I used to be able to focus on just the person talking to me. Not the case anymore. I hear every conversation I hear every fork hitting every plate everywhere in the whole building.

    Chet Ciconne 1:29:58

    So I had to buy a noise machine, I bought a noise machine and I researched you know, white noise like the staticky noise from the TV. So there’s white noise, there’s brown noise, there’s pink noise. And we have different stages of sleep. When we go to sleep, there’s the deep sleep cycle, which is very important, and then there’s the REM sleep, the sleep cycle where you’re dreaming.

    Chet Ciconne 1:30:21

    And that’s kind of where your brain cleanses itself and where you remember things and learn things that you learn throughout the day. So apparently, I might have this switched out, but pink noise and brown noise, I think brown noise is probably deep sleep and pink noise is maybe REM sleep. But, uh, those noise, those noise frequencies while you sleep can help promote those different sleep states.

    Chet Ciconne 1:30:50

    And I found that pink noise on a noise machine when I sleep gave me the best sleep. And so once I cut out these little light distractions, and once I cut out noise distractions, and once I got the temperature, I have a, I had a mattress topper that is filled with water, and circulates water at any temperature that I want it. So in the summertime, I set it to like 50 degrees in the wintertime if I’m too cold, which is very rare.

    Chet Ciconne 1:31:19

    But if I’m too cold in the winter, I’ll put it up to like 80 degrees. But that keeps me at a comfortable temperature the entire night, I have a sound machine which is blocking out all the distractive noise, and I have all the lights figured out in my room. I don’t use bright lights, I use warmer lights, my my lights are remote-controlled, and I can change the color of my lights.

    Chet Ciconne 1:31:42

    So those are the two things that I think help the most with me figuring out my sleep, which is complicated. Like I said, there are a lot of aspects to it. And then water. I don’t already I don’t drink I’m not a big drinker. But uh, I would just focus on hydration and sleep. If you’re struggling at all, in your recovery, focus on those two things first. And I think that’s a great base. And it’s going to help you with everything else. But it’s hard to learn new things if you’re not sleeping, right? And it’s hard to function if you’re not hydrated.

    Bill 1:32:17

    Hard to solve problems, hard to get tasks done the following day. And it’s cumulative every day that you don’t get good sleep, it impacts the next day and so on. So you want to sort that out. There’s a chapter in the book about sleep and it talks up there yet. Yeah, talks about the stuff that you spoke about a lot about that stuff. And it’s a book designed to kind of give people just a small insight into the important things that help and then hopefully they get curious about one of those, and then go down that journey.

    Bill 1:32:53

    But sleep was one of the things that I got curious about. But I’ve got to say, I didn’t go to the path of getting a floating water bid in. I love the way your engineering brain has taken this to the next level. That sounds fantastic. And if you can share, not if you can, I’ll make you share, share the link to that product, and then I’ll put it in the show notes. And if anyone’s interested they can.

    Chet Ciconne 1:33:23

    It’s very, it’s very pricey. So I’ll give you a couple of options. I also there’s a blanket that I love, which is just it’s like a fabric that was designed by NASA that absorb heat. And so it feels cold when you put it on. It’s like it has silver in it or something right? And so that’s a much cheaper alternative. I’ll give you both because the water thing is like 1000 books, you know, I now understand not everybody has that.

    Chet Ciconne 1:33:49

    Especially a stroke survivor, maybe you’re not working as much as you used to whatever it is. So if you can afford the high-end, go for it. Otherwise also gives you this little cheaper blanket option. But when I travel, I’ll take that blanket with me because I don’t want to lug around a whole mattress topper and a little box with water in it.

    Bill 1:34:08

    Okay, all right. I hear. Well Chet, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Appreciate it.

    Chet Ciconne 1:34:16

    Thanks for having me, Bill. Great. I don’t get to talk to survivors. Like you know, I message people on Instagram all the time or whatever, but have a conversation with them. It’s awesome.

    Bill 1:34:27

    Yeah, me too. I didn’t get to talk to stroke survivors either. So now I’ve got 290 stroke survivors I’ve spoken to.

    Chet Ciconne 1:34:33

    Yeah, I got a lot to catch up to you, maybe I’ll get there with my new career so.

    Bill 1:34:43

    Absolutely love. Thanks again.

    Chet Ciconne 1:34:45

    Thank you.

    Bill 1:34:46

    Well, thanks again for joining us on today’s episode to get a copy of my book about stroke recovery from Amazon Go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book, and there you’ll find all the Amazon links To learn more about my guests, including links to their social media, and to download a transcript of the entire interview, go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes.

    Bill 1:35:11

    Thank you to everyone who has already left a review. For the podcast. It means the world to me. Podcasts live and thrive because of reviews. And when you leave a review, you are helping other people who are just like you, and in need of this type of content to find it easier. And that’s making a massive difference in their stroke recovery. If you haven’t left a review and would like to, the best way to do it is to go to your favorite podcast app and leave a five-star review.

    Bill 1:35:44

    You can do that on Spotify and iTunes, and a few words about what the show means to you. If you’re watching on YouTube comment below the video. Like the episode. To get notifications of future episodes, subscribe to the show, and hit the notification spell. If you’re a stroke survivor with a story to share about your experience. Come and join me on the show. The interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them.

    Bill 1:36:11

    All you need to do is be a stroke survivor who wants to share their story in the hope that it will help someone else going through something similar. If you’re a researcher who wants to share the findings of a recent study, where you’re looking to recruit people into studies, you may also wish to reach up and be a guest on my show. If you have a commercial product that you would like to promote, that is related to supporting stroke survivors to recover.

    Bill 1:36:36

    There is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show. Go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact Fill out the form explaining briefly which category you belong to. And I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom. Thanks again for being here and listening. I deeply appreciate you see you on the next episode.

    Intro 1:36:59

    Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

    Intro 1:37:16

    All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis, the content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing.

    Intro 1:37:33

    It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

    Intro 1:37:54

    Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional your doctor or your rehabilitation program based on our content. If you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be called 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

    Intro 1:38:18

    Medical information changes constantly. While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

    The post Brain Hemorrhage and AVM Recovery at 27 – Chet Ciccone appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

    1 hr 39 min
  • Multiple Cerebral Infarction Recovery – Bobbie-Anne Hutchinson
    Understanding Cerebral Infarction: A Comprehensive Guide
    Introduction

    Cerebral infarction, commonly known as a stroke, is a critical medical condition that demands immediate attention. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the intricacies of cerebral infarction, providing essential insights into its causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

    Causes of Cerebral Infarction

    Unraveling the Factors

    Cerebral infarction occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain is obstructed, leading to oxygen deprivation and subsequent damage. The primary causes encompass:

    1. Atherosclerosis: The buildup of plaque in arteries restricts blood flow.
    2. Embolic Stroke: Blood clots or debris travel to the brain, causing a blockage.
    3. Small Vessel Disease: Microscopic blood vessel damage hinders proper circulation.
    Symptoms: Recognizing the Signs

    Vigilance Matters

    Recognizing the symptoms of cerebral infarction is crucial for prompt intervention. Common signs include:

    – Sudden Weakness or Numbness: Particularly on one side of the body.

    – Difficulty Speaking or Understanding Speech: Aphasia can manifest during a stroke.

    – Vision Disturbances: Blurred or loss of vision in one or both eyes.

    Diagnosis: Precision in Assessment

    Advanced Diagnostic Procedures

    Accurate diagnosis is pivotal in devising an effective treatment plan. Medical professionals employ various diagnostic tools, including:

    – MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): Detailed images of the brain help identify infarctions.

    – CT (Computed Tomography) Scan: Rapid imaging to detect bleeding or blockages.

    – Cerebral Angiography: Visualizing blood vessels to pinpoint obstructions.

    Treatment Approaches
    Swift and Effective Measures

    Timely intervention is paramount in minimizing the impact of cerebral infarction. Treatment modalities involve:

    1. Clot-Busting Medications: Intravenous drugs to dissolve blood clots.
    2. Antiplatelet Medications: Reducing the risk of further clot formation.
    3. Rehabilitation Therapy: Physiotherapy aids in recovery and prevents complications.
      4. Prevention Strategies
      Proactive Measures

      Preventing cerebral infarction involves adopting a proactive approach:

      – Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Regular exercise and a balanced diet promote cardiovascular health.

      – Control Hypertension: Keeping blood pressure in check reduces stroke risk.

      – Smoking Cessation: Quitting smoking significantly diminishes the likelihood of stroke.

      Conclusion

      Understanding cerebral infarction is paramount for early detection and effective management. By adopting preventative measures and recognizing the signs, individuals can mitigate the risk of stroke. This comprehensive guide serves as a valuable resource, empowering readers with the knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of cerebral infarction.

      The Interview

      Discover the inspiring journey of Bobbie-Anne Hutchinson, a mom who faced trauma, lost a child to a brain tumor, and battled cerebral infarctions. Her strength shines through.

      Highlights:

      00:49 Introduction

      01:48 The first cerebral infarction symptoms
      13:57 Undiagnosed stroke and grief
      22:57 Cerebral Infarction Recovery for a 41-year-old woman
      31:59 Stroke recovery and its impact on daily life
      36:51 Unexpected kindness and support during a difficult time
      41:13 Managing brain injury recovery and mental health
      48:57 Therapy and its benefits for personal growth
      53:59 Therapy and family dynamics
      1:06:27 Life after stroke with aphasia and balance issues
      1:19:57 Lessons from the stroke
      1:23:05 A message to others
      1:34:47 The benefits of listening to the podcast

      Transcript:

      Bill 0:00

      My new book about stroke recovery is called The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened and is now available for purchase on Amazon. In the book, you will learn about mindset. The second brain in your gut, the little brain in your heart, you will learn about the benefits and downsides to Neuroplasticity how to get better sleep the food you should avoid after stroke, and the amazing benefits you get from the smallest amount of exercise.

      Bill 0:29

      What happens when you follow your heart’s desires, the amazing positive benefits you get from surrounding yourself with the right people, and how to discover your life’s purpose to get a copy? To learn more go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Recovery after Stroke podcast.

      Introduction – Bobbie-Anne Hutchinson


      Bill 0:49
      This is episode 288. My guest today is a lady who has had her fair share of challenging life events to overcome including abuse, child loss, and multiple strokes, and all before the age of 38. Her approach to life and recovery is to be commended. And we can all learn a thing or two about how to carry on with life. Bobby Anne Hutchinson, welcome to the podcast.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:15

      Thank you for having me.

      Bill 1:16

      Do you reckon the kids will be quiet and they won’t come in and start causing trouble and asking for mum?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:23

      Well, they’ve got a big sister who told him anything that needs to go to her. So that the

      Bill 1:30

      Big sister’s responsible, how old is Big sister?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:34

      16

      Bill 1:36

      She should be able to handle everything. Chocolate just before bed, that’d be a good idea.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:46

      Yeah.

      The first cerebral infarction symptoms

      Bill 1:48

      Hey, tell me a little bit about what happened to you.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:53

      Well, it all started in 2020 which was a bit of a crazy year for everybody. I’d had a few health problems before it which is strange because looking back I probably was one of the early COVID cases I had a lot of breathing problems and things like that. I was set to do the Edinburgh marathon but then obviously everything shut down and things were canceled. And then it was by the July the end of third like the end of June into July.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 2:35

      I started to develop really bad ear pain like an excruciating bit like an ice pick or mouse. So rang the GPS nobody was allowed to see a GP It was fun. I explained my situation and I was given some airdrops for a suspected ear infection. Come A few days later I was ringing again because, by this time, all the left side of my face was like felt like it was crawling within sex and norm.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 3:20

      What I found interesting listening to your podcast podcasts and others is the number of migraines cannot explain the suffering that also went on to experience a stroke because I was a big migraine sufferer right from my back 11 You know when a girl starts to start having periods and things like that all that when all that started to just before that was when I first had my first migraine and dropped a mug.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 4:02

      You know I had old a bit and I looked to my mom and I said my hands went funny and dropped to Morgan that was my first ever migraine. So no missing things like that were quite common when I had a migraine it was all those symptoms of stroke kind of thing. But then with this numbness in my face, it was something different you know, it just wouldn’t go away.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 4:28

      Whereas migraine if you have them you know you’ve got like 50 minutes anomalous and you can do it by the clock once you’ve got used to MCAT so then I did bring the GP again and explain that now I add facial numbness still add all this pain in my and they gave me an appointment to go in to see them which was sending a few days into July. And she treated me for a cosa.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 5:06

      When you look back, you know, you just think, what did she try a call so I had a healing holster on my lip? So I was she asked if anything else had been wrong. And I said I’ve had a cold sore. So she treated me with some Acyclovir for a course or tablet form. And I took them because you trust them and you think, Okay, well, we’ll go with that. And to be honest, when I went, I was back at Dr. Google and Dr. Google did say that.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 5:41

      The nerve in your face is where the coastal virus can lay dormant. So I went with it. Finished the Acyclovir Lange back, maybe a week, 10 days later, still know. bumping into things nauseous. And desperate to be well, because I’m a mom, and mom’s cat before. So they say don’t then it’s true. So I rang back, I think by then she was with me. And she told me I could see her nurse practitioner. So I went to see him.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 6:28

      And I was in floods of tears by them, because all added these breathing issues and with my chest. And then I like numbness now in my fingertips and my left foot would my toes, they felt almost like they were bound together. You know, like if you put a rubber band around your fingers, and they feel like that, that sort of sensation. And he was lovely. And he referred me to rheumatology and gave me some codeine.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 7:06

      He was lovely, but it wasn’t the right the right thing. And this went on for a few months. And then by October, nothing was getting any better. I did put a complaint to my GP and just said to them, I think this I had so I listed my neurological symptoms within my, my, in my email, I had a daughter that at age five died of a brain tumor.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 7:41

      So I was fully aware of suffering migraine, so I knew what was with my head and what was you know, like a normal nickel. And I moved up because I couldn’t go on like that. My new GP sent me MRIs of my head and neck. But it’s because it was COVID These scans didn’t take place till January 21. So by then, I’d been six months. With all the symptoms, and I, we’re coming up to like three years of me getting my diagnosis.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 8:35

      I had these scams. And I didn’t get the results back for a couple of weeks. And it was just by chance really because I had gone to the doctor to do some physio for my chest, you know for the pains and our suffering. And he did a neurological assessment, the physio and he asked if they’d scan to the whole of my spine or just my neck and I was like no just my neck. But the results of the scan went on file for him to look for them.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 9:16

      So his response was he was going to chase up my scans that afternoon. I came home that morning and dropped my husband off for whatever knee surgery I was going about my life with normal driving, cooking, or everything all those things would go wrong.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 9:39

      didn’t crash her out but you know like I was blaming a medication that had been given thinking now the poor goblins made making me feel a bit dizzy or you just I knew there was something and part of me was thinking I had MS because Dr. Google was convinced and that were just driven. So I got to go home.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 10:10

      After my appointment, the kids compared made tea. And I got a phone call from my GP with Lisa’s words, do you want me to go through everything, I just want to get straight to the point. I was like, I want to just want to know. And he hit me with your scan show. You’ve had multiple strokes in your cerebellum. You can’t drive from this moment. He was like, My life just got switched off. And I’m listening to all this. And I think it’s all good this year.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 10:49

      And then this, I’m thinking, what am I going to do? How do I get my daughter to preschool and everything? Because I live in a village. So I don’t live in the nearest supermarket like 810 miles. There’s no shop in the village, you know, like everything that you need is, is a drive away. So I was like, Okay.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 11:18

      And he explained that they didn’t know, they didn’t know what was causing it. So then my head feels like a ticking time bomb because these things are happening. And I’ve not got any idea why or how to prevent it. So the following day, when I was meant to pick Dean up I couldn’t. He was brought home by my parents, and then I received a phone call from a stroke consultant, telling me I needed to ring No, no, no.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 11:54

      And after six months of feeling like you’re a pain in someone’s backside, I went, I can get somebody to drive me and I can get a lift. He was like this is a medical emergency. mean no, no nine for an ambulance, though I did. But before that I was like, oh gosh, I didn’t want to frighten my children because their dad had just come home with his knee bound up. We were already in the middle of a pandemic.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 12:28

      And I saw my now 16-year-old I was trying to bake she was making cookies. My little ones were just watching Saturday, Peppa Pig, or something like that. Why did I make this phone call? And then paramedics came but I wasn’t your typical laid on the floor. Stroke. That’s wrong. 999 I was I answered the door. Like coming in. they were a bit hesitant then to take me because I looked like I was normal.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 13:07

      And my doctor rang while they were there and was like, No, this lady needs to take him. So off I went. And I spent nine days in hospital. That was strange because we were in a winter lockdown here in the UK. And everybody was old. And I don’t mean that in a horrible way. They were just older.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 13:36

      And they look poorly and I didn’t. And it wouldn’t be I didn’t want to be an inconvenience, you know, like, and I’d felt like an inconvenience for six months. So that’s why I felt that way. And I felt like almost like a floor.

      Undiagnosed stroke and grief

      Bill 13:57

      Yeah, I do. Because when I went to hospital the first time I couldn’t feel my left side. But that wasn’t visible to anybody. And then I was walking around. I was meeting people in a cafe who were coming to visit me. I was completely functional. And they’ve got scans that show a bleed on the brain. And that doesn’t match the person.

      Bill 14:26

      And then it’s like, something weird is going on here. And this guy shouldn’t be up and about and though constantly calling me back to my ward to my bed. And people were visiting me and though kind of brushing it off as you know, he’ll be right. Everything’s fine.

      Bill 14:47

      Yeah, yeah, no problem. And it is a little difficult because even the most trained usually the statistics for people like you and me are working against us. After all, The way the most well-trained have seen a lot of stroke patients, and they all or the majority of them look a certain way. Yeah.

      Bill 15:08

      And they’ve got to overcome their bias of what a stroke patient looks like, and they’ve got to go. This would also look like a stroke patient and we have to do something about it. But I get the whole children thing. And I’ve got to get to work thing and all that because they’re the stories that I played. I played the while, you know, I’ve got to go to work. And I’ve got all my employees.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 15:37

      Yeah, all of it in a flash. Yeah.

      Bill 15:41

      And I feel like I’m on the edge of death. I just feel like, I’m a little bit unwell. Yeah. Because when I measure the level of unwell feelings, they’re not. My feelings weren’t worse than a headache and didn’t have symptoms that were worse than a headache. Or that made me feel like I couldn’t breathe. Or I couldn’t walk or I didn’t have energy. I had none of that stuff. I just had numbness left side, strange numbness.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 16:17

      So mine was my left side. Yeah.

      Bill 16:21

      So I was like, Oh, okay. I suppose it’s serious. There is a bleeding there. Something is going on. But I’m also looking in the mirror going, Hey, you look great. Don’t worry.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 16:34

      You comparing what you as on eBay with like six of the ladies and they were all the ladies next to me was wonderful. The story she could tell she was in her 80s. But I couldn’t visit there was no visiting allowed because it was locked down. And you it was just really to take it all into. There was scan after scan.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 17:02

      And then there were they’re asking questions that Eva, I think they must have been a bit shocked that I’ve been walking around for six months like this. And after when do you know what it is? You replay it again thinking I’ve driven my car well, my children in it. I could have killed myself could have killed you know, we’re all of those things.

      Bill 17:28

      Everything. I did the same. But you’re the record holder, six months undiagnosed after a stroke is the record. I’ve never heard of anyone that went that long. And it’s so good. That we’re still without trying it. Yeah. It’s so good that we’re still talking about it. And what what I wanted to touch on was what you mentioned a little earlier, you said you had a daughter who died of a brain tumor. How long ago was that?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 17:58

      That was back in 2005. So her name was Yasmin and that just came out of the blue as well. So we went strawberry picking. And she was a bit stumbling on her feet. We were a week back from holiday. And she was complaining of a Mecca in a bit. So I’ve made an update. This was the Sunday. It was a week after we got back on Monday.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 18:28

      I took it to see my GP and it was instant. Things seem so much slower now. My GP back then retired. But she was there minutes. He was like close your eyes and she started swaying. And that was it was on the phone. So we were he was like this is our head it’s it’s serious. It’s you know, we need to get to the hospital. Yeah, and it was it turned out to be the tumor was wrapped around a brainstem it’s nobody’s ever survived it. It’s rare.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 19:06

      And it was that was nearly six months of you chase a miracle cos you do because you’re if you’re a parent, it’s your child. But then, you know, you had the trips to Disneyland and all of that. That was where the mirror from finding out about stroke and her illness and I’ve got older children so my older children back when she was poorly were like seven four and two. And I had children at home back then.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 19:44

      I mean how old as may take so long ago, three years so she would have been 13 as me, and then the younger girls would have been six 3246 and four, so like where I’m video like now, they were video calling me in hospital. But you know that that part of you that’s thinking, I need to get home What if I don’t get home? How can I watch my older children grieve? And I say that’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 20:28

      The grave this sister, yeah grieving child that I can see it from a perspective of a parent losing a child, but when, when you were a child in your sister’s garden, they can figure out why you’re, you have to relive that over and over. Why what’s happened, why she’s not here? But yeah, it was complete. Although it was me this time, it was like a mirror of that. I kept my children kept grieving me. I didn’t want that that was. But yeah, it was awful to join.

      Bill 21:08

      But you also had a brain issue

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 21:12

      that my eldest children I’ve got, Lydia was at home that she’s in Yoona. Now, but she was she was 16 at the time. And for her, and as maybe it was now, who was their teen? I knew that they would be Google. And

      Intro 21:30

      If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. Like, how long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, doctors will explain things that, you’ve never had a stroke before, and you probably don’t know what questions to ask.

      Intro 21:55

      If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

      Intro 22:14

      These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, they’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery. Head to the website. Now, recoverafterstroke.com and download the guide. It’s free.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 22:33

      Even though I’ve not gotten to all those six months of Google, I didn’t come to it being a stroke. And even getting that diagnosis, it was like, Oh, we know what it is. Now we can fix it. oblivious to the journey that was to come.

      Cerebral Infarction Recovery for a 41-year-old woman

      Bill 22:57

      Right? Yeah, there Yeah. Because they can fix the underlying cause. Or they can put you decrease the risk of another one happening through medication intervention, whatever. But they can’t tell you how to live with a stroke brain.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 23:16

      And that’s still part of life three years later. So my strokes were caused by my right vertebral artery dissection in it, even that, right, so they come and they tell you or you’ve got a tear in your artery and you think okay, so you’re Googling again because they don’t tell you enough. Do they just tell you a little snippet? Yeah.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 23:41

      And I thought, Oh, it’s just a little one, only be little and they said, I’ll give you some medication usually takes six months to heal. I had a scam 12 months after I was diagnosed, and my shots like a slight improvement. The next tear is from vertebrae see five, two must go. So it’s the neurologist was like, yeah, it’s a big one. So near enough to the length of my neck.

      Bill 24:16

      That’s huge. I’ve never heard of it that long before.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 24:23

      But I didn’t know that for a year. So I’m on medication for the rest of my life now. So I was like, Oh, well we do we scan it again that you’ll make no difference. Okay, so we just go with it.

      Bill 24:42

      Okay, because of the length of it. They come probably with a toilette.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 24:47

      Now and I think when you’re younger, they try not to if they can put something in there, don’t they? Because they risk causing more harm. stroke. So the damage

      Bill 25:03

      How old are you?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 25:06

      41 now, okay. So they said, that when I got my scans, my scans were taken on the 11th of January 21. And Eat said I had sorry, a recent stroke, meaning that would have been in the last four weeks. And then there was evidence of other strokes, but they can’t tell me when they took place, if it was all at once, so like lots of little clots going off, or they just kept popping in

      Bill 25:55

      the blood flow in your artery would be slightly altered just enough so that instead of the blood running beautifully through the tube of the artery, it just changes the flow a little and that flow change just causes clots, and then they go up, as the blood flows up, they go up, and the blood thinners would help minimize the possibility that a clot will a occur and they will get lodged somewhere.

      Bill 26:34

      Right. So it seems like a decent intervention and then hopefully time over at the same time the blood vessel starts to sort of retract and heal and then become recovered and recover from its tear.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 26:52

      You wouldn’t I wonder if because it was left so long. That’s why it’s taking longer to feel to heal back. That’s

      Bill 27:04

      a decent thing to wonder. I think that’s a decent thing to wonder what’s interesting is that you’re very appear you’re appearing very functional. What has left you with are the deficits that are visible and tell me about the ones that are not visible.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 27:25

      So when I went if we go back to those six months, and I was noticing things like dizziness ease to run that back then I was active. You rush it, you know rushing around like a normal mom does that. I had four girls at home at the time. I forgot what the question was about deficits. Yeah, I Yeah. I always got bruises on my legs. I bump into things a lot.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 28:07

      So I would then concentrate on what I was bumping on my right side to try and avoid. I used to get lots of bruises on my arms here like cutting my forearms that you just wouldn’t normally get yourself there. I later figured out that when I was concentrating on why it was door handles, I would have bumped my arm a lot on door handles.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 28:34

      So when I started to focus on this side, I started fumbling this side. I fell I still fall now I had a fall two days ago down the stairs. I fell just after Christmas. I don’t cook alone, because it’s not safe, I set the things, melt things in the cooker. Not a lot of it can be a tension as well as a lot is going on.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 29:11

      So when they do these little cognitive tests that are lots of those when you’re in a room on your own with just one person asking you to do a task. You can give it your full attention. Providing it not for to eat. But put me in the kitchen with kids coming in and asking when the tea is ready or anything else. And the task of making sure everything is getting cooked. It just goes to Yeah. I don’t leave the house alone.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 29:46

      The thermostat goal was to put my younger children on a school bus just outside the house and then back in because I suffer badly from Visual vertigo. So anything moving makes me feel like I move in the wind is the worst. Because it’s not just, it’s not just trees and everything. It’s the noise. It disorientated me. So when it was back before I’d been diagnosed and things were full on my life felt a bit like I was in a simulator.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 30:25

      You know, you don’t know everything. There’s just a screen, but you feel like you’re on that roller coaster and you’re not. Yeah, that is how it is a lot. And fatigue makes that worse. school holidays are difficult because there’s not enough time for me to have a nap kind of thing. And that first year, I tried my hardest because now I knew what was wrong.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 30:56

      And I’m a positive person. After Yasmin had died and things. I’ve always seen the gratitude in the fact that I had, had the opportunity to be her mom. And I was battling. Every month, there were more tests, and there were more appointments. And I kept crashing, every time I was trying to do what juggle all those balls that I used to juggle.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 31:32

      Down, I would go. And it was awful. It was like the worst hangover while you’re still awake, and you’re not even allowed to drink. And then you’re totally, it’s learning that self-compassion and learning to adjust to who you are now. It’s

      Stroke recovery and its impact on daily life

      Bill 31:59

      it’s where you have to everything gets challenged all your beliefs, or your thoughts or your ideas, or your preconceived ideas, all your expectations, everything gets challenged because this stroke is making you feel I call it out of this world spaced out the biggest trip I’ve ever had. I don’t know how to explain it to people.

      Bill 32:27

      But those days of being in another in another universe, I don’t know why I don’t know what it was, I couldn’t explain it like being that tripped out and spaced out. And then not and trying to bring myself back to reality. It challenged every single belief thought and idea that I ever had in my life. And while you’re dealing with recovery, and then all these things are being challenged all at the same time.

      Bill 32:58

      And you’re trying to navigate relationships, and you’re trying to keep all the rest of the family calm. Because we’re a great family. And it’s chaos when you tell a great parent, that there’s something wrong with you. It’s just insane. And then you’re managing them. And then I say, Hang on. I’m supposed to be recovering and healing.

      Bill 33:22

      I’m not supposed to be doing all this other shit, trying to work out what the fuck is going on in my life, as well as managing all you people, as well as trying to get people to school. There’s trying to get people to work to do work. I’m just supposed to be recovering as people recover from a broken bottle toe.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 33:43

      Yeah. Because there’s no physical. I was gone for nine days when I said Dean had just come home but you had an ACL, like, on his knees. I missed all of those nine days. So I was all prepared. There was at the time I was like, couldn’t have been any worse time and because he’d come home and it needed. He needed the attention and, and all of that and I was gone. I was whisked away. But after I thought it was perfect timing.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 34:21

      Because we were in lockdown. So there was no school or anything like that. My biggest thing back then was my eldest daughter was only 16 and she was doing what I would do. She had to because because of Deen had been laid off. She had to take on my role and I didn’t know when I was getting out of there.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 34:47

      Every day I was asking, can I go home and I saw people who looked poorly leaving there was a lady Ah, that was awful. They put in a, you know, shut the curtains around and you could hear it till the last breath in, in the middle of the night, and with all this commotion, and that made it made it real. This is serious and you have to accept that you’ll go home when you’re ready when they say you’re safe enough.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 35:26

      You’re leaving. But today, they have big bandages and yard crutches and everybody could see oh, he’s he looks Blackie is not in a good way. My head’s like, well in around like you said, like even that spaced out. But nobody can see that. The only time they saw things was when I started to make mistakes. Like, this is a really a pod lemonade all over my dinner plate, rather than in my cup.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 36:10

      And then I was making mistakes like you in the morning making cereal for the girls pouring hot water on the cereal instead of in my milk. So now everything is like if there’s out on the side moved. And whatever task is going on, if it’s a bowl of cereal? That’s it. That’s the only thing in front of me.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 36:34

      But yeah, they Yeah. They look normal, so to speak. But you’re not. And you like you said you do need it when somebody says I’m tired. And you think now you don’t know what time it is.

      Unexpected kindness and support during a difficult time

      Bill 36:51

      Yeah, it’s an interesting thing that people try and do when I would say I’m tired. And then there’s I’m trying to Yeah, yeah, it’s not a competition. I’m not trying to compete with your level of tiredness. I’m just trying to communicate how I cannot do anything at all.

      Bill 37:12

      Yeah, the switch is off and I cannot move I cannot comprehend I cannot process I cannot think I can hardly speak. It is really difficult to kind of iterate to people, your experience so that they can give you a break, and get off your back or be calm or gentle or whatever. I don’t know, it’s so weird.

      Bill 37:39

      Your husband, your partners, your husband, your husband, your husband, so he’s got nine days of you at the hospital while his knees getting better. And when you get home is back on his feet. How long does that kind of surgery take to recover?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 37:59

      He was then able to get around on his crutches. So while I was in the hospital, obviously wanted, when he wanted to get a shower and things like that. Or bedtime. Lydia would make sure he was in bed, and then she would turn the light off and shut the door for dinner like you’re just to put your children to bed and there she was putting their dog to bed. Yeah, they were managing though. And you know, when you see people differently.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 38:35

      There were people that I’ve met once through somebody else that we’re sending lasagna from, from another tech like from in the town to us. People were offering to do it. And then it was just that that side of things was really beautiful. But there were people that you thought you could rely on and you couldn’t.

      Bill 39:02

      The blessing of those weirdos that just turn up out of nowhere that you don’t expect is such a brilliant thing. And it’s I thought it was just me, but it’s repeated. Some so many people tell me the same thing. And then, for me, those amazing people that just turned up and did stuff and helped that when I needed them. They all then also kind of just disappeared as well.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 39:27

      Yeah, and they didn’t want anything for it.

      Bill 39:29

      Yeah, you just turned up and you did stuff now you’re gone back to business as usual. That’s what we had and then the other people are kind of still not really back. You know, the ones that you thought were gonna be around. They’re still not back.

      Bill 39:45

      And that’s a really interesting blessing and it’s unexpected. It’s really lovely that it happens because I’ve had so much and without them on a said that no I don’t know what I’ve done I think they kind of ease the suffering a little bit they are the pain and the challenges and all that sort of stuff. And it just was such a blessing to have them around. It was cool.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 40:18

      People from afar were sending there was massive because I didn’t know that big shop ready for Dean with his knee. But they’ve run out of shampoo or something like that. So my friend that lives in St. Helens, sent a package with like, shampoo and conditioner, and lots of other little treats but you know, it was just a really lovely way of seeing those people that care. Even if you don’t know.

      Bill 40:50

      Yeah, that’s such a good gesture shampoo, like little things. Little things are useful. Oh yeah. Hey, your balance issues and all that kind of stuff? Yeah. Do you do rehab? Are you going through a process of trying to improve that stuff?

      Managing cerebral infarction recovery and mental health

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 41:13

      I did. So for the time after I was given you all of a sudden have all these different the therapists don’t yesterday you’ve got one like a physio and then you’ve got another one that says you’d like you’re out here you’re not that so they all come in and they were all doing lots of things but they were all very hesitant to go beyond a certain point because of my neck so they and obviously at this time I didn’t know about them how long that tear was or all the repercussions and all of that.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 42:00

      So we did things like moving your eyes moving your head they would throw me off and they said oh once we get the go-ahead these things get more intense and can make you sick, but he never got there because they just weren’t willing to take that risk I have to do things like I watch disco balls and the trees from a safe space so sit on a chair and watch the trees move in or I went to the beach.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 42:41

      And I didn’t realize until I got to the beach the waves oh God watching the water move it was like I had to sit down before I fell you just don’t You don’t realize how much that balancing can just throw up turn, in turn, in right so in the kitchen my cook has one side and then I lined the plates the other behind me on another worktop forever turn right I don’t get as dizzy but if I go left it’s like it’s almost like I’ve been spun round numerous times rather than just turning like what is it 180.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 43:39

      Yeah, so those sort of you learn to have learned to adapt in lots of ways but it was it’s like learning to walk again and I didn’t have to learn to walk again but you know it was easier to turn left because it’s quicker than going right because you go right right they we did lots of things with my hands you know for sensation. little balls were given lots of toys to play with.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 44:11

      Which was which made it fun because I could involve the children with things like rolling balls or catching beanbags and things like that. I’d walk up and down the kitchen turning my head and involving them in the garden you know to try and almost like Reese center myself but nothing seems to the if I’ve been a bit the busier I have been the busier I am.

      Bill 44:50

      Yeah. Okay, that makes sense to me. The more tired you are and your brain is the more obvious that deficits are. Yeah.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 45:04

      And it’s learning to go from that busy for a long person to because to begin with I felt lazy. Lazy. Did you feel lazy to have a nap?

      Bill 45:18

      Yeah, yeah.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 45:21

      You put your baby down for a nap you don’t go for a nap yourself. Yeah. Yes. And that took a lot of a lot of self-compassion, and a lot of therapy, to realize that my needs had changed. And if I don’t have that now I’ll pay for it later. Yeah.

      Bill 45:46

      I went through that for a lot a long time as well and then felt bad about going and napping. And then at one point, I was working in an office, I, one of those Angel people rocked up and said, there’s a job for you in an office, you don’t have to do anything to get this job you’ve got the job.

      Bill 46:06

      If you turn up to an interview, a fake interview, you know, we’ll go through the motions, and you’ll have a job. And I was like, great, because I needed one to get me back in the swing of things, and to get my brain retrained or recalibrated to working eight-hour days and traveling and being around people and all that, and it was really difficult at the beginning. So I used to duck out and go to the car, in the car park, and just sleep in the car.

      Bill 46:38

      And it would help it wouldn’t make a difference to calming things and give me a a little bit of an energy boost. But when I was supposed to be productive doing something so for example, at home, when you’re supposed to be, I don’t know preparing a meal or cutting the grass or vacuuming or mopping or something like it made me feel like oh my god, there’s all these things to do.

      Bill 47:12

      And I’m looking at me I’m resting and sleeping and doing nothing and that I shouldn’t be doing anything, I should be doing something and I Oh has. But then I need to rest because if I don’t risks, then I’ll be terrible at the end of the day. And then if I’m terrible attend dinner and sleep well.

      Bill 47:29

      And I used to just go drive myself bonkers trying to get the get myself to just rest just settle down and rest sleep. That was it was such an impossible task to convince myself that less is more. And you have to do less to get more out of the day.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 47:53

      Learning that battery thing is a real, real part of who you are now. And if you’ve if you were if you’ve got 60%, you’ve got 60% That day, you’re not gonna gain any more. We’re just going to try and learn that what was difficult that first year was what made that battle hard because you’re trying to you, you look okay, and everybody sees you as okay, and you’re trying to be the person you were before the crashes and all of that.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 48:31

      And by the end of that year, that was when it hit my mental health. While I was in the hospital, I was asked, Did I wanted some sort of therapy and I was like, because I’ve been made to feel for those six months. Like I was imaginary, you know, this imagining these things was that there’s nothing you told me to come here. I didn’t.

      Therapy and its benefits for personal growth

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 48:59

      I didn’t come to waste your time. But it’s several patients. It should have been from the beginning. I know that now. And here in the UK, people don’t have a therapist. And I listen to lots of podcasts, not just your like, just not like about anything, and a lot of Americans and that they’ve all got a therapist and I think we should we as a country, there will be high end.

      Bill 49:31

      Are you in Wales?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 49:33

      No. And then Lincolnshire. Okay.

      Bill 49:37

      Well, yeah, you should have everyone should. And why? Because I think if it wasn’t for the therapy that I had before the stroke for about eight or nine years if it wasn’t for that, I think I would have been a terrible stroke survivor. I would have been shocked because what I had done was I had dealt with a lot of my Shit before the strokes.

      Bill 50:02

      So when I was recovering, I was recovering from the stroke, not from all the other stuff that I dragged with me to stroke recovery. And I took it Oh, yeah, I can. And I understand that people do that because you’re unaware of what you don’t know you don’t know. Right. So when I went to therapy, we had lost my, sister-in-law’s husband had passed away at 31 from a rare cancer.

      Bill 50:34

      And it was a liver cancer was similar to what you said about your daughter, it had enveloped his liver, and it was untreatable, they couldn’t do anything. It was like a flat, thin layer of something that had enveloped his liver, and it shut it down. And when he passed away, I was really, that was the first person I’d ever known who passed away and I was not well. And I was trying to come to terms with it all.

      Bill 51:09

      So and, and sort of therapist and I could tell you that for the first year or two, I was the most months, at least once or twice a month. And then, and then it started to settle down, and then I would go intermittently. And then what was cool was when my kids were born, I first was born in 1996.

      Bill 51:31

      My second was born in 2000. This all happened in around 1999. When my kids were sort of getting older, and I was struggling with being a dad, and the usual stuff, I was 22 years old when I was a dad for the first time, right? So I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I would take the kids with me. And they didn’t know that we were going into therapy. All they knew was we were going to say, Patricia. Yeah. And Patricia was a lady who was my parent’s age.

      Bill 52:09

      And she was just my, my, she became my confidant, she became my, my, the person I went to, for wisdom, for guidance for counsel for everything, and it had evolved from I’m going there for you to fix me or to tell me what’s wrong with me you had become this whole, like, maternal thing. That was, yeah, that was happening.

      Bill 52:37

      Even though my mom’s around and my dad’s around, it was good to outsource some of those things, because they don’t have the skills and the resources to support me in certain things. They couldn’t do it and expecting them to do it wasn’t going to work.

      Bill 52:53

      So also, I don’t like expecting my wife to have all the solutions for me and all the answers to all my, what ails me, you know, like, she can’t play every single role in my life that I need, it’s not possible, you have to outsource some of those tasks to people who are trained in those areas.

      Bill 53:19

      So we go with the children, and we’ll talk about their little problems, you know, and they will, they would just think they’re chatting, you know, that led to me being able to get them to go to therapy later on in life when they have dramas and problems without it being a problem because now, it’s so used to the process.

      Therapy and family dynamics

      Bill 53:46

      Every time they don’t want to burden us, or they don’t want to discuss something with us at the depth that they don’t want any they need disgust. They go and see a therapist now, my oldest is now 27. And the youngest is 23. And we’ve developed that whole idea that therapy is just part of life. It’s not something you do when things are terrible, or when things get bad or something terrible happens.

      Bill 54:15

      You just it’s something that you do you just go and that’s how I do it. I just go. And that just going means that nothing ever, not nothing doesn’t ever get acknowledged or dealt with or sorted or worked on. And that’s it releases a whole bunch of burdens and it gets all the burden back and then

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 54:46

      it doesn’t grow to a point of where do you begin? It doesn’t snow right away I wish it was like about a year. Yeah,

      Bill 54:56

      It doesn’t snowball and then you’re not dealing with a massive snow So you’re dealing with little, little bits of snowflakes, and they’re easier to resolve and they go away. So when you get to a serious life, issue like a stroke, all you have to do is deal with a stroke. When I’m coaching stroke survivors, I told one of my stroke survivors who I coached, yesterday, I told this to her yesterday.

      Bill 55:21

      Most of the people who I’m coaching think that they’re getting stroke recovery coaching, they’re not getting any of that what they’re getting is support to deal with all the shit that’s getting in the way of them dealing with their recovery. That’s all it is. Yeah.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 55:38

      It’s so true.

      Bill 55:40

      You know, and I understand that people get how many kids are there in total with Yasmin 577, right? And it makes sense that mums or dads or parents or people with nine people in the family are going to have less time for that kind of thing.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 56:03

      But they were they said, there’s a big gap between so my youngest is, she’s just turned seven. She’s Christmas Day, Baby. The only thing that’s gonna happen was to me that she was born a Christian that she’s seven, and my eldest is nearly 26. So there’s a big, but you put them all together, and they’re just not just normal siblings, you know? Yeah.

      Bill 56:31

      I thought I started with.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 56:33

      Yeah, well, I was a teen mom. But because they, the older ones had gone through what they’ve gone through Yasmin. It was never not not spoken about. So although we didn’t have a therapist, and I didn’t take them to therapy, Callum BLDC, did speak to somebody within a school setting. As a family, it’s so open. she’s not, she’s spoken about nearly every day. On birthdays, we have a birthday cake.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 57:10

      And they all make a wish, you know? Because I didn’t want it to become something we couldn’t talk about. And now my younger children are beginning to ask questions. They watch a program where it’s like an American thing. And there’s a girl in it that’s got cancer. And they’ve watched it for a while. And as a parent, you know, it’s something you know, it’s safe, and you see little bits of it.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 57:40

      And this girl, array kept changing, because she had wigs. So that was when I realized this girl had cancer. So I said, oh, when is this girl poorly? And I was like, yeah, she’s got cancer me. And she asked why she had no hair while she had to wear a wig. So I went through the chemotherapy thing. And then we get questions like, Did Yasmin’s hair or Fallout? And it’s never, they don’t think, Oh, I can’t ask that.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 58:13

      Because I’m upset Mommy. They just asked. And I get random questions from all of them. But that’s lovely that they can do that. And with my stroke, there was nothing. Nothing was hidden. And then following after that battle, to regain back to who I was. Speaking about that, we should speak about our mental health. Absolutely. Get me through COVID We’re very lucky because where we live, we’ve got a really big garden.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 58:54

      It’s really, we were fortunate in that respect, then. And that’s what we did. We played that it was just like one big summer holiday. They were the younger ones who were oblivious to what was going on. COVID was a big thing because everybody got a snapshot of what my life’s like now.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 59:23

      And everybody, everybody knew what it was like to the world shut down. And but when the world reopened I cilia Yeah, that was that was difficult because people then just got on with their lives, and you’re watching it almost through a window. I remember when he asked me what was poorly and I was looking at a hospital window. And people were on the way to work or university and there were bosses.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 59:56

      And I was like they’ve got no idea Look at them just going about normal life. Not that they should think, oh, there are proposals out there. But, it just makes you it makes you realize. But what it did for me, was I went from feeling trapped, because it was at home. And through therapy and all of that, now I feel free.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:00:31

      I don’t know how I don’t have to be somewhere or fit a million things into my day. You know, like, because in a way that’s trapped, having to fit everything in and running by when you’ve got loads of kids, and you’ve got to be there and everywhere, and tea and, all of that. Not that I felt trapped that and you know.

      Bill 1:01:06

      What you’ve found now is you’ve found space that you can hang out. Yeah, I found that when the kids were at work at school, and my wife went back to work after I was sick, because I was, for about three years on and off, I was in and out of work and hospital and everything.

      Bill 1:01:25

      And then I found that when they were up, it was like bliss time, they were at what we’re at work and school, and it’s like I get, I get to be myself and chill out and learn things and discover things and research things and all that kind of stuff. And it was the most time I’ve ever spent in my own space, you know, being productive by doing nothing.

      Bill 1:01:53

      Or, you know, because I did learn how to do nothing. But it took a while for me to get there. And when I got there, it’s like, wow, like I’ve managed to do nothing all day today. And I feel really good. But it’s but it wasn’t anything. It was it was it was something because I was actively doing nothing.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:02:24

      Yeah, I would say like, I watch loads of different podcasts on people, famous people, and things like this. And the knowledge I’ve gained from that is unbelievable. Yeah, the hours, the amount of hours. And I mean, I fall asleep together and wake up to a different one. But that yeah, there are things I’ve learned some of them. I’ll watch them again because I found them interesting.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:02:54

      And feel like I didn’t, I didn’t take enough of it in I want to listen again. But there’s nothing there’s silence. Not have it because I get overwhelmed by someone’s I’m on a game on the phone. And then there’s TV on Mommy, mommy, mommy. Light in, it’s all too much. And I will say I cannot go. And I really, that situation sometimes is just too much. So a Monday is my favorite because everybody goes back to school and to work. And I get to just have no noise. The noise that I choose is that’s it.

      Bill 1:03:42

      Early on in the podcast. I interviewed Antonio Iannella. And I think it was before Episode 30 Somewhere there. Antonio had a massive stroke while he was overseas, it was due to an AVM similar condition to me. And he was away from home in Vietnam, I think. When he had the stroke, they came back as being treated, but his relationship broke, broke down.

      Bill 1:04:14

      And it was on the way to being broken down. But the stroke kind of ended up quicker. And then when they were working on custody of the children. You know, you’d think that as a father, what the instinct is, you’re gonna have your kids as often as possible. And the same with the mum, right? Make sense. But he had this little, strange little blessing that came out of not having custody of the kids for half the week, which was that he could recharge his batteries.

      Bill 1:04:51

      And he said that when he was then with them, he could be with them even though he was messed up because of the stroke right And that was a real cool thing that he discovered that was a benefit to the separation that he didn’t X, he didn’t think that would be the case. You know, it’s been a long time since his strokes and he’s much better than he was. But it was time that he needed to himself. And if he was still married, if he was still married to them later on, yeah, the kids would have been in his space all the time, which would have been normal because they were little at the time.

      Life after stroke with aphasia and balance issues

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:05:41

      You need that self-time. Yeah. And before I think I was I was finding things to do all the time that I didn’t need to do. Just to get it just because I could, because I could drive to do a bit of shopping or, and now I don’t, there’s no desire to dive and think. Not that I can’t be bothered account. There have been situations where I’ve ended up in the shopping center, not on my own with somebody. And it’s too much because I wasn’t prepared for it. You know, you’re thrown into all that. Hustle, bustle noise that overwhelms. I just think I just want to be at home. I don’t have to deal with this anymore.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:06:52

      Just rushing around grumpy.

      Bill 1:06:54

      Yeah. Yeah, I know. It’s too much. I remember, first being out of the hospital, I think it would have been maybe a couple of weeks or months after my brain surgery. And I felt like everyone was bumping into me. And I never noticed that before. And it’s like, why is everyone bumping into me? Now, it could have been because I was bumping into them too, right? Because I couldn’t feel my left side. My balance is a little bit out of whack. And I wasn’t judging. I wasn’t judging them properly.

      Bill 1:07:26

      And, you know, I was leaning into them or something. I don’t know what, and that was a little bit disconcerting. The last thing I need is to fall over and hit myself now, you know, stop bumping into me. So that made it difficult for me to be at the local shopping center or shopping mall. And then I went one time, and I parked the car. And then I forgot where I parked the car. And I couldn’t find the car. And I just kept walking around. Now to try and find the car had no idea.

      Bill 1:07:57

      And you know, when you can tell when you forget something and then you you say, Ah I’ll think of it in a minute. There was no thinking of it in a minute. I knew I couldn’t think of it in a minute. I knew it was gonna come back, I just had to keep walking around until I walked through all the particular car spaces, and then came across my car. Now there it’s not a massive place.

      Bill 1:08:27

      There wasn’t panicking. And I knew that I eventually would find it and I would be able to walk home worst-case scenario. It wasn’t that far away. It’s about two or three kilometers away. And then I just couldn’t find the car. I had no 00 memory or storage of that. And it’s like, this is all too hard. I think I’d rather just be at home.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:08:57

      You know, when you do things like that, where people will go to me? Oh, I forget things all the time. You don’t understand.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:09:10

      Do you like the tired thing or do they go to me? I can feel like that. I think I’ll wish you I wish you could just have a day of it. I’m just saying that these people are lovely.

      Bill 1:09:24

      They’re oblivious and they should be. They should be and it’s okay. It’s okay that they are but it is a bit. I don’t know. It’s annoying. I remember tripping over and walking up the stairs one day with my cousin nearby. And she said oh, don’t worry about our trip I have all the time. I know but my leg didn’t know that those that it wasn’t high enough to step on the step.

      Bill 1:09:50

      That’s why I tripped. It’s not because I was being you know my mind was elsewhere or wasn’t paying attention or whatever. It’s because my leg wouldn’t lift itself far enough to get to the next step. That’s why I’ve fallen. And it’s, I know you’re trying to make it better. But it’s because of my stroke brain that it happened. And it’s okay that it happened. It doesn’t matter what happened. And you don’t have to make it better. But I appreciate you’re trying to make it better for me. So don’t feel bad about falling over or embarrassed or something. I’m not embarrassed.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:10:28

      You get used to it. We’re used to it now, aren’t we? And it becomes like, something comical. You just stop it. You giggle it off. Yeah, even my girls now just giggle off when I do something silly. Yeah.

      Bill 1:10:44

      I woke up. I woke up last night thirsty, and I needed to get a drink. So getting out of bed. I have to focus on walking properly in the middle of the night when I’m half asleep.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:10:58

      It is a nightmare.

      Bill 1:10:59

      It’s weird. And to know, it happens every single day. When I wake up in the morning, my leg takes a bit longer to get up in the night than I have. And in the middle of the night when I am half asleep and I’m just thirsty. And I need to just get a drink of water and I can hardly see in front of me. I’ve got to make sure that I’m not falling over. Yeah, just Yeah. It’s okay.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:11:28

      Yeah, it’s okay. Don’t worry. Yeah. That was what we had to do. That’s what I think a lot. We are the lucky ones that we got to we get to tell our stories because we made it through.

      Bill 1:11:46

      I think so. In Episode 200, I interviewed Cheryl Schultz. I don’t know if you’ve been through my back catalog too far. But yeah, Cheryl is not a stroke survivor, but she had her inner ear damaged because of some medication when she was unwell many years ago. And, and she wasn’t able to walk or move or do anything. For many years, she had constant vertigo. No matter what she was doing. Her world was spinning. Anyhow, she got to the point where she bumped into this amazing neuroscientist who developed a device that they put on her tongue. And with a gyroscope on her head.

      Bill 1:12:40

      Every time she moved, the gyroscope would measure the movement backward, forwards, left and right. And it was zap her tongue. And if she was standing straight, it would not zap her tongue. And then if she moved back it would zap her tongue to the back, if she moved it forward, it would zap it forward left and right. With that device, she learned how to get her balance back and her vertigo went away. So what I would suggest is go back to the back catalogue recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes.

      Bill 1:13:22

      And then just scroll down the numbers you’ll see 200 Have a listen to that. Because people who have balance issues, and cerebellar balance issues may benefit from the device that’s still available, you can still purchase a device like that, from some guys in America that Cheryl worked with 20 years ago to develop this prototype. She’s a Neuroplasticity sensation lady because they knowingly retrained her tongue to take over the task of her inner ear.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:14:03

      That’s so clever.

      Bill 1:14:06

      So maybe a little bit of hope is there for people who have balance issues after a stroke, my balance issues are related to me not being able to feel my leg. So that’s a bit different. But when the cerebellum has been injured, or the inner ear has been injured, that’s different to sensory, I have sensory issues. And that’s not related to my inner ear or the balance in my cerebellum. It’s related to my sense of feeling my foot properly and it tells the Mother Brain that it is on the ground. That’s the challenge that I have. But for some others that episode might be interesting worth checking out a listening to and if it does not apply to you. It’s a bloody amazing story.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:14:57

      I had the time when Before I’d been diagnosed, I’d get to the stairs, ready to walk up the stairs. And I was just done there. Because they didn’t know what they were doing next, you know, all those instinctive things that you learn from being a tiny top. And you’ve just done your whole life? And I would be like, Why can’t I? Why won’t my leg just that’s something you you get to the set, you have a look about you and I just could not from here to there was not having any of it.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:15:37

      And if there was another issue that I still have now you know, that urge to go to the toilet for a way, and then I’ll get there is irrelevant. I’ve met those people that also have this, then I sit there, I just come away, you know, when it’s like my brain is just not going to suck it up again. Wait, because it’s not gonna work until it wants to weird. One little thing was puzzling. Whereas bumping into the door or feeling dizzy and sick, and I could find a reason for what they were.

      Bill 1:16:28

      Yeah, now, you know, you have a kind of have a reason, but you don’t have an explanation. Maybe? No. Yeah. Do you know why it’s not working? Because but I can’t explain. Yeah. Yeah, I hear you. Hey, what’s the hardest thing about stroke?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:16:54

      That’s a tough one. But I think for me, the hardest part was the long road to getting a diagnosis which was my biggest battle. And then the decline in my mental health. However, I do believe I had to fall apart to find myself and then go from that. Then, the most difficult bit was that it was as a post-Yasmin Dion I fought with everything I had to become strong and independent and rebuild a life. I always say that with hair, I it was like, two, I lost her twice because she lost the tour illness, then I lost it today.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:18:01

      And it’s like having two lives. Because of my older children to somebody else. So I’ve moved here we’ve built I built a new life and all of that, and then this happened. And it was like a crash, it was like 15 years gone back in time. But finding yourself in other ways to be the freedom of silence, of not having to do all those millions of things wasn’t really, the hardest part probably for me as a person.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:18:47

      I like to micromanage things. That’s like, yeah, like having like having as my making the cookies while the ambulance has come in to do strapped here. I’m constantly thinking of other people’s impact it’s gonna have on other people before I’m thinking of myself. But from that difficult bit of it, I’ve learned that I’m just as important as them. And moms are allowed to be born there.

      Bill 1:19:19

      And you are important. Just because and also, you need to be well, because you’ve got other people that need you to be well.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:19:33

      Definitely,

      Bill 1:19:34

      Your husband needs you to be well. The rest of the kids need you to be well. Your husband needs you to be well. And that’s just them. We’re not talking about everyone else. But direct family. That’s one of the things I tried to explain to people who are caring for stroke survivors is you have to look after yourself, because we can’t have two people unwell at the same time.

      Lessons from the cerebral infarction

      Bill 1:19:57

      There’s no point in that. You’ve got it’d be well, so look after yourself, take the timeout, leave the show survivor in the corner, curled over bawling their eyes out whatever the hell they have to do just leave him in the corner. Well, notion. Yeah, yeah, it won’t harm them more than the stroke has just gone now, do you think for 10 minutes and just get a breather? You know, whatever you have to do, it’s really important. What about what has taught you? Do you think?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:20:31

      It’s taught me that what you’ve taught me that I am, I have to take care of myself a bit more than finding different ways to before a stroke, I would go for a run to relieve some stress or something like that. Now I’m a bit more confined can that can be difficult in that I can’t just go for a walk I’ve had enough. So I find those five-minute pieces in the day. And it’s taught me that life’s precious.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:21:18

      And it also taught me you don’t give up the fight. You listen to your body, and you believe in what you know is wrong. And if you need to change the dowser, you’ve changed. And you keep fighting for the answer. Instinct is, it is a big, that gut instinct. You know, I knew there was something wrong. I knew and I didn’t want to. When I sat with that nurse, I said to him, Look, my daughter died from a brain tumor. I’m not saying I’ve got a range tumor. And I was crying. I said, there’s something wrong.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:22:00

      And I just want to be well, I don’t want to be ill. I’m not here to be ill and, you know, like, Look at me. I’m Paulie. I want to be well. So don’t give up that fight. Oh, and I say that all the time, even when I took Yasmin. And that morning that I took her. She bumped into the fridge. Now I know from being a migraine sufferer. When I’ve got a migraine, I will admit them bumps.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:22:29

      And everyone was saying Oh, she’ll just have an ear infection. You’ve been on the plane. And my gut instinct then was like, there’s so much more to this or even in like that death of the child stroke. You’ve got to choose happy and yeah. Even getting older is a privilege. I’m so privileged and so grateful to still be here.

      A message to others from Bobbie Anne Hutchinson

      Bill 1:23:05

      Yeah. What, do you want to tell other people who are listening, going through a similar thing that you’re going through?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:23:14

      Not to give up, never give up, and never. I got to the point where I was. I was feeling suicidal because I felt like a burden. I felt like I couldn’t leave my house and cook tea for my children. But they’re cooking it with me because they’re watching me cook their tea, that sort of thing. Therapy. Huge what you said about who you went to talk to Emily became like that friend, that two years of therapy, and we talked about everything.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:23:56

      Once once I’d hit the end of that first year, it felt like this box just burst open. And it was like I could not shove anything more down. The tears were uncontrollable. That again, just ask for help. You know, I laid in bed that Christmas Eve, and I said to Dean, what’s the point? It may be an email, right? And I know there was a point and my children are the reason I’m still here obviously. But there’s no shame in that.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:24:33

      There’s no shame in feeling that way. And there’s always somebody that would rather you ring them and speak to them than get that call that you’ve hurt yourself. When I left therapy, I finished therapy but it was towards the end of November, and I was ready to leave you in A friend you know like when he feels like you’ve lost a friend in a way because Emily was part of the neuropsychology department so because they were specialists for brain injury and stroke and things.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:25:17

      But they don’t get to see the next chapter and I wrote a really lovely card and I was just like, thanks for being that that safe space that safe adult you know but yeah, I do think that I think she doesn’t get to see what happens next and that even then they want to see you go off and live your life don’t know. Yeah, yeah, mental health was I learned that my mental health was really important.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:25:53

      I learned that self-compassion was really important. Naps. Take a nap. Why shouldn’t you have a nap? Pajama days? Right? You’re gonna think back and I think you’re not lazy. If you need a rest. You need a rest. Yeah, you will make your baby stay up all day, you are glad to have an app. And if you need an app, this is a power nap. You wake up and you? Yeah, you’ve got a bit more power to crack on and do a bit of tea or stay up an hour later so you can watch something together. And one day at a time.

      Bill 1:26:40

      I know. It’s late where you are. So I’m going to try and get you off in a little bit. But I love our chat, our chat has been awesome. I want to acknowledge Dean. Tell me about Dean how is he doing? What’s going on with him? Because he’s a busy man. And he’s dealing with all this stuff. And his wife is unwell and lost and all that stuff. He’s dealing with it all at the same time. How’s he doing?

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:27:08

      He’s doing good. So post knee surgery which was he decided to change jobs and he went off to be a postman so now he’s walking around on that leg like it’s a brand new funny loaf of bread I can do this great because I could just go back can you pick this? Did you have to go to the shop for bread? Yeah um yeah. We it was teamwork it was teamwork and although siblings bicker and all of that they’re so good in that sort of situation even in happy situations.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:27:56

      But in that situation, they all looked after each other then yeah, even that like looked after that put him in bed what the shower room, and everybody seems to be everybody else’s life is going on. And it’s amazing to see them like start university move to college dean get a new job. And I love that they they’re all still and they don’t mind if my iPhone my iPhone and app.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:28:35

      Which is lovely. They don’t they do acknowledge now that the biggest thing in my house because of the balance, I have developed this ignorance to look down because looking down can make me well, there’s there’s stuff everywhere. You know, like, shoe, we’ve just put me back there. And if I don’t, if I see it, like when I fell at Christmas, and they had left, I’ve got to step out of my bedroom door. And then she’d left this new toy that was there that I put my foot on.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:29:17

      And so I don’t want to what is that? And then I went over and it’s you know, because your brain is not as quick at reacting to stop you falling. You just go down and then you just lay there and they they’re like you’re right up like yeah, just give me fucking they just we don’t learn to see each other’s needs a bit more, and when like when you’ve got a teenager and they want to go sit in the bedroom, and you think oh, I don’t want to sit with me. My kids have been different.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:30:01

      Some of them are happy to sit in the room and watch a bit of telly. And then some of them have like, one of the boys would go sit on these games or as they will sit and talk to my friends, which is all fine. We all come together when we need to and share time to get there. But everybody should be allowed to just filter off and do their own little thing.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:30:28

      And then we come back and we talk about things and come home and complain about his day in the rain. While I’ve been snuggled up with my electric blanket It’s alright. I mean, I don’t I will say things like being like football. That man just put two men together and they instantly talk about football. Never met each other before. So he’s going to watch football tonight there was a football match and you can slip up I forgot what I was gonna say about football.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:31:09

      Oh, so when I listened to podcasts, I mean, I listened to footballers, podcasts, bots, people you know, that have any interest to me. When you listen to people’s lives, they are interesting out there. You’re interested. We’ve got the stories that not a lot of people have. Not a lot of people have gotten out the other side as in they might not have gotten beyond their stroke or mental health took them down, you know, the book shame in it. I lost that. In hospital them old people. Wow, I loved it.

      Bill 1:31:57

      It is something about sharing. People think I’m not going to tell people what my problem is, or I don’t need to you know, whinge about my family life to people. And it’s true. You don’t need to whine about it. But you do need to talk about it. And if you talk about it in a context where you’re just giving a little bit of you’re giving yourself like a bit of a, like you’re releasing some weight from the shoulders.

      Bill 1:32:23

      Most people are prepared for you to do that without, you know, looking at you strangely, or whatever, their life isn’t any better or worse. And that’s what I found with the podcast Weed, people will contact me and say, I want to be on your podcast, right? Like you. And then. And then they’ll say, and by the way, I haven’t spoken to anyone about my stroke for 10 years.

      Bill 1:32:47

      It’s like, what are you on about? How can I be the first person and the rest of the planet? How can we be all the first people to hear about your stroke? And so yeah, I don’t know, I just didn’t talk about it before. And I feel like I need to now. So you know, there’s a there’s a definite to have a platform that enables people to just come on and talk and have an intimate conversation with the whole planet. It’s weird, but it is therapeutic.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:33:15

      Even sharing on social media and things like that. Yeah. I don’t know if you did it, but after my stroke, I, when I got home, I was like, that my Instagram before my stroke was there was like slim in then I was getting married, you know, like just normal. You know, body positivity and all of that. And I was desperate then to find other people like me. That could show me what it’s like on the other side. You know, this recovery part of it. What comes next? Do we get cuz I thought I was just gonna miraculously get better? You need that you need if nobody’s sharing it. Yeah. Well, what do you notice?

      Bill 1:34:10

      We’re stuffed up. Now. I’m going to say something that’s going to sound a bit weird. What I like about you is you’ve had a lot of life experience. Now what I don’t like is the specific life experiences you’ve had. So unfortunately, according to your Instagram, you’re a survivor of two strokes, 37 and 38, child loss, and abuse. At 40 Odd you have come through. You’re talking in a way that feels empowering, and supportive, it feels like there’s a healing journey happening.

      The benefits of listening to the podcast

      Bill 1:34:47

      It feels like you’ve learned, you’ve overcome, you know, you’ve recovered, you’ve done a whole bunch of things and you’re still going through all these challenges at the same time while you’ve done all those things. And it’s like, as if somebody like you wouldn’t be beneficial to others who are going through that and are early on in their recovery, to hear from like, the other people who have been through what you’ve been through, who are very early on.

      Bill 1:35:20

      They’re going to need more than just their skills to get through abuse, for example, because they’ve never, they never had to, they don’t know how to do that. So it’s bloody hard as well as being in an abusive situation. Getting over it is also hard because you just don’t have the skills you’ve never trained for. Same stroke. And the same with a child loss, you don’t have those skills. And it’s like, I need skills. Where do I get skills from?

      Bill 1:35:52

      Yeah, hopefully, somebody else will have gained those skills, and they can impart them to me. And that’s kind of what this is about, like this whole, come on my podcast and tell me about what’s happening for you. It’s like, I want you to impart your skills to other people who are listening. And I know for a fact that that’s making it better for you. And I know for a fact that it’s making it better for them.

      Bill 1:36:21

      And we can do that together on our own, we can’t do that we can’t do anything on our own. We need it, do it together. That’s important, you know. So I appreciate you coming on the podcast and reaching out sharing your story being so open. I’m not. I’m not able to, like completely understand what you’ve been through in your way.

      Bill 1:36:50

      But I relate to a lot of the things that you said, and that’s something that I appreciate. I you know, this is a therapy session for me as well as that and I hope that it is for other people, too.

      Bobbie Anne Hutchinson 1:37:11

      Thank you.

      Bill 1:37:19

      Thank you for joining us on today’s episode to get a copy of my book The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, go to Amazon, and search my name Bill Gasiamis. To learn more about my guests, including links to their social media, and to download a transcript of the entire interview, go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes Thank you to everybody who has already left a review about the podcast.

      Bill 1:37:54

      It means the world to me, podcasts live and thrive because of the reviews. And when you leave a review, you’re also helping others in need of this type of content to find it easier. And that’s making their stroke recovery just that little bit better. If you haven’t left a review or would like to the best way to do that is to go to iTunes and Spotify. Leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you.

      Bill 1:38:23

      If you’re watching on YouTube comment below the video I respond to all the comments below the YouTube videos like the episode because then of course that also helps YouTube to know that this episode is worth listening to. To get notifications of future episodes, subscribe to the show and hit the notifications Bell. If you’re a stroke survivor with a story to share about your stroke experience. Come and join me on the show. The interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them.

      Bill 1:38:54

      All you need to do is be a stroke survivor who wants to share their story in the hope that it will help somebody else going through something similar. If you’re a researcher and you’d like to share the findings of a recent study or you’re looking to recruit people into studies, you may also wish to reach out and be a guest on my show. If you have a commercial product that you would like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors recovery there is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show.

      Bill 1:39:23

      Just go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact and fill out the form explaining briefly which category you belong to. And I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom. Thanks again for being here listening and interacting and for sending me amazing emails. I appreciate you all see you on the next episode.

      Intro 1:39:51

      Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols. discuss during any podcast are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed all content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.

      Intro 1:40:21

      The content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice the information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

      Intro 1:40:45

      Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content if you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be, call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

      Intro 1:41:10

      Medical information changes constantly. While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

      The post Multiple Cerebral Infarction Recovery – Bobbie-Anne Hutchinson appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

      1 hr 42 min
    4. Brain Aneurysm survivor – Toni Hickman

      After her two burst brain aneurysms and stroke Toni Hickman became an author an ordained minister and a holistic health practitioner.

      YouTube

      Instagram
      Books and other merchandise
      Toni’s Website
      Apple Music

      Highlights:

      00:51 Introduction

      04:38 The first brain aneurysm
      06:49 The second brain aneurysm
      19:44 Seeking spirituality
      34:04 Personal growth after a life-altering stroke
      41:48 Spiritual growth and overcoming ego
      49:12 Stop Eating The Wrong Shit
      59:38 Food addiction and its impact on sleep
      1:05:42 Self-improvement after a brain aneurysm
      1:12:11 Self-love and resilience
      1:15:41 The hardest thing about stroke
      1:17:40 The lessons from stroke
      1:18:51 A message to other stroke survivors

      Transcript:

      Toni Hickman 00:00

      Hello everyone, my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened is now available for purchase on Amazon. In the book, you will find chapters on mindset, the brain that resides in your heart, as well as the brain that resides in your gut.

      Bill 00:16

      You will learn about the benefits and downsides of Neuroplasticity. You will learn the benefits of getting better sleep, you will find out about the food that you should avoid after a stroke. You will learn about the amazing benefits you get from the smallest amount of exercise.

      Bill 00:35

      And what happens when you follow your heart’s desires? You’ll get the lowdown on the amazing positive benefits you get from surrounding yourself with the right people. And you’ll also understand how to discover your life’s purpose.

      Introduction – Toni Hickman


      Bill 00:51
      To grab a copy of the book go to Amazon and search my name Bill Gasiamis. Or if you go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book you’ll be able to find links there. Now this is episode 287 of the Recovery after Stroke podcast and my guest today is a lady who has accomplished a lot in the years after her two burst brain aneurysms and a stroke. Tony Hickman is an author, a music artist, an ordained minister, and a holistic health practitioner. Toni Hickman, welcome to the podcast.

      Toni Hickman 01:28

      Thank you for having me, Bill. I’m happy to be here. How do you say your last name?

      Toni Hickman 01:33

      Gasiamis.

      Toni Hickman 01:35

      Gasiamis.

      Bill 01:37

      That’s it. Perfect. I was at your website, tonihickman.com. And I wanted to learn a little bit more about you, your busy person. You are an author, a musical artist, an ordained minister, a health practitioner, and a survivor of two brain aneurysms and a stroke. What else do you do? Because it doesn’t sound like you’re busy enough.

      Toni Hickman 02:10

      And I make a lot of music. Music is my therapy. So yeah, I write I do philosophy of philosophy. It’s a big thing that I love. That’s going to be my next book, just straight philosophy, life philosophy.

      Bill 02:28

      Do you have some philosophies that you’ve learned that you’ve applied to your recovery? That you’re sort of embodying and then that you’re going to expand on? Where does that love of philosophy come from?

      Toni Hickman 02:49

      I think I’ve been doing philosophy honestly, since I was young. I didn’t even know it. But I have a point. And my mother, she, she had it for a long time we got lost in the flood when we had one in Houston. But I did this point when I was like, seven or eight years old.

      Toni Hickman 03:11

      And I was talking about time and, and how as I’m writing the sentence, I’m leaving the past and I’m going to the future. So what is time? Like? I wrote that at a very young age. So I’ve always been like, I’ve always wanted to dig deeper into why. Yeah.

      Bill 03:36

      So tell me a little bit about your health experience your two hemorrhages and then your stroke. And then we’ll dive deep into the maybe the why. Because there are a lot of people who ask why that’s a huge question. But they frame it in a way that’s not empowering. And sometimes the why? The question of why it ends with Why me? Why did it happen? What did I do? Why did I deserve this? Instead of Instead why me? What’s the lesson here? Or why me? What can I do about it? Tell me a little bit about your health journey.

      Toni Hickman 04:14

      Um, well, in 2004, I had just left Houston, Texas to move to Atlanta for my music because the record label moved me there. And after that, I kind of left the label but still was doing music with like, really major artists in Atlanta.

      The first brain aneurysm

      Toni Hickman 04:38

      And I was at my mother’s house one day. And she said I was just looking around like I was nonchalant. And she asked me what was wrong and I was just nonchalant. So eventually my son was very young and he came out and told my mom that he thought something was wrong with me.

      Toni Hickman 05:08

      And so eventually they got me to the hospital. And that’s when I learned that I was having my first brain aneurysm. Before that, I had no clue what a brain aneurysm was. I had never heard of it before. Yeah, and so fast forward, I ended up having an angiogram where they went through my groin, and with the camera looked at my brain and saw that I was having a rupture.

      Toni Hickman 05:46

      And so this is the big question of, they said that they clamped it, and then, but it’s not in my paperwork. Um, and so then I went on, and I was out of music. I was just, I would say I was down for like three months because the angiogram had done something to my body that made me feel weak. And, but after that, I got back on the music scene, I was in all of these magazines.

      Toni Hickman 06:21

      I was the top thing about to come out like, so excited. And so I went to New Orleans to celebrate. And, and my ex, well he’s my ex now. But my boyfriend at the time, I went to his mother’s house, and she made me some, some like vegan fried rice.

      The second brain aneurysm

      Toni Hickman 06:49

      It was really good, and so then all of a sudden, now with my first brain aneurysm, my symptoms were throwing up. So with the second one, well, when I ate the rice, all of a sudden, I started throwing up again. And I was thinking, like, there’s no way something is wrong with me.

      Toni Hickman 07:14

      Maybe I have food poisoning. But there’s no way I’m having another brain aneurysm like that made no sense to me. But I just couldn’t stop vomiting. And that’s when I was told I was vomiting in his sister’s bathroom and I just fell out.

      Toni Hickman 07:37

      And they had to come in there and get me and rushed me to the hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. And this is right after Katrina. So New Orleans had a stench that was out of this world. The hospitals like one of the main hospitals were closed. It was it was a mess. But they ended up getting me to a hospital and had surgery.

      Toni Hickman 08:10

      But while they didn’t start the surgery, they had to contact my mother and just get her to Okay. It was because there was a 5050 chance that I was going to ever speak or walk again live. And if I lived, it was still a hard chance that I was going to speak or walk again.

      Bill 08:38

      Good night. It’s really interesting. So I’m hearing. I’m hearing the whole This thing’s happened to me. It’s probably not going to happen again. They’ve sorted. It’s been fixed. It’s happening again. It must be food poisoning. It’s the same story as a similar story to me, in that I went through two brain hemorrhages. And then the third one ended up in brain surgery.

      Bill 09:04

      They didn’t do anything for my ones at the beginning other than monitor them and it wasn’t an aneurysm that burst it was another faulty blood vessel called an arteriovenous malformation. And then, but then the denial is still very real, like it’s real the first time I you know the symptoms, it’s just numbness on my left side and no big deal. I can feel it, but you know, it’s okay. The second time it will be, um, feeling nausea.

      Bill 09:34

      So I think I’m gonna vomit. Don’t rush, but at some stage, can you guys take me home? So my wife can take me to the hospital. Again, no rush, you know, it’s not a big deal. It’s not life-threatening. And then I go to the hospital and then I blacked out. And I don’t remember my wife. So, you know, it’s very typical, this can’t be happening to me. We don’t need to panic about this. just become. It’s not that serious. Sounds like you were expecting that what they had done meant that you were in the clear.

      Toni Hickman 10:12

      Yeah, yeah, I thought that was over with, um, and just listening to you tell your story or part of your story. It’s like it makes you wonder, Is that a part of our human nature sometimes that just wants to be okay? And you know? Yeah. So yeah, I wanted it to be okay. I wanted it to be over with. But like I said, they rushed me to the hospital, my mother ended up driving down, they shaved all my hair off and started surgery.

      Toni Hickman 10:58

      And yeah, and when I came to, I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t write, like, I was so thirsty because I had to put up my nose and tubes down my throat. And I want it water so bad. But that’s what my brain was saying. But I couldn’t tell them. And so I jerked the tubes out of my mouth. And I was just like water.

      Toni Hickman 11:39

      And so my mother gave me something to write on because I was gonna say, I want water. But when I wrote, I wrote a W instead of an M, like, she couldn’t understand me, and they finally gave me ice. But I wasn’t supposed to have the ice. I didn’t know. And so yeah, that was a lot I was, I was hell in the hospital, I gave everybody a problem because I was so stubborn and defiant.

      Toni Hickman 12:17

      Like, I just could not accept the reality that I was now in a wheelchair. And my left side was working. Not great at all. It was really weak. But my right side was just, it was like, it wasn’t even there. And that was that was highly disappointing. It was it was like a shell shock. You know, like I was, here I am, especially a person in the music industry that doesn’t portray people with disabilities or, or anything like that.

      Toni Hickman 13:05

      They show you this image of perfection. And so I’m just like, well, what’s gonna happen with my music? So yeah, it was it was a long journey back mentally. To shake him myself out of that reality of like, my, my life has changed. And what do I do about that?

      Bill 13:34

      How old were you?

      Toni Hickman 13:38

      The first one, I was 27. And the second one, I was 32.

      Bill 13:45

      How long does it take you to have a career in the music industry? Not to be a musician and an artist? Because you’re probably always a musician and an artist? How long does it take you to break that goal of becoming a signed artist? Did it take you forever?

      Toni Hickman 14:06

      Yeah. Oh, so yeah, that’s another story. But yeah, it just depends on the person. It depends. It depends on your timing, and what they are looking for at that time. Because it could be immediately for some people, like it’s changed from when I was trying to get a deal versus now like now record labels and not even looking at artists.

      Toni Hickman 14:40

      They’re looking on social media. They’re looking cuz everybody is promoting social media. And so for me, we had to send in, you know, the bio and or the CD. Well, by that time, we were doing CDs, but we had to send all of This in. And like I said, it’s a different game. Now, this is a digital market. And yeah, it can be hard for me it took I Well, in New Orleans, I was signed, I was signing to a local, new music label. And I mean, they paid me. But it wasn’t like I got paid with the other company.

      Bill 15:29

      You’re, you get to that stage, you get signed, you’ve got to label, everything is on the up and up, your career is looking like it’s going to take off. And then you’re unwell. And then you ask a really good question What am I meant to do? Now? How am I supposed to handle this? Your stubbornness and your attitude? Was that something that you always had dedicated in the way of your life? Or did it help you progress your life to give you opportunities that some people may not have got because they weren’t so?

      Toni Hickman 16:10

      Aggressive?

      Bill 16:11

      Maybe, whatever.

      Toni Hickman 16:14

      In some ways, that was aggressive. And I will say it has done both It has helped me in some of the ways if I have to be honest with myself, and it has hurt me. And some of the ways are because of misunderstandings. But also, I was very naive and aggressive. See, that makes no sense. Literally. And so it was a learning curve for me.

      Toni Hickman 16:47

      As far as the music industry goes, but as far as my music, I mean far as my surviving two brain aneurysms and a stroke. It was mandatory. Like I had no choice. It was I was surrounded at that time, I was the youngest person in the rehabilitation and I was in the state in a rehabilitation facility cuz I didn’t live in New Orleans, I was just there.

      Toni Hickman 17:19

      And I’m looking around me, and I’m the youngest person in there. And everybody is complaining about exercising and getting better or their life. And I’m looking and I’m like, This can’t be me. Now. Don’t think I didn’t go through my pity party, though. I went through my pity party I’m talking about I was even suicidal.

      Toni Hickman 17:47

      And one of my nurses came in while I was crying, I was having a pity party. And she was like, why are you crying? And I said because this is the second time this happened to me. And I’m wondering if it’s not meant for me to do music. Where is God? Like, you know what, why would God let this happen to me if this is my gift? And she said, and this I wish I could remember her name. But it was so profound when she told me.

      Intro 18:23

      If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. How long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, and doctors will explain things that, you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask.

      Intro 18:47

      If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation. Stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you.

      Intro 19:02

      It’s called seven questions to ask your doctor about your stroke. These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke. They’ll not only help you better understand your condition. They’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery. Head to the website now, recoveryafterstroke.com, and download the guide. It’s free.

      Toni Hickman 19:26

      She said what you need to be asking is how you had two brain aneurysms and the stroke and you’re still alive right?

      Bill 19:44

      Oh boy.

      Seeking spirituality

      Toni Hickman 19:46

      Yeah. And at that time, I wasn’t feeling her. Her energy. I was just like, Yeah, okay. But I added everything I have I remember, and they took care of me in this hospital because they saw I was so determined, but they took care of me in the rehabilitation unit. And, but out of everything I remember, that’s one of the most potent things I remember from the nurse is like, ask yourself why.

      Toni Hickman 20:21

      Right? And that is the question why, why now? What did I need to change? What did I need to alter? What was I doing wrong? Can I take responsibility for my own life in some ways, and not look like I’m the victim? And that brought some deep reflection, some self-reflection.

      Bill 20:45

      The really important question, the responsibility part is, that the first chapter in my book is about mindset. But there’s a massive chunk in there about me taking responsibility for the part that I played in the illness, I suppose. And not that it was my fault, in that I had a brain aneurysm. And so I had I had an arteriovenous malformation. I was born with that.

      Bill 21:14

      But then I was living life like somebody who would be alive forever, and nothing could cause illness or bad health. That meant that I was smoking, I was drinking, and I was not eating well. And it meant that I wasn’t paying attention, and I wasn’t taking care of myself, and I was doing stuff that I didn’t like, was working for people I didn’t like, I played a massive role in my illness in that I might have created the perfect storm for illness to occur.

      Bill 21:53

      And if that thing didn’t burst, maybe something else would have happened, like a heart attack, or who knows what. And then, and then it’s like, I went to the hospital, they patched me up, and then they sent me home. And I had, I needed rehab, and I needed all sorts of help. And there was no one helping. And that’s like, what am I going to do now? Whose responsibility is it to make me better? And it was like,

      Bill 22:19

      Okay, I think they’ve done their bit. It’s my responsibility now to do my bit. And my bit is, I have to stop smoking, I have to stop drinking, I have to stop eating the wrong food, I have to do stuff that makes my heart come alive, etc. And I found myself being responsible for everything after that. The argument that I had, the person was wrong, but I also was responsible for you know, that I know that grasping too long, you know, yeah, I could make it somebody else’s job.

      Bill 22:57

      But I’m also responsible for it. And I was just waiting, we went or went on this little cycle of which part of that am I responsible for. And now when I apologize, for example, in an argument or offering it, I apologize for my part. And I specifically say I would like to apologize for my part in the argument and the things that I said that were out of order. And then what that does, is that creates a space for somebody else to apologize for their part.

      Bill 23:29

      And what they’re doing is that they’re not apologizing for their entire life for everything they’ve ever done. It’s just for their part in that part of the argument. And it makes it makes it a little easier to overcome and get better. All those small things that I became responsible for are things that helped me with my recovery.

      Bill 23:50

      And that ultimately led to more amazing things like the podcast, the book etcetera and I didn’t know your book again. So my book is called The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened. Okay, okay, weird name. And people think I’m promoting stroke. The first comment I got on YouTube. about it, when I started talking about it somebody said to me, that’s a terrible thing to say, how could you be from promoting stroke as something to do or an experience to have?

      Bill 24:25

      And it’s like, no it’s not what I’m doing. What we’re doing is where we’re highlighting the post-traumatic growth, the good stuff, that came after stroke, everyone can talk about that stuff that shit about stroke. We could talk about that forever. But no one’s talking about the good stuff. And that book is full of good stuff that I did.

      Bill 24:53

      And it sounds like you went on a similar journey because you’ve been prolific with All the things you’ve done after, say music was your only focus now you’ve been prolific and you had the good question, you know what? Why did God do this to me? And you seem to seek out the answer. And you became an ordained minister. So tell me about that journey. How did you go from why me? And then I’m going to find the answer to being a minister.

      Toni Hickman 25:28

      And I’m not the typical minister. So yeah, I’m not, I’m not what you see on TV or anything like that. But I think this whole journey, like even when I said, I have to take responsibility, what is my responsibility? So my truth is, even when I signed with the Magic Major record label, I talked about my reality I have been on on my own since I was 16.

      Toni Hickman 25:57

      I grew up in the hood, the ghetto, or however you want to call it. And my lyrics, expressed my environment because that was my reality. And sometimes it was not the best expression for the upliftment of anybody. And so I had to, I had to go on an inner journey of like, yes, you do have a gift. And your gift is only meant for upliftment.

      Toni Hickman 26:42

      If it’s upliftment and enlightenment, and if it is not doing that, then it is destruction. And that’s as simple as it gets. So, going that route, and diving deep into my soul, brought me to becoming an ordained minister. I’m not, I’m not. I don’t dislike Christianity, I just don’t, I don’t put myself in the box of a particular system.

      Toni Hickman 27:29

      Like God is channeling through me whenever I can have the opportunity to receive whenever I allow myself to be open enough to be disciplined to that voice, and we all have the voice. We all have a voice when we are deciding to go left or right, or we’re trying to make an important decision. We have this voice inside of us.

      Toni Hickman 28:02

      Or if you want to eat cake, and you know, your doctor told you to stop eating cake because it’s contributing to bad health. And you just say, Well, I’m just gonna have one little slice instead of eating the whole cake, but you know, you shouldn’t have it like this still you going against yourself, that’s you going against your higher self and our higher self, in my opinion, and what I know it’s not my opinion is our God. So we are part of God. And so if we can see from that perspective, then it’s just about being obedient to the inner voice.

      Bill 28:50

      I love that we are part of God, I have mentioned in a couple of interviews before this with different people that when we’re talking about finding God or seeking out solutions from God, or whether it’s Muslim faith or Christian faith, it doesn’t matter. But I feel like I am God. And yeah, yeah. And that means that what that does, is allows me to, and that doesn’t make me perfect. None of those things. It doesn’t make me all-knowing or any of that stuff.

      Bill 29:23

      Just what it does is the church that I grew up in, and the Christian religion outsources God so if you have a problem, ask God for the solution, and I don’t think the solution is there. I think the solution is there in here. And if I’m asking God for a solution, I am asking me for the solution. And together, we are shining the light, and the way I say that, the light being shone is you know, you’re walking down the road and you have and thought about that problem for two days or four days or a week.

      Bill 30:03

      And then all of a sudden the solution comes into your head. And it’s like, Oh, I know what to do now. I, it’s because of a question that I asked earlier, two or three weeks ago, and all and the best part about it was I knew the question to ask, I didn’t need to know anything else, just the right question. And then I’m walking down the street, and bang, that’s the answer. And I didn’t come up with that answer.

      Toni Hickman 30:34

      You’re a vessel? We’re so connected, all of us are connected. So if we’re all connected, then that means we are all divine beings that and we have forgotten. Like, where we’re supposed to be headed, we have forgotten that it’s important to listen to that inner voice.

      Toni Hickman 30:56

      But I love that. And I think it also that mentality also makes you accept responsibility for your own life, instead of looking outside of yourself for something else to save you. You are already downloaded with all the answers that you need to change your life. Sometimes we can be stubborn.

      Bill 31:20

      We can. And if you want to give credit to God, perfectly fine. By me, I don’t mind.

      Toni Hickman 31:28

      God is everywhere. God is all things like.

      Bill 31:34

      And then, and then also, take some credit for the decisions that you made, and take some credit for the action that you took, and take some credit for some of the people that you helped, or the person’s question that you answered, because you did that, you did that for them, you did that with them.

      Bill 31:53

      And you do that because you learned something, and you felt like it would be useful to share that because somebody requested you’re feedback, or your knowledge, or your wisdom, or whatever you want to call it. But we, I think it’s a, it’s, it’s the only part of, you know, a religion that bothers me is that the outsourcing to God, and, and I think that if we bring God into religion, back into the person that is attending the church, then I think that empowers them even further.

      Bill 32:32

      Now, perhaps there’s a reason why it’s done the way it is. And I don’t know what that is, but it doesn’t apply to me, it doesn’t make me feel good about going to church. Now, I feel like the priest’s job, the priest’s job, I feel like is teaching the Word of God. And, and then to, and then to encourage you to practice the Word of God to be somebody who asks, not what God would do or how God would do it.

      Bill 33:05

      But how would I do it in a way that would please God, or be in line with the way that God would like me to do it? And then that way, and then that way, what you end up doing is you end up taking a problem like to, to arteriovenous, malformation blades, one brain surgery and not being able to walk again, you know, in a wheelchair, mental issues, health issues, emotional issues, and then you end up becoming somebody who’s supporting people all around the world.

      Bill 33:37

      And I’m bragging, I’m talking about me, because that wasn’t the guy before that, you know, that wasn’t the same person. And, this is the thing, it’s really important for people who are watching and listening to us to understand that you and I have been on a similar journey. And we made it about other people. And that has made our stroke. I don’t know, I’m speaking for myself, like worth having is it weird to say that?

      Personal growth after a life-altering stroke

      Toni Hickman 34:04

      I mean, and not just the idea of helping others because that’s an automatic response, right? And we should be able to help others. But even the idea that the stroke helped me because it helped me see myself. Like, I needed to see myself in my worst state so I could understand why I was here.

      Bill 34:37

      If you grew up in the hood, was that not your worst state? And did the stroke show a state of view that was even worse, because by understanding my understanding from Australia is that growing up in the hood is difficult for a lot of people, a lot of kids especially when they’re alone, and they don’t have adult supervision or support or guidance?

      Bill 35:07

      And I would imagine my brain would imagine that that is already the hardest. The worst version. Maybe it’s not, maybe it’s not the worst version of you, maybe you’re, you can be a good you in the hood. And then you had a stroke, and then the strokes took everything away, like, give me a little bit of insight into that part of your world.

      Toni Hickman 35:33

      Growing up in that’s a book in itself. Um, because I have stories that would shock people. But that was, I can’t say that that’s my worst, my worst that I’ve ever experienced, because it’s just like, when you see these videos with people in Africa, and they may not have homes, or they may not have a lot as you can tell right?

      Toni Hickman 36:06

      And so us looking at it will think, okay, the perception of them, Oh, they’re so poor, they don’t have them. But what happens is you end up finding joy no matter what your environment is, even if it is a lower vibration, because, at that time, you don’t acknowledge that it is. You just acknowledge that this is where you live, this is what it is. And you know, some people may have better clothes than me some people.

      Toni Hickman 36:41

      And yeah, there’s There’s nothing. There’s nothing to say. Oh, this was like, my heart is time now I had heart moments, but nothing like the the aneurysms in the stroke. And I have to say that because I just never experienced something so profound that took me out of my norm took me out of myself. It just completely ripped me and breathed in, put me back together.

      Toni Hickman 37:26

      And that was a mental process. Because I’m dealing with me, I’m dealing with image factors. I’m dealing with the idea that I’m getting older and the industry does not take people who are getting older I’m getting with dealing with the idea that like what am I to do now? And so it was a journey, but it was absolutely one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced one I’ve experienced worse. But not to that degree and not that long.

      Bill 38:06

      It’s interesting. On Episode 157, I interviewed Luis Diaz, and he was a gangbanger in LA. And he reckons gang life was far worse than the stroke that he had. You know, so their perceptions are very interesting to hear the different perspectives from people. And I accept yours. I get it because what it sounds like you’re talking about is stroke has attacked your identity more than anything ever had before.

      Toni Hickman 38:41

      Yeah, that’s really what it was. And, you know, even when I think back, yeah, I did have some harsh experiences. But it was like here and there. It wasn’t like this was a whole like I said, I got taken apart and put back together and nothing in my life has ever done that, more than the stroke.

      Bill 39:03

      When that happened to me, I felt it later. So as things started to settle down, and I started to emerge from that everything has been taken apart, and the programming has been changed. The textbook is different. The location is different. The temperature is different, everything is different. I felt like it was kind of a good reset. And I could then start to reroute and change and fix things and not go back down some paths. Did you find that as well? Is that your experience?

      Toni Hickman 39:39

      Oh, definitely. After the second aneurysm, I and I eventually got out of the hospital. I was on a walking cane still, but I was out of the hospital. I decided to go and have a drink with my friends. I had just moved back I got my place. And I’m like, Okay, well, I’ll go here. And so I had to drink. And that did not work for me.

      Toni Hickman 40:13

      And I got when I got in because my equilibrium was off. And I had a picture of my son on the nightstand. And so when I got in, and I opened my door, and that got in, I fell because my equilibrium was off. And I cut my hand open. Because I fell in I broke my hand on his picture. I mean, that broke my hand, but cut my hand.

      Toni Hickman 40:43

      Yeah, and that sounds like no, we can’t do this. And then, you know, as a musician, like, it’s no secret. Most people know that most people, who do music, smoke weed or marijuana, you know. So that was my thing. And again, that’s where their spirit comes in. Because I have felt it even before I hit the aneurysms, like you need to stop this, you know, the inner voice, just like it hits talk to you, if you when you were smoking, or drinking, you get that same inner voice and you ignore it.

      Spiritual growth and overcoming ego


      Toni Hickman 41:19
      And yeah, I stopped the alcohol because that next day, even I woke up and I had anxiety. And I was thinking, oh my god, what if I’m gonna have another brain aneurysm, right? And so I was like, okay, that’s gotta go. And then I smoked. And then I started, like, freaking out about having another brain aneurysm. And I was like, You know what, I gotta take all this stuff away. That has given me anxiety. So I don’t have to deal with that anymore.

      Bill 41:58

      That’s been a good choice. With the part of you, that’s not listening to the inner voice. Do you know which part that is? So I’ve got a sense, I won’t say what I think it is yet. But there’s an inner voice that says, we shouldn’t be doing this. And then there’s the other part of you that’s going Let me light up that next joint. Which part of you is the part that’s not listening to the inner voice? Is there a part? How do you override it?

      Toni Hickman 42:30

      Yeah, and that’s where we have to get stronger in our will, right? Or, yeah, we have to be stronger in our will. But I just honestly, this exact conversation, I just did a real environment. I haven’t posted it yet, but I just did a video about it. And I believe it is well I just call it the lower self is the ego, which is what I think Christians refer to as the devil.

      Toni Hickman 43:04

      But it’s this energy of compromise and conflict and confusion. And the one way I am learning that we can decipher between the lower self and the higher self is through confusion. Because God’s self is not confused, is straight to the point it knows the answers. And that’s it. Versus the is always confused. Always. Just ego and everything versus that. And so if we can see that we are in a state of confusion, then we’re not in our gods.

      Bill 43:57

      You just described it beautifully. Because that thing that you said about Christians would describe it as the devil. If God’s within me, then the devils within me. And then it depends on which one I give voice to the most. And for me, if I’m giving voice to God, the most God then overrides the devil. And it’s

      Bill 44:27

      Neuroplasticity kicks in because the more that you use one part of your brain, the more that that part is the one that’s going to take hold and support whatever it is that you’re trying to achieve or you’re doing.

      Bill 44:42

      And the less you give energy to the devil part, the part of you, the ego, the part that’s overriding the God-self, then the less it will be able to do that. So it’s like a skill of Practicing, just like religion, or belief in God is a practice that we have to do to make sure that the neurons that we need to fire more than the other neurons are the God Self neurons, not the devil.

      Toni Hickman 45:16

      Yeah, and it takes training, I talk about that in my book, too. Because this is a part in there where I say, we are living in a world and I’m paraphrasing, but we’re living in a world right now, that is feeding our lower self, if you pay attention is feeding us pornography is feeding us gossip, it’s feeding us bad foods, overeating, and then saving us through a system of hope. And so yeah, that’s, that’s something else like we are fed, our lower self is spared constantly in our world. And so it’s up to us really to, like, take hold of that, and strengthen our higher self.

      Bill 46:11

      You’re right about the times we’re living in. And I feel that as well. And that’s kind of this is my response to that, it’s my response is to have a tool that people can go to, and find ways to become a better version of themselves, through the example led by other people that I’m interviewing, and also to offer the kind of hope that is real.

      Bill 46:43

      If you just listen to enough of these interviews, 10, 100, whatever it is, you’ll start to see patterns of behavior that get people to the other side of stroke, it doesn’t matter how bad their deficits are, they’ll start to show you a pattern of behavior that you might be able to go, everyone else, everyone I heard has, has said this or did this or behaved like this, I’m not doing that part.

      Bill 47:13

      And perhaps if I pay attention to that, I might be able to get a better outcome in this particular area. And it’s what I was missing, I was getting sucked into social media before my stroke, which was about making more money, having a better car, and working harder. All those things I was getting, all of that stuff was the stuff that I was consuming, trying to improve my life. And it was just making my life worse. It was going against my instinct.

      Bill 47:47

      And it was making me feel really bad that I hadn’t achieved this or that, or the other thing or the shiny thing or the big thing. And it was really hard. Whereas now my social media, because of the way that the algorithm works, that social media is all people posting about amazing stroke, recovery, stories, journeys, challenges, and obstacles.

      Bill 48:10

      It’s completely different I enjoy going to my social media because people are posting nice things on my page. I’m seeing nice things on other people’s pages. And you’re the perfect example because I followed you briefly. And I kind of love all your posts, just generally. And then I saw you made a post about your most recent book. And have you got a copy of a deck and you hold it up?

      Toni Hickman 48:34

      Yes, yes.

      Bill 48:40

      Stop eating the wrong shit with a burger and a Pepsi or something that looks like a Pepsi, and I thought, I’ve never been able to say it so nicely the way that you set it to tell it’s direct and to the point, right? And it takes forever to get there. And you’ll just set it in one book cover. It’s like, stop it in the wrong shit. Simple.

      Toni Hickman 49:11

      Right?

      Stop Eating The Wrong Shit by Toni Hickman


      Bill 49:12
      Tell me about the book. How did it come about?

      Toni Hickman 49:14

      I mean, if you follow my journey, I’ve been writing books. My first book was called Chemical Suicide: Death by Association. And it was about chemicals in beauty products or it is about chemicals in beauty products.

      Toni Hickman 49:32

      Because they told me when I had my brain aneurysms that I needed to stop putting chemicals in my hair. It’s specifically perms and for melanin-dominant women. That is something we’re very used to because of the stigma that comes with our hair. And so that was my first book because I was just like, Okay, if this is the case other women need to know about this.

      Bill 49:59

      Is that Because of the way that you guys wear braid braids and beads and all that kind of stuff, is that what that is? Is that a perm?

      Toni Hickman 50:07

      No braids. braids are extensions. So that’s different. perms are when you see a woman, melanin-dominant woman with straight hair.

      Bill 50:20

      Ah, it’s a straight perm. I’ve always known. No, we’re making members currently,

      Toni Hickman 50:27

      It makes it curly. For those that are not super melanin dominant, it makes it straight. For us. That’s insane. Yeah. Yeah. But is this harsh on our scalp? And then it has been known to cause very unhealthy issues with the body. And so yeah, that was my first.

      Bill 50:51

      Okay, is that book available online? Because my name is Amazon.

      Toni Hickman 50:57

      Yeah, it should be on Amazon. It was my first book. First thing I ever wrote. Yeah.

      Bill 51:01

      So I’m looking on Amazon right now. I see your current book. And I say a man’s cry for health. We’ll talk about that one in a minute a little. But I don’t see the other one at all.

      Toni Hickman 51:14

      Not undermine the name that was my first book. And so instead of it’s under my name, but it’s not my first name. So instead of it being Tony Alika Hickman is just Alika Hickman. So if you put in an Alika Hickman, you’ll see it. Yeah.

      Bill 51:30

      Okay, cool. We’re gonna link to all of this stuff for people who are interested in having a look at those. ,

      Toni Hickman 51:37

      Thank you. Yeah. And it’s on my website, too.

      Bill 51:41

      Very cool. So tell me about the current book, stop eating the wrong shit. How did it come to be now that I need to make sure that people understand you’re a vegan? I’m pretty sure. And I’m not a vegan. But I think we have similar philosophies, regardless of whether you eat meat or not. And I’d love to hear your thoughts, on what needs to come out of the diet, because that’s kind of what I talk about more than anything. There’s stuff that people can leave in their diet. But there’s a lot of stuff that has to come out. Tell me about the book.

      Toni Hickman 52:18

      Yeah, that’s, I think our biggest issue, see, and this is from studying myself, first, but then studying people who would come and see me for different ailments, or whatever. Um, we have a problem overeating, we’d have a problem eating big, like a cigarette. We eat because our nerves are bad. We eat because we had a bad day, we want to crave this or that.

      Toni Hickman 52:49

      And that’s our biggest problem. The second one is the junk that is provided to us because of our nerves, but yeah, that goes for every food that is not a natural substance. And even in my book, I tell everyone that I am vegan, I’m strict in my life. I don’t eat meat, I’m really, I’m raw vegan, and more half liquid area and like, I like pushing the boundaries. And that’s, that’s just what I have been doing lately.

      Toni Hickman 53:29

      But even in the book, I’m just saying like, if you eat meat, that’s your choice. But certain foods don’t go together. Right? The biggest thing that we are fed in these. Well, I don’t know if it’s in Australia as big as it is in America. But one of the biggest meals is a burger and fries, steak and potatoes. Those two should never go together.

      Toni Hickman 54:01

      You should always if you’re going to eat meat, you should eat it with a vegetable. But burgers and fries, it gives you it makes you sleepy because it is draining your system to digest. Because it’s a sticky food and a starch. I mean it’s a starch and the meat and so it’s like really acidic.

      Toni Hickman 54:26

      So you have to balance when you’re going to eat meat. You have to balance it with a vegetable or a salad. But you can’t put it’s not wise you can because we’re doing that and I’ve done it but it’s wise to eat it with vegetables if you want proper that proper digestion.

      Bill 54:49

      I find myself being more impacted as I age and after the stroke by the food that I for sure. I noticed that when I was eating things like fries are whitebread pasta, I found myself fatigued, with stroke fatigue, the brain fatigue just out of control. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I couldn’t cope with it. And I’ve done some interviews.

      Bill 55:12

      And I’ve got a little course that people can go and look at if they go to my website, and they can download a course where interviewed a nutritionist here in Australia, a lady who was a nutritionist, and her husband, who was a perfect high-performance coach, like the athletic kind of coach. And we spoke about the five foods to avoid, and one of them was dairy. The other one was sugar. Alcohol. What else was it? sugar, dairy, alcohol. Men have forgotten what they were anyhow, I’ll look it up in a second.

      Toni Hickman 55:55

      White rice, pasta.

      Bill 55:57

      Yeah, bread, wheat, yep, and basically, why I started going down that path was because they’re the things that I eliminated and started to feel good about myself, my body physically. And now if I eat a steak now, we have an old saying here in Australia. I’m not sure if it’s the same in the US.

      Bill 56:23

      What did you have for dinner, steak, and three vegs, you know, it’s a bit of steak, and a little bit and three vegetables, whatever they were carrot, broccoli, corn doesn’t matter. And that’s exactly how I try to eat my meat. And also, sometimes I’ll eat it without anything, just a steak on its own. And that’s it. And I feel like, I feel like it just when I eat food like that energizes me better. Like, even if I’m eating vegetables, and I just have some vegetables on their own on the side.

      Bill 56:56

      They seem to just digest better. And every time I add wheat, or dairy, or the drain or sugar, I get something else that happens, that doesn’t feel right. And then there’s a longer it’s kind of like I have to recover from eating where I don’t, that doesn’t make sense that you shouldn’t be recovering from eating a meal, you should just be eating a meal then going about your business not having a nap or having to unbutton your pants or whatever.

      Toni Hickman 57:28

      Yeah, no, that’s that’s the reality because it is draining our system to digest. And that takes a lot of energy and also even eating late at night. But I’m glad you brought up the sugar and I go, I deal in on dairy sugar, the chemicals in our foods that we think are okay. But it’s important to, I guess, identify what you are eating and also eat before the sunset. Like if we eat before we go to bed, then we’re digesting all through the night, instead of fasting.

      Bill 58:12

      Right? And why is it important to fast?

      Toni Hickman 58:17

      Because if we fast, and we’re giving our system of rest, and so if you have healing that you need to do, be it the brain, be it the organ in your body, then resting allows us to heal.

      Bill 58:34

      And the foods that I was mentioning were caffeine, sugar, gluten, dairy, and alcohol, and they’re all inflammatory. So we’ve got an inflamed brain after the stroke. And for some people after the stroke, it may remain sensitive to stimulants and it may remain sensitive to sugar and dairy and all that kind of stuff.

      Bill 58:54

      So the idea behind my thinking is, if we take out things that are going to get in the way of recovery and are going to impact your energy levels, then we’re going to have a better recovery we’ll be able to put more energy into rehabilitation into self-reflection into you know, a problem-solving.

      Bill 59:17

      So the whole idea is that what we want to do is try and create the right environment for healing. And then that’s going to create the right environment for us to have a better sleep right so sleeping, eating before sleep, changes your sleep right it doesn’t support good sleep.

      Food addiction and its impact on sleep for Toni Hickman

      Toni Hickman 59:38

      Ah, I will say doesn’t support a good sleep. It may but it’s not healthy for your body and some people it does so people will eat and then go right to sleep because it makes you sleepy. It makes you sleepy when you eat all of these foods together at late night times. But for some people, it may be a disrupt Should or they may wake up and can’t go back to sleep after their body is finished digesting everything that they have consumed.

      Bill 1:00:09

      Yeah, I find that when I eat late at night, it does make my sleep a little harder. stomach full trying to get comfortable. You know, trying to settle down is a lot different than going to bed, having had dinner at normal dinner time, and then sort of settling into the night and then going to bed a few hours later. Sometimes if I’m up late, we’ve been out and I’m hungry. And I pick up something that’s not ideal. It normally is not a good, comfortable, settled sleep.

      Toni Hickman 1:00:47

      Yeah, like I said, I can see that part. So especially again, if it goes to the, we’re talking about overeating too, because that is uncomfortable. Like we’ll taste something. And we just love how it tastes. So we’ll keep eating, I’ve done it, where it’s just like, oh my god, this is so good. And so I just keep eating, just because it tastes good. But I’m full. I’ll go fix seconds, but I’m full. That makes no sense. We overeat?

      Bill 1:01:24

      Do we do that for entertainment purposes? Why do we do that? Why do you think it is I feel like a lot of our food is wrapped up into entertaining you not only with what it’s meant to be nourishing, but then, you know, the whole master chef and all these kinds of cooking shows, and it seems to be have rolled into entertainment where food? Never was that?

      Toni Hickman 1:01:48

      Yeah, yeah, it is gotten out of nourishment. And, and while I understand, the idea of wanting to take something amazing. Like we don’t consider the whole, we don’t consider the destruction we’re doing to ourselves every time we act as addicts, because literally, you are an addict. Like I talked about that in my book, too.

      Toni Hickman 1:02:20

      Like we love to point the fingers at people who are on drugs, and I’ll crack and call them crackheads and all of that. But if you are overeating, then you too are a crackhead in a different form, it may not hit you the same way. It may not, you know, cause disruption to your teeth or whatever. But over time, if you’re eating a bunch of sugar it will you talk about meth heads.

      Toni Hickman 1:02:49

      But yeah, you could do the same thing with a whole bunch of sugar. So it’s a thin line between a drug addict and a food addict. And we love to ignore that part. Instead, we love to point the finger at other people instead of looking at ourselves.

      Bill 1:03:08

      I agree with that. It’s comfortable to point the finger at other people and not look at ourselves until we get to that point where we’re having ill health. And then we have to look at ourselves because the microscope is being pointed out and we have no choice. And I was that guy I was being told one specific person in my life would every time you saw me with a cigarette would say stuff like that’ll kill you, Bill.

      Bill 1:03:35

      And I was like, yeah, probably won’t. And I just kept smoking. So it’s like, even then, when somebody was being so blunt, and so forward in telling me what I’m doing is not good for my health. Even though I knew that, I still ignored it. And then, and then the microscope.

      Bill 1:03:57

      And that’s and it’s, you know, it happens to other people. That guy smokes more than me or he’s been smoking longer than me, or, you know, he smokes heavier tar cigarettes than me. And there was always a reason why everybody else was a cigarette addict and I wasn’t.

      Toni Hickman 1:04:17

      Yeah. I have a story I have in my book too, about that. And about like, you can always try and tell somebody what they are doing wrong in their life. But it’s only when that person has decided that they have had enough of their bullshit that they decide to change but it’s never because you tell them to change. Most times our our energy will rebel because we like to think that we are the dominant power of self.

      Bill 1:04:51

      Yeah. This writing books, is that part of your ministry? Do you think that they’re intertwined?

      Toni Hickman 1:05:02

      Perhaps Yes, I think all of it, isn’t it? I think my music, my music, the writing. I love writing I’ve written a couple of books on health. I’ve never written a philosophy book. And I think because it’s going to be spiritual philosophy. But I think that that’s where it will really, my ministry will be a part of that. Because it is like in all of my books, I, of course, am giving you information.

      Self-improvement after a brain aneurysm

      Toni Hickman 1:05:42

      But now I’m giving you information about looking deep into yourself, and not even you looking deep into yourself but asking your question yourself questions that you have been avoiding to become a better person. And like I said, I write as a work in progress. I don’t ever want anyone to paint me as like, this perfect person who is doing I’m working on it.

      Toni Hickman 1:06:15

      I’m working on perfecting myself. I do believe that even though I know, our world teaches that, like, humans aren’t perfect. But I do believe that humans can reach perfection. But it’s a mentality that is like switching from giving yourself the excuse that you are not perfect, and then understanding what perfect means and spirit.

      Bill 1:06:48

      So we shouldn’t be like Tony Hickman, we should learn from Tony Hickman.

      Toni Hickman 1:06:55

      Yeah, be like yourself. Be like your best God self. That’s who you need to be like, I’m just in the process of becoming my own best God self.

      Bill 1:07:10

      It’s interesting when I’ve done nearly 300, podcast interviews, but when you have a platform like this, people and I used to do the same people think that you’re a little more special or interesting or important or whatever. And then when they say that to me, I kind of blush. I don’t know how to take it. But do you know who I am?

      Bill 1:07:31

      Like, you don’t know? If I was alright, you’d say at some, it says something nice. But in another way, you know, you’ve wanted to say it the way that it’s like, like, Oh, my God, guys, you got it all wrong. You know, this is Bill, like, I’m not some up here kind of guy like I’m down here. And it’s just really weird.

      Toni Hickman 1:07:55

      But you are what if you are. See what if you do things that like, like reducing our greatness? What didn’t? What do I’ve done all my life? But what if it’s things like that like us reducing our greatness and allowing ourselves to be held in that space? So we, in turn, hold ourselves accountable?

      Bill 1:08:18

      I’m up for that if that is what’s happening, and I haven’t seen it yet, I’m up for that, too.

      Toni Hickman 1:08:23

      I think it’s already happening. Like, maybe you don’t see it.

      Bill 1:08:29

      I don’t, I’m not hard on my greatness, like, I am realizing my greatness. I’m very comfortable with it. But there is one side of me that says, you know, what? No, you can be this great. So what I’m trying to say is like, I’m not an unachievable height that you can’t get to. I am right. I’m just you. And yeah. And you think you’re not at my level yet, but you are in your way.

      Bill 1:09:03

      It’s like, you know, how easy it is to get here. It’s pretty easy. And that’s kind of what it is like, I’m not doing I’m not trying real hard to be here. I’m just being myself and practicing what I believe that’s it, and you can be the same. And if you want that, and you want to feel like you’re participating in society and that you’re helping your community.

      Bill 1:09:35

      And what you have to do is just do something different than what you’re doing now. That’s it. Not a major, huge Yeah. It seems major. It just seems major because I’ve been doing it a little longer. But every episode I do is easier and easier. It gets easier and easier for me. It’s not hard. It seems strange, but yeah, I just try to tell people you can be Um, you can be at my level, not me, you’re not going to be me. But you can be you at my level, which is just a normal level. It’s just like normal. That’s all.

      Toni Hickman 1:10:13

      Yeah. And I want to add to that, too, because I think it’s so important for us to love ourselves through the process of becoming, right because we want this instant gratification, this instant notice of improvement, and it’s still a journey. Like, if time is an illusion, then it’s a journey to get there. And you should take the steps. And every step is a part of you still being there and becoming.

      Bill 1:10:47

      Yeah, yeah, that’s so important. Now, you know, my book took four years to write. Two years was the research part two years was the writing part. It felt like forever while I was doing it, and now that it’s done, I look back on it. And it’s like, that was so quick.

      Toni Hickman 1:11:04

      Yeah.

      Bill 1:11:07

      And it’s that whole illusion of this is taking too long, or I need to have a deadline, or it needs to be out sooner. Or, for me, it was what I needed to do before I had another blade and die. Like, that was going on in my head, you know, but I got to the end. And now that I’m at the end, and I’m promoting it, it’s like, oh, man, that happened in a blink of an eye. It hasn’t happened in a long time at all, and it seems like it but it’s the truth. It’s like that instant gratification.

      Bill 1:11:40

      Now people are responding to it. Like, it happened instantly. They’re going wow, this is amazing why you look what you’ve done, whatever. And it’s like, they get the instant gratification from saying this is a book I need to read. But it was the longest project I’ve ever been involved in, personally, because I never had focus. I never could sit back and see something through. I always this had taken too long. Forget about it.

      Self-love and resilience after a brain aneurysm

      Toni Hickman 1:12:11

      Hmm. That’s awesome. So what’s next?

      Bill 1:12:17

      Probably another book soon, you know, there’ll be more about what, what’s a popular word. Now it’s normalizing stroke, you know, and saying, This is what stroke is, like, if you’ve had this experience, it’s normal, you know, these are things that other stroke survivors have experienced. And it’s okay, that you’re experiencing that. And it’s like, now that you know, you can park that, put it aside, and just move on and keep going.

      Bill 1:12:47

      And of some of those things are people that reach out, and often want to know about, does anyone else have vision problems with this? Does anyone else have that feel like that? You know, that kind of stuff where caregivers, because I felt the biggest challenge that we had when we were at home was why am I feeling like that?

      Bill 1:13:07

      Is that part of the stroke? Or am I having another stroke? So this next book is probably something about alleviating the anxiety that we all go through. When we don’t know the journey of stroke, what it’s like.

      Toni Hickman 1:13:22

      I think that’s a great subject. Yeah.

      Bill 1:13:25

      And maybe that’ll calm a little bit of people’s nerves and anxiety and just allow them to just get on with recovery. Yeah. Where can we hear your music? Because now I’m interested to go and have a listen. Will there be early stuff and new stuff? What can we expect to find?

      Toni Hickman 1:13:48

      Um, yes, it will be early stuff and new stuff. The early stuff and I will tell you like, it’s not this Tony is the other version of me. Some of it can be destructive, and some of it is once again, yeah, sorry about that. But some of it is can you see me? Yeah. Okay. Some of it is destruction coming out of destruction.

      Toni Hickman 1:14:21

      So it’s like this pattern of, of going up so yeah, but I’m on all streaming platforms. Tony Hickman, my rap name when I was on the record label when I was you know, doing major stuff was slim goody. So you can look at Lookup Slim Goodie aka Tony Hickman, and that will give you like my first that will give you the first independent album that I did after the stroke.

      Toni Hickman 1:14:55

      And they told me I would never speak or walk again. So I was very determined, determined, and I got it done. But that’s my first album. And then one of my favorite albums that I’ve done is called Unbroken. And it’s an all-clean album. It’s an amazing album. But I do suggest looking that went up to unbroken Tony Hickman.

      Bill 1:15:31

      Fantastic. I am aware of the time, we do need to end this. But before we end this, I would ask a couple more questions.

      Toni Hickman 1:15:42

      Yes, yes. Because we started late because of me.

      The hardest thing about stroke


      Bill 1:15:45
      That’s okay. What about what’s the hardest thing about stroke for you

      Toni Hickman 1:15:59

      realizing that it was so important to learn to love myself. Because I was like I said, I was a person somewhat in the limelight. And so now it was this concept of an image that I had to deal with. But there was a time I had gotten braids in my hair, I got brave extensions in my hair because it has started going back. And I remember it made me feel that temporary superficial beauty that I was looking for, but I still had my limp.

      Toni Hickman 1:16:47

      I still have my cane and was still falling that will you know, but it gave me that superficial feeling. And I remember getting in the mirror and looking in the mirror and I just took my braids and I held them. And I got the scissors and I just started cutting the braids out. I just cut them all out.

      Toni Hickman 1:17:12

      And I was like, I love you. I love you. I’m talking to the mirror the whole time. I’m taking my braids out. And I’m like I love you I love you I’m crying I’m having a moment and that was when I realized how important I had to be my computer like I had to I had to take care of my soul.

      The lessons from stroke

      Bill 1:17:40

      What has stroke taught you a similar question but slightly different?

      Toni Hickman 1:17:47

      it’s taught me that life is to be cherished is taught me that I can redefine enjoyment is taught me against all odds. I can still become Yeah, and this taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes, but it’s not okay to wallow in it. It’s not okay to make that my life story. I’m not a victim. I am a conqueror of my bullshit. And even if I have to keep repeating my bullshit until it finally makes me conquer it. That’s okay.

      A message to other stroke survivors

      Bill 1:18:53

      That’s some real modern philosophy. I love it, other people are listening and watching the stroke survivors some of them on the journey for a long time. Some of them just starting. What do you want to tell them?

      Toni Hickman 1:19:12

      No matter what you are going through right now. Do not give up on yourself. And when one door closes another door opens that is a very famous saying but just know that this is temporary what you’re going through and it’s a redirection and you are responsible for figuring out how you’re going to make this your best second chance, your best third chance. Whatever it is like you you can figure it out you have the power because you are God you Are the highest part of yourself, you are God you’re capable.

      Bill 1:20:06

      Toni Hickman, thank you so much for being on the podcast.

      Toni Hickman 1:20:10

      Thank you for having me, Bill. Yes, thank you.

      Bill 1:20:22

      Well, thank you once again for joining me on the Recovery after Stroke podcast. I hope you enjoyed the episode. To get the Amazon links of where to grab a copy of my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened.

      Bill 1:21:41

      Visit the show notes of this episode by going to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes. There you will also be able to learn more about my guests including links to their social media their bio their book, and whatever else it is that I have spoken about during the episode.

      Bill 1:22:02

      Thank you to everyone who has already left a review for my podcast. It means the world to me. Podcasts live and thrive because of reviews. And when you leave a review, you are helping others in need of this type of content to find it easier.

      Bill 1:22:18

      And that’s making a massive benefit to their stroke recovery. If you haven’t left a review and would like to leave a review. The best way to do it is to go to Spotify or iTunes and leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you.

      Bill 1:22:37

      If you’re watching on YouTube comment below the video you’ll note that I respond to all comments on YouTube, like this episode because that helps the algorithm tell other people about the episode. And of course, subscribe to the show on the platform of your choice.

      Bill 1:22:54

      If you subscribe on YouTube do hit the notifications bell so that you’re notified every time a new episode or a new piece of content for me is made available. If you’re a stroke survivor with a story to share about your experience. Come and join me on the show.

      Bill 1:23:09

      The interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them. All you need to do to qualify is be a stroke survivor who wants to share their story in the hope that it’ll help somebody else going through something similar. If you are a researcher who wants to share the findings of a recent study or you are looking to recruit people into studies, you may also wish to reach out and be a guest on my show.

      Bill 1:23:31

      If you have a commercial product that you’d like to promote that is related to helping stroke survivors recover. There is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show. Go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact, fill out the form explaining briefly which category you belong to and I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom. Thank you again for being here and listening are appreciate you see you on the next episode.

      Intro 1:24:02

      Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast or the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

      Intro 1:24:19

      All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.

      Intro 1:24:32

      The content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives.

      Intro 1:24:47

      Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional. Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of medical professionals, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content.

      Intro 1:25:03

      If you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional. If you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department medical information changes constantly.

      Intro 1:25:23

      While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We do not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

      The post Brain Aneurysm survivor – Toni Hickman appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

      1 hr 25 min
    5. Factor V Leiden And Stroke – Abdul Wahed Hassan
      Understanding Factor V Leiden: Causes, Symptoms, and Management
      Introduction

      Factor V Leiden, a genetic disorder affecting blood clotting, has garnered significant attention due to its potential health implications. Our comprehensive guide aims to delve into the intricate details of Factor V Leiden, encompassing its causes, symptoms, and effective management strategies.

      What is Factor V Leiden?

      Factor V Leiden is a hereditary condition that affects blood clotting, stemming from a mutation in the Factor V gene, leading to an increased tendency to form abnormal blood clots in veins. These clots can potentially obstruct proper blood flow, posing serious health risks.

      Causes of Factor V Leiden

      The primary cause of Factor V Leiden lies in a specific gene mutation that affects the protein Factor V, essential for blood clotting regulation. Individuals with this mutation have an altered Factor V protein, increasing the likelihood of blood clot formation.

      Symptoms and Diagnosis

      Symptoms associated with Factor V Leiden might not always manifest, making diagnosis challenging. However, individuals with the disorder might experience swelling, pain, warmth, and redness at the clot site. Diagnostic tests like genetic testing and clotting factor assays aid in confirming the condition.

      Complications and Risks

      Factor V Leiden raises the risk of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). These complications can have severe consequences if not promptly addressed, leading to life-threatening situations.

      Management and Treatment

      Managing Factor V Leiden involves a multidimensional approach. This includes lifestyle modifications, such as regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding smoking. Additionally, individuals might require anticoagulant medications to prevent clotting episodes.

      Preventive Measures

      For individuals with Factor V Leiden, preventive measures play a crucial role. This involves understanding the risk factors and adopting preventive strategies to minimize the likelihood of clot formation. Regular consultations with healthcare professionals are pivotal in managing the condition effectively.

      Conclusion

      Factor V Leiden presents challenges in its diagnosis, management, and potential complications. By understanding its intricacies, adopting preventive measures, and seeking appropriate medical guidance, individuals with this condition can effectively manage their health and reduce associated risks.

      The Interview

      Abdul Wahed Hassan is recovering well from an Ischemic Stroke when he was 32 which was caused by a blood clotting disorder.

      Highlights:

      01:32 Introduction

      02:54 The first signs of stroke
      13:33 Smoking cigarettes before the stroke
      16:19 Dealing with spasticity
      23:01 Factor V Leiden
      31:27 Getting back to work after a stroke
      39:03 Working while on blood thinner medication
      49:15 Getting back independence
      54:20 Hardest thing about having a stroke
      1:03:19 Finding religion after a stroke
      1:07:09 Abdul Wahed Hassan’s message

      Transcript:

      Bill 00:00

      Hello, once again, everybody my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened. A book, which is about recovery after stroke is now available for purchase on Amazon.

      Bill 00:14

      In the book, you will find chapters on mindset, the brain that resides in your heart. Yes, the brain that resides in your heart, as well as the brain that resides in your gut. That’s it, your gut brain.

      Bill 00:27

      You will also learn about the benefits and downsides of Neuroplasticity, you will learn about the benefits of getting better sleep, you’ll find out about the food you should be avoiding after stroke, you will find out about the amazing benefits you get from the smallest amount of exercise and I’m talking about small amounts of exercise.

      Bill 00:48

      And I’m talking about it doesn’t matter whether you’re able to walk, run, move your left side, move outside, it doesn’t matter the smallest amount of exercise even sitting is very, very beneficial. You will learn about following your heart’s desires and how that can lead to amazing things in your life.

      Bill 01:08

      And you will also learn about the amazing and positive benefits you get from surrounding yourself with the right people in your recovery. And you may even stumble across your life’s purpose.

      Bill 01:23

      If you are interested in checking out the book and you want more information go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book to learn more.

      Introduction – Abdul Wahed Hassan

      Bill 01:32

      Now, this is episode 285. And my guest today is Abdul Wahed Hassan who experienced an ischemic stroke in 2018, caused by a previously undiagnosed genetic condition called Factor V Leiden when he was just 32 years of age, man, there are way too many ways for people to experience a stroke. Abdul Wahed Hassan, welcome to the podcast.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 01:59

      Thank you very much.

      Bill 02:01

      Thank you for being here. Tell me a little bit about what happened to you.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 02:08

      In 2018, April 17 I would say, can’t remember if it was 17 or 18. It was by the end of April. But two months after my birthday, I was working on living in Dubai UAE, having my own business, a small startup. A friend of mine called me and asked me to go out for dinner.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 02:32

      It was a famous chain Chili’s, I believe? Had my dinner, went back home, and went to sleep. I was living in my friend’s apartment because that time I left my previous job, I was working in construction. So went back home and just started sleeping, woke up early for the next day to go to work at my office.

      The first signs of stroke

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 02:54

      I remember waking up I believe I talked to my mom she was in Canada for a visit to her parents, her family with my dad, and my brother lives up there. I was food poisoned when she called me. I was in Dubai and spent most of my time drinking, smoking, and eating during my free time if not doing sports.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 03:18

      So I had some diarrhea and threw up, rushed to the toilet, threw up, one bath, to nap, went back up decided to see if I could just probably try to feel better trying to throw up again or get myself comfortable.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 03:34

      Sat down in the toilet, everything was fine. I stood up and I was exhausted. I was like damn like this is hitting me hard, must be a bedbug. I was out of balance. Put it that way. So I started sleeping in the hallway between the toilet and the bedroom.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 03:59

      I laid down there then I remembered that. I left the keys on the doormat for the cleaning lady to come in and clean the house that day. She comes once a week. I’m like you know what maybe when she comes in, just tell her to clean around.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 04:18

      I’ll just stand up and just go back to bed and she can clean the rest of the apartment. I did hear the doorbell ringing and she was knocking on the door. I wasn’t able to do anything much I decided just to like just sleep.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 04:33

      She’ll walk in, the keys under the doormat, she knows the drill so I wanted to yell to open the door to tell her that the kids are under the doormat. I could not hear my voice. I remember opening my mouth and trying to yell and scream.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 04:50

      I remember I was drooling. I believe I was drooling because I was itchy so I felt it was wet. I wasn’t sure if I was having a stroke or not. I mean, if I was having a seizure, because you know when you have a seizure, later on, I discovered what a seizure feels like. I was able to explain it.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 05:12

      It was like a white noise. Like, I can’t hear anything. It’s like it’s you know when you start to start to have that white noise. It was pretty much something similar. She walked in she saw me on the ground. She’s like, Sir, are you okay? Are you drunk? I’m like, no, I’m just tired.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 05:30

      Just clean the house. And when you finish and come to the toilet, I’ll just move away. Look, it’s okay, sir. I’ll help you. About 190 kilograms. I was out of shape. I was not in good condition.

      Bill 05:52

      190 kilograms, 109.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 05:56

      Sorry, I would say about 140. Because right now I’m 120. She’s like, sorry, I can’t move you I have to call security to help you out, I’m like okay, sure why not, they can help me. They came in, and two gentlemen in the building security walked in they were like sir we can’t did you drink too much?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 05:57

      I’m like, No, I didn’t drink I just went to the toilet threw up and everything was fine. I just felt very tired. Just let me sleep, come back later. Like, no we can’t leave you like this. The security guys were not able to lift me out to put me in bed.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 06:38

      They lifted me a little bit off the ground. But I wasn’t able to move my knees and my legs. They put them back on the ground. Like, we have to call an ambulance. I’m like okay. Before they called the ambulance they called two of my friends.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 06:56

      I had an emergency contact at the building. One of my fries I was over the phone. He’s like, Hey, man, you sure you’re okay. I’m okay I just want to sleep it off. Just tired. A buddy of mine goes out and drinks too much together and he knows like, when I’m okay, I’m not okay on a drunk level, not a medical level.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 07:20

      Like, okay, man, whatever you want, they called my other good friend. He came over to my apartment, he was my partner at my company as well at that time. He starts talking me into going to the hospital I’m like okay man it’s okay.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 07:37

      It’s not okay man your face is not right. When he said that, it’s when it triggered me. I was like, You know what? Okay. The ambulance came in and started asking me too many questions. Asked if I was doing drugs, did I drink?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 07:51

      I was very straightforward. I’m like, No, I just went to the toilet, threw up. Little diarrhea. It’s not the first time that has happened. So they got this machine that they roll like a pizza roll slicer with pinches on it. They asked me if I felt anything about it.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 08:12

      We’re going to try to pinch you to see if you feel anything. They’re like, do you feel this? I’m like, No. Do you feel this? No. I heard over the radio that American adults possibly have strokes. Like we have to take you to the hospital. Okay, they put me on the stretcher. Once they put me on to the CT scan that big round machine. It’s when I knew shit hit the fan. Something was seriously going on.

      Bill 08:45

      And how old were you?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 08:47

      32 right after my birthday.

      Bill 08:51

      So you were lucky that it was the day of the cleaning lady. That was lucky. Otherwise, you could have been there for days.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 09:04

      Days. Yeah. Because my friend who I was staying over his apartment. He traveled for vacation with his cousins to Morocco very far away. So he’ll probably come back and find me lying down probably dead or rotten.

      Bill 09:20

      Nobody knows. Yeah. Well, that worked out well. So how long did you spend in the hospital?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 09:27

      At that time, say about three weeks, three to four weeks, not more than that. My family had to fly in from Canada to see what was going on. My brother at that time was working in Qatar. And there was the sanction on Qatar from the Gulf countries. So it was very hard for him to fly directly to Qatar. So he had to fly to another country. I think it was Bahrain, Oman, and then into Dubai.

      Bill 09:54

      And what was the reason for the stroke? What caused the underlying reason

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 09:59

      I remember very much that day, not that day. But that month at first they couldn’t find out what was the reason for the stroke. One of my friends always knew that my eating habits were not healthy. And the way I drank alcohol was very abusive, and not healthy. He is one of the nurses. He’s like, there was probably a weekend like this, his clothes are high. Is that what the reason is? Because like, one of the nurses was like his glasses, not that high to have a stroke.

      Bill 10:31

      Your weight was 140 kilos, so about 300 pounds at that weight. Have you been at that weight for a long time? Was that your normal weight?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 10:43

      No, that was for a while, I would say for about seven years. I was seven years in Dubai since I was like probably 21 years old, up until I was 30. I was in Dubai since I wanted to buy from 2009 to 2018. Right, my weight was pretty much stable. Probably it was less. But with my mild depression and anxiety that I went through that period. Everything pretty much triggered everything. I was a heavy smoker as well.

      Bill 11:15

      So did you use substances and food as a way to try and regulate your anxiety?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 11:25

      Pretty much food coffee? Yes. And then cigarettes.

      Bill 11:31

      So there were a lot of things that you were doing that weren’t supporting your health and well-being anyway. But yeah. But 32 the stroke was not related to high cholesterol or high blood pressure or anything like that.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 11:47

      No, I never had high blood pressure. Never had diabetes or any sugar problem. I was doing this for about a year, I joined a gym in Dubai, it was a boxing gym, with intense cardio therapy, intense cardio for about 40 minutes, and then another 40 minutes of boxing combination. That was probably the best thing that I went through at that time. And I believe when I started that gym, I stopped smoking cold turkey.

      Bill 12:22

      How long have you been without cigarettes?

      Intro 12:26

      If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. How long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, doctors will explain things.

      Intro 12:46

      But, if you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask. If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

      Intro 13:10

      These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke. They’ll not only help you better understand your condition, but they’ll also help you take a more active role in your recovery. Head to the website now, recoveryafterstroke.com, and download the guide. It’s free.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 13:27

      I struggled before that.

      Bill 13:31

      Before the stroke, how long had it been?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan smoking cigarettes before the stroke

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 13:33

      Before the stroke? I was smoking since pretty much in college when I was like probably 19 for about five, or six good years. I was on and off. But at the end of it right before my stroke, I was a heavy smoker. Reach up to two packs of cigarettes a day.

      Bill 13:52

      But then you started the gym?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 13:54

      When I started the gym, two years before my stroke, I stopped cigarettes. Yeah.

      Bill 14:00

      Okay, so you weren’t smoking for two years before the stroke. And then you had the stroke. And then you stayed in the hospital when you left the hospital? What was it like?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 14:12

      When I left the hospital I did not leave it. I stayed in the country. My parents came. I’m originally from Lebanon. But my parents and everyone suggested that I should go to Lebanon from the hospital.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 14:26

      It’s better treatment Dubai was not very accommodating to me in my condition at that time. And I was online and didn’t have very much financial power to get treatment there and move on. There’s my parents sort of took me to Lebanon to Beirut, where there was physical therapy and rehab for stroke patients.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 14:57

      I was there for about I’d say about a month and a half, about good eight weeks, I stayed they’re doing all kinds of tests to see what was going on with me couldn’t find anything. But there was a paper that said, we’re going to take a sample of your blood and send it to Europe to see if there is anything wrong there.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 15:26

      The paper did say Factor V Leiden, which is the blood clot disorder. But the doctors didn’t take it very seriously at that time. They just looked at it and ignored it pretty much. So I left the hospital and then six months after that, I was trying to go through various kinds of rehabilitation.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 15:51

      I did go to Germany twice. One for my occupational therapy and one for physical therapy. didn’t benefit too much because my spasms were too severe. There was a doctor and in Lebanon, when she looked at my condition, she refused to work on me. She’s like, your spasm is way too severe, she wasn’t able to.

      Bill 16:16

      What do you mean by spasm?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan dealing with spasticity

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 16:19

      Spasm?

      Bill 16:20

      Yeah, we’re about is that spasticity?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 16:23

      Yeah, my arm.

      Bill 16:25

      Which side left or right?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 16:26

      Left.

      Bill 16:28

      And is it still like that now?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 16:31

      It’s not as severe as it used to be, but it’s gone. Almost, not really. It’s still spasm. I get spasticity. I can’t move my arm. I haven’t moved it since my stroke.

      Bill 16:46

      Okay. And do you feel that the care that you were hoping to get in Dubai wasn’t available to you? Because you weren’t a local? And also maybe because you didn’t have insurance? Why do you feel like there wasn’t enough care?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 17:02

      It wasn’t my decision at that time in Dubai, I wasn’t able to make any decisions on myself. So in Lebanon, pretty much my parents tried to assist me with physical rehab and treatments and everything up until nine months after my stroke.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 17:21

      Started feeling like abdominal pain. I remember my cousin came over for a visit, took me out for sushi, and came back home. And then suddenly, I feel like something is wrong with my stomach. Thought it was a bug or flu or something.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 17:37

      It kind of scared me because it reminded me of my stroke in Dubai, it was right after my food poison. That pain kind of started spreading around my chest, especially more to more to the right side. Right under my ribcage.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 17:54

      The low last one of the rib was kind of like sharp pain. It wasn’t like that for about four days, starting screaming and yelling. To a point, my parents got scared of the way I started screaming and shouting from the pain.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 18:13

      So what I was able to do was take my medication, which is there, they gave me like typical and other depression and depressive medications. And closer on medications. That was everything that was on at that time.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 18:31

      They rushed me to the hospital, they did an x-ray on my chest. They said everything was fine. Went back home, and the pain was even worse the next day, I went back to another hospital. And the nurse was sitting there with my mom.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 18:47

      And he looked at me and asked me like did you stop any medication? I looked at her I was like, I don’t know. I’m not handling all these things on my right now. I wasn’t like having a stroke. I’m not aware of what’s going on with myself in my surroundings.

      Bill 19:03

      It’s a big problem when you have a stroke, and you’re trying to be alert and do all the things but you have cognitive fatigue, you have all sorts of deficits as a result of your stroke. You’re not the best person to make all the necessary steps and decisions just simply because you’ve been affected by a stroke.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 19:26

      Yeah, I thought it was something I’m gonna get better within a week or two. Yeah, like a disease is gonna come and go with a vaccine or something. Yeah. I was still not into that state of mind of understanding what stroke is what to do, and what the effect how it affects you in the long run.

      Bill 19:49

      And then what happened with the pain in your abdomen?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 19:52

      When the nurse gave me a bunch of aspirin? My mom looked at me and said, Yeah, the doctor in Beirut made him stop the blood thinners. So he gave me a bunch of aspirin, baby aspirin. But he feels better.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 20:07

      I’m like, I’m not sure it’s like, Can you lift it but I wasn’t able to lift my legs to get into a CT scan? Was the pain that severe? Is like you, if you don’t mind, I want to take it to a different room, I will do some tests on you I’m like Sure. If it helps, why not?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 20:23

      I was able to lift my legs. He got some kind of machine like an echo. He ran around my lungs. He’s like, there it is. Then when she’s like, what’s that? Like? They’re like shattered clots. And also milk to my mind was like, not a lot of people survived.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 20:43

      They put me in the CT scan again. It was very clear I was having a pulmonary embolism, B. And, of course, were started in my hip to my life. And I was like blaming myself like, is it because I took that cigarette again, my friends do the heavy smokers. So I started to have a cigarette, I wanted to feel young again.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 21:11

      So let me have a cigarette. And I was in a severe depression at that time. After my stroke in about a couple of months, I was sleeping at five in the morning, waking up the next day at probably two o’clock in the afternoon.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 21:31

      Wasting my day not doing exercise not doing anything. That was my routine for about six months. So I kind of like blame myself for that. Then I saw a hematologist in Lebanon after the hospital, who put me in the ICU for about one week. I was monitored for about one week.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 21:55

      I’m like this is it, I’m going to die. That pain is now slowly still slowly gone away, I was still in pain in the ICU. They couldn’t do much the kid just gave me painkillers were not an option. So I had a mask on for the oxygen to help me breathe better, make sure that the costs of and they’re constantly taken blood samples.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 22:22

      They wanted to put me on warfarin then doctors changed my medication to a different brand, which doesn’t allow me to take blood tests and constantly check the consistency of my blood. So I stayed on that for about another couple of months.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 22:40

      And the situation in Lebanon politically was not very good. My brother lived here in Dallas. Well, I mean Texas, Dallas. So we decided to move back here to the States and probably seek better treatment and more stability and safety reasons, which was much better than Lebanon.

      Factor V Leiden

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 23:00

      So I saw a hematologist and I asked him like nobody gave me a clear answer about my stroke. So he asked me for my previous reports, and I gave him everything I had that paper says Factor V Leiden, you’re eight times more likely to have a stroke than any normal human being.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 23:22

      I’m like so couldn’t be the alcohol and smoking, probably smoking a little bit. I’m like, I also had had a history of anxiety and stress. Like that also triggers the opposite much factors that could trigger the blood to clot.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 23:38

      I thought I was going to stop blood thinners he’s like you have to go to stay on them for a very long time over the rest of your life. I’d not argue not in a position to argue when I’m in. When I have a condition like that. That’s a treatment. I’ll go for it. Since that day, spasms have reduced my arm until today.

      Bill 23:59

      What kind of what kind of work were you doing? In Dubai?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 24:03

      I was in construction. As a site coordinator for a company that does drywall, they work on churches, mosques, hotels, and residences. Everything related to gypsum work.

      Bill 24:22

      And have you been able to go back to work since 2018?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 24:28

      Not until last year. When my because my draw foot is not helping me very much. Last year, I had a friend from New Jersey come over he’s a pilot, best friend of mine. He suggested that try to fly to a call center on his computer. He works in an aviation company based in Dallas. I applied for that position. I got accepted.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 24:56

      I went there, to see if I was capable of working and starting My life again. I wasn’t there. At the start, it was a little tense for me because of high-rise buildings and anything high for me. I started to develop like a vertical. Like right after my stroke I was able to get on my escalator and got to move here on my own too.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 25:17

      That was my sort of entertainment for myself. But CES last year, that was not the condition. If I go to the mall, I can’t get on an escalator. I just get stiff. I can’t move can’t walk can lift my leg muscles bells in Walsall, my left leg.

      Bill 25:40

      Do you think that’s related to your anxiety? Or is it something else?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 25:45

      It’s great for the stroke because some muscles I can’t control don’t allow me to control my muscles. I couldn’t bend my knee very much at that time, so anything very high from a first floor looking down. It’s scary. I mean, believe me, I want to see Spider-Man with my brother. The scenes when he flies from unbelief to the other. That kind of scares me and gives me anxiety.

      Bill 26:13

      Right? Just the movie.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 26:16

      Just the movie looking at dimensions. It’s kind of weird. I don’t know why. But it happened.

      Bill 26:25

      And you’ve not been in that situation before the stroke didn’t bother you previously.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 26:29

      No before the stroke, I was working in Dubai in high-rising buildings. Like the 40 floor. I was living on the 30/23 floor in Dubai. And I stick my head over the balcony with no problem. But with time which started last actually a couple of months ago, I was able to find a drop foot to air to help me with my ankle stability and walk better. Kinda pretty much-fixed part of the problem. Because when I’m off balance, worried about my ankle. Twisting stats are very scary for me.

      Bill 27:15

      Were you able to go and work in a call center?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 27:23

      Yeah, I used a walker to assist me in moving around the building inside the park and outside the park and just being mobile inside the building helped me to go through. I didn’t work for 10 weeks and did not complete the training for a reason that they had. It was very hard for me to I mean, my memory was not affected.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 27:48

      It got stronger. I remember very sharp things from before my stroke and during my stroke. But I also have a history of ADD. I can see that. I still carry that to today. It reduced I can concentrate with no problem for a long time if something interests me. However, I was working on an airline airline required me to memorize city codes from all over the globe.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 28:23

      Doing over 501 At least to pass the assessment, I wasn’t able to do that. So that did not qualify me to move on with my career at the call center. So I left for whatever reason there is. But now I started the job about three weeks ago at a supermarket. As a cashier, I assist people with the self-checkout machines at the supermarket.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 28:54

      So it kind of keeps me walking around between machines and assisting people. It’s not a career to develop in the future, I would say but it helps with my recovery. Yeah. It kind of keeps my brain distracted. So I feel my arm is more relaxed when I work about after a couple of hours. That’s a plus for me.

      Bill 29:18

      Is it easy to get to from where you’re living?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 29:22

      It’s not very far. I can drive now. I started last year since I was seizure-free for about three months. For three years. My daughter was like you’re okay to drive.

      Bill 29:34

      There’s something really important about being able to get back to work. I know a lot of stroke survivors. You know, they desperately need to go back to work for financial reasons.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 29:45

      Because Because you’re pretty much putting your life on hold. When you have a stroke. You have no financial control and no mobility control there is you’re very limited on what you have to do.

      Bill 29:58

      As a result of that getting Back to work does seem to help a lot of people to boost their recovery and emotional well-being. Their psychological well-being, does a lot of things to support people. Sometimes people go back to work early, and they find themselves a little bit fatigued, or they feel like they went back a little too early. Did you when you went back for the first few days? Did you notice any serious levels of fatigue, or how were you the next day,

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 30:32

      I wouldn’t say it was serious it was it took me a while to adjust because my sleep cycle was very bad right after my stroke. Up until this year, I was able to constantly wake up on a routine six in the morning and sleep in the evening.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 30:52

      Just like I was trying to get myself prepared in case I find a job that allows me to do what I can do at the time with limited mobility, whether it’s in an office or at home. So I pretty much trained myself because after the stroke, what I try to understand is you have to train your brain to do something new.

      Bill 31:12

      So how long have you been at the supermarket now?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 31:16

      But three weeks? One’s started last month in November. Sorry, in October. Yeah. By the end of October, I started.

      Getting back to work after a stroke

      Bill 31:27

      Okay. So it’s been nearly two months. That’s great. I went back to work in an office, a very low-level admin job for about three years, as well. So previously, I was in not construction, but a property maintenance business, and we do a lot of painting and repairs, on people’s homes and in different buildings.

      Bill 31:54

      And I couldn’t go back to that for many years. But I did three years in an office where I was just doing paying people’s wages, payroll, and all that kind of stuff, and doing pricing and all sorts of different things. But it wasn’t very complicated to make it difficult for me to do or achieve.

      Bill 32:20

      And that’s why I chose it because it was going to be easy. All I had to do was turn up, then all I had to do was go home. I didn’t take any work home with me, there was none of that. And for three years, it was a really good, easy way back into the workforce and recovery.

      Bill 32:41

      It helped get my mind focusing again, it helped me have a good routine, and interact with people and do all of those things, which was beneficial. But, it wasn’t a long-term thing. But I did it for as long as I needed to feel comfortable about the whole going back to work thing.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 33:04

      I mean, it’s funny, I didn’t meet too many people who had a stroke. And up until I started my work. At the supermarket. There was a there’s a lady associate of mine. at the cash register, she’s retired. The way she said that she had a stroke, a brain bleed in the 90s when she was about 40 years old.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 33:30

      So if you do the math, she’s not young this time. And she had a stroke in her 40s. I had my stroke in the early 30s. And when I look at her going on her break the way she walks talks and it’s like nothing’s wrong with it. So I have high hopes that up pretty much recovered as much as she did, but I don’t know how massive her stroke was. Well, mine was pretty bad.

      Bill 33:57

      Yeah. Where were in the head with the clock go Do you know which part of the brain it was impacted?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 34:06

      I know it’s on the right side because it’s affecting my left arm. It’s pretty much on the back. But I’m not very sure, to be honest. I do have the scan. It’s overseas is dark. Sometimes I think like there’s no brain there.

      Bill 34:23

      Okay, so there was a lot of shadowing on the scan.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 34:28

      Very to a large part. Yeah. And my neurologist says, since he figured out that I had the blood clot disorder, he’s like, you probably had those clots since you were in high school and developed until you’re at that age because typically when my hematologist said that whoever cares that genuinely Sawyer, basically they have the cloth and I don’t know all the age in life, probably over 60 They have the clock

      Bill 35:01

      But there’s a sense there’s a feeling that maybe there were older clots occurring or strokes happening when you were younger, but you just weren’t aware of it.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 35:11

      It was possible because it’s not only one clot, it’s just the whole area that was developing the clots.

      Bill 35:21

      Did you have any symptoms before that? Thinking back, knowing what you know, now, that was a sign that something was happening. Any ideas? Any times when you felt strange? And you thought that it was nothing major, but maybe it was a stroke?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 35:40

      I could not say No, I couldn’t was not aware of anything happening. I was concentrating fifth, getting my life back in a better condition. I have been seeing a single counselor for some time. I was food binging I had mild depression at that time I was on antidepressant medication. And stimulants as well for add to help with my morning, and my attitude at that time.

      Bill 36:11

      That does add effect you what does it do to people,

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 36:15

      it is pretty much when someone can sit down and concentrate on one thing, completing a task. But the way it was explained to me is that it’s the way the subconscious works, it distracts you from doing something.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 36:33

      So you can have a break out of the medical term for exactly what I have done since I was in middle school. And I was on stimulants since and it’s pretty much the medication, the stimulants, they pretty much like injecting your body with coffee that keeps you hyped up and aware of something and gets you interested in doing things and completing the task.

      Bill 36:56

      Did you find that those stimulants work for you in a way that they did help?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 37:01

      At that time? Yes, in high school, it did assist me with completing my job to graduate at least.

      Bill 37:10

      In the construction industry, with the plasterwork that you were doing with the drywall, does ADD impact your being able to do that job properly?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 37:22

      Not very much never marched because, inside the construction, you’re always distracted with sound, including tasks. So it did not affect me at that time. I did study graphic design but I could not accomplish it. Even when I was doing freelancing. After I finished college, I wasn’t able to complete a project unless I was using symbols.

      Bill 37:56

      So it’s sitting is it for you sitting down tasks. Doing that kind of computer work or handwritten work that types of things that you’re distracted that you found that you were getting distracted from not the physical tasks like applying drywall or plaster onto a wall.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 38:17

      Wasn’t working as an operator in construction as a site coordinator, or side by side with an engineer completing tasks on time making sure the project finishes on time, and doing quality control.

      Bill 38:33

      So that didn’t distract you from those tasks, keeping people on unscheduled.

      Bill 38:35

      On that kind of job, no.

      Bill 38:36

      Interesting. So I imagine there was a lot of paperwork involved with that though. A lot of emails, a lot of computer work.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 38:50

      Very much. Yeah. Statements and all these contracts stuff. Yep.

      Bill 38:58

      Compliance issues, etc. You didn’t have any challenges, completing those tasks?

      Working while on blood thinner medication

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 39:04

      Not at all. But since that’s not an option for me to do now to work in construction, and for my safety and since I’m on blood thinners and if I fall, that’s considered a serious thing, which happened to me about a week ago, walking in the office wanted to finish something and I just tripped over the curb over the sidewalk and fell.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 39:29

      I was completely anxious for about a couple of days. Weary to feel the headache, which never happened because I never bumped my head into anything. Just think anxiety still comes and goes but not as much as before, because I pretty much tried to train myself and I’m very grateful that one of my aunts introduced me to one of our life coaches, which I find very important.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 39:55

      To assist me to self developing myself, controlling my emotions, and controlling my mind Abbott’s to learn a lot from them. Pretty much to self-motivate yourself and that would assist to move on in life. Because pretty much after my stroke, I carried everything before my stroke until today, my anxiety my not my depression, which I was able to get over, which is very important because otherwise, it would end for me very good for anyone.

      Bill 40:24

      Yeah. When you fall over, is it concerned that you’ll have a bleed or something will continue to bleed a cut or something?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 40:34

      Absolutely. Because being on blood thinners, it’s very hard to stop the bleeding, especially if it’s severe. But great, thank God, it wasn’t very severe. It’s just a little scratch block that came out. It stopped immediately.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 40:46

      So just so bandage did the job, but on the headband on blood thinners, or a serious cut. That’s when you’d see a special or go to a Care Center. And I constantly like any kind of pain, I feel like immediately go to the hospital. Because I don’t want to assume like when I assumed I had stomach pain, and then after the stroke, another stroke on the way

      Bill 41:18

      for somebody who lived outside of the United States in Dubai. And then you come back to the United States. Are you covered medically? Do you have insurance that covers all of that?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 41:31

      What it’s a brain injury, I’m considered to have medical insurance because I contributed with my taxpayer. When I was in high school, I went to New Jersey about 20 years ago, I studied there while I was studying I did a part-time job which allowed me to contribute the tax payment into the system. So I have Medicaid, which is a government insurance. Okay.

      Bill 42:02

      So you have some kind of a level of insurance and cover for your hospital visits and you’re yes definitely

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 42:09

      does. Yeah, definitely. Because without that I will not be able to live medication itself. The blood thinners that I take are not very cheap.

      Bill 42:20

      Was it easy to go back to the United States as far as were you an American citizen? As a result, it was an easy entry or did you have any difficulties getting back in there?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 42:29

      It was very easy for me. I mean, I’m an American citizen. So I’m pretty much coming back home. So okay. I did have a little trip with the security guys at the airport. It’s my stamp has a lot of my American passport has a lot of stamps in Lebanon.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 42:48

      So that raised a lot of questions. And since my stroke, I usually typically know when I introduce myself to people I apologize in advance for my unfiltered mouth kind of picked that habit up so my name doesn’t make anything easy.

      Bill 43:09

      Your name, your location at travel, etc. But the fact that you’re an American citizen doesn’t play some kind of a part in making life a bit easier.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 43:21

      It does. It does contribute to being a citizen of a country and getting the benefits and treatment needed as a citizen. It’s a big plus.

      Bill 43:33

      Yeah, yeah. So you’re living now with your brother? Is that right?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 43:41

      My parents and one of my siblings. I have another sibling who lives in Canada. Which I go visit once a year. I have family in Canada. My mom’s family?

      Bill 43:54

      Do you feel you can’t live on your own at the moment independently?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 44:01

      I believe I can. I mean, I live my life with a one-hand purse on one hand the person I’m married to is my specificity so everything I do with one hand I can drive. Last year I was able to get my driver’s license.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 44:17

      This year I was able to restrict my driver’s license to use a steering knob with digital turn signals provided by the state government the assessment for Texas Workforce in their assists people with disability to get back to employment and get into the does a normal life a very good program over here.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 44:48

      If they started anything related to bringing me back to employment they would assist me with driving is one of the things that’s essential for me to go to work. So restricting my driver’s license allows me to add an attachment to modify my vehicle so I can drive safely while struggling on the highway. It’s a little stressful for me not to be able to give a turn soon at the last minute, it’s pretty dangerous. And Texas highways are pretty high speed by 85 miles an hour, some highways.

      Bill 45:25

      So you’re driving with one hand, you can access all of the turn signals and all of the necessary standard turn signals. So right, how have they been adjusted? You say digitally? Is there a button that is on your steering wheel? How does that work?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 45:45

      You know, the knob you attach? It has a turn signals. It’s a digital.

      Bill 45:51

      Aha has a turn signal installed on the knobs now.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 45:55

      Yeah, it’s German-made, I believe.

      Bill 45:59

      In the past, they were just a knob to help people with the actual steering wheel.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 46:04

      Yeah, I have that now. And, my mom’s mother’s vehicle was I’m still waiting for approval. And it’s a process that takes time with the gun work. So I joined now with a steering wheel they called Suicide Knob I don’t know why.

      Bill 46:22

      I don’t know why either. That’s crazy that they call it that. So you can’t just go and buy one and put one of those on your steering wheel, you have to go through a process of approval and so on.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 46:37

      It will be a smart way to go through a process because it’s not very cheap to install that. It’s a $5,000 device, basically, with installation.

      Bill 46:50

      Is it? Just a steering wheel knob?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 46:53

      Steering wheel knob that’s digital, attach it and my car is not brand new. So it takes a long process to do that. And usually when you restrict your driver’s license here in the state of Texas, or even in the United States, the advantages other than tax relief on the vehicle when you purchase, it’s when you get into a car accident. If I totaled the car, and God forbid I had someone, who had severe damage with death, it would save me from going to jail.

      Bill 47:28

      So the reason is litigious, it’s a safety first, it’s to assess the situation, make sure that you’re eligible, if you are eligible, then make sure that you’re also covered in the event of a collision, that you’re not automatically the person at fault, because you’ve broken the law.

      Bill 47:51

      And you’ve interfered with the stock standard vehicle and you’ve modified it. So what they want to do is make sure that you’re covered every step of the way, as well as doing it in an approved manner. That’s safe.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 48:09

      Right? I would say so.

      Bill 48:12

      Okay, that makes complete sense. I like that idea. But does it take a little bit of time to get that all approved and get it over the line?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 48:21

      It does take quite a time. I mean, they did assist me with having driving lessons, they want to check if I’m physically able to get in the car and drive. And the checkpoint ignition, my focus on driving and I took I pretty much went back to being in high school learning how to drive from ground zero.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 48:44

      And I did probably need that kind of lesson to learn new things driving, like accelerating on the yield sign and exiting the highway and getting onto the highway. Those are things I was never aware of, even before my stroke. Okay, to kind of learn new things. So that’s pretty important, too, for safety reasons. I mean, I learned to drive, from Brazil.

      Getting back independence

      Bill 49:15

      So it’s positive in many ways. It’s giving you your independence back but also, you learned a few things that you didn’t know you needed to know. That’s awesome. So, now that you have your independence how has that improved your life? What has that changed for you?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 49:34

      What first start, I’m able to go to my physicians on my own. I’m looking to start my career. I believe you’re gonna have to go back to college. That’s a good start to do you have to start over I believe because for me stroke is getting born again with rebirth. If you think about it when you first have your stroke, your arms, the spasticity, it’s all interior inside your body, just the same way you were born, your brain hibernates and shuts down.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 50:04

      So you need to start again, retrain your brain to do new things to solve while talking, and think through the struggle, and is a very challenging time, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Because adjusting to something new in your life, it’s not easy. You start questioning why this happened to me not, it’s not very good to feel envious, whether this guy’s healthy or not.

      Bill 50:39

      It’s not good. Understandably, sometimes you will ask yourself, why mayor that

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 50:46

      if I serve, I mean, I was having a good life. I mean, when I went when I was fired from my previous job in Dubai, I started my own business. Yeah, it wasn’t going well for about a year and a half. But as soon as it started to get better, I had a stroke. I mean, it’s unfair.

      Bill 51:02

      It is very shit. So interestingly, when I was working in my painting business, I had probably about six or seven years before the stroke, while I was running that business. And maybe about eight or nine. It was a hard slog because I started my business around just a few years before the global financial crisis.

      Bill 51:31

      So we were only operating for a short amount of time before the global financial crisis hit. And then there was a lot of difficulty obtaining work and quality work and well-paid work. We got through that. And then I started to get my feet on the ground. I started to learn about business and started to get advice from people about how to go about business.

      Bill 51:53

      And I remember about a week before I ended up in hospital, I landed the biggest job I’ve ever landed. So in 2012, we landed a job that was worth $170,000. That was awake before I ended up in the hospital. And as a result of ending up in hospital, I couldn’t do the job. And it was similar to what you’re describing, you know, we worked so hard, it got to that point.

      Bill 52:21

      I was fully in, we were employing people. We were doing good business, we had good clients, we had everything that I could have ever wanted from a business. And then within a week, I was in the hospital, and everything was gone, I had nothing, and it was really difficult to get my head around that.

      Bill 52:41

      And that would have been a very good windfall, we would have made some good profit on that we would have created great relationships, and that would have changed the kind of work that I was doing. And just within one moment, I ended up without all of that, which is okay, I’m grateful that I’m still alive. I’m grateful that I still have my family.

      Bill 53:05

      And I’ve been able to recover for many years since 2012. You know, nearly I’m nearly at the 14-year mark. So a lot of positives have come out of my recovery. But I did spend some time thinking about all the things that I had lost at the beginning, you do that you spend a little bit of time thinking about what could have been.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 53:32

      Now I’m starting to understand that thinking about things that you lost, that’s a waste of time. Whether you’re a stroke patient or your stroke, you had a stroke or you don’t smooth it’s about all about moving forward to distract yourself. Because thinking about the past while that happened, and what I lost in that period. You can always make it up by putting effort and energy into doing something better in the future.

      Bill 53:58

      I agree with them. But it’s okay that people get a little bit shitty about the situation, especially at the beginning, because it’s a big shock and you have to adjust and you have to find a new way to do yourself and to overcome all your challenges.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 54:13

      Absolutely.

      The hardest thing about having a stroke for Abdul Wahed Hassan

      Bill 54:18

      Tell me about what you feel is the hardest thing about a stroke.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 54:24

      Spasticity is probably one of the hardest things because you very much need to walk and grab things. Driving is one thing. I mean, I was a pianist, I was good at playing the piano. That’s one thing I miss a lot of things you miss those are the hard things things that you do the most you miss.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 54:46

      Exercising, like for example boxing I was doing before my stroke. It was pretty much a stress relief. Gets the devil out of you. I remember watching your bag, finance It’s good, whether it’s healthy or not, by my condition. It doesn’t matter. But if it releases stress, and it helps assist with my mood and spirit and sees mine as something I miss, I would say so.

      Bill 55:17

      You don’t think you can punch a bag now, even with one arm?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 55:21

      One arm it is but it’s different with two just to put it all in one bag.

      Bill 55:31

      What’s something that stroke has taught you if anything,

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 55:34

      Patience. Patience is very important. I mean, I’m not a religious person. Actually. Now I am. I wasn’t before my stroke up until I had my pulmonary embolism in the ICU after they showered me. I’m a Muslim.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 55:49

      So before praying, you have to perform the abolition, cleansing water after they showered me that night, in that I prayed for the first time in my life. I probably wouldn’t be younger, probably 10 years old. But during that time, I never prayed, I prayed that day.

      Bill 56:11

      Can you tell us what you prayed for?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 56:13

      My survival, to do something good in life? I wanted to do that. Since that day, right before my stroke and a couple of months ago, I started writing a dream diary. I found that very interesting. There was a dream that I had gotten stuck in my head I couldn’t forget it. So I decided Why not to write a diary and hopefully one day write a book out of it.

      Bill 56:36

      That’s a great idea.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 56:37

      my stroke. I’ve been having dreams. I’m unable to explain or interpret

      Bill 56:45

      Yeah, that’s a great idea. Tell me about your. So you were raised as a Muslim, and you understood the concept of God about the faith that you were raised in and taught about. And then what happened do you think between the ages of 10 and 32? Do you feel like you just drifted away from it, or you didn’t?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 57:09

      I was a kid. Being 14 years old, I drifted pretty much drifted away. I couldn’t understand life at that time. There is no pressure in life. I have two jobs only study wake up early go to school. That was my job up until I was pretty much 20 years old. And right after my stroke, I consider myself to be an affliction. Why? Because it’s a test for the afterlife. Okay, I mean, like each other if you’re Christian, but yeah, the book of Job, you can learn a lot from that.

      Bill 57:45

      I’m Christian, but I’m a little bit like you I’m a little bit disconnected from my religion. But I haven’t put a lot of time and effort into understanding all of the differences.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 57:55

      Because I find the book of Job very interesting. I mean, in high school, we did a play. And that play was the book of Job was the sort of job. And for some reason, my teacher decided that I should be the speaker of God as God speaking to Job, I wasn’t very good at that. That’s kind of triggered after my stroke. So to remember things like back in high school, like, there has to be a meaning that means something and spirit wise spirit, like dreams, for example.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 58:30

      I like I like I don’t know what dreams they are. Nobody knows what they are. Nobody can define dreams. But I like to believe that dreams are something when your soul leaves your body when you sleep, you’re pretty much dead. So your soul leaves your body and meets other souls. And that’s how you see them.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 58:47

      I like to believe that and what the interpretation is, I mean, you can interpret it your way. Or if you tell it to someone, they can interpret it their way. It could be something positive, it could be something negative, but it could be some chemical balance in your brain, whatever it is, there’s a purpose to dreams. And that’s also why Joseph had that kind of miracle in religion, so because I pretty much doubted my faith, right after my stroke. But with time, it empowered me.

      Bill 59:23

      It is a very similar story you get from a lot of stroke survivors, I understand that completely. The stroke didn’t change my relationship with religion, I think I’m still the same as religious as I was previously.

      Bill 59:41

      But I understand that there are some important aspects to religion, especially when they’re teaching things like how to have faith, to believe in a higher purpose, and to have, you know, all these other things that are associated with him motivating us to continue life went to look for actually

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:00:01

      I learned something very important. I’d like to share as well, because whether it’s religion or not, just like the stories you see, and learn from religion, if you implement all the stories of God’s work into your own life, it’s all about decisions. For example, the story of Adam and Eve. It’s one of my favorite stories because I hear that a lot, especially in my culture. It’s all Eve’s fault.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:00:29

      It’s not, I don’t believe it is. I mean, Eve did not slap Adam in the face, and tell him go fetch that apple. It just someone told him, that’s the apple over there, that you’re not supposed to touch. And Adam with his power, in his mind, with his conscious approach to Apple and touched it, that was a decision he made. So pretty much everything you do in life, it’s your own decision.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:00:59

      But the judging part is that’s not someone else to judge you on what you decide on in life. That’s the highest power level, judge what you do, whether it’s destiny, God, Allah, Yahweh, call, or whatever you want.

      Bill 1:01:16

      I have this thing that I talked about, that I’ve spoken about previously on the podcast with regards to God one of the difficulties I had with religion was that when we went to church, we were told that God is external to us, so that we had to pray to God. You know, it’s like some like an external being, or spirit or whatever it was, that wasn’t within us.

      Bill 1:01:40

      And we kind of had to outsource the things that we dreamed and hoped for, we had to outsource it to God. And if God didn’t give us what we wanted, it was God’s will. If we got what we wanted, then we had to thank God for that. And I, I do, I feel like God is in me, is within me. Now I’m not God.

      Bill 1:02:07

      Of course, I’m not taking that level of responsibility for things. I’m just saying. It’s easier if I, instead of outsourcing God, and putting it in good pour God outside of me, to put God inside of me, whatever that means. I don’t even know what it means, right?

      Bill 1:02:25

      But when I do that, what I do is I see the question that I have, or the desire that I have, or the wish that I have, I see it as being my responsibility to make it happen. And that, God, the universe will create the resources, the path, the opportunities for the decision that I’ve made to fulfill that decision for me. So it’s going to all come together, but mainly because I had the responsibility.

      Bill 1:02:56

      And that’s kind of what I got out of the stroke with regards to my changing beliefs around how I go about my life, and my recovery is there. Now I can pray to God, so to speak, to give me something that I desire, but who I’m praying to is me, God, which is within me. And that makes me more motivated to find the solutions to get what I want.

      Finding religion after a stroke

      Bill 1:03:19

      For example, the podcast doesn’t exist. If I didn’t have a stroke, this podcast just doesn’t happen. And the reason it happened is that I took responsibility, with God’s support, and encouragement, and my support and encouragement, all combined, to do something I’ve never done before, like, like a podcast to try and generate this amazing thing that the old me would never have done.

      Bill 1:03:48

      So it just empowers me to do crazy stuff that I think I’m not capable of doing, afraid to do, or worried about doing. And, and that’s been a benefit. Like, that’s a real benefit that I had this new way of seeing God as an end to the role that God plays in my life or my daily existence. Do you know like, it’s positive, but I don’t and I can’t even describe it properly.

      Bill 1:04:19

      You can say I don’t even know what I’m on about but hopefully that gives you a bit of an insight into how I’ve kind of come to terms with all of that stuff. Before the stroke, I didn’t believe I could do any of these types of things.

      Bill 1:04:37

      Which is strange, because I had to have the stroke to believe that it was possible to do hard things even though it’s even harder to do now because I have to deal with the brain that’s been injured. I’m glad it’s working out a way for you. For me. It’s good that you’ve been able to go down that path.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:04:57

      I would say it is because even If I didn’t have the straw, probably something would have happened. Yeah, that’s probably something that would have happened to me at a construction site that I’ve seen multiple times and the rain falling on the ground. So I could have been somewhere around back then.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:05:15

      Yeah, all we did was I used to drink and drive as well. So that wasn’t very think. Thinking about it. Now, that’s something I would never do. Put me and someone else in danger. Or even the alcohol abuse.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:05:33

      Like when I asked my doctor if alcohol and smoking would put me in that kind of position, it was like no, if you never had that blood clot disorder, if you moved on for another couple of years, or probably had that stroke. So maybe that was the final stroke I would have had. So I would say the stroke also did a good thing to me, saved me from from something.

      Bill 1:05:55

      Did it save you from your bad habits?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:05:58

      Right, I would say so.

      Bill 1:06:00

      I agree, because I used to smoke, and I wasn’t a heavy drinker, but I used to smoke and not eat properly and not sleep properly and work too much. And the stroke interrupted all of those bad patterns and behaviors.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:06:13

      And also, maybe that mild depression that I had, would have developed to cure depression probably would have on myself or someone else. So with that stroke was a good thing.

      Bill 1:06:24

      So there’s a lot of blessings.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:06:28

      It comes with the price, but it is.

      Bill 1:06:30

      That’s a very important point that you make it does come with a price there’s a price to pay. But some blessings have emerged from that it’s good that you can focus on them from time to time, and you can see the blessings.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:06:45

      That’s probably one of the reasons why I pray. Because I have to be grateful for someone. If not I would have that consciousness and the power to overcome the things I need to overcome. There is something higher than bigger than to thank. Don’t listen, that’s what makes me believe in God.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan’s message

      Bill 1:07:09

      That’s a good thing. What would you tell somebody who’s listening to this podcast? Maybe they’ve just had a stroke, they’re going through a tough time. And they’re hoping that they’re going to listen to this podcast and get a little bit of guidance, what would you tell somebody in that situation?

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:07:29

      There will be a lot of things to say, but simplify it for people who already had a stroke, I will say, to be very patient and believe in whatever they believe in, and keep on hold with that faith and that belief.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:07:41

      And if you had they decided that it will get better, it will get better if they decide that this will not be good for them. It will never be good. It will get stuck on that thing if you’re training your brain to keep on that threshold. It’s like losing hope.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:07:58

      It’s gonna stay that way. Gonna keep lost. I mean, it’s called losing hope, not hoping you lose hope that it stays that way. It’s very important to find ways to motivate yourself. That’s very important because if you’re not motivated, it’s very hard to stand up.

      Bill 1:08:17

      Abe, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. I appreciate you reaching out and requesting to be on the show. Thank you for sharing your story. And congratulations on your recovery so far.

      Abdul Wahed Hassan 1:08:29

      Thank you very much. Appreciate you having me on the show. And I wish you and everyone listening to have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and many, many blessings.

      Bill 1:08:39

      Well, thank you once again for joining us on today’s episode to get the Amazon links of where to get a copy of my book The Unexpected Way that a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. Visit the show notes of this episode by going to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes.

      Bill 1:08:59

      There you will also be able to learn more about my guests including links to their social media and you will also be able to download a transcript of the entire interview. Thank you to everybody who has already left a review means the world to me, podcasts live and thrive.

      Bill 1:09:17

      Because of reviews when you leave a review, you are helping others in need of this type of content to find it easier. And that is making a massive difference in people’s recovery believe me because they are contacting me every day to tell me how much they appreciate the podcast and the stories that are shared here.

      Bill 1:09:38

      Now if you haven’t left the review and would like to the best way to do it is to leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you on iTunes and Spotify. If you’re watching on YouTube, please comment below the video I love seeing the comments I respond to all of the comments.

      Bill 1:09:55

      Like the episode, it’s important to get a thumb Thumbs up. If you do appreciate the episode, share the episode with somebody who might be interested in listening to it. Subscribe to the show by hitting the notification bell going to the platform of your choice and just following the podcast there.

      Bill 1:10:19

      Now, if you’re a stroke survivor with a story to share about your stroke experience, come and join me on the show. You do not have to plan for the interviews, they’re not scripted. All you need to do to qualify is turn up. If you go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact and fill out the contact forms.

      Bill 1:10:38

      I will then be in touch with details about how we can get together over Zoom. If you’re a researcher who wants to share the findings of a recent study, or you’re looking to recruit people into studies You may also wish to reach out and if you have a commercial product that you would like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors in recovery.

      Bill 1:10:59

      There is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show just go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact once again fill out the form and I’ll be in touch with more details. Thank you again for being here and listening. I appreciate you see you on the next episode.

      Intro 1:11:20

      Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast or the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

      Intro 1:11:37

      All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis, the content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing.

      Intro 1:11:53

      It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

      Intro 1:12:14

      Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content if you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be, call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

      Intro 1:12:39

      Medical information changes constantly. While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We do not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

      The post Factor V Leiden And Stroke – Abdul Wahed Hassan appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

      1 hr 14 min
    6. Cerebellar Stroke Recovery | Elizabeth Cottone
      Understanding Cerebellar Stroke: A Comprehensive Guide

      Cerebellar stroke, a subtype of stroke affecting the cerebellum – the part of the brain responsible for coordination and balance, requires comprehensive understanding for proper recognition and management. In this detailed guide, we delve into the intricacies of cerebellar strokes, exploring their causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.

      What is a Cerebellar Stroke?

      A cerebellar stroke occurs when there is a disruption in blood supply to the cerebellum, leading to cell damage due to oxygen deprivation. Ischemic strokes, caused by blood clots obstructing blood flow, or hemorrhagic strokes, stemming from blood vessel ruptures, can both affect the cerebellum.

      Recognizing Cerebellar Stroke Symptoms

      Symptoms of a cerebellar stroke may vary but commonly include sudden onset dizziness, severe headache, loss of coordination, difficulty walking, slurred speech, and nausea. Prompt recognition of these symptoms is crucial for immediate medical intervention.

      Diagnosis of Cerebellar Strokes

      To accurately diagnose a cerebellar stroke, medical professionals employ various tests such as MRI scans, CT scans, and angiography. These diagnostic tools aid in identifying the type, location, and severity of the stroke.

      Treatment Options for Cerebellar Stroke

      The treatment approach for cerebellar stroke depends on its type and severity. Ischemic strokes may be managed with clot-busting medications like tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) or through mechanical thrombectomy. Hemorrhagic strokes might require surgical intervention to repair the ruptured blood vessel or alleviate pressure on the brain caused by bleeding.

      Rehabilitation and Recovery

      Recovery from a cerebellar stroke often involves extensive rehabilitation. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy may be integral components of the recovery process. The extent of recovery varies among individuals and may take weeks to months.

      Preventive Measures and Lifestyle Changes

      Reducing the risk of cerebellar stroke involves adopting a healthy lifestyle. Managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol levels, maintaining a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and avoiding smoking or excessive alcohol intake are crucial preventive measures.

      Conclusion

      Cerebellar strokes are serious medical conditions requiring immediate attention. Understanding the symptoms, seeking prompt medical care, and following a comprehensive treatment plan are paramount. While each case is unique, awareness, early intervention, and proactive lifestyle changes can significantly impact recovery and reduce the risk of recurrence.

      The Interview

      Elizabeth Cottone underwent a profound experience of a cerebellar hemorrhagic stroke at the age of 50. Her book, “Reinvention: Life After Traumatic Change,” is now available, offering remarkable insights and inspiration.

      Elizabeth’s Website

      Highlights:

      01:11 Introduction

      06:13 Research and writing a book about dyslexia
      11:54 The Four Ps
      18:36 Singing after having a cerebellar stroke
      22:16 The initial cerebellar stroke symptoms
      33:48 Disability, anger, and support
      39:28 Stroke recovery and teenage challenges
      48:48 The hardest thing about having a cerebellar stroke
      52:03 Talk about the book
      1:00:49 Resilience and overcoming traumatic change
      1:10:12 Life after a stroke with a survivor’s perspective

      Transcript:

      Bill 0:00

      Hello everyone, my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened is now available for purchase on Amazon.

      Bill 0:09

      In the book, you will find chapters on mindset, the brain that resides in your heart, as well as the brain that resides in your gut, you will learn about the benefits and downsides of Neuroplasticity, you will learn the benefits of getting better sleep, you will find out about the food you should avoid after stroke.

      Bill 0:31

      The amazing benefits you get from the smallest amount of exercise. And you will learn about how following your heart’s desires can transform your recovery. And you will learn about the amazing positive benefits you get from surrounding yourself with the right people.

      Bill 0:51

      And also, you might even stumble on your life’s purpose. If you go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book, you will be able to learn more. And you’ll be able to find the links to get your copy from your local Amazon store.

      Introduction


      Bill 1:11
      This is episode 284. And my guest today is Elizabeth Cottone, who experienced a cerebellar hemorrhagic stroke when she was aged 50. Elizabeth Cottone. Welcome to the podcast.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:24

      Thank you very much. So happy to be here.

      Bill 1:27

      Happy to have you here. One of the challenges that I face is that I’m happy to have people on my podcast. But the issue with that is that they’ve had a stroke. And I’m not happy that people have had a stroke.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:46

      Right? I know. It’s a pretty horrible thing.

      Bill 1:50

      It’s not good, right?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:53

      I mean, right away. It’s horrible. But, it changes.

      Bill 1:59

      It can change correctly. I agree with that. And that’s what the podcast is about. We want to demonstrate the cycle. And that there is change and things can improve. Because not only are you a stroke survivor, which we’ll talk about in a minute, but you’re also somebody who spent a lot of their time researching the brain and neurological conditions.

      Elizabeth Cottone 2:28

      I have. It doesn’t feel like work though, I’m like a sponge. It happened to me so, I’m, you know, I’m naturally very interested in the brain. And all the different parts of the brain. And I think we well everywhere are good at knowing the anatomy of the brain, but less good at knowing what to do when something goes wrong with the brain.

      Bill 3:06

      That is such a profound statement.

      Elizabeth Cottone 3:10

      Oh, right. Well, I mean, and that, oh, my strength going all over the country. And just to try to get to the bottom of my stroke. Yeah, so I mean, I hate to say it, but people just don’t know. I mean, really? They don’t.

      Bill 3:37

      Tell me a little bit about your work history. Elizabeth.

      Elizabeth Cottone 3:43

      Where do I start? My work has always been really important to me. I have three children, and I’ve never not worked part-time, well, maybe not full-time. Maybe I did work part-time a bit. But mostly it was full-time work.

      Elizabeth Cottone 4:09

      Most recently before my stroke, I was a researcher at UVA with the University of Virginia. And right before I had my stroke, I switched over to become the executive director of a nonprofit here in town. So I was in that job so thrilled by that.

      Elizabeth Cottone 4:36

      But a week in I had my stroke and so when I had my stroke, I did not only go into a coma, but it took me about two months before I came out of the coma. And then I had to be shipped eight hours away from my inpatient rehab. And it was there for four months away from my children, and just barely I think there they were just really trying to eat me alive.

      Bill 5:21

      Away from your children. So how many children do you have?

      Elizabeth Cottone 5:24

      Three.

      Bill 5:25

      And what are their ages when you had the stroke?

      Elizabeth Cottone 5:28

      Oh, my gosh, my youngest was eight, my middle girl was 14, and my oldest was 17.

      Bill 5:41

      Okay, so it’s a really busy time in your life.

      Elizabeth Cottone 5:46

      So but they were just so close like velcro to me. So when I had to leave it was, I mean we were all traumatized.

      Bill 5:59

      Yeah, and your work? What kind of work were you doing? So what was the most significant one of the projects that you were on, for example?

      Research and writing a book about dyslexia

      Elizabeth Cottone 6:13

      Now I love all of my work. And one piece blossomed into my first book about dyslexia. So my professional hat is one about that, you know, I was a teacher of special ed for a while, and then a researcher of, you know, lots of different but mostly impoverished families. And sort of understanding how, like, the malnourished environment can be similar to like the struggles of a child with dyslexia. It’s a very different reason, but they both come into school, unable to meet expectations.

      Bill 7:13

      Okay. And with that knowledge with that understanding, what were you hoping to achieve with the work that you’re doing?

      Elizabeth Cottone 7:24

      Well, I developed a curriculum, but it was really for the after-school program. And what I saw, I saw everywhere I was in schools, but even more when we did the research. For after school, I saw that kids hated school, kids hated books, kids, just, you know, hated people, and they hated their teacher.

      Elizabeth Cottone 7:58

      They were just very negative. So I thought, wow, that’s not a good background for learning. So the first step, besides you know, of course, meeting basic needs, is to try and change their attitude, about school was a big ask, and you know.

      Bill 8:27

      Trying to change their attitude about school, but that’s their attitude because dyslexia around the school is formed as a result of people negatively interacting with them.

      Elizabeth Cottone 8:42

      Yes, big-time self-esteem issues.

      Bill 8:46

      Yeah. So I can’t read, then they’re going to judge me or they’re going to tease me.

      Elizabeth Cottone 8:51

      Oh my gosh, mean, more than once I saw brilliant students who couldn’t read. And because of that, they were, you know, judged, made fun of, and told they were stupid when they were brilliant. And wow, I mean, it was eye-opening. Then I had my stroke.

      Bill 9:22

      Yeah. Now that you’ve had a recovery, have you been in stroke recovery since 2017? Do you have a better understanding of what perhaps some of those children and the people that you researched would have gone through about the way that community dealt with them?

      Elizabeth Cottone 9:47

      Oh, my gosh, yes. I had a big aha moment about how similar some of the circles of dyslexia and stroke are, so Senpai I was like, wow, I never knew. So, you know, I’m still quite passionate about my research and my students, but more passionate now about stroke.

      Bill 10:19

      Yeah, of course.

      Elizabeth Cottone 10:21

      And I keep meeting amazing people who go through it like, for me, the first year and a half I guess what was the hardest, because I couldn’t walk I still can’t. But I struggled to talk, I struggled to eat. Well, at that point I had a trach and a feeding tube.

      Elizabeth Cottone 10:49

      But the first year, it was just horrible, all I did was cry. And then it turned around I don’t know why. But my message is to get out to everyone. Well, I wrote my book about dyslexia then I wrote another book. And I needed to know I could be in the world in a different way.

      Bill 11:21

      Okay, let’s unpack that a little bit. So difficult. The first 12 months were difficult, there were a lot of challenges you had to overcome. The challenges didn’t go away at the 12-month mark. But you said you had a turnaround. So what was the turnaround? You might not be able to say it was this moment. But something did change. That made you feel different about your deficits and your challenges. What do you think changed?

      The Four Ps – Elizabeth Cottone

      Elizabeth Cottone 11:54

      I’m pretty sure it was my mindset is why I always use the analogy of shining my flashlight. And building me, I made so many mistakes where I was shining my flashlight the wrong way. And then it was like, Aha, this is the right way. And once I did that now I have my four Ps which became my publishing company, and the four Ps stand for patient positivity, persistence, and perspective.

      Elizabeth Cottone 12:36

      And, wow, I mean, that alone with learning how not to beat myself up. And knowing that, you know, I know that research goes slowly. But we have to trust the way we fail. Like, our essence, really teaches us so much. And the research is slow to follow.

      Bill 13:10

      Yes. Research is slow to follow. So what you had is you had a mindset shift. Now, you’re shining your torch, on the negative parts of the stroke, the parts of your stroke, that were difficult, that were tough, that were challenging, that were emotionally difficult. And then you shine it on to just shine your torch on, say, the winds you’re having Did you shine it on the things that you’re grateful for? What we’re shining your torch on?

      Elizabeth Cottone 13:43

      I mean, the shift words more like, I felt like somehow after my stroke, I just go back like I was my whole life a big athlete. So I thought I’d just be able to run the six-minute mile again. And so trying to do that was wrong. It didn’t help me. So I had to break everything but walking. I do break it down, go slowly relearn everything about it.

      Elizabeth Cottone 14:18

      And relearned like how to eat, how to swallow how to type. How you know everything. How should talk? Yeah, it’s like, so if I could quote, I love Peter Levine was a wonderful man who worked in stroke, not a doctor. But I love what he said. He says stroke recovery is not for wimps. I love that because it’s like yeah, you have to work hard all the time.

      Elizabeth Cottone 14:22

      Is that what he said?

      Elizabeth Cottone 14:31

      He was so cool. So he had a podcast he died, and oh my god, what a loss. But well he had ALS and died I didn’t even know.

      Bill 15:20

      Yeah. Peter, I interviewed Peter.

      Elizabeth Cottone 15:23

      Oh, you did?

      Bill 15:24

      Yes. For episode 135. His book was called Stronger After Stroke.

      Elizabeth Cottone 15:34

      Wonderful. It’s wonderful.

      Bill 15:36

      Yeah. He’s a great guy, and he’s right that stroke recovery is not for wimps. So if you’re a bit wimpy, you have to step up and become a little bit tougher.

      Elizabeth Cottone 15:50

      You do, Oh, my God. And it’s certainly not easy.

      Bill 15:57

      You used to run? Did you run a six-minute mile?

      Elizabeth Cottone 16:03

      I did, like over 40 marathons, I do everything. And I was also a very competitive tennis player. And, you know, I play college tennis, taught tennis. And so now I’m still after my stroke, almost seven years unable to walk. And, you know, but I’m making, you know, lemonade out of those lemons. You know, it’s not all about that.

      Bill 16:44

      It’s not all about running a six-minute mile again. And then if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a wall, you’re always going to be disappointed in that fish, right? Because there’s no point judging yourself, from your ability to be able to run the six-minute mile again, because it’s not going to happen, you might find a different way to do your six-minute mile, but it won’t be running.

      Elizabeth Cottone 17:13

      Exactly, like, I recently picked up horseback riding. Never before have I gone on that. And I love it. So I’m like, maybe the horse would do the six miles.

      Intro 17:32

      If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. How long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, doctors will explain things. But, if you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask.

      Intro 17:57

      If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

      Intro 18:16

      These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, but they’ll also help you take a more active role in your recovery. Head to the website now, recoveryafterstroke.com, and download the guide. It’s free.

      Singing after having a cerebellar stroke

      Elizabeth Cottone 18:36

      And I’m singing now, which I’m bad at, but I’m learning how to be bad at things. And two of my daughters have amazing voices. So I never want to compare myself to them.

      Bill 18:55

      So you took up singing for what purpose?

      Elizabeth Cottone 18:58

      Well, for you know my diction. But like riding, I fell in love with it just for singing. I mean, it’s like this idea, you can do something just because you love it. And even if you’re bad at it, it’s like a very new concept for me.

      Bill 19:24

      So you might not be bad at it. But it might sound unlike a normal while we consider a good singing voice. But you might be good at being able to follow the steps that are required to create a singing voice. But it’s just because of the stroke and the way that it’s impacted your vocal cords. You’re just not making the noises that you need to make to be “good”.

      Elizabeth Cottone 19:54

      Yeah, no, I know. But I’m doing it in a new way.

      Bill 19:59

      Yeah. Correct. I’m doing it anyway, I love that. And it’s helping you with breathing. It’s helping you about the way that you train your vocal cords, you warm them up I imagine, there’s a whole bunch of things.

      Elizabeth Cottone 20:13

      Even my facial muscles are a big part of my issue and a big part of singing. Okay, so all my muscles, before my stroke, you may have heard this. But, you know, we are all human beings, but we’ve become human beings. I was such a human before my stroke. I mean, and it’s kind of hard in the world we live in because you get so much reinforcement for doing things.

      Elizabeth Cottone 20:56

      You know, I got my Ph.D., I wrote a book, but well, I did my books after my stroke, you know, I ran marathons, I had babies, I had many animals. I do love my animals. But, you know, it’s so much about doing, whereas needs to be more about just being I think.

      Bill 21:28

      And so I heard another thing that we can add there. We can also now be human becoming. So we’re recovering, we’ve got to become something else. We got to transform from what we were, we got to take this new identity with us, this new body, this new brain, whatever it is, we got to take it with us and we got to become something different. Something new, we’re going to transform.

      Elizabeth Cottone 21:59

      Yes. I support that. I mean, I’m living it. And my second book called Reinvention is really about that.

      The initial cerebellar stroke symptoms

      Bill 22:16

      Before we talk about your books, let’s talk about your stroke. So on the day of the stroke, did you notice something was wrong? How did you go about that?

      Elizabeth Cottone 22:28

      Interestingly, yeah, my first symptom, which was painful, was double vision. I’m seeing double. And then I tried to take a shower, and I got dizzy. And then I said, call the EMT to my husband. And they came and they said, Oh, you’re probably having a migraine. So they left but they put me in my husband’s car in the passenger seat. Because then immediately I passed out. And then later that morning, I had brain surgery. And after that went into a coma.

      Bill 23:21

      Okay, so the only symptom was a double vision, and then you passed out, and then you ended up in surgery.

      Elizabeth Cottone 23:28

      Right. You know, and in my head at that time, I was, I don’t think I’m having my grant, and I think, it’s something else. But, you know, when the EMT says something, you have no idea what’s going on. You believe them. I’m sad I did.

      Bill 23:51

      Well, they’re the experts, or they’re meant to be the experts. We trust people in a situation where they do this every day. We don’t do this every day. But your gut was your gut telling you something different you feel?

      Elizabeth Cottone 24:11

      Yes I was, I was just ignoring it. Yeah, I have no idea. Something is up, though. I feel it.

      Bill 24:22

      At age 50. You had a cerebellar hemorrhagic stroke. What was the underlying cause of the hemorrhage? Do they know why blood vessels burst?

      Elizabeth Cottone 24:30

      To this day? They don’t know. I had no risk factors for stroke, very low blood pressure, no diabetes, nothing. I was a vegetarian, and still am. I was a skinny runner, I was outside a lot with the animals. And so I was sort of the last person you think that would have a stroke. And so yeah, I think I don’t know, really I can only assume certain things. But yeah, they don’t know either. I think it’s called cryptogenic.

      Bill 25:14

      Yeah. Potentially yeah. cryptogenic stroke, but usually a cryptogenic stroke is associated with an ischemic stroke where there’s no known cause. Whereas Oh, perhaps with your stroke, because there was a brain hemorrhage, there was an actual blood vessel that burst. That tends to be the cause. But sometimes like me, my brain hemorrhages were related to a faulty blood vessel called an arteriovenous malformation.

      Bill 25:43

      And, sometimes, there’s a cavernous angioma, which is also a blood vessel that is not formed correctly and then it bursts. It’s kind of like a lesion on the blood vessel. Sometimes there are aneurysms on the blood vessels. So there are a ton of reasons why a blood vessel might burst.

      Elizabeth Cottone 26:05

      Wow. Yeah, I mean, I did know when my three daughters gained consciousness. The first thing I thought are they at risk? And they said, nope. Numerous times, we still don’t worry about the girls.

      Bill 26:26

      Yeah, yeah. So what was the brain surgery meant to do? Was it meant to clip that blood vessel?

      Elizabeth Cottone 26:39

      I you know, I was unconscious. When the surgeon opened up my skull saw all this blood below in the cerebellum. So he cleaned it out. And just I guess, crossed his fingers, most people die. He told me and, you know, watched me for a while. And then in the related inpatient part of the hospital, they watched my brain for swelling. And apparently, everything went okay. Here I am.

      Bill 27:32

      They drain the blood to release the pressure.

      Elizabeth Cottone 27:37

      Right, right. Yeah, that is all I know.

      Bill 27:43

      Yeah. Okay. So you went back home? How long did it take to get back home? Because you.

      Elizabeth Cottone 27:53

      So I hadn’t Michoacan wondering you? None. And I got home in mid-June. July, just in time to see my oldest daughter graduate from high school.

      Bill 28:07

      Six months. Mm hmm. And you is that because you went from hospital to rehabilitation?

      Elizabeth Cottone 28:16

      Yeah, I did. I went to my protocol to two inpatient rehabs.

      Bill 28:26

      I was gonna say, what were you able to do when you came out of the hospital and got back home weren’t able to do at the beginning?

      Elizabeth Cottone 28:35

      Very less. I mean, when I first woke, I was using a letter boy because it couldn’t talk. couldn’t swallow. So I had to relearn how to sew on. I couldn’t walk. I still can’t. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t breathe without coughing. Even with that tray again. Yeah, so I just sort of lay there.

      Elizabeth Cottone 29:07

      I mean, eventually, I got to my wheelchair. But I remember it was so hard just going from the bed to the wheelchair. Now, I set up my wheelchair and I use it only sometimes. Mostly I’ve drawn using my walker, and I’m still, you know, persisting with learning how to ReWalk or relearning how to walk.

      Bill 29:38

      What are the challenges with your walking, what’s stopping you from walking balance?

      Elizabeth Cottone 29:43

      Is my backward it’s certainly not my motto. It’s just, you know, I’m really strong and balanced. And I also have a taxi on my left side.

      Bill 29:56

      What’s a taxi? Tell me what that is.

      Elizabeth Cottone 29:59

      Oh attacks, it’s like you have no control of your muscles. And it splits perfectly down the stick the whole left side of my body. So, I mean, most people don’t I don’t know if you know this but if you have a stroke and your share Belem is slow enough doesn’t cross, it goes to the same side. So, like, I had the left cerebellar hemorrhage and went to my left side. So, uh, Southsea means, you know, I’ve been working hard, cuz I don’t have a good side.

      Elizabeth Cottone 30:48

      But my left with the word, it’s getting better. But yeah, it’s pretty cool. I used to all my crazy side. But now it’s just not so crazy anymore. It’s amazing. I mean, it’s a really tasty meal. And that is what I’ve learned from my own experience and from other people. It can just go so slowly, but it’s happening as the brain changes very slowly. And progress can be so slow, but don’t give up.

      Bill 31:31

      Yeah, I agree. So, your crazy side is no longer as crazy as it was.

      Elizabeth Cottone 31:39

      Right?

      Bill 31:41

      Does your site have a personality a different personality?

      Elizabeth Cottone 31:47

      My left side is so different than my right. So, um, yeah, yes. My left has more flexibility and is a better learner. And whereas my right is not, it’s also a very disable of our variety of reasons, but it’s stronger is more controlled. It’s numb. And there’s a story behind that. So yeah, I don’t have a good son. So for a while, I thought my brush side was better than my left. But now I think my left might be better than my face.

      Bill 32:45

      That’s good. What type of movement do you have in your hands? How well do they work?

      Elizabeth Cottone 32:51

      Oh, well, you can’t release it. They’re pretty bad. But I can hide it, which I do in public by using the cross of my hands and putting them down below my legs. But yeah, I am my left hand. I have real motor issues on both sides. So yeah, this head. That’s why I had to relearn how to tap on my laptop. This hand is a tactic. I’m getting better. And this hand is my bed nurse. I think it’s a combination of my eyes. My coordination at The Merv is better and picking the lab and Mela. But my loop is getting there.

      Disability, anger, and support

      Bill 33:48

      Yeah. You said that you hid it. In public? What do you find? Specifically? What do you hope that people don’t see?

      Elizabeth Cottone 33:58

      Well, I hide well, like when they go out to a cafe to get coffee. I’ll sit and look normal. And so if I like to hold my hands, they tend to tremor. And so if I hold them still, I can sort of look normal, whatever that means. But certainly, I’m not.

      Bill 34:30

      Okay. And is it to make you feel comfortable? Or is it to make people around you feel comfortable?

      Elizabeth Cottone 34:36

      I think it’s actually to make the other people around me comfortable.

      Bill 34:40

      Well, stuff them. Why do they need to be comfortable? You’re the one who needs to be comfortable.

      Elizabeth Cottone 34:45

      I know right? I know it’s true. I know. I think well, it’s hard. It’s I struggle with the world. It moves so fast and knows nothing about a stroke. And you know, here in Virginia, people are nice, but underneath it, they don’t want anything to do with you.

      Bill 35:15

      Yeah. So I had a struggle with this a little bit when I was first out of hospital and I couldn’t do things like I used to. People would ask me, how are you what’s happening? And my struggle was always do I tell the truth? Or do I just tell a white lie? And I often told the truth. But what that leads to is it leads to a book called How to lose friends and never talk to anybody again, because.

      Elizabeth Cottone 35:45

      I’m right with you.

      Bill 35:47

      That’s exactly what happens.

      Elizabeth Cottone 35:48

      not proper.

      Bill 35:51

      People go, Oh, thanks for that. And then they turn around and they get the heck out of there.

      Elizabeth Cottone 35:57

      Exactly.

      Bill 35:59

      Whereas I think that’s true. I think there’s a little bit of tongue in cheek-there. But the reality is, is that most people get confronted, they don’t know what to say. They don’t know how to respond. They don’t know how to act. And it’s not their fault. But it is a challenge for the stroke survivor. It’s a challenge for the person with a disability, whether it’s intellectual or physical, or whatever the disability is vision.

      Elizabeth Cottone 36:28

      Yes, I agree. I think people with negative emotions are hard to deal with.

      Bill 36:38

      Yeah. Like they’ve never had one before. Yeah.

      Elizabeth Cottone 36:45

      I mean, wow. So it gets to the idea that, who you surround yourself with, makes a big difference. And you learn, I’ve learned, like, there are certainly people who have lost their strength, but you know what, that’s okay. Because they couldn’t do anything with me. I’m certain people who stepped up after my show. That kind of surprised me. And it’s wonderful. So I have people I caught them in people in my corner.

      Bill 37:26

      Amazing, those people because I had a few of them as well. And then I had a few people who weren’t or weren’t able to be around. And I took a badly at the beginning, but then later, it does become somebody that you understand, is that not actually capable of being around and then that’s better not to have them around because then they cause discomfort and difficulty. It’s awkward.

      Elizabeth Cottone 37:52

      Yes. And my most difficult emotion was anger. And said to my therapist, I said I needed to channel my anger and end up in jail. I’m just saying. I told her was saying it to myself. And so yeah, I’m still definitely working around the Sun wheel all the tanker. I mean, so much a bit angry him, Huck, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.

      Bill 38:28

      What do you think your crime would have been?

      Elizabeth Cottone 38:33

      Oh, my, um, probably, you know, hitting someone up like I mean.

      Bill 38:46

      Is that, a new side of Elizabeth that wasn’t around before? Would you have ever hit anyone before?

      Elizabeth Cottone 38:54

      No. Oh, God, no. Very good doer.

      Bill 38:59

      Do you think you would have done any real significant damage to the person that you hit? Or would you hit him with a wheelchair?

      Elizabeth Cottone 39:08

      No, right. So you better watch out for my wheelchairs or weapons?

      Bill 39:12

      Yeah. What are they gonna do with Elizabeth at the police station when they get her in there and she’s attacked somebody from her wheelchair? What are they going to say?

      Elizabeth Cottone 39:22

      Well, I you know, I have um.

      Bill 39:27

      It would be hilarious.

      Cerebellar stroke recovery and teenage challenges

      Elizabeth Cottone 39:28

      You get really angry when I’d be working hard to open a door and mean someone would pull it from the other side thing it helped me get so mad because it was like now don’t pull away my support. But now, you say thank you so much, but blessing actually I needed the door and they will be so Oh, apologetic. Yeah. It’s like people just don’t understand. Yeah. And as you said, it’s not their fault. Um, it’s hard, though not to be super angry hip hop. Yeah.

      Bill 40:20

      Yeah, absolutely. It must be frustrating and challenging and all sorts of things and difficult and take a bit longer than you want it to sometimes if you’re in a rush, yeah. So were you in therapy before the stroke? Have you ever been to a therapist?

      Elizabeth Cottone 40:41

      Yep, been. We’re at the moment of this stroke. I watch it. Okay.

      Bill 40:50

      So you had been to therapy. Me, too. I had been to therapy for I would say maybe about nearly nine years. I don’t know, in years before I ended up. If I remember correctly, it might be different. But a long time, maybe 10 years. And then I think it was really good that I had done a lot of that work beforehand because it was able to what I’d learned and what I’ve overcome, and all the rubbish that I’d left behind, things that I had to deal with.

      Bill 41:22

      I didn’t bring them with me. So I was dealing with just new problems and new challenges. What was it like for you to have been in therapy before?

      Elizabeth Cottone 41:31

      Right? Um, well, you know, when it made me remember, cuz for a long time, I thought the peace show Beth was perfect. And it helped me remember, actually, the price joke. Beth was pretty screwed up too. And Christmas this year with my extended family helped me remember that.

      Bill 42:02

      I reminded you today.

      Elizabeth Cottone 42:04

      Oh, you know, it’s yeah, sorry. Um, but ya know, I think you know, it was, yeah, I mean, there were issues. There were a lot of issues before my show. And I think the stroke, just Trump them up for lack of a better word. Yeah, this stroke became front and center. And it’s all about how I feel. What trauma did I get from the stroke?

      Elizabeth Cottone 42:42

      Wow. Yeah. I mean, there was so much to unpack there. Just recently our women were Oh, yeah. Watson. So bourbon. I had no spray booth that brought me to therapy before the restroom.

      Bill 43:00

      What’s interesting for me is I realized that I kind of found myself saying, you thought you had problems before? Now no problem.

      Elizabeth Cottone 43:11

      I know.

      Bill 43:13

      It’s interesting. All my problems before seemed insignificant and dumb. And now, I’ve got massive problems, and I need to start. And some of them can’t be solved. Some of them take forever to solve. And then, and then, sometimes I realized that I’ve also brought, you know, those dumb, irrelevant problems back into this new world of mind.

      Elizabeth Cottone 43:40

      Oh, totally. Yeah.

      Bill 43:43

      So the habit, the habit of focusing and being troubled by something minor and insignificant, was strong. And it seems to now want to continue to turn up in this part of my life. And I don’t need that shit. Because I know it’s distracting me from the other stuff I need to recover from.

      Elizabeth Cottone 44:04

      No, but it’s really hard to just leave it all behind. You know, I mean, wow, it creeps up on and then you’re late. Oh, yeah. As that issue too. Yeah. And, for me, what made the hardest? Well, there are so many hard things about my stroke. It’s gotten so much better, but still, I’m struggling with being a parent.

      Bill 44:34

      That’s the hardest part of the strike for you.

      Elizabeth Cottone 44:37

      Well, I wouldn’t say the army but it’s up there. No, because, you know, I’m a very different parent now than I was before. Yeah. And, you know, I can’t say one is better than the other. So hard. Talk forever. Yeah, I’ve teenagers. And, uh, wow. I mean without a stroke, and with the pandemic, it’s really hard. And so if you add a mother who has a stroke, it’s really hard. hard to burn.

      Bill 45:19

      Yep. Teenagers, are very, very difficult to deal with, under normal circumstances, and then throwing a strike and a pandemic, I was going through my stroke recovery as my kids were teenagers as well. Yeah, and it was a real challenge because the frustrating part of them being completely self-absorbed and not doing anything for anybody at any time impacted me doubly as much. After all, I had less energy to deal with those challenges.

      Bill 45:53

      I had less. You know, I needed them, to step into line much quicker than they would, and to learn what I needed. And they couldn’t understand what I needed. And it was really difficult.

      Elizabeth Cottone 46:09

      So hard.

      Bill 46:12

      We’re gonna help we’ve spoken about how things improve. Well, let me give you a bit of hope. They improve when they become when they when they leave their teenage years, and they become older, they do improve, and they do get better.

      Elizabeth Cottone 46:29

      Okay. On that, okay.

      Bill 46:33

      A little bit of hope. So I found that my kids have been able to more than they used to come to terms with the difficulties that I face. And they’re a little more what’s the word? I’m not sure if the words compassionate. Because they’re good kids, but they’re maybe they’re more understanding maybe, perhaps.

      Elizabeth Cottone 47:01

      Yeah, my 24-year-old, is so much better too.

      Bill 47:11

      Okay. So there’s hope for the other two as well.

      Elizabeth Cottone 47:15

      Yes, I hope so.

      Bill 47:18

      That’s the same thing that happened to me. And my oldest is 27. My youngest is 23. And then that’s how they, they kind of grew into adulthood, and this different appreciation for how other people around them feel or what other people around them may be going through.

      Elizabeth Cottone 47:43

      Right? You know, I am thrilled because I just found out about a friend of a friend’s daughter. And now she’s 15 the same age as my daughter and that 15 had a stroke. And so my daughter is gonna talk with her, even though they’re not in the same location, they’re gonna talk either on Zoom or phone, not sure.

      Elizabeth Cottone 48:16

      And my daughter will share with her what it’s like to have a mother with a stroke, and the 15 year old. Hopefully, you will open up a little bit about how it feels to be 15 and have a stroke. Yeah, so hopefully, it’s gonna be a win-win.

      Bill 48:39

      A good little blessing to come out of this whole situation.

      Elizabeth Cottone 48:44

      Right.

      The hardest thing about having a cerebellar stroke

      Bill 48:48

      So briefly, we mentioned the kids where your parenting was one of the hardest things. Do you know what the hardest thing is? Are you able to pinpoint what the hardest thing is?

      Elizabeth Cottone 49:00

      I would say for me, it was a loss. You know, I lost my whole identity, especially, my giftedness, giftedness at physicality, sports, like that was hard. Cuz putt was such a big part of my identity. Okay, so now it’s like, I had to really sort of look at what was it about sports because I can’t do sports now. What was it that I loved? And can I use that now? As I go forward? Like can I somehow find what I love about sports and use it now in a way that someone incapable of right now of walking can do?

      Bill 50:06

      Yeah, so.

      Elizabeth Cottone 50:07

      So that is, but yeah, that’s been hard for me.

      Bill 50:12

      So you feel like if you identify what it was about sport, specifically that you enjoyed. And then if you take, those specific pieces of the puzzle and apply them to another pursuit, like writing or whatever, you might be able to re-experience a similar type of joy. Exactly. And your identity might be able to transform from a running identity to an exit identity and whatever that is. Right.

      Elizabeth Cottone 50:49

      And wow, is bigger. And I’m still a work in progress with it. But wow, I think I’m okay with it now. Whereas before I was and, um, so yeah, there’s been that incredible change in me, yep.

      Bill 51:12

      The adjustment period is long. You can’t just go from I do all these things to I’m not doing all these things now and then be okay with it just overnight. It’s not possible, right?

      Elizabeth Cottone 51:22

      Right. I know. Wow. And it’s pretty brutal. But I mean, there is a light at the end of that tunnel.

      Bill 51:32

      As well. Yeah. Well, good on you. That sounds fantastic. Now, let’s talk about your books. You wrote, dyslexia, a universe of possibilities, before all of this stuff, right?

      Elizabeth Cottone 51:46

      No, I had that book in my head. And then I had my stroke and lost my job. And I swayed because he didn’t do any sports. And so I was like, well, I’ll just write that book.

      Talk about the book

      Bill 52:03

      Okay. So you have written a book, how many pages? Is it long?

      Elizabeth Cottone 52:10

      No, not so long. I mean, who wants a long book?

      Bill 52:24

      Especially if you have dyslexia, right?

      Elizabeth Cottone 52:26

      Yeah, right. Exactly. Right. The book is kind of for dyslexia, but it’s also for anyone interested in dyslexia. So before my stroke, I did a ton of work in this teaching and research. So the book, the odd chapters, falls out to different people I know. And even what chapters are more based on theory, like the definition, how it fits in with other kinds of learning disabilities and a timeline.

      Elizabeth Cottone 53:14

      It’s like, all that stuff I learned in, you know, my, like, my masters and my PhD. Yeah, yes. And, but I’ve worked with some amazing dyslexic students. And I was like, I’m gonna write a book about you. And when I did, I mean, my one shouldn’t amaze mean, very dyslexic, but could do honors chemistry so much better than me. I mean, I could read he couldn’t. But he had. Wow. I mean, that was the only glitch in his brain.

      Bill 54:05

      So.

      Elizabeth Cottone 54:06

      But he was judged.

      Bill 54:12

      Yeah. Judged by the people who probably would benefit from reading this book.

      Elizabeth Cottone 54:18

      Right. Oh, yes. Yes. Oh, wow. I mean, the idea behind the book is, no matter what your neurodivergence is, there’s more, you know, whether it be dyslexia, or ADHD, or stroke, or autism. There’s more, there’s so much more to people and a lot of times in our society. We don’t see that we don’t, all we see is the superficial thing that may be related to getting a job or getting into college or achievement of some kind.

      Bill 55:13

      Do you it would be a good book for parents as well then?

      Elizabeth Cottone 55:17

      Oh, yes, and teachers, and students, and families, everyone who’s interested in Deus Ex. Yeah.

      Bill 55:30

      Yeah. Excellent. Well, that’s good to know. So who drew the artwork? Who did the front cover for?

      Elizabeth Cottone 55:38

      My daughter? Oh, my gosh. I know. Wow.

      Bill 55:44

      It’s perfect. I’m sorry. It’s such a perfect cover. It is.

      Elizabeth Cottone 55:51

      Thank you. I so.

      Bill 55:54

      Yeah. There’s so. So why I ask is because that looks like your daughter has a deep understanding of dyslexia.

      Elizabeth Cottone 56:06

      Like I bet she, um, she is she’s interesting. She’s very smart. And but very compassionate too. Yeah, um, but you know, she said to him, so.

      Bill 56:26

      How old she went, she drew that. Eight. So that’s the one. That’s what I’m curious about is that have Did you ask her to draw a picture about dyslexia? How did she draw that?

      Elizabeth Cottone 56:40

      And I just, I, she is she came, we showed this to me. And then I said, Dahlia, can I use it for the cover of my bed? She’s like, Yeah.

      Bill 56:51

      Let’s see, that’s the weird part is that she completely totally encapsulates the challenge that people have with letters and words, and where the challenge is, it shows that it’s in the brain, right, and she’s even got the people who are listening, you have to go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes. And check out the show notes because the cover of the book will be there.

      Bill 57:21

      And for people on YouTube, they’ll be able to, I’ll try and paste this image in so that they can see that. And they don’t have to leave and go there at this part of the interview, but it shows like, it completely shows the head, part of the head sort of being lifted off, and then revealing the brain.

      Bill 57:44

      And then the letters all jumbled in different directions all over around the top of the head. And it just seems like she has a far deeper grasp of what the challenge of dyslexia is without having dyslexia. But she doesn’t have dyslexia, does she?

      Elizabeth Cottone 58:04

      Well, it’s a good question. I don’t think so. But yeah, she may be on that spectrum. I’m not sure.

      Bill 58:12

      Yeah. But at eight years old, that’s, I think that image is profound, that she did that and then brought it to you so you could see it.

      Elizabeth Cottone 58:21

      I know. I agree.

      Bill 58:24

      That’s fantastic. So now, the second book that you wrote, how long ago did you write the second book?

      Elizabeth Cottone 58:32

      So it took me a little longer to be able to confront all my films about my stroke. And all my background is wars. So my second book, I finished the writing in 21. Maybe. But what did when did Logic Drush this year, like in 23? Maybe in October, I launched it, and it came out on Amazon.

      Bill 59:13

      The right reinvention of life after the traumatic change. Yeah. And you’re a little you found that a little harder to write because of the emotional aspect of that.

      Elizabeth Cottone 59:26

      Yeah, totally. I mean, it’s about there’s a chapter for sure about my stroke, which you know, matches or with, just like you that did talk more about your pre-stroke life. Okay, that was hard for me. But it also talks about other kinds of trauma. There are so many. So I cover people who are athletes who grow Straight from college. And at that point, they’re like, well, what do I do?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:00:05

      Do I either become a pro or completely ruined? So tard because the and I know people who went to that, it’s very hard. And I have a chapter about people losing what I call a gateless. system is like, like, when you have a stroke, you may lose vision. Or you may lose vision for other reasons. That would be a gateway skill. Here, I’m sorry.

      Resilience and overcoming traumatic change

      Bill 1:00:49

      Gateway skill. So you consider them the most critical skills?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:00:54

      Well, now what I, the reason I call them gateway skills, is because they are gates into the brain into the essence. So like, people who lose, let’s say, their vision or their hearing or their speech, this channel in there. Yeah. And so it’s like, the idea is, okay, they have to find another way to communicate. I mean, wow, I have many friends who are phasic. And they are still in there. I mean, they are, they’re such strong essences.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:01:42

      They just struggle with language. And, you know, it’s not the only thing. It’s important, I’ll get, which was very important. But it’s not the only thing you can adapt. So it’s traumatic that we lose it. But yeah, you can you can recover from it.

      Bill 1:02:12

      The person that I always think about when you describe the person Hi, who I thought about was Stephen Hawking. Yes, yep. He lost every gateway skill you could imagine. Man, yeah. And forget about what he achieved in his field, which is, you know, he was at the top of his field.

      Bill 1:02:37

      What he achieved as a completely disabled body, right, in the world, and all the barriers that he broke in academia, in the professional world, in all the worlds that he hung out in. He had, I think he had motor neuron disease, something like that. And it had, it had taken all of his ability to move his entire body, but he lived with that condition for 30 or 40 years, and when he died.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:03:12

      Right, and he did not let it stop him.

      Bill 1:03:16

      Yeah, no matter why he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t do anything other than move his eyes and he could use his wheelchair, I think and he could, and he could talk with a machine. So he found ways to adapt. And, and, you know, I used his quote in my book, and the quote goes, Do not be disabled in spirit as well as physically.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:03:45

      Bright, bright, and which is most important. Probably spirit, right? Spirit.

      Bill 1:03:54

      Absolutely. Because, if you lose your spirit, I think you’ve lost everything. Right? It’s Yep. Even if you’re physically able, and you lose your spirit, then your body doesn’t recall anything either.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:04:11

      I know how sad is that. No, no.

      Bill 1:04:14

      Yeah, it would be it would be. So the chapters in this book and reinvention of life after traumatic change. A drastic change is in chapter one. Negative emotions and validation in chapter two. Trauma and resilience are trapped in the three, parenting.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:04:38

      I laugh because I have an incredibly stringent definition of here’s my own.

      Bill 1:04:48

      Tell me, what do you how do you define resilience?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:04:51

      Oh my god. So there’s so much there. I think there are five components. The first is overcome meaning both acute and chronic trauma. One is knowing yourself. The one is managing your anger. Another is it’s called hello static load. It’s like, well, there’s this concept called Skin The present is where, you know, you look very resilient. Like, you may have overcome many obstacles.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:05:36

      Ag goes to college, you got to a good job. But then you dive hard to get Verity. Like you’re not resilient if you don’t play. Um, so what we’ll do is measure magically to blood, I think blood draws, we measure certain things to make sure someone’s elbow static load is okay. Not too high. I think there’s that. And there’s one more I have to remember. I can’t remember.

      Bill 1:06:21

      It sounds like you’re, wow, it’s I haven’t defined the resilience instead of going.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:06:28

      On behalf. Although there are people I can think of that fit my definition, not many.

      Bill 1:06:38

      Well, yeah, well, that’s what I was gonna say. Because if I think you’re right about resilience, people appear resilient, while he’s got through a broken bone. He got through the studies, he got through the car, car collision, he got through his wife leaving him, like all that stuff. You know, it seems like you’re being resilient.

      Bill 1:06:58

      But I think there’s a, there’s a skill, there’s also a skill in being able to overcome things by sheer brute force and just determination and not then attend any kind of sectioning off the emotional part of that and, and making it building a wall around your emotional center. And then, and then that allows you to get through an experience a traumatic experience, but it doesn’t make you resilient.

      Bill 1:07:28

      What it makes you good at is stopping the emotions from impacting you, and then later, you’re falling, because now all of the emotions come home to roost.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:07:41

      Oh, my God, you should just have come to my support group with Richard Tedeschi, because he talks about exactly that, you have to let things out you have to grieve and be sad, and then can be resilient.

      Bill 1:07:59

      I think that’s why I like, the fact that you’ve over-defined that is because it is far more nuanced than a three-line definition in a dictionary.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:08:11

      And why it took me a long time to think about that one. Yes. And, you know, with COVID people throw out that word all the time resilient. They’re so resilient because they overcame COVID. And I’m like, wow, they could be or they could not be enough information, I think.

      Bill 1:08:37

      Yeah, absolutely. On the surface. deceptive. Wow. Tell me, we’ve spoken a little bit about what the hardest thing in your stroke journey was, but what is the Oh, is something that stroke has taught you?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:09:01

      Yes. So I think they’re both the same. The hardest thing is probably the thing I need to learn the most, which is to go slow. Be patient. No stop takes a long time. And we don’t live in a world where we expect in fact, we’re going the wrong way where everything is so quick. And people drink a lot of coffee.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:09:34

      Which way I like coffee too. But wow. I mean, it’s important I think to say it’s a main thing for me having slow down what I even see differently like the trees and birds in my backyard. Like was that tree oh is one I missed before when I was a big doer.

      Bill 1:10:05

      Okay, so life has become more focused, you see things that you didn’t see before that were always there.

      Life after a stroke with a survivor’s perspective

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:10:12

      Right? Yeah. Oh, man now yeah. I mean, at first when I came home was like, all I wanted was to come home. Then I came home, and I had lost my job. My kids were completely alienated from me. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t drink my wine like I usually do. And I was like, Oh, this is awful. And, yeah, so I cried for like a year and a half. But then I was like, I can not keep crying. I have to figure out how to be in the world. And so it took a lot of reinventing.

      Bill 1:11:09

      Yeah. So people who are listening to this episode may have just had their stroke, they may just very early stages. What would you tell somebody who’s listening to this who’s just had a stroke?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:11:18

      Oh, well, I have to reiterate, I’m sure what others have said, don’t give up. Just not persist, and stay within. And it’s rough at first, but it changes and gets better. If you liked it. And you know, the world. It’s like a rebirth though. It’s like, yeah, it’s like, horrible, horrible, but then you realize it’s a rebirth. And now it’s like, I see things differently.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:12:02

      And it’s probably better. I mean, it for me, it was, I’m like, what was I like this horrible person before? I don’t think I was. But since my stroke, wow, I am just very compassionate and very motivated to elbow at their stroke survivor. I’m very different than he used to be. In a good way, I think.

      Bill 1:12:36

      Yeah, I think I didn’t know you before that. But I’m gonna just go with it in a good way. I’m gonna go with that. I’m just as.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:12:50

      It’s hard. Because before my shock, I was a bad person. You’re doing everything.

      Bill 1:12:59

      You adjust the word that most of us are, we’re being by No, right design.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:13:06

      Even worse, like I was doing. I was working full time raising my head, running a marathon taking you on my animals. And wow, it’s, it’s like I heard so reset. If I had said that I didn’t have a stroke, I would have had a heart attack.

      Bill 1:13:31

      It’s superhuman, it’s superhuman, you were doing.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:13:36

      Right. I think I always think of the analogy of a plane going straight to the ground. And inside, you don’t know what’s happening, but you’re about to hit the ground. And, but if you come out of it and survive, wow, you cannot be the same person.

      Bill 1:14:02

      Yeah, I do also believe that if I didn’t have the brain hemorrhage it probably would have led my health and my habits and my behaviors would have led to something far more serious. Or well, not more serious, but maybe if I’m while something more deadly, or a cricket demise because yeah, I wasn’t looking after myself either. Right. I certainly wasn’t paying attention to it.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:14:29

      I was neither. I mean, wow. Yeah. couldn’t have been worse, although I may have died and come back.

      Bill 1:14:39

      Ah, yeah, you might have bad yeah. Well, good that you did. Where can people find you online?

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:14:49

      Oh, my website, ElizabethCottone.com.

      Bill 1:14:56

      Okay, I’ll have the links in the show notes.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:14:59

      Yeah, that would be the best place.

      Bill 1:15:03

      And your books are on Amazon. And I’ll have all those links. Elizabeth, thank you so much.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:15:07

      Stores.

      Bill 1:15:09

      And local bookstores.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:15:12

      Oh, yeah, you have to mention it and order it, but did make it available that way too.

      Bill 1:15:19

      Yeah. Fantastic. Okay. So thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. I appreciate it.

      Elizabeth Cottone 1:15:26

      Oh, thank you so much. Wow, it was great.

      Bill 1:15:29

      Well, thanks, everybody for joining us on today’s episode to get the Amazon links. And to grab a copy of my book The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. Visit the show notes of this episode by going to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes. There you will be able to learn more about my guests including links to their social media, and you will also be able to download a transcript of the entire interview.

      Bill 1:15:58

      Thank you to everybody who has already left a review it means the world to me podcasts live and thrive because of our reviews and when you leave a review, you are helping others in need of this type of content to find it easier, and that is making a difference to their stroke recovery. If you haven’t left a review and would like to the best way to do it is to go to your Spotify or iTunes account and leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you.

      Bill 1:16:30

      If you’re watching on YouTube, comment below the video I love seeing comments below the video. And lately, the amount of comments has been increasing. So that’s getting interesting to see. And I appreciate the feedback and the content. Subscribe to the channel and hit the notifications bell so that you can get notified of the newest episodes. If you are a stroke survivor with a story to share about your experience.

      Bill 1:17:00

      Come and join me on the show The interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them. All you need to do to be a guest is be a stroke survivor. And you want to share your story in the hope that it will in the hope that it will help somebody else who’s going through something similar. If you are a researcher who wants to share the findings of a recent study or you’re looking to recruit people into studies, you might also wish to reach out and be a guest on the show.

      Bill 1:17:30

      If you have a commercial product that you would like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors to recover. There is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show. Just go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact Fill out the form explaining briefly which category you belong to and I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom. Thank you once again for tuning in. I hope you have a fantastic new year. See you on the next see you on the next episode.

      Intro 1:18:08

      Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals the opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast, or the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed all content on this website at any length blog, podcast or video material controlled this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.

      Intro 1:18:38

      The content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

      Intro 1:19:05

      Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content if you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be, call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department medical information changes constantly.

      Intro 1:19:29

      While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website I followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

      The post Cerebellar Stroke Recovery | Elizabeth Cottone appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

      1 hr 20 min
    7. New Book About Stroke Recovery with Ten Tools For Recovery and Personal Transformation | Bill Gasiamis

      Bill Gasiamis recently published his book about stroke recovery, this is his book review.

      Australia

      Amazon United States
      Amazon United Kingdom
      Amazon Canada

      Learn more about the book HERE

      Instagram

      YouTube

      Highlights:

      02:44 The Forward

      04:52 The Preface
      06:42 The Introduction
      10:17 Chapter One: A Stroke Recovery Mindset
      13:03 Chapter Two: The Heart Brain
      16:20 Chapter Three: The Gut-Brain
      21:17 Chapter Four: Rewiring The Brain
      24:44 Chapter Five: Sleep
      27:24 Chapter Six: Food For Thought
      30:05 Chapter Seven: Let’s Get Physical
      32:32 Chapter Eight: Living Heartfully
      37:49 Chapter Nine: Building A Supportive Community
      42:28 Chapter Ten: Stumbling Into Purpose
      49:40 Man’s Search For Meaning

      Transcript:

      Bill Gasiamis 0:00

      Hello, everybody. Welcome to the recovery after stroke podcast and welcome to 2024. Hope this year is a good one. It is full of recovery learning new things and overcoming big challenges.

      Bill Gasiamis 0:15

      This is episode 284 and to kick off the new year, I will summarize my new book The Unexpected Way that a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. Hopefully, the insights you will get will encourage you to grab a copy and start making some small changes in the way you’re going about your recovery to get massive results.

      Bill Gasiamis 0:36

      So let’s get started. So the aim here is to just get you moving beyond the crazy title that I’ve selected. The reason I’ve selected this title is because this is the title of the way the book came to be. So the title must fit the story behind how the book came to be.

      Bill Gasiamis 1:00

      And now, it’s already been controversial this title. And it’s not because it says something controversial, but it gets misinterpreted as being controversial. And that is because I had some feedback from people, especially after I posted about it for the very first time telling people that the book was live.

      Bill Gasiamis 1:20

      I had some feedback that said that I am promoting stroke as something to experience in life. And of course, that could not be further from the truth. I’m not promoting stroke, what I’m promoting is the opportunities that stroke creates, I’m promoting looking for things that come after the stroke because of the stroke.

      Bill Gasiamis 1:44

      And as a result of that, those things that come up, you’ll be able to use and implement to make your recovery better. Now, I am not saying that stroke was the best thing that happened to me when it happened.

      Bill Gasiamis 1:58

      It took a long time for me to get to that stage to talk about that. Before I got there, I went through some really difficult times, and so did my family some scary times. And what I don’t want to do is just put out information that’s about how scary and difficult stroke is.

      Bill Gasiamis 2:03

      Because there’s a never-ending amount of information about how scary and difficult stroke is. But the reality is, there’s not enough information about what are the good things that can come from stroke.

      Bill Gasiamis 2:30

      And it doesn’t matter what your deficits are, what matters is that you look for the opportunities to get a win. And then once you grab that opportunity, you run with it, and then something amazing might happen. And this is what’s happened to me.

      The Forward

      Bill Gasiamis 2:44

      My stroke has led to the podcast, and it’s led to a book. And that’s just a couple of the things that are amazing that you should know about. So let me just get straight into it with The Forward. The Forward was written by a friend of mine, Michael Wilkinson.

      Bill Gasiamis 3:01

      He is somebody who I met back in 2013, and he’s been my biggest ally, he’s been behind every single thing that I’ve ever done with recovery after stroke in the background, he gets in touch with me two or three times a year, we meet up one of those times or two of those times.

      Bill Gasiamis 3:18

      And he just encourages me to go after all of my dreams and desires. Everything that I think about that I want to do with Recovery After Stroke that I’m concerned about. He just says go for it. And he encourages me. And if it wasn’t for Michael, a lot of this stuff would not exist.

      Bill Gasiamis 3:38

      So he came out of nowhere in 2013, we met at a place where I wasn’t expecting to take away a 10-year relationship and we got together, and we learned things. We discovered things. We overcame things together in this particular course that we attended.

      Bill Gasiamis 4:01

      It was a personal development course. We studied neuro-linguistic programming. And when we left we had a great friendship, we just hit it off. And now he has been the person who I requested to write me forward, and I couldn’t think of anybody better.

      Bill Gasiamis 4:21

      So in The Forward Michael goes through. And basically, he talks a little bit about me, he talks a little bit about the book, and he talks a little bit about how he and I came together. And it’s just unbelievable. Thinking back now, after all the time that has passed since 2013, what has come from that is that Michael has written The Forward to my book.

      The Preface

      Bill Gasiamis 4:52

      Next is The Preface and in The Preface, I talk about how my story kind of eventually led to the creation of the Recovery After Stroke podcast and how that podcast made it so that I started to realize that some things that were happening, were unexpected.

      Bill Gasiamis 5:13

      And I was pleasantly surprised by some of the great things that were happening despite all the difficulties. And the tough times, there was some little nuggets of gold there, that if I paid attention to, and allowed myself to extract, we’re going to lead to amazing things.

      Bill Gasiamis 5:33

      And then I found myself saying that stroke was the best thing that happened to me in a couple of the podcast episodes. And then that is what started this whole thing. Because I wanted to understand how the hell I got to the point of being able to say that a stroke was the best thing that happened to me.

      Bill Gasiamis 5:50

      And then not only that, but other people were saying that, and I wanted to get to the bottom of that as well. Why are they saying that? How did they get there? And that’s what this book is about this book is the how.

      Bill Gasiamis 6:01

      How do people get to the point of being able to say that stroke was the best thing that happened to them, move on from the serious life-threatening situation that they were in, and move on from focusing on the deficits and on all the bad stuff that stroke has caused?

      Bill Gasiamis 6:19

      More importantly, I look for opportunities to make a difference in their own lives to somebody else’s lives, to go after the improvements, to change their mindset to change their way of going about life generally, to improve things, even though they are dealing with more deficits and more challenges than they’ve ever dealt with before.

      The Introduction

      Bill Gasiamis 6:42

      Now, before the first chapter comes the introduction, I opened the introduction with a quote, that goes, nothing is obvious to the uninformed, and that hopefully sets the tone for the entire book, what I’m hoping to do is inform people.

      Bill Gasiamis 6:59

      And then once I’ve informed them, that the things that we’re talking about in this book become obvious, obvious things to go after, obvious things to implement, obvious things to improve. And then once people go about that, they begin the process of making small changes and improvements every single day.

      Bill Gasiamis 7:23

      By the time they get to the end of the next 12 months to January 2025, there’ll be a massive difference in the way they feel about their recovery and their life in general, and the way that they have risen to the challenge of stroke.

      Bill Gasiamis 7:40

      So this book is a little bit different from other books you might have read, it’s supposed to be interactive. And I have a section just before we begin the first chapter, which is about filling out, answering some questions that I asked to get people sitting up in their minds, the tone by which they want to approach this book.

      Bill Gasiamis 8:02

      So it helps people understand what they want to get out of the book. And then it allows you to extract and see that information as you’re reading. And it allows you to store the ideas that are important for you to take out of this book.

      Bill Gasiamis 8:19

      So you might have some specific areas you’d like to improve on. By answering these questions, you will be able to then extract that information from this book. And hopefully, that’s going to make a massive difference in what you get out of reading a book.

      Bill Gasiamis 8:34

      It’s not just supposed to be me telling your story is also supposed to be you extracting out of the book, what you need. Answering the questions that I’ve added at the end of the introduction will enable you to have a better reading experience.

      Bill Gasiamis 8:52

      Okay, so, chapter one starts with a quote from Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking was a physicist who experienced a massive debilitating illness, he had motor neuron disease, and when he was alive, most of his adult life was spent in a wheelchair unable to move any parts of his body.

      Bill Gasiamis 9:12

      And despite that, he was at the pinnacle of his field. And he was a theoretical physicist, a cosmologist, and an author, and all this guy could move was his eyes. And his quote goes Do not be disabled in spirit as well as physically.

      Bill Gasiamis 9:31

      And hopefully what that quote does, is give people an insight into where the changes need to come from. So physically disabled might be one thing that you’ve experienced from a stroke. It may have impacted your vision, it may have been impacted and the way that you walk, and the way you get around you might be in a wheelchair.

      Bill Gasiamis 9:53

      But Stephen Hawking talks about the idea that you can still achieve All of the things that you’d like to achieve in your life, you just have to have spirit, you should not be disabled in spirit as well as physically because as somebody who is experiencing a physical disability, if you are also disabled in spirit, well, life is going to be much, much harder.

      Chapter One: A Stroke Recovery Mindset

      Bill Gasiamis 10:17

      Chapter one is titled A Stroke Recovery Mindset. And I specifically titled The chapter because I didn’t want to call it mindset, picture, mindset, work all of that stuff out, and then everything will be okay.

      Bill Gasiamis 10:17

      What I wanted to do was make you understand that the stroke recovery mindset was the particular mindset that we needed to have, and needed to work with and implement. It also begins with a story about my stroke experience.

      Bill Gasiamis 10:47

      My story is titled, From Blaming Others to Accepting Responsibility. And I go into my whole stroke experience and how I had to transform and take responsibility for my recovery, and not leave that up to other people.

      Bill Gasiamis 11:03

      And that’s a difficult thing to have to come to understand because, at the beginning, I did expect that doctors were going to be the ones who are going to lead my recovery. But in the end, we got to the point where I realized that the doctors had a particular role.

      Bill Gasiamis 11:24

      But the other part of the recovery that was going to have to happen outside of the hospital was not up to them, it was going to be up to me. So that chapter begins with that story for me. And then I’ll talk about what a stroke recovery mindset is.

      Bill Gasiamis 11:39

      And where a mindset may have been implemented, like the current mindset that you have about things where it might have been implemented from, where it may have come from, has it come from your past? Have you ever thought about forming a recovery mindset? And what that might look like? And what that does do?

      Bill Gasiamis 11:58

      Or are you just running somebody else’s mindset, a story that you’ve been told, or things that you’ve heard, that are not necessarily what you want out of life, I talk about the science behind it. And there was an awesome book that I read to prepare for this chapter by Carol Dweck, who is a professor of psychology.

      Bill Gasiamis 12:23

      And she wrote the book back in 2006, called Mindset. And in that book, there’s a whole bunch of insights. And I apply the insights, the things that I learned from that book to stroke recovery. And it’s an awesome read.

      Bill Gasiamis 12:39

      And you’ll get a lot of information about how you can understand what your current mindset is like right now, and how you can implement a mindset that is going to be specifically about stroke recovery. Because let’s face it, that’s what we want right now.

      Bill Gasiamis 12:55

      We don’t want to be distracted by other things. We want to be focused on stroke, recovery, and getting our lives back.

      Chapter Two: The Heart Brain

      Bill Gasiamis 13:03

      Now, chapter two is The Heart Brain. This might be an interesting read for you because it will potentially give you a bit of an insight into how important the heart is with stroke recovery. Now, the heart brain is all about the emotional center of you, your body, and your heart.

      Bill Gasiamis 13:25

      As a result, I opened the chapter with a quote from Daniel Goleman, Ph., who is the author of the book Emotional Intelligence, which was written in 1996. And the quote goes, “Our emotions guide us to face predicaments and tasks too important to leave to the intellect alone”.

      Bill Gasiamis 13:46

      And I love that separation immediately from the head, straight down to the heart. So our emotions guide us to face predicaments and tasks too important to leave to the intellect alone. With that, the chapter goes into describing what the heart brain is, what you need to know about the heart brain is that it has neurons, your heart has neurons, and those neurons are similar to the neurons found in the head.

      Bill Gasiamis 14:21

      The heart is a neural network, and it has intelligence. When we experience a stroke, our emotions are out of control. A lot of people will talk about crying uncontrollably and feeling bad about that. But the way I saw that, when it started happening to me was that my head switched off and my heart switched on. And the book goes into a little bit about a little bit of information about what that means.

      Bill Gasiamis 14:49

      What does it mean to start noticing your heart and feeling your heart? It talks about why the heart and brain matter and why it matters to be connected to your heart center, especially in recovery. And it also goes into a little bit about what we need to do to let go of emotional traumas that we’re bringing with us to stroke recovery. Or, more importantly, instead of letting go of them, dealing with them and leaving them in the past.

      Bill Gasiamis 15:15

      So the Heart and Brain a really important parts of recovery, I have specifically chosen the chapter order, in a way so that we deal with things in a way that is going to be most supportive of stroke recovery. But it also specifies in the book that you don’t have to do anything that I’ve read in the order that I’ve read in it, what you can do is go backward and forwards and choose whatever you’re comfortable with, wherever you want to start and start there.

      Bill Gasiamis 15:43

      But this order, I feel is a really good way to get through to getting to the endpoint of this whole process. And the head brain is the one that we’re going to deal with first because that’s where the stroke happens. So we’ve dealt with that in chapter one of Mindset. Now we move on to the heart and brain.

      Bill Gasiamis 16:02

      And we go through that process of really giving you some information that perhaps you’ve never heard of before, that it’s going to get you curious about what else you need to know about the heart brain, and how that is going to be able to support you in stroke recovery.

      Chapter Three: The Gut-Brain

      Bill Gasiamis 16:20

      All right, now chapter three is called The Gut-Brain. Yep, another brain. We have multiple intelligences in our body.

      Bill Gasiamis 16:31

      The gut-brain is even more fascinating because it doesn’t look anything like the head, brain, or heart, it looks completely different. It’s a whole bunch of tubes that go everywhere and do amazing amazing tasks for us. But you might have noticed that after your stroke, you had some gut issues, you had difficulty going to the toilet, you were constipated, and you felt bloating, a lot of stroke survivors report that. And that’s because the head and the heart are intimately connected by the gut-brain axis.

      Bill Gasiamis 17:01

      It’s a particular area of study that I’m not 100% familiar with. But there is a massive link in the communication patterns between the head and the gut, they talk to each other directly. And when the head is impacted by a stroke the gut is also impacted.

      Bill Gasiamis 17:20

      Learning about the gut and learning about the neurons in the gut and learning that all your neurotransmitters are mostly produced in the gut, things like serotonin and dopamine when you learn that you start to get a better understanding of that you need to take a different role in supporting the gut so that your gut can feel good and be good, and then support your brain.

      Bill Gasiamis 17:44

      Now, did you know that the gut-brain has about as many neurons as a cat’s brain, when I heard that, the way that I interpreted that was that there must be some level of intelligence there. And you know your gut has intelligence.

      Bill Gasiamis 18:04

      And the reason you know that is because you may have in the past heard somebody or even yourself say things like I followed my gut instinct, or I couldn’t swallow that there’s a whole bunch of words that we use around the gut that the book goes into, it gives a bit of an insight into how we use the intelligence of the gut to help guide us every single day. And again, when I discovered this, I was fascinated because my head was offline. And now I was able to recruit my heart brain and my gut-brain, to the task of helping me with stroke recovery.

      Bill Gasiamis 18:44

      Now, the chapter opens with a quote from George Fueschel, who was an early IBM programmer who coined the quote “Garbage in, garbage out.” he coined that quote, in the context of the type of programming that you put into a computer would give you certain results. And if it was bad programming, you would get bad results.

      Bill Gasiamis 19:09

      Well, I’ve heard “Garbage in, garbage out.” be applied to nutrition, and also to the body. So if you’re putting stuff in that you shouldn’t be putting into your body, then also, you’re going to get results from that that is going to make your recovery last, take longer, or be harder to go through. Now, garbage in garbage out with regards to your gut-brain is leading us to the next chapter.

      Bill Gasiamis 19:40

      But that is how the chapter starts. We learn about what the gut brain is why it matters to know about the gut-brain and why it matters to take care of your gut and to support it in this stroke recovery journey as if you were supporting your brain. And we go into the science and I give a lot of information about the science behind the gut-brain. And then I discussed some of the gut language like I took gutsy action, I trusted my gut, I have butterflies in my stomach.

      Bill Gasiamis 20:12

      And I give a whole bunch of information on the gut-brain, that you may have already been saying things that you already do hear other people say, that you didn’t realize was related to your gut-brain. And I talked about some of the tasks of the gut-brain, which include your identity, it’s where your identity is stored. So that identity is impacted massively after a stroke, we can support the way that we identify.

      Bill Gasiamis 20:45

      By supporting our gut brain, we talk about how the gut brain also does self-preservation. That’s what we’re talking about. That’s where you take action. This chapter ties into chapter one and chapter two, with the fact that if you use the right mindset, and you’re able to deal with your emotions, you’re able to take action in certain areas of your life and make changes and improve things so that you can have a better stroke recovery.

      Chapter Four: Rewiring The Brain

      Bill Gasiamis 21:17

      So chapter four is titled Rewiring The Brain, and it opens with a quote from Dr. Donald Hebb. Donald Hebb was a Canadian psychologist whose groundbreaking research on brain functions helped bridge the fields of psychology and neuroscience, and the quote goes “Neurons that fire together, wire together.”

      Bill Gasiamis 21:41

      And basically, this chapter is simply about rewiring the brain. And what we want to do is give people a bit of an insight into Neuroplasticity and rewiring the brain. And that is important for stroke survivors to understand, they may have heard that you’re never going to walk again, or they may have heard some negative comments from doctors.

      Bill Gasiamis 22:05

      And what we want to do is we want to break those negative comments that the doctors have said into a million pieces and scatter them away, and encourage people and make them enthusiastic about the possibility that rewiring the brain is a thing that happens. Neuroplasticity is a thing that happens. And for people who don’t know about Neuroplasticity, and rewiring the brain, we might be introducing this in this chapter.

      Bill Gasiamis 22:34

      The book does a really good job here of going into the science behind Neuroplasticity. It describes that the studies on Neuroplasticity go back around 200 years from the current time. And it has been a massive field of inquiry for many, many years.

      Bill Gasiamis 22:55

      But it wasn’t until the late 60s that the science was able to be proven. In this book, there’s just a very deep level of understanding of how neuroscience has bridged the gap to show that the brain is plastic and that the brain is capable of changing and learning new things. And it doesn’t matter what your age is.

      Bill Gasiamis 23:22

      As a result of that, we go through, and we give a whole bunch of information here that makes it possible for people to use their imagination, to imagine themselves, rewiring the brain. And just simply by imagining using your imagination without actually physically doing that exercise, you will be rewiring your brain and creating new neurons.

      Bill Gasiamis 23:47

      It is a must-read chapter. It’s the chapter that I think brings the most hope in stroke recovery, and it’s one of the most important chapters. And even though it’s chapter four, it’s at the right time in the recovery.

      Bill Gasiamis 24:03

      So what we’ve done is we’ve given a little bit of an insight into the mindset into the heart brain, into the gut brain. And now what we’re doing now that we have that information, we’re able to take all that information and apply it to the Neuroplasticity part of the recovery.

      Bill Gasiamis 24:23

      Which is the rewiring of the brain to get back functions that were lost, perhaps, or to support new neuronal pathways to improve and gain back some of the functions that can be rehabilitated that were taken offline after the stroke.

      Chapter Five: Sleep

      Bill Gasiamis 24:44

      As we continue The next Chapter, Chapter Five is simply titled Sleep, and opens with a quote from Matthew Walker, the author of the book “Why We Sleep?” and the quote goes “Sleep-deprived individuals also generate fewer and less accurate solutions to problems.” I just love that quote, because it’s so appropriate for stroke survivors.

      Bill Gasiamis 25:12

      If you thought you had problems before stroke, now, as we know, stroke brings its own set of problems. And what we need is a whole bunch of problem-solving. And we need solutions. So I encourage sleep, not only was stroke recovery, but strip sleep is important for all parts of your well-being.

      Bill Gasiamis 25:38

      That chapter then opens up with a story from a former nurse who had a stroke and had terrible sleep patterns and partly blames part of her condition. Part of the reason she ended up having a stroke to her lack of good sleep. And then we go into a lot of detail about what sleep is, and why sleep matters.

      Bill Gasiamis 26:03

      Then we break down some of the scientific parts of sleep, one of the things that we talk about is how a lack of sleep contributes to premature aging of your brain, and we talk about how lack of sleep makes fatigue worse. And the chapter is full of information about how to go about also improving your sleep.

      Bill Gasiamis 26:29

      And it quotes a couple of other scientific publications and a few other authors. And, if you can do one thing, and nothing else during your stroke recovery, you can make your sleep better. Or if you can sleep more, if you can find a way to get extra sleep during the day, then I support it, because sleep is going to make your stroke recovery faster.

      Bill Gasiamis 26:59

      You have also got some tips in that chapter about how you can make some small changes in and around your home to support you in getting back into a good sleep cycle. And then going through the process of feeling refreshed in the morning when you wake up and hopefully relying less on medication.

      Chapter Six: Food For Thought

      Bill Gasiamis 27:23

      The next Chapter, Chapter Six is Food For Thought. And I just love this chapter because it now starts to tie in the concepts and the ideas from the previous chapters. So George Fueschel’s quote earlier was “Garbage in garbage out.” then we had Matthew Walker, quote “Sleep-deprived individuals, individuals also generate fewer and less accurate solutions to problems.”.

      Bill Gasiamis 27:51

      This just ties in beautifully with the nutrition chapter it ties in because if we fuel our brand with high-quality foods, we remove sugars and reduce our intake of complex carbohydrates, we stop drinking alcohol, we don’t smoke, and we support our gut with the right food, we’re going to through that gut-brain access be automatically supporting the brain, as well as supporting the body.

      Bill Gasiamis 28:23

      This chapter goes around describing where some of our food habits may have come from, how to go about making those changes why food matters, why it matters for you to be careful about the food that you consume, and where you’re consuming it from and what quality of food you’re consuming.

      Bill Gasiamis 28:46

      I also talk a little bit about my journey with food and how I used to eat to remove hunger, rather than to nourish my body and how that important switch for me, was able to change the way that I went about decreasing the low-quality foods that I used to eat, and the way that I would go about spending more time focusing on meal preparation.

      Bill Gasiamis 29:12

      And I also talked about how food or the wrong food causes inflammation in the body, and how we can go about decreasing inflammation in the body by simply changing the food that we consume. And if we do reduce inflammation, that is a great thing because inflammation is part of what the problem is in the brain. If we can have a positive impact in decreasing inflammation in our brain, then we are getting out of the way of the brain being able to do its thing and heal rather than continuously irritating and inflaming it by eating inflammatory foods.

      Bill Gasiamis 29:52

      One of the cool things about this chapter is that when I talk about the diet and making changes to the diet I don’t only talk about what you consume, but also talk about the things that we need to take out of the diet.

      Chapter Seven: Let’s Get Physical

      Bill Gasiamis 30:05

      As we continue and move on to Chapter Seven: Let’s Get Physical. The chapter is all about exercise. And it opens with a quote from Albert Einstein, which says “Nothing happens until something moves.” that quote is not about exercise, Albert Einstein would not have said that so that he could encourage people to do more exercise.

      Bill Gasiamis 30:28

      But it is an awesome quote that can very much be applied to exercise, because if you’re not moving your body, nothing’s happening, you become stagnant, and things stop working properly. So there has to be movement, movement creates a whole bunch of neuro-chemical changes in the body, that help the body and the brain in a very big way.

      Bill Gasiamis 30:53

      It’s a very positive thing to move, and you do not have to move as you moved before if you were a runner, and now you can’t run or if you’re a cyclist, and there can’t cyclist, you don’t have to necessarily be moving in the same way you did before the stroke. And this chapter just goes into all the information that you need to know about why exercise is important, and how to do exercise now that you have a disability perhaps, or now that you are physically different.

      Bill Gasiamis 31:22

      And I like this part of the chapter because I talk about what exercise is. And I want to just make sure that people don’t feel bad about the kind of exercise that they can or can’t do. I open up with an Oxford dictionary definition of exercise which says “That exercise is to engage in physical activity to sustain or improve health and fitness.”

      Bill Gasiamis 31:46

      And then I make the point that the definition does not mention that exercise must be hard or painful. It is not mentioned that you will always be motivated to participate in it. It doesn’t mention that you have to be able to do it for hours and hours and sustain lots of long exercise sessions, it doesn’t mention that you should be good at it.

      Bill Gasiamis 32:07

      I’m just trying to break some people’s patterns of thinking about exercise so that people can feel like everyone can participate in the exercise, even though it doesn’t look the way that it looked before the stroke. And any small amount of exercise is going to support creating a whole bunch of positive changes in the body and the brain.

      Chapter Eight: Living Heartfully

      Bill Gasiamis 32:32

      As we move on, we get to Chapter Eight: Living Heartfully. And I love this chapter, it is the chapter that I relate to the most, I think. And it starts with a quote by Ernest Hemingway, and the quote goes “Sometimes following your heart means losing your mind.”.

      Bill Gasiamis 32:55

      And I just love this quote, because it relates to me so much. I mentioned a little earlier that my head had switched off and my heart kind of came to life or was able to express itself. When it happened to me, it was probably the first time that I’d felt that way. And I didn’t know what was going on, I was being guided by my heart, and I was doing things that I previously would not have done.

      Bill Gasiamis 33:23

      Because my head would have convinced me out of it. I was doing things that I loved and enjoyed. And that doing things that I loved and enjoyed during that time of stroke recovery was such a massive contrast because, before the strike, I wasn’t doing anything that I loved and enjoyed. I was just going to work, working too many hours struggling with all the things that a person who has their own small business struggles with.

      Bill Gasiamis 33:50

      And there was just no me time. And what I found was that after the stroke, there was a lot of me time. Sure, I wasn’t working, and I had hospital appointments and things got serious at some point. And we didn’t know what the plan, plans were going to be, or what the future held. But what I was experiencing was daily joy, because I was doing things I loved.

      Bill Gasiamis 34:17

      And I was fixing things and changing things with the people who I loved and telling them that I loved them. And I was living heartfully and my heart was telling me to do these things. At the time of writing the book, there was no definition for the word heartfulness.

      Bill Gasiamis 34:34

      But what I was trying to do with this chapter was move away from the word mindfulness, because you hear about living mindfully or being mindful all the time. And when I hear that word, I just hear that what I’m doing is filling my mind further.

      Bill Gasiamis 34:49

      So mind full, to me isn’t a concept that I can relate to others I appreciate, but living heartfully does. filling my heart with things that my heart desires and bring me joy is something that resonates with me. And that’s what I attempt to do in this chapter is to describe what heartfulness is, how to live happily, and the benefits of being heartful to stroke recovery.

      Bill Gasiamis 35:17

      And just before I move on from this chapter, I want to talk about the definition that I came up with, because there is none. No definition. What how I described as heartful: was to be full of heart, and to have the qualities of having a generous, compassionate, or loving nature, tending to exhibit qualities of the heart.

      Bill Gasiamis 35:42

      So it talks about finding what the qualities of the heart are, and then exhibiting those natures, and having those qualities and practicing those qualities, and heartfulness is the state of being heartful, the quality of being full of heart, the measure of having generous, compassionate, or loving nature.

      Bill Gasiamis 36:07

      So I found that being heartful was a far more beneficial thing to me than being mindful. And I think that it does support people in getting to that point where they start to unravel or unpack what their life’s purpose is. The last chapter life, a purposeful life or discovering your life’s purpose, is the chapter that wasn’t meant to exist.

      Bill Gasiamis 36:34

      The reason it wasn’t meant to exist is because I never set out to find my life’s purpose, but I just uncovered it, I discovered it. And I think part of the reason why I got there and discovered that this book, this podcast is communities my life’s purpose, one of the part of the reason I got there is because I started living heartfully. And that’s what I’m trying to do here set the scene as to how to get to find your purpose, you’re not going to work out your life’s purpose with your head.

      Bill Gasiamis 37:03

      So that’s why I love this chapter It does set the scene for how we need to elevate the heart, how previously the heart may have been given a backseat to the mind, and why intelligence of the head was more important.

      Bill Gasiamis 37:20

      We’ll talk about how emotional intelligence I spoke about in the Heart Brain chapter, how emotional intelligence and the heart go hand in hand, and how by enhancing the heart, we can experience a higher quality of life, a higher quality of joy that comes out of life, even after we’ve had a stroke, and the stroke is causing us all of the challenges that they do.

      Chapter Nine: Building A Supportive Community

      Bill Gasiamis 37:49

      Chapter Nine is about Building A Supportive Community. Now though, nobody can do anything in life without the support of some family or friends, or a community, nobody can do it alone. So if you’re struggling, if you’re doing things alone, and you’re feeling like you need more help, this chapter is for you, you need to find a way to build a supportive community.

      Bill Gasiamis 38:13

      Now, the good thing about it is that communities can live online these days they don’t have to be communities that you drive to or visit, although I recommend that you get to real-life people, communities where real-life people exist, that are encouraging and supportive, you might find that those communities exist online.

      Bill Gasiamis 38:34

      The chapter opens with a quote from Marcus Aurelius, and the quote goes “Don’t be ashamed to need help, like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish.”.

      Bill Gasiamis 38:47

      And if you have been wounded, and you need a comrade, to pull you up, so what I love it, because it’s like, so what you need help, go and get the help that you need. You’ve been wounded. You need support, you need a comrade, you’ve got a mission to accomplish. It’s a massive mission, you need to go after it. And that’s what that quote encourages us to do. And that’s what chapter nine is all about building a supportive community.

      Bill Gasiamis 39:15

      Often what happens in these supportive communities is you go there to get support, but you end up being the support for other people. And then it’s a beautiful loop. It’s a beautiful circle. And then I go into some of the research about the information that’s available out there about what it’s like to create a supportive community and how to change the kind of communities that you hang around in.

      Bill Gasiamis 39:43

      Not by getting rid of all the people who are in your life, but by placing additional people into your life and those people that you place into your life are going to support your recovery more and more and more. Mini-stroke survivors talk about the challenges that they faced with friendships, some people drop off, and you end up feeling a little bit lonely, and you don’t understand why people didn’t come to visit you. And all of that is a normal part of stroke recovery.

      Bill Gasiamis 40:12

      That happens is, a lot of people don’t have the resources or the skills to help you overcome the challenges that they’re going through after a stroke, plus, it could be triggering for them, and they may not know how to go about stepping up in a way that’s going to be supportive to you. So they move away. And when they move away, you feel like they’re doing something wrong, but actually what they’re doing is they’re doing your favor.

      Bill Gasiamis 40:40

      And the chapter goes deeply into how the five people that you hang out with the most are going to influence your recovery. But not only the five people that you hang out with the five people that they hang out with, and the five people that they hang out with. And what I do is I go into some research that shows how overall, we are influenced directly by about 125 People from all the different people we hang out with.

      Bill Gasiamis 41:10

      So by changing the people, the five people that you hang out with the most, and swapping them out, that’s not getting rid of people that’s not stopping communicating with other people, but it’s just adding and including more supportive people into your daily, more some, by adding more supportive people into the group of people that you see more often.

      Bill Gasiamis 41:37

      Then what you’re going to do is you’re going to have a better possibility of making the right type of changes, whether it’s in your mindset, in your nutrition, in the amount you exercise, in the way you solve problems, you’re going to be able to do those things a hell of a lot better. And this chapter says the supportive community is a really important chapter.

      Bill Gasiamis 42:05

      Because without community, we struggle without people supporting us and advocating for us and encouraging us and patting us on the back when we achieve something great, or something minor that is great, then what we do is we don’t have a recovery that’s as quick and as successful as it can be.

      Chapter Ten: Stumbling Into Purpose

      Bill Gasiamis 42:28

      Now the next Chapter, and the last chapter is the Chapter on “Stumbling Into Purpose” chapter 10.

      Bill Gasiamis 42:37

      The chapter opens up with a quote from His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, which says “My main purpose and motivation is not the issue of Tibet, but rather the promotion of human values to have happier individuals, families and communities, and in that way, a happier humanity.” and that’s kind of what is the outcome of living your life, and going about your stroke recovery in a way that ends up with you being able to say that stroke was the best thing that happened to you.

      Bill Gasiamis 43:28

      Because what inevitably you do, by taking the steps that we’ve just spoken about the last nine steps that we’ve spoken about, is you end up finding tools, and things that have worked for you that you’re telling other people who are in need that may be working for them. And then when you’re providing people with tools that may be working for them. And they are benefiting from that what they are most definitely doing is they are imparting that knowledge and information to the next person who needs it.

      Bill Gasiamis 44:08

      And that’s what I’ve found in this stroke recovery community that we’ve created on Instagram on YouTube, on the podcast, and I found that there’s a loop happening, information loop information comes from the people who I interview to me, and then to the people who are listening and the people who are listening are often then referring that information on to other people. And nobody has any other interest in providing that information.

      Bill Gasiamis 44:42

      They don’t have any single bit of information, they don’t have any single bit of interest in providing the information other than to support and help somebody else. And that’s the most amazing thing. I just see people who are going through a tough time helping other people but that’s somehow making life better for them somehow improving their stroke recovery, their self-worth, it’s improving every aspect of their life, regardless of how difficult the deficits are for them to overcome.

      Bill Gasiamis 45:14

      They’re finding purpose and meaning in being able to support other stroke survivors. They don’t set out necessarily to do that but it’s kind of what happens, it’s the result of just sharing information. And once we start doing that, what we find is that purpose emerges.

      Bill Gasiamis 45:36

      Now, for me, the way that purpose emerged was, and I’ve mentioned that already, a little earlier in this presentation, the way that purpose emerged was, I found myself sitting through an episode with one of my guests. And I found myself reflecting on all the amazing things that came out of stroke, and the feedback that I get daily from stroke survivors from all around the world about what the podcast means to them.

      Bill Gasiamis 46:06

      I see it on Google, on the reviews from iTunes, I see it on the reviews from Spotify, I see it in the comments on YouTube, and I see it in the emails that I get directly, I see it on the messages that I get from Instagram and Facebook. And I’ve got a whole bunch of people contacting me and letting me know how amazing this service that I’m providing has been for them and their recovery.

      Bill Gasiamis 46:37

      And I never knew that that was going to lead to me finding my purpose, and feeling good about myself and how I’m contributing to the planet, I still am all the other things that I always was, I’m still a dad, I’m still a husband, I’m still a son and a brother, and I’m still somebody who goes to work and does all those things.

      Bill Gasiamis 46:59

      But I’ve added this massive chunk of purpose into my life. And it’s driving me far more, and it’s making me wake up in the mornings far more than anything else I’ve ever done in my life. And don’t get me wrong, my kids are pretty high up in the wake-up in the morning, the kind of task that I needed to do and what motivated me to get out of bed. But as they’re getting older, and they rely on me less, I’m finding ways to supplement that.

      Bill Gasiamis 47:32

      And I’m nurturing these other people who need nurturing and support, who need a community who need somebody to have their back. And for me, I never would have been the kind of person who’d done this kind of work if it wasn’t for the stroke. I just didn’t think about other people, I always thought about myself. And the purpose in life kind of emerges from you doing things for other people.

      Bill Gasiamis 48:01

      It’s bizarre, but that’s how it emerges. And it’s, and me doing things for other people comes from my heart, it doesn’t come from my head, I never would have sat down and worked out what it was that was going to enable me to stumble into my purpose. And that’s what the chapter is all about. It just goes into so much, and the Dalai Lama is a perfect example of living a purposeful life because he’s all about making humanity better, where can he start making humanity better from his backyard?

      Bill Gasiamis 48:35

      So for me, all of the work that I started doing is making a massive difference at home with the people that I’m involved in directly. To date, I’ve sold more copies of the book to people within my direct community than people outside of my community. Now I expect that to change, but it is so amazing to see the support of the people in my community, the people who I live with whom I interact with, they’re interested to know why I’ve written this book.

      Bill Gasiamis 49:04

      They’re interested to know what’s inside the pages, and how it might help them. And most of the people that have bought the book have not had a stroke, which is the most amazing thing. And I love the fact that it’s non-stroke survivors who supported the book at the very beginning. So that’s why this chapter exists because it never should have existed, and it turns out that it does exist.

      Bill Gasiamis 49:30

      The good thing about this chapter is it takes some lessons from some people from the past who are amazing in their own right, and one of those people is Viktor Frankl.

      Man’s Search For Meaning

      Bill Gasiamis 49:40

      Viktor Frankl was the person who wrote the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” and he wrote the book after being a prisoner of war in a concentration camp or multiple concentration camps during the Second World War he was a victim and his family was a victim of the Holocaust.

      Bill Gasiamis 50:04

      He wrote his book Man’s Search for Meaning, to talk about the purpose that he was able to extract out of being in a concentration camp and seeing the horrors that one would see, having lived in a concentration camp and survived a concentration camp.

      Bill Gasiamis 50:23

      His purpose for being in a concentration camp was transformed into being able to tell the story, he feels like without a purpose of being able to tell the story, share the experiences that he had in the concentration camp, and what humanity can learn from the atrocities that occurred in the concentration camp. He felt that that was part of one of the major reasons that saved his life, and that’s how that’s how amazing suffering is.

      Bill Gasiamis 50:57

      Suffering can be something that we experience and is completely destructive and destroys us. Still, suffering can also be transformed into your life’s purpose, and that’s what I think the experience of my experience, experiencing a stroke and suffering from a stroke mentally, emotionally, and physically, has been able to do it’s been has been able to be transformed by me making these decisions to help other people, it’s been transformed into this positive thing.

      Bill Gasiamis 51:26

      That is why the book is called “The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened” and I’ve created a little bit of an equation that helps people understand what the purpose of suffering is, and it goes “Suffering plus meaning plus action equals purpose.” and I hope that your suffering can trend can be transformed into some other higher purpose, a higher meaning, and I hope that you take action with that in mind, and I hope from that action that you take, you end up finding your purpose.

      Bill Gasiamis 52:05

      This book has transformed my life, this stroke has drawn and transformed my life, this podcast has transformed my life, and I hope that you are now curious, and you will consider a copy, and that you’ll be able to learn from that and when you learn from that you’ll be able to use what you learned to help other people, and you will be a good example for the people in your life about how one should go about overcoming a major health challenge.

      Bill Gasiamis 52:36

      Well, thank you for tuning in, to grab a copy of the book go to recoveryafterstroke.com/book. If you would like to leave a review of the podcast, the best way to do that is to leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you on iTunes and Spotify. If you’re watching on YouTube, comment below the video, like this episode and to get notifications of future episodes subscribe to the show on the platform of your choice.

      Bill Gasiamis 53:03

      I do hope that your 2024 is full of recovery and transformation. Thank you for being here and see you on the next episode.

      Intro 53:12

      Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

      Intro 53:29

      All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.

      Intro 53:42

      The content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

      Intro 54:06

      Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content if you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional.

      Intro 54:20

      If you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be called triple zero in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department, medical information changes constantly.

      Intro 54:33

      While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

      The post New Book About Stroke Recovery with Ten Tools For Recovery and Personal Transformation | Bill Gasiamis appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

      55 min
    8. Exercise And Stroke Recovery | Dr. Heidi Jansen
      The Role of Exercise in Stroke Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide

      Exercise plays a crucial role in stroke recovery, aiding in physical, cognitive, and emotional rehabilitation. When it comes to regaining independence and improving quality of life after a stroke, incorporating exercise into a rehabilitation program is key. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the various ways exercise can support stroke recovery and provide practical tips on how to get started.

      Physical exercise helps strengthen muscles, improves balance and coordination, and enhances mobility. It can also help prevent muscle atrophy and reduce the risk of secondary complications such as blood clots and infections. Cognitive exercises, on the other hand, promote brain plasticity, enhance memory and concentration, and improve overall cognitive function. Additionally, exercise has been shown to have positive effects on emotional well-being by reducing post-stroke depression and anxiety.

      Whether you are a stroke survivor, a family member, or a healthcare professional, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and practical advice on how to incorporate exercise into a stroke recovery plan. Discover the transformative power of exercise and take a step towards a healthier and more fulfilling life after a stroke.

      Understanding the role of exercise in stroke recovery

      Exercise plays a crucial role in stroke recovery, aiding in physical, cognitive, and emotional rehabilitation. When it comes to regaining independence and improving the quality of life after a stroke, incorporating exercise into a rehabilitation program is key. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the various ways exercise can support stroke recovery and provide practical tips on how to get started.

      Benefits of exercise for stroke survivors

      Physical exercise helps strengthen muscles, improves balance and coordination, and enhances mobility. It can also help prevent muscle atrophy and reduce the risk of secondary complications such as blood clots and infections. Additionally, exercise promotes cardiovascular health, which is essential for stroke survivors who may have experienced damage to their heart and blood vessels.

      Cognitive exercises, on the other hand, promote brain plasticity, enhance memory and concentration, and improve overall cognitive function. Stroke survivors often experience cognitive impairments, such as difficulty with memory, attention, and problem-solving. Incorporating cognitive exercises into the rehabilitation program can help address these challenges and improve the individual’s cognitive abilities.

      Furthermore, exercise has been shown to have positive effects on emotional well-being by reducing post-stroke depression and anxiety. The emotional impact of stroke can be significant, as survivors often face changes in their physical abilities and lifestyle. Engaging in regular exercise not only enhances physical and cognitive function but also boosts mood and overall mental well-being.

      Types of exercises for stroke recovery

      Exercise offers numerous benefits for stroke survivors, both physically and mentally. First and foremost, it helps to improve overall physical function and mobility. Through targeted exercises, stroke survivors can regain strength, improve flexibility, and enhance their ability to perform daily activities independently. Regular exercise also aids in balance and coordination, reducing the risk of falls and improving safety.

      In addition to the physical benefits, exercise plays a crucial role in cognitive rehabilitation. Cognitive exercises, such as memory games, problem-solving activities, and attention training exercises, help to stimulate the brain and improve cognitive function. This can lead to enhanced memory, attention, and decision-making abilities, ultimately improving the individual’s overall cognitive performance.

      Exercise has also been shown to have a positive impact on mental well-being. Engaging in physical activity releases endorphins, which are natural mood boosters, and can help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Additionally, exercise provides an opportunity for social interaction, which can combat feelings of isolation and improve overall emotional well-being.

      Creating an exercise plan for stroke survivors

      Various types of exercises can benefit stroke survivors. It’s important to consider the individual’s abilities, preferences, and any specific limitations or precautions recommended by their healthcare team. Here are some types of exercises commonly recommended for stroke recovery:

      1. Strength Training: Strengthening exercises focus on building muscle strength and improving overall physical function. This can include exercises using resistance bands, weights, or bodyweight exercises. Starting with low resistance and gradually increasing as strength improves is recommended.
      2. Aerobic Exercise: Aerobic exercises, such as walking, swimming, or cycling, help improve cardiovascular fitness and endurance. These exercises can be tailored to the individual’s abilities, and it’s essential to start slowly and gradually increase the intensity and duration.
      3. Balance and Coordination Exercises: Balance and coordination exercises help improve stability and reduce the risk of falls. This can include exercises such as standing on one leg, heel-to-toe walking, or balance board exercises.
      4. Flexibility Exercises: Stretching exercises help improve flexibility and range of motion. These exercises can include gentle stretches of major muscle groups and joints, such as the neck, shoulders, arms, and legs.
      5. Cognitive Exercises: Cognitive exercises focus on stimulating the brain and improving cognitive function. This can include memory games, puzzles, reading, or engaging in activities that require problem-solving and critical thinking.
        6. Safety considerations when exercising after a stroke

        When creating an exercise plan for stroke survivors, it’s crucial to consider their individual needs, abilities, and goals. Here are some key steps to follow when developing an exercise plan:

        1. Consult with Healthcare Professionals: Before starting any exercise program, it’s essential to consult with the individual’s healthcare team, including their physician, physical therapist, or occupational therapist. They can provide valuable insights and recommendations based on the individual’s specific condition and needs.
        2. Set Realistic Goals: Establishing realistic and achievable goals is crucial for stroke survivors. These goals can be related to physical function, cognitive abilities, or emotional well-being. Breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable milestones can help keep motivation high.
        3. Develop a Balanced Routine: A well-rounded exercise routine should include a combination of strength training, aerobic exercise, balance and coordination exercises, flexibility exercises, and cognitive exercises. This ensures that all aspects of recovery are addressed.
        4. Start Slowly: It’s important to start with exercises that are appropriate for the individual’s current abilities and gradually progress as strength and endurance improve. Starting slowly helps prevent injuries and allows the body to adapt to new demands.
        5. Include Rest and Recovery: Rest and recovery are essential components of any exercise program. It’s important to listen to the body and allow for adequate rest periods to prevent overexertion and promote optimal recovery.
          6. Overcoming barriers to exercise during stroke recovery

          While exercise is beneficial for stroke recovery, it’s essential to prioritize safety. Here are some important safety considerations to keep in mind when exercising after a stroke:

          1. Consult with Healthcare Professionals: As mentioned earlier, consulting with healthcare professionals is crucial to ensure exercises are safe and appropriate for the individual’s condition. They can guide you on any precautions or modifications that may be necessary.
          2. Warm-Up and Cool-Down: Always start each exercise session with a proper warm-up to prepare the body for physical activity and reduce the risk of injury. Similarly, end each session with a cool-down to gradually bring the heart rate back to its resting state.
          3. Use Proper Form and Technique: Proper form and technique are essential to maximize the benefits of exercises and minimize the risk of injury. If unsure about the correct form, it’s recommended to seek guidance from a qualified professional, such as a physical therapist.
          4. Monitor Heart Rate and Blood Pressure: It’s important to monitor heart rate and blood pressure during exercise, especially for individuals with cardiovascular concerns. Staying within safe ranges ensures that the exercise is effective and does not place excessive stress on the body.
          5. Stay Hydrated: Proper hydration is important during exercise to prevent dehydration and maintain overall well-being. Ensure that the individual drink an adequate amount of water before, during, and after exercise.
          6. Listen to the Body: It’s essential to listen to the body and pay attention to any warning signs or discomfort during exercise. If experiencing severe pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, or any other concerning symptoms, it’s important to stop exercising and seek medical attention.
            7. Incorporating other therapies with exercise for optimal recovery

            Despite the numerous benefits of exercise, stroke survivors may face various barriers that make it challenging to engage in regular physical activity. Here are some common barriers and strategies to overcome them.

            1. Physical Limitations: Physical limitations, such as weakness, spasticity, or difficulty with coordination, can make exercise challenging. Working with a physical therapist or exercise specialist who specializes in stroke rehabilitation can help develop tailored exercises and modifications to accommodate these limitations.
            2. Lack of Motivation: Lack of motivation can be a significant barrier to exercise. Setting realistic goals, finding enjoyable activities, and seeking support from family, friends, or support groups can help boost motivation.
            3. Time Constraints: Balancing rehabilitation, work, and other responsibilities can make it challenging to find time for exercise. Prioritizing exercise by scheduling specific times and making it a part of the daily routine can help overcome this barrier.
            4. Financial Constraints: Access to exercise facilities or specialized equipment may be limited due to financial constraints. Exploring low-cost or free options, such as walking outdoors, using household items for resistance training, or accessing community resources, can help overcome this barrier.
            5. Fear of Injury: Fear of reinjury or exacerbating existing physical limitations can be a significant barrier to exercise. Working with a healthcare professional to develop a safe and appropriate exercise plan, and starting with low-intensity exercises can help alleviate these concerns.
              6. Tracking progress and adjusting exercise routines

              While exercise is a vital component of stroke recovery, it’s important to recognize that it works synergistically with other therapies to optimize recovery. Here are some therapies that can complement exercise in the rehabilitation process.

              1. Physical Therapy: Physical therapy focuses on improving physical function and mobility through targeted exercises, manual therapy, and other techniques. Incorporating physical therapy alongside exercise can help maximize recovery and address specific physical limitations.
              2. Occupational Therapy: Occupational therapy focuses on improving the individual’s ability to perform daily activities independently. This can include exercises that target fine motor skills, coordination, and adaptive techniques to overcome challenges in daily life.
              3. Speech Therapy: For stroke survivors who experience speech and language difficulties, speech therapy can be highly beneficial. Speech therapy improves communication skills, clarity, and swallowing function.
              4. Psychological Therapy: Psychological therapy, such as counseling or cognitive-behavioral therapy, can provide valuable support for stroke survivors dealing with emotional challenges, such as depression, anxiety, or adjustment difficulties. These therapies can work in tandem with exercise to promote overall well-being.
                5. Conclusion: The power of exercise in stroke recovery

                To ensure continued progress and maximize the benefits of exercise, it’s important to track progress and adjust exercise routines accordingly. Here are some strategies for tracking progress and making necessary adjustments:

                1. Keep an Exercise Journal: Maintaining an exercise journal can help track exercises performed, intensity, duration, and any noticeable changes or improvements. This provides a visual record of progress and helps identify areas that may require adjustment.
                2. Regularly Assess Physical Function: Regularly assessing physical function, such as strength, balance, and mobility, can provide insights into progress and areas that may need additional focus. This can be done through functional tests or with the guidance of a healthcare professional.
                3. Review Goals and Make Adjustments: Periodically reviewing goals and making necessary adjustments is essential for continued progress. As the individual’s abilities improve, goals can be updated to reflect new milestones or challenges.
                4. Seek Professional Guidance: If progress stalls or difficulties arise, seeking guidance from healthcare professionals, such as a physical therapist or exercise specialist, can provide valuable insights and recommendations for adjusting the exercise routine.
                  5. The Interview

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen is exploring how to get the best results from exercise during stroke recovery.

                  Esteem Stroke Instagram

                  01:28 Introduction

                  04:38 Dedicating a career to stroke research and rehabilitation
                  15:50 Exercise And Stroke Recovery
                  20:07 Stroke rehabilitation program’s effectiveness
                  26:35 Redefining identity after stroke
                  33:35 A program for people with neurological conditions
                  39:12 Dealing with self-esteem with aphasia

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 0:00

                  When we look at animals that recover from stroke in an environment where they have access to greater opportunities to combine physical, cognitive, and social activities, it promotes brain plasticity and improves their motor function. And there’s some indication that it helps their memory and learning. So based on the science, we then say, well, what does this look like?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 0:21

                  For want of a better word in a human model? It’s it’s got to have those three elements and they’re like, well, we don’t want to exercise for too long. Survivors. Yeah, well, because people will get tired. Yeah, I hear that.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 0:34

                  But as a physio I sit there and say, Okay, well, it’s going to be a quick 30-minute set of tasks 30 minutes if we want to get that actual element in, so they do 30 minutes of exercise, and then they break for tea and coffee and have some yummy food and share their stories.

                  Intro 0:57

                  This is the recovery after stroke podcast, with Bill Gasiamis helping you navigate recovery after a stroke.

                  Bill Gasiamis 1:10

                  Hello, everybody, welcome back to the podcast. My book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened is now available for purchase on Amazon. Just search my name on your local Amazon Bill Gasiamis, or follow the links in the YouTube description.

                  Introduction Dr. Heidi Jansen


                  Bill Gasiamis 1:28
                  And in the show notes for this episode. If you are an Aussie and follow the Australian link, the book will be shipped by me personally, which means I’ll even be able to sign it for you with a special message. Now, this is episode 283.

                  Bill Gasiamis 1:45

                  And my guest today is Dr. Heidi Jansen, who is an accomplished physiotherapist and dedicated researcher specializing in stroke recovery and rehabilitation. Her passion lies in ensuring stroke survivors receive effective rehabilitation and post-stroke care aiming to optimize their recovery. Her research primarily focused on environmental enrichment and secondary prevention through regular physical activity. Dr. Heidi Jansen, welcome to the podcast.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 2:16

                  Oh, thanks for having me, Bill.

                  Bill Gasiamis 2:18

                  My pleasure. Thank you for being here. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Who you are in your professional role, where do you work, and what do you do?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 2:28

                  I’m a physiotherapist that’s based in Newcastle, New South Wales. And I’ve been a physiotherapist for over 21 years now of which most of that has been spent working in the stroke recovery space along all aspects from acute through to my current role, which is working with people living with stroke who are back at home, and learning how to live well with changes that may have occurred after stroke.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 2:59

                  So I work for Hunter New England Health in the community strike team. That’s the team that does that. We run group programs that involve things like supporting self-management and secondary stroke prevention, mood changes, fatigue, and communication changes. And my other role that I’ve been involved in probably for 15 years or so, is as a stroke researcher.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 3:29

                  So I have a special interest in the use of environmental enrichment to promote stroke recovery. I also have a research interest in secondary prevention interventions. I’m involved in working with an Aboriginal community on Gomeroi in the Loray, which lands up in Tamworth, New South Wales, and I’m also developing an avatar to support self-determined stroke recovery.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 4:00

                  So that’s a little bit about me, I’ve got a bit going on. But as you would it sounds like I like to be busy. And I’m very interested. I don’t have any personal connection to stroke in terms of having someone in my family or myself who has had a stroke.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 4:17

                  But I’m very passionate about ensuring that everybody that has a life-changing event, we just stroke most definitely years. They all have equitable access to the best support and evidence-based care to help them learn to live again.

                  Dedicating a career to stroke research and rehabilitation

                  Bill Gasiamis 4:37

                  How did you get interested in stroke 21 years ago when you were fairly new to the research world or university life and all of that? What is it that sort of says, I think I’m gonna do the next 21 years in this space.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 4:54

                  I fell into a clinical role accidentally so there was a new stroke unit that was being built, so to speak, and a new service was being developed in a smaller hospital within the area of Newcastle, not the main tertiary hospital, another little hub hospital.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 5:16

                  And yeah, I was the physiotherapist involved in and working with a multidisciplinary team to set up these acute stroke units, which transitioned into a stroke rehab unit. So that continuation of care. So you start rehab, as soon as you’re medically stable, it was a cute stripe. So yeah, since then, I’ve just moved about in different stroke specialties.

                  Bill Gasiamis 5:45

                  Yeah, it’s cool. I asked that question to most people who are researchers in the area of stroke or supporting people who have had a stroke, etc. And very often, they’re not stroke survivors, or they don’t necessarily have to have a connection with somebody who is.

                  Bill Gasiamis 6:02

                  But it’s always fascinating for me to meet people who make it their life’s work to help other people who they’ve never met before, by deciding to dedicate the rest of their whole career to that space. And I’m not saying I’m not saying that it’s strange or weird or anything.

                  Bill Gasiamis 6:21

                  It’s just amazing, like, as a stroke survivor, that there are so many people out there trying to look out for us that we’ve never met, that your research and studies ultimately end up supporting people who won’t be in your particular group.

                  Bill Gasiamis 6:38

                  Those findings will filter out through the community and they’ll get absorbed into other programs. And will benefit, I know that I was benefiting from a whole heap of research that was being done when I was in therapy, trying to get my left side to activate again and to start walking again and start using my left arm again. And I was just so grateful.

                  Bill Gasiamis 7:00

                  And I just want to share that I just want to make sure you guys know that we’re grateful that we have that. So when somebody says to me, I can kind of be on the podcast to share some success that we’ve had, or some stories or some funding or whatever it’s like, sure ab.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 7:19

                  Yeah, I think for me, I, there’s many aspects of physio you can go into. And of course, you’ve got your musculoskeletal. You’ve got your respiratory, I think because I did do a little bit of musculoskeletal and other Ward-based physio before I specialized. And I think for me, I do work and my work has to have a purpose or a meaning.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 7:25

                  It’s got to be making a difference. And sometimes maybe it just comes down to what’s the driver? For the person? And for me, I can see that. Yeah, I want to be involved with making a really, can we swear on this podcast? A little? A little, a yucky situation? It, looks, yeah, totally better for people.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 8:18

                  Because I think as a therapist, I always try to work with someone like it’s my mother, it’s my friend. Because if this was my mom or my friend, what would I want to make sure they had access to? And how would I want to work with them?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 8:34

                  And in terms of the research, the driver is that for me, the best way to drive change is being involved in work where you can produce evidence. Because otherwise, you’re stuck in a system. And you get frustrated with the politics, the lack of resources, the inefficiencies, and it’s like, well, how can I make a difference to this group of people, and that’s gathered the evidence to make make it easier to argue settings to be better.

                  Bill Gasiamis 9:07

                  It sounds like it’s a very hot lead with and then and then it’s sort of brain rain lead in that it sounds like you know, going through that process with thinking that could be you know, that that’s, I’m going to help that lady as if it was my mum, or that person as if it was my mum is a really hot lead, and that’s what generates purpose or creates purpose.

                  Bill Gasiamis 9:33

                  And then the head comes into that ladder and kind of goes, alright, so how are we going to get this done? There’s a million ways we can get it done. Let’s, let’s see how we can get it done. This similar feeling that I get from the podcast. My head is telling me you should not be doing a podcast. Yeah, I mean, it’s ridiculous.

                  Bill Gasiamis 9:45

                  You know, you’re unlikely to make any money out of it. And like unlikely to do any of this stuff, which is very true. It’s very difficult to turn it into a profitable enterprise. Whatever my heart is going, my God, we’ve got to do this, we can’t stop doing this.

                  Bill Gasiamis 10:05

                  The feedback that I get from people who tell me that it’s benefited them is, is not something that I can walk away from because I know there’ll be more coming, you know, one in four people are expected to have a stroke in a lifetime.

                  Bill Gasiamis 10:20

                  So there’s gonna be a heck of a lot of us, and I’m grateful to be able to have a platform where people like you can have a platform, I consider it kind of like a joint platform. Even though I’m supposed, you know, the guy that’s behind the holster.

                  Bill Gasiamis 10:38

                  It’s nothing without the other people and semi-stroke survivors, we are just people who are injured through sometimes most of the times no fault of our own, and then we end up being isolated and if we’re not supported, we don’t do well, we don’t recover.

                  Bill Gasiamis 11:01

                  And we really, I particularly love it when people are doing the work in the background, that I benefit from that I didn’t know it was happening. So it’s lovely. Are you involved in a program called this theme?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 11:17

                  I’m sure having done a few podcasts and even being in the health community and research community, you’re aware that acronyms are thought, you gotta have an acronym.

                  Bill Gasiamis 11:30

                  The thing and that’s such a cool acronym, let me just say, I don’t even know what it means but I like it already.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 11:37

                  So it stands for exercising, socializing, and thinking. And environmental enrichment model in the community, setting up districts, so it’s a lot, but what it represents is, what the intervention or strategy is about, it’s about combining exercise or movement socialization, or peer support, and cognitive stimulation or, or in the human realm, creative, like stimulating creative activities, that combination of activities.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 12:18

                  And what that does, is hypothesized to do in humans, at least is help promote brain plasticity, which I’m sure you’re aware of many of your listeners are aware is the essential element of recovery after a brain injury.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 12:34

                  But it’s also an essential element for normal brain development. And I can talk about that a bit more. And so it’s those three elements that we’re combining in a community-based model. And delivering that through an NGO, or a community care provider in the real world.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 12:57

                  And looking at the effects that it has on people’s level of independence, mood, and quality of life, and not just theirs, but they support people or their carers. And so it’s a bit of it is a big story because it’s a big vision.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 13:15

                  But the essential part of it is that we’re trying it out in the real world from the very beginning, because as a researcher, another aspect I’m passionate about is developing and evaluating things that are going to be sustainable beyond the project and because, again, you’ve probably seen it, been experiencing it, you know, researchers come up with a sexy new idea, test it, yes, it works, or no, don’t have any more money.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 13:45

                  I gotta find someone to run it or philanthropist or someone to just, you know, donate. So we’re trying to work with an NGO to deliver this co-designed model. And from the very beginning, see how we can make it sustainable and feasible, and then measure the benefits of that. Both for the people who are delivering it, but importantly, the people with stroke, and they support people.

                  Bill Gasiamis 14:14

                  So it’s been going on for about 12 months already. Tell me about how somebody might get enrolled, and then what the steps are, and how you follow them through the program. And then what happens after?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 14:28

                  So people can in our area. So at the moment, it’s just running in Newcastle, but we received some funding a year ago from MRF medical research future funds to roll it out in regional communities. Newcastle is somewhat regional and is classified as Metro.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 14:51

                  For this evaluation and development, we’re starting in Newcastle but then we’ll be going into more we’ll regional areas like Maitland and then Manning, which is on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. But at the moment, we’ve run it for 12 months in Newcastle. We’ve interviewed the people who have run it and the people who participated and everybody loves it.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 15:19

                  And what they do is they can come at any point after their stroke, they don’t have to wait until rehabs are finished. And they can have any level of ongoing challenges after their stroke to have to meet some criteria. And then you can come to the service self-refer or be referred by a health professional. And you come and twice a week, we’ll join another group of people with stroke, led by a physio to do 30 minutes of exercise.

                  Exercise And Stroke Recovery


                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 15:50
                  And it’s not very long, I know. But when we co-design that, back in 2020, I went to a group of stroke survivors, their support people, health professionals, artists, and venue providers, and we all went, Okay, so I presented as these are the fundal fundamental elements that we have to have because this is what the science tells us that when we look at animals that recover from a stroke in an environment where they have access to greater opportunities to combine physical, cognitive and social activities.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 16:25

                  It promotes brain plasticity and improves motor function. And there’s some indication that it helps memory and learning. So based on the science, we then say, well, what does this look like, for want of a better word in a human model? So people with stroke, it’s got to have those three elements.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 16:44

                  And they’re like, well, we don’t want to exercise for too long. Yeah, well, because people get tired. Yeah, I hear that. But as a physio I sit there and say, Okay, well, it’s going to be a quick 30-minute, sort of tough 30 minutes if we want to get that actual element in. So they do 30 minutes of exercise, and then they break for tea and coffee and have some yummy food, and share this.

                  Intro 17:13

                  If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. Like, how long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid in case I make matters worse?

                  Intro 17:30

                  Doctors will explain things. But, if you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask. If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery.

                  Intro 17:43

                  If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

                  Intro 17:57

                  These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, but they’ll also help you take a more active role in your recovery, head to the website now, recovery after stroke.com and download the guide. It’s free

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 18:15

                  Stories and of course they share their stories throughout the whole time there. But there’s that opportunity to feel safe. And that’s what people say is they feel safe being amongst people that they know, know, how they are and what they feel. Not all the time.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 18:32

                  But you know what I mean? Like that, that shared experience. And then we’ll go into 90 minutes of movement to music. So dancing, we call it movement to music, because many people will say I don’t dance, and it’s like, well, you’re just moving to music and you’re doing it in a chair. And then eventually you’re standing and then.

                  Bill Gasiamis 18:55

                  That’s most men, most men.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 19:00

                  No, it’s so the stories have been fabulous, like people that often end up quite resisting, go, I’m not gonna do that, I won’t be able to do that. And then when they try it, they go Oh, actually, I can do that. And is that which is I can see how it’s valuable. So 90 minutes of movement to music or 90 minutes of visual art led by an artist so the movement to music is led by a dancing therapist.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 19:26

                  And then movement to the art is led by an artist practicing artists. So one with your gallery and training. And then so it’s a 10-week program. So twice a week they come exercise, socialize, and do a creative activity.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 19:44

                  And then they swap that creative activity so everyone gets an opportunity to try the art or try the movement to music and they do that for 10 weeks and we do some measures at the beginning. Eat before they start at the end, and then three months later, we check in to see how they’re doing.

                  Stroke rehabilitation program’s effectiveness


                  Bill Gasiamis 20:07
                  So it sounds like it’s a cool extension of your standard, go to therapy, do that, and then go home, which is what I experienced. And it was quite tedious and annoying to do. But I had to do it, of course, and I wanted to do it. But it made it monotonous I had to get up in the morning, get ready, get prepared, make my trip, do my 30 to 40 minutes, and then go back.

                  Bill Gasiamis 20:37

                  And it was a three-hour round trip, like the whole exercise, but Tommy got ready and got there, had my session, and then left and went home, there was half my day gone. And to be honest, it got in the way of getting back to regular life, what I consider regular life, which is, which is binding, kind of some kind of an outlet, creative outlet, call it at night catching up with friends or things like that.

                  Bill Gasiamis 21:09

                  So I like this because it seems like what it’s doing is rolling therapy into being creatively actively involved with something beyond just the therapy, and then the refreshments, the catching up. And it’s the social side of it.

                  Bill Gasiamis 21:29

                  So it just seems like a real perfect way to go about therapy because it involves other people. It involves using that other part of your brain the creative part which I could do sitting down, I don’t have to be fit while I’m being physical. And it just seems like it would be fun to attend.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 21:54

                  Yeah, I think the feedback we’ve received, people love it because they have a community, I think the community. So an example of that is the fact that we had a 12-month anniversary, to celebrate the success of running for 12 months. And pretty much you know, about three people that have been to the program came back.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 22:18

                  So I think it was close to 30 of 35 people. And they came and at the event, we had a little bit of an acknowledgment of where we have come from over the years in terms of the background, that we had the people with stroke, their family, there and their family loved being there because they could, they didn’t always come to the program because we give sought to support people the option you can stay if you like, you’re welcome.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 22:45

                  But you don’t have to, and some people often will just come and if they know that their family or friends are safe, they will then have a little bit of respite. So it was it was like a sharing of a well, this is what the steam was about.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 23:00

                  And many family members were very appreciative and quite emotional, to see what their friend or family had produced because we had an art gallery. So we had an art exhibition, we had a trial of movement to music, we had videos of people participating, and we had over 100 people at the event.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 23:23

                  So we had the people who sponsor here, and I think I’m off track a bit, but they love it. They love going and people want to come back. And that’s what we’re working at how can we get people to utilize their existing funding sources, which are probably like My Aged Care or NDIS to keep coming back to this program?

                  Bill Gasiamis 23:47

                  Yeah, so I was going to then ask you Okay, so how do you clinically evaluate the program? So is it is it? Do you do baseline interviews with the person and how they’re feeling? Tell me a little bit about how you measure the benefit that that person has experienced.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 24:07

                  Yeah, so the other thing that we asked in the codesign was, you know, how do you want to be, you know, what sort of things do you want to measure? And when you’re talking about therapy, one of the things I think people love about esteem is that it’s not goal-focused. Right? How good we don’t talk it’s not about sir, okay? It’s not about therapy.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 24:30

                  But inadvertently, we hope that people will get better with their walking stronger in their legs better in their balance, and more confidence so that they don’t worry about falling. And they use their unaffected and affected arm all through the activities.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 24:46

                  But we don’t so for the research, we evaluate them, but people don’t have to participate in the research if they come just for the program. It’s just to get to know you. And you know, what things have changed? changed that in terms of formal measures we don’t do. It’s just that we learn enough about someone to make sure we can make it safe maximize their participation, and ensure inclusivity.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 25:14

                  So the team learns about the person. And then it’s about making the best experience they can for people during the program. From a research evaluation perspective, we do take measures, The baseline program ended three months ago, and they are around the level of independence, mood, quality of life, and social socialization.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 25:38

                  So how socially active Are you one of the things we want to look at is how participation in the steam helps people to then feel confident, to go and connect with other things in their community, and other people, because I think, from observing people’s growth, that’s what we see is the participation in activities that aren’t therapy.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 26:03

                  And that doesn’t have a goal, it builds people’s self-efficacy, and they go look at what I can do, I have had a stroke. That’s one thing, that’s not all with me. And I’m also an artist, and I can also move. And I can also talk with other people. I think sometimes therapy goals. I don’t know I am a physio and they’re important. But if you don’t achieve them, I don’t know how valuable that is for people’s confidence.

                  Redefining identity after stroke

                  Bill Gasiamis 26:35

                  I can, I can tell you. So stroke survivors will often tell me it’s 12 months past stroke, and I can’t walk it. And they’re devastated. Because somebody said to them, and they pick that up, you know, like in the periphery, somebody said, are, you’ll be back on your feet in 12 months, and it’s like, Oh, my God, that’s terrible.

                  Bill Gasiamis 26:55

                  Now that that person hasn’t achieved that, because they think that 12 months is the window, and if it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen. So I’ve talked about it a lot. And I encourage people not to set deadlines, they can set milestones, I’d like to walk again. But that’s it, don’t make it any more detailed than that.

                  Bill Gasiamis 27:17

                  And that means that you can always work towards walking. And you also have to change what walking looks like it means, because it may still be walking when you’re walking with a crutch, within an AFO, or with a whole bunch of other support. And that is more important than quote unquote, walking properly, or the way you used to before the stroke.

                  Bill Gasiamis 27:42

                  So it’s to change the definition of walking so that it’s more easily able to be achieved. And also to take away the timeline by which you have to walk on it. And then, and then what that does is that just allows you to go on a walk or jog a journey to walk again, soon, one day, at some point. And that’s far better for the emotional part of the recovery.

                  Bill Gasiamis 28:11

                  And what you’re talking about is I can paint or I’ve created this or I’ve made that that enables the identity of that person to become whole again, because the assumption for a lot of stroke survivors is that now that I’ve had a stroke, I’m no longer all the things that I was before that. And it’s like, wow, a stroke is not that dramatic, I understand how not allowing you to participate in an activity makes you feel like you’re missing out.

                  Bill Gasiamis 28:42

                  But that doesn’t change who you are if you can still be somebody who participates in sports. That doesn’t look like the type of sport you participated in before. And the Paralympics is a perfect example of people attending sports and participating. And being athletes and sports people, even though they wouldn’t participate in the same way that they did before their brain injury, whatever that was.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 29:14

                  And I again, appreciate it as a person who hasn’t had a stroke, but from working with people over many years, that journey around accepting what I am or me now. It’s different for everybody. So some people will be like.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 29:35

                  Well, I’m not going to be a success until I get back to the person I used to be and you’re talking about. The thing that we try and help people with is you are not your stroke, though you’re still you and you still love the things you love and you can do the roles you do. They just might look different. But some people struggle With that, and I can understand why.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 30:02

                  But sometimes it can be a very big block in that sort of learning to return to life again. And I wonder if steam provides an avenue, because people, they’re all they’ve all had a stroke. But they’re all celebrated for being the person they are not what they can do.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 30:24

                  You know what I mean? Yeah. And then that feels so safe. And like, I’ve got friendships here, and look at me creating these things, and everybody thinks they’re great. It doesn’t matter that I’m not exactly how it was before these people like me, for me how I am now.

                  Bill Gasiamis 30:41

                  Yeah, or the person that they are not the tasks that they do or don’t do. I have some great friends who are stroke survivors who I never would have met was the stroke. Yeah. And a lot of them are in Melbourne because that’s where I hang out with stroke people more than I do anywhere else. I mean, that’s where I live.

                  Bill Gasiamis 31:05

                  And they went through their struggles at the beginning of redefining their life. So I redefining who they are, what they are, and how they attend. But, but, they still were always them. So this their personality was always their personality, it was always the same. And we didn’t lose that they didn’t lose their personality or didn’t evolve when they achieved goal x, or they didn’t achieve goal x.

                  Bill Gasiamis 31:39

                  So what the tasks that they were able to do or not do, were not relevant in our friendship, but he was like, Yeah, I like you for who you are. And that’s about it. And everything else is a bonus. And what I found was that they have that many of them have re what’s the word? Oh, my gosh, around blank, that many of them have reinvented themselves.

                  Bill Gasiamis 32:08

                  And then it’s cool, because they brought their thoughts, their ideas, their previous experiences, and they’ve applied them to this new version of themselves, this reinvention. And, and it’s bloody great to say it’s like, really amazing to see because one of the gentlemen, Antonio, who I interviewed, at the very beginning of this podcast series, maybe in the first 20, or 30, episodes.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen and the program for people with neurological conditions

                  Bill Gasiamis 32:37

                  He had a stroke, and he was a guitarist, so he was not able to pick up his guitar again. So he started playing the one-handed piano. And now he’s a music producer. And amazing, he’s reinvented himself. And it’s because of that whole idea of okay, he got curious as to what can I do, as opposed to what can I not do? And then focus on that.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 33:04

                  Yeah, and I think that loss of who I was, or that loss of identity and changing roles, is something that I have observed is challenging, but as you say, if it’s framed differently, well, what can I do? Who am I now? And what are the opportunities? But yeah, that’s challenging.

                  Bill Gasiamis 33:27

                  Yeah, can be. So Steam is now getting funded for an additional year. Is that right? Is that how things work?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 33:38

                  So we got some money to help embed or deliver it with a new service provider. So at the moment, we’re working with Mercy Services in Newcastle, we got some funding to run it with Maitland Community Care, in Maitland. And again, what we will do as we did in Newcastle is use that money to help train up their staff to deliver it so that we can evaluate the benefits.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 34:05

                  And whilst we’re doing that we work with the organization to work out. So people that are wanting to keep coming to this program, how do you how do they use their funds to keep coming back because it is quite expensive to deliver? When you think you’ve got a physio involved to allied health assistance to support the movements and the creatives, and we’ve got an artist and we’ve got a dance therapist and we’ve got a program coordinator. So all of the resources are in the people.

                  Bill Gasiamis 34:36

                  Six people.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 34:37

                  Yeah, but it’s not dissimilar in terms of costs to what people might be accessing through NDIS or other My Aged Care Programs. So it’s just tweaking what we might need to do and educating the community about how they need to articulate what they need in their life. packages to be able to access the steam.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 35:03

                  Because yeah, that’s the goal is we’ll train you up in his program, with the goal of it being accessible long term. And I think eventually, especially in regional areas, we may need to make it more feasible by including people who have had other life-changing events such as a traumatic brain injury, perhaps, or people living with Parkinson’s. So it can be feasible because when you run anything in the group, you need a certain number of people to break even with your costs.

                  Bill Gasiamis 35:37

                  Ah, I see. Yeah, so numbers are essential. Definitely. Okay. There is no doubt, that people experiencing traumatic brain injury, despite their neurological conditions often have a lot of similar challenges that they’ve overcome.

                  Bill Gasiamis 35:54

                  I relate to a lot of people who are experiencing other neurological conditions because the deficits manifest in similar ways, you still have the same type of deficits and challenges to overcome. So have you noticed that people who started 12 months earlier, or how long does the program run for 10 weeks? So can they read and roll and come back again?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 36:28

                  So again, for the evaluation, we’re just at the point of putting people through once. But the vision is once because we’re currently running at 110 people per program, we’re looking for a bigger venue to blow that out to 16. So it’s more cost. What’s the word? It’s more accessible for people with their packages because you don’t want them to be burning through all the money that comes in.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 37:02

                  And so when we have a larger group, I envisage that we’ll be able to both support people running through the program for evaluation, but also people coming back on going so if you want to, for use of a better word, a maintenance program, but it’s, it’s not about maintenance.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 37:19

                  The big vision is to have this program in communities where people can come and go from it as they feel they need based on where they are at a point in time. So they want to use their money on it for 12 months. Sure. But if I only need a bit of a top-up, because I’m feeling X, they can leave whenever they want. That’s the long-term vision.

                  Bill Gasiamis 37:41

                  Yeah. Excellent. So are you looking to enroll people now?

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 37:46

                  Yeah, we are aware, we’re enrolling people in Newcastle and then also in Maitland, and we’ll be starting, hopefully, the program in Maitland in March of next year. And then Manning hopefully by the end of next year. Yeah, for taking interested people.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 38:04

                  The challenge, I think, for your audience, possibly Bill is that it is based in New South Wales, and it is based in specific communities. Eventually, I’d love to have a hybrid model where people could be accessing it, or a similar part of it through virtual means. And I think virtual is good, but there’s so much value in that person-to-person contact.

                  Bill Gasiamis 38:30

                  Yeah, virtual is not the same. I still do attend a few virtual aphasia groups and a few other groups. But it’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing because sometimes nothing is the only option. Yeah, and even though I’m in Melbourne, and my audience is global, it doesn’t mean that we can’t share these stories and invite people to get curious about these programs because they might branch out, they might be co-collaborators in other countries who want to share findings, etc.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 39:07

                  There was something I was going to mention when we were talking about enrolling. I can’t remember now, it’ll come to me.

                  Dealing with self-esteem and aphasia

                  Bill Gasiamis 39:15

                  It’ll pop up in a minute. So there’s an opportunity for people who are interested in this type of program overseas to get curious about what you guys are doing, how you’ve found that, what challenges you’ve overcome, and all that type of thing.

                  Bill Gasiamis 39:31

                  So I don’t see why, why that can’t happen on this sort of platform, because we’ve got to get it out there and there could be some people in New South Wales that have access to Newcastle who can come to Newcastle.

                  Bill Gasiamis 39:49

                  And what I’d love to happen is is that this episode is shared by people in your community in your organization to their local community, and support groups, be aphasia groups, be it, you know, whatever therapy groups are happening in and around your area, because there’ll be stroke survivors lurking in those other spaces as well, you know, that haven’t stumbled across esteem. Now, what I love about esteem is that it helps to improve people’s self-esteem.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 40:23

                  That’s right. That’s right. I don’t know how I made that happen, but I just did it in terms of the acronym. Anyway, acronyms are always something you think about all the time. And sometimes you come up with good ones in the shower, in the grocery line, things like that.

                  Bill Gasiamis 40:44

                  And usually, they’re terrible. And they don’t have another layer of complexity to their meaning. But this is awesome, because it has that, and it does, that’s exactly what therapy sessions that are interactive in blue involve people who are like-minded, who do not record what you suppose, and who are not goal-oriented. That’s what they do. That is a goal in itself, if you can improve that person’s self-esteem, well, I think that’s a huge goal.

                  Bill Gasiamis 41:17

                  And then that gets them curious. I know, because of me, if somebody proves to me that I’m capable of something that I thought I was not capable of, then what it does is it gets me curious to go, what else can I do? Or what else am I capable of? Or how else should I attend them participate?

                  Bill Gasiamis 41:35

                  And this podcast thing is nothing but somebody going to me, you could probably do this online, where I used to previously. Just do this locally, for the Stroke Foundation here in Australia, I would go and share some information with a local community group about Stroke Awareness and Prevention.

                  Bill Gasiamis 42:02

                  And that was like, Oh, that’s pretty cool. And I could do that forever. But it only reaches so many people while this goes global, and we have a larger impact. So that’s how I got sucked into that somebody told me that I was capable of a lot more than I thought, and I went down this path.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 42:23

                  I think what you’re doing in a way, sharing stories and giving people an opportunity to share their story is not dissimilar to a steam because that’s what happens. When everyone comes together all the time they learn a little bit more and they hear another person’s experience, which is what you’re doing.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 42:42

                  And they go, Oh, okay, I didn’t know you could do that, or that’s a great idea. So the most influential people in that community, people gotta have shared your experience. So I think you’re doing great work sharing everybody’s learnings and experiences.

                  Bill Gasiamis 43:01

                  Thank you. I think you’re doing great work too thank you for being a guest on my podcast. I appreciate it. Good luck with the next 12 months. I look forward to hearing from you again. If there’s an update that you’re happy to share, please reach out.

                  Dr. Heidi Jansen 43:16

                  Wonderful. Thanks so much, Bill. And thanks to your audience for taking the time to hear our story.

                  Bill Gasiamis 43:22

                  Well, thank you for joining us on today’s episode. Remember to grab a copy of my book The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened by going to your local Amazon, typing in the title, or my name Bill Gasiamis.

                  Bill Gasiamis 43:37

                  If you’re an Australian buy from the Australian link that is available in the show notes or the description of the YouTube video, and I will sign the book for you. As always, to learn more about my guests, including links to their social media and other pages. And to download a full transcript of the entire interview please go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes.

                  Bill Gasiamis 44:02

                  Thank you to everybody who has already left a review means the world to me, you are helping others in need of this type of content to find it easier and that is making their stroke recovery just a little better. If you haven’t left a review would like to the best way to do it is to leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you on iTunes and Spotify.

                  Bill Gasiamis 44:26

                  If you’re watching on YouTube comment below the video I respond to all the comments on my YouTube channel. Like the episode and to get notifications of future episodes, subscribe to the show. If you are a stroke survivor with a story to share, come and join me on the show, the interviews are not scripted.

                  Bill Gasiamis 44:47

                  You do not have to plan for them all you need to do to qualify as a stroke survivor who wants to share your story in the hope that it will help somebody else who’s going through something similar. If you are a researcher who would like to share the findings of a recent study or you’re looking to recruit people into studies, you may also wish to reach out and be a guest on my show.

                  Bill Gasiamis 45:08

                  If you have a commercial product that you would like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors to recover there is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show. Just go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact.

                  Bill Gasiamis 45:24

                  Fill out the form explaining briefly which category you belong to. And I will respond with more details on how we can connect via Zoom. Thank you once again for being here and listening and participating leaving your comments and telling me how much the podcast means to you. I appreciate you see you on the next episode.

                  Intro 45:45

                  Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatments. Protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

                  Intro 46:02

                  All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis, the content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing.

                  Intro 46:18

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                  Intro 46:30

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                  Intro 46:46

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                  The post Exercise And Stroke Recovery | Dr. Heidi Jansen appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

                  48 min
                5. From Pediatric Stroke To Gold Medalist | Anthony Bryan
                  Understanding Pediatric Stroke

                  Pediatric stroke, a relatively uncommon but critical medical condition, refers to the interruption of blood supply to a child’s brain, leading to brain cell damage. Despite its rarity, pediatric stroke can have severe consequences and necessitates prompt recognition and intervention.

                  Introduction

                  Pediatric stroke is often misunderstood due to its infrequency and lack of awareness. This article aims to delve deeper into this condition, exploring its types, causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and preventive measures.

                  Understanding Pediatric Stroke

                  Pediatric stroke occurs when there’s a disruption in blood flow to a child’s brain, resulting in brain tissue damage. Unlike adult strokes, which can be caused by factors like hypertension or atherosclerosis, pediatric strokes commonly stem from congenital heart diseases or blood disorders.

                  Types of Pediatric Stroke

                  There are different types of pediatric stroke, including ischemic stroke caused by a blocked blood vessel, hemorrhagic stroke due to bleeding in the brain, and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) that result in temporary disruptions of blood flow.

                  Causes and Risk Factors

                  Various factors contribute to pediatric stroke, encompassing congenital heart defects, sickle cell disease, infections, head trauma, and blood clotting disorders. Understanding these risk factors is crucial for timely diagnosis and intervention.

                  Signs and Symptoms

                  Recognizing the signs and symptoms of pediatric stroke is pivotal. These may include seizures, sudden weakness or numbness in the face or limbs, difficulty speaking, severe headaches, and loss of balance or coordination.

                  Diagnosing Pediatric Stroke

                  Diagnosing pediatric stroke involves a thorough medical history review, neurological examinations, imaging tests like MRI or CT scans, and blood tests to determine the underlying cause.

                  Treatment Options

                  Treatment varies based on the type and severity of the stroke. Immediate medical attention is vital to restore blood flow and prevent further damage. Treatments may include medications, surgeries, or rehabilitation therapies.

                  Rehabilitation and Recovery

                  Rehabilitation plays a significant role in a child’s recovery post-stroke, focusing on physical, speech, and occupational therapies to regain lost skills and functions.

                  Long-term Effects

                  Pediatric stroke can have lasting effects on a child’s physical and cognitive abilities. Understanding and addressing these long-term consequences are crucial for ongoing care and support.

                  Preventive Measures

                  While some risk factors for pediatric stroke cannot be altered, preventive measures like managing underlying health conditions, promoting a healthy lifestyle, and regular medical check-ups can significantly reduce the risk.

                  Coping Strategies for Families

                  Families coping with a child’s stroke need support and guidance. Strategies involve seeking professional help, joining support groups, and fostering an environment conducive to the child’s recovery.

                  Support and Resources

                  Accessing relevant resources and support networks is essential for families navigating through the challenges of pediatric stroke. From educational materials to specialized care centers, ample resources can aid in the journey toward recovery.

                  Conclusion

                  Pediatric stroke, though rare, requires vigilance and prompt action. Understanding its nuances, from diagnosis to long-term effects, is crucial in providing optimal care and support to affected children and their families.

                  FAQs

                  Is pediatric stroke common?

                  • Pediatric stroke is relatively rare but requires immediate attention due to its serious implications.

                    • What are the signs of pediatric stroke?

                    • Signs may include sudden weakness, seizures, difficulty speaking, severe headaches, and balance issues.

                      • Can pediatric stroke be prevented?

                      • While some risk factors are uncontrollable, managing underlying health conditions can reduce the risk.

                        • What treatment options are available for pediatric stroke?

                        • Treatments include medications, surgeries, and rehabilitation therapies tailored to the child’s needs.

                          • How can families cope with a child’s stroke?

                          • Seeking professional support, joining support groups, and accessing resources can assist families in coping with this challenge.
                            • The Interview

                            Anthony Bryan was 6 when he had a stroke that left him with left-side hemiplegia. At 25 he became a para running champion.

                            Instagram

                            Highlights:

                            01:29 Introduction

                            02:12 Pediatric Stroke
                            16:06 Brain tumor surgery and its impact on childhood development
                            23:03 Overcoming pediatric stroke and achieving athletic success
                            29:47 Accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities
                            33:37 Overcoming obstacles through self-belief
                            43:21 Dating with a disability
                            49:56 Inspiring others
                            56:04 Fitness, injuries, and adaptive training
                            1:03:16 Adaptive yoga and marathon training
                            1:08:01 Overcoming pediatric stroke challenges and achieving goals
                            1:14:53 Recovery with a survivor and researcher

                            Transcript:

                            Anthony Bryan 00:00

                            In 2012, I got to the Paralympic trials, which was at the Olympic Stadium. The tip-top three get selected to go to Great Britain for the Paralympics. And I finished fourth. So just missed out. But this was an incredible experience for me because this was in front of a big crowd of people. I was racing against the top guys.

                            Anthony Bryan 00:22

                            And even though I finished fourth, I was disappointed, but I was like, just gave me more fire, I was like, I want to make sure I get there next time, I want to put more training to make sure that I can achieve something.

                            Anthony Bryan 00:34

                            So I went to my coach and I said, I want to make sure I get there next time. So she said, Okay, so you’re a bit slower than the others at the start line because of your left side weakness. So why don’t we try something a little longer distance? Why don’t we try 100 meters and 1500 meters because I’ve never gone that far? My reaction was that 1500 meters that sounds like a million miles. I can’t do that.

                            Intro 01:02

                            This is the Recovery after Stroke podcast. With Bill Gasiamis, helping you navigate recovery after stroke.

                            Bill Gasiamis 01:14

                            Hello, and welcome to the Recovery after Stroke podcast, my new book, The Unexpected Way That Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened is now available on Amazon links to where you can purchase or in the show notes and the YouTube description.

                            01:29 Introduction – Anthony Bryan


                            Bill Gasiamis 01:29
                            Thank you to all those people who have already purchased a copy. I hope the book gives you an insight into some things that you can do to make your stroke recovery a little better. This is episode 282. And my guest today is Anthony Bryan, who by the age of six was already a brain tumor survivor and stroke survivor. And since then has become an international para-athlete two times as World Games champion in both the 800 and 1500 meter run, and a motivational speaker. Anthony Bryan, welcome to the podcast.

                            Anthony Bryan 02:06

                            Thank you for having me.

                            Bill Gasiamis 02:08

                            Good to have you here. Tell me a little bit about what happened to you.

                            02:12 Pediatric Stroke

                            Anthony Bryan 02:12

                            So I was a very sporty active child always running around always playing football. And I began to get these bad headaches. And I went from being running around and active over time to being very lethargic and always kind of curling up in a ball and holding my head. And the only way I could describe these headaches was like someone’s screeching or screaming inside my head.

                            Anthony Bryan 02:38

                            And when my parents brought me to the doctors, doctors said it was just migraines. And here’s some medication, you’ll be okay. But these headaches kind of got worse and worse. So my parents thought this wasn’t right. And they took me to the hospital to have a deeper look into this. So I had a brain scan, and what they found was I had a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball.

                            Anthony Bryan 03:03

                            So six-year-olds ‘ heads, probably about the size of your hand, and tennis balls worrying about the size of your fist. So pretty big brain tumor. And what they found was this brain tumor is shutting down my vital organs. So they had to operate it on as quickly as possible to remove this tumor because it was shutting down my vital organs and I wouldn’t have survived.

                            Anthony Bryan 03:23

                            During the operation to remove the tumor, suffered a stroke. So I lost the use of my left side. So I’d gone into the operation fully active, able-bodied, normal life, and I came out totally different, completely changed, my life turned upside down. Doctors weren’t quite sure what happened. They couldn’t understand what happened, why I lost the use of my left side and they looked into it and it was a stroke.

                            Anthony Bryan 03:57

                            So I had to relearn how to live life is worn out and I had to relearn how to walk again. I was wheelchair-bound for six months. And already, all I wanted to do was just be active and be your normal child a child was to run around playing in the modern running around their friends. And I just remember sitting in the wheelchair and starting to hate who I was and kind of started to think to myself, I wish I’d never survived this operation. Why am I still here? I hate who I am kind of presenting myself.

                            Bill Gasiamis 04:36

                            How old were you?

                            Anthony Bryan 04:38

                            I was only six years old.

                            Bill Gasiamis 04:39

                            So at six you went through the whole thing and then by six years, you’re already having this existential crisis. And you’re already in a situation where life is shit and you know your identity is lost and you don’t know how to interact with the world. Man, that’s a lot for a six-year-old to handle, especially after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, and then having brain surgery, and then going through all the stuff, you went through some tests.

                            Anthony Bryan 04:53

                            Yes, so I remember having to have needle injections every single day, where, you know, chart 667-year-old was probably playing with their action man or playing football in the garden. I remember lying in a hospital bed, being stabbed with needles, every day, several times a day. And I just didn’t understand what was happening to me.

                            Anthony Bryan 05:37

                            And I do remember being hating myself and who I’d become. I also remember like, I had to have a year of school to recover. And when I was allowed to go back to school, I was the only disabled kid in the whole school. No, never met disabled person, I’ve never met a disabled person before. And gone, I became very shy and self-conscious, so I couldn’t use one arm.

                            Anthony Bryan 06:04

                            So I used to wear a big coat either in the summer, to try and hide my arm, or I’d sit in the back of the class to try and hide not hide away. Because I was embarrassed of who I was. And I remember one of my PE lessons, we had a we’re football lesson. So I was like, oh, go go. And the teacher said to me, you can’t go and go, you need two hands to go and go.

                            Anthony Bryan 06:29

                            And so just kind of stayed away from sport as well. So my confidence levels plummeted. And yeah, we’re very shy and self-conscious. And yeah, but, at that young age, I was having suicidal thoughts. I was like, I don’t want to be alive anymore. Why am I here kind of thing?

                            Bill Gasiamis 06:50

                            You know, had you had the opportunity to be a goalkeeper in your condition, you probably would have let a few goals through.

                            Anthony Bryan 07:01

                            Yes, but I was also because I could only use one hand, I was better, and the other kids reacted with one hand. So in a way, I adapted very well. It wasn’t until I got into secondary school that they had a PE teacher. We were doing a fitness lesson, he had a run around the football pitch. How many times do you do it in 12 minutes?

                            Anthony Bryan 07:31

                            And all I remember thinking to myself was Do not let the overweight, lazy kids go past you do not be the last one. To finish this. There’ll be even more embarrassing and demoralizing. So I just said to myself, just keep pushing yourself, keep pushing yourself. And I have a class of about 60 finished around about 30.

                            Bill Gasiamis 07:59

                            Just take you back to what I said. I want to take you back to what I said about going through. It’s what the teacher was thinking, right? There’s no way this guy’s gonna be able to be a goalkeeper. It’s gonna lead to miracles. And he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want you to participate for the sake of participating at what age what is that? Would that have been?

                            Anthony Bryan 08:22

                            That was still in my primary school. So that would have been like, eight years old, nine years old.

                            Bill Gasiamis 08:28

                            Right? And he’s thinking maybe, he’s gonna let too many girls in, or maybe it’s going to be a difficult experience for him. And he’s probably trying to protect you. Or who knows what, right? But that’s the thing about that’s the thing about people who are able-bodied, who don’t understand.

                            Anthony Bryan 08:50

                            Especially, especially in the 1990s. disability was seen as you can’t do this, and you can’t do that. Because no one had ever seen it done before. Napnap nowadays, you’re seeing a lot more done by people with disabilities and people instead of saying you can’t do this, and you can’t do that, and putting you in your box. People are saying well actually, there’s this guy over here and he can do this. So maybe if he can do it, then maybe you can as well. And it’s kind of a bit more open-minded now.

                            Bill Gasiamis 09:20

                            The Paralympics, I think help when it comes to showcasing the ability of people with disability to achieve something. Yes.

                            Anthony Bryan 09:32

                            Yeah, and when, unfortunately, when I was a kid, no one ever heard of the Paralympics. So you just come out into the public really and have been publicized since 2012.

                            Bill Gasiamis 09:47

                            We in Australia here we could be you know, if somebody achieved something in sport, it doesn’t matter what kind of sport it is. It doesn’t matter if it’s training a fly to beat another fly in a walking race or something. If you achieve something in sport, it doesn’t matter what your background is, doesn’t matter how many arms legs, what your abilities are, you’re a national hero.

                            Bill Gasiamis 10:12

                            So it’s a really good way for people to enter that national heroes status, you know, if you can just achieve something good in a sport, it does not matter what the sport looks like, how many people attend that sport, but if you can say, I’m a champion, and then you get to multiple champions, everybody’s on all over you to promote it.

                            Bill Gasiamis 10:34

                            And that’s been good. We’ve had the most recent champion that I’m aware of Dylan Olcott, who was and still is kind of like the most are has won the most events in wheelchair tennis than almost anybody in Australia ever. But, but also really, up there in the world rankings. And Dylan’s all over everything because that’s what we do, we just put all our, all our sports heroes, on top of everything.

                            Bill Gasiamis 11:10

                            And what he’s been able to do is raise awareness about the fact that people who have disabilities can participate in sport, that looks a little different than sport for people who are able-bodied. But that doesn’t matter. It’s still a sport, and it’s still participation.

                            Bill Gasiamis 11:30

                            And then you get everything out of that event as if you would have if you were, quote-unquote, able-bodied doesn’t make a difference at all. The only difference is that guys are sitting down in a chair instead of standing up on the court. That’s the only difference.

                            Anthony Bryan 11:47

                            Exactly. Everyone should embrace everyone for achieving something and support each other.

                            Bill Gasiamis 11:55

                            That teacher, if he says, what you’re up to these days, do you think it would be kind of a good way to sort of bring people on your side is to sort of do the things that you’ve been able to do and kind of try and bring people along gently and just show possibility rather than inability?

                            Anthony Bryan 12:22

                            Yes, I kind of also it’s kind of showing that people are always going to say to you, throughout life could be in anything that they’re going to try and enforce their opinions on you and say, You can’t do this, and you can’t do that. But that’s just their opinion.

                            Anthony Bryan 12:37

                            And it’s up to you and only, you know, whether you can do it or you can’t and it’s only down to you if you’re willing to give it that effort and try and do it that you’re only going to find out. So it’s kind of like he told me that I couldn’t do this, and it couldn’t do that. But I was determined to prove him wrong.

                            Bill Gasiamis 12:56

                            Do you feel like people who are less able-bodied get the “you can’t do this thing” more often?

                            Anthony Bryan 13:07

                            I would say so quite a lot. Yeah. Especially as I find after being in the hospital, the medical professionals are very quick to kind of put you in your box a bit like saying, Oh, I’m sorry, sir, this has happened to you, and this happened to you, you’re no longer going to be able to do this or do that.

                            Anthony Bryan 13:30

                            And that, that’s, that’s not there. They’re not trying to be horrible. But that’s just the way that they’ve gotten their education. And they’re trying to put you in this category. When in fact they could do or they’re not trained to say, this has happened to you. But there are these options that you could do this and you could do that they’re kind of just giving you the option of what you haven’t got any more. What you can’t do anymore.

                            Bill Gasiamis 13:58

                            Are they perhaps living through what they believe wouldn’t be possible for them? If they were in the same situation unknowingly? then transferring that or sort of attempting a in a bad way to protect you and say, you won’t be able to do that don’t bother trying then get disappointed.

                            Anthony Bryan 14:23

                            Yeah, they don’t give you too many high hopes.

                            Bill Gasiamis 14:26

                            What is it about that you think that it’s not worth giving somebody hope and that what we should do is take hope away and crush their hope?

                            Anthony Bryan 14:37

                            It’s a tough one because some people will listen to what the doctor has to say and think to themselves, or a doctor says I’ll never be able to do this. So I’m not going to be able to I’m no point even trying. So and doctor said to my parents, you’ll probably never walk or be very active again. And I ended up being able to run and push myself more than most able-bodied people can.

                            Bill Gasiamis 15:03

                            Did your appearance buy into that for any length of time? Did they get sucked into that sort of rhetoric?

                            Anthony Bryan 15:12

                            I think maybe at the beginning, yes, because I was wheelchair-bound at the beginning. But I was a very like, determined stubborn child. If someone said to me, you weren’t meant to do this, I’d be like, Yes, I can. So I kind of, I forced myself to kind of stand up and try and move my legs when I couldn’t, things like that. I had two younger brothers that are very competitive.

                            Anthony Bryan 15:39

                            So if I wasn’t gonna be able to keep up with them, and I can’t let my younger brothers get the better of me, I’m the older brother. So they think they have helped me a lot in my recovery. When we played football in the garden, if you if you’re not going to be as good your guiding goal straightaway, so being competitive with them helped me in my recovery a lot.

                            Brain tumor surgery and its impact on childhood development

                            Bill Gasiamis 16:06

                            It’s a tough thing for anyone to go through at any age, but it’s six. I mean, you’re so young and naive, before they found the brain tumor. And then after that, is this a completely different life and version of you? Do you have recollections of your transition from being a child to being thrust into a child-like adulthood, because you got to deal with things at six that most people won’t have to deal with? What for me, for example, until I was 37,

                            Anthony Bryan 16:54

                            I had to grow up very quickly. While most kids were playing with their toys, or dolls, or whatever I was, in hospital beds, having injection operations. I do remember, I remember everything going from all hospital appointments. I remember the headaches as a kid. I didn’t remember a lot of it. And I remember so nowadays, you have stitches that after the operation, they just dissolved. But back then they had stitches that were pretty much just staples.

                            Anthony Bryan 17:33

                            And so I had fingers 24 staples down the side of my head. And I remember they’re saying, we’re not going to put you out to sleep for this, we’re going to take take the stitches out. And I remember screaming and crying and begging them to stop because they had tweezers and they were pulling the staples out.

                            Anthony Bryan 17:56

                            And I was bawling my eyes and tears, where a normal child might cry when they fall over and crease their grades their leg. I’m having to weave to withstand this pain. And that’s when I remember that pain has been the worst ever. But going through that pain made me stronger later in life. I have a very high pain tolerance, which kind of helps me in sports.

                            Bill Gasiamis 18:27

                            Right, so we’ve got that in common I had man more than 30 or 40 stitches, and staples in my head as well. I don’t remember if I had counted them once. But because I’ve got a photo of it. And they did pull the staples out as well.

                            Bill Gasiamis 18:47

                            So they had to, they had two types of stitches. There were the dissolving ones. And then there were staples on top though, kind of, and then I went to the hospital to have a meth I didn’t realize they were going to just yank them out as well. And it was quite annoying because my head was sensitive. I’m sensitive personally around my head.

                            Bill Gasiamis 19:14

                            Yeah, you just had brain surgery, you know, you’re recovering, you’re it’s not the best thing to do. And it’s especially not and I can deal with it. 30 at 40 years old, like I can cope. Alright, a little bit of pain, it’ll be fine. But as a six-year-old, I can’t imagine, you know what I would have gone through I cannot remember, that part of my life like being 6789 10 years old.

                            Bill Gasiamis 19:40

                            If it wasn’t for a couple of photos that my mom had, I wouldn’t have any idea. I’ve got some sense of my formative years and what I was like at school who I played with what some of my issues were and what some of my strengths were but I don’t have a deep memory about something that happened as ’60s All because it didn’t go through anything that dramatic. So. So it’s interesting how, how that event kind of enabled you to have a real deep memory of what it was like to be you were six years old.

                            Anthony Bryan 20:20

                            Yeah, I was gonna say, I can say that I think that, that they do, they do say that between the ages of kind of one and eight is when you develop your kind of character, and who you are as a person. So most kids are doing their childlike things and playing around, I was kind of living in survival mode, getting through all this pain and I won’t ever ever remember back to my childhood, all I remember is hospital appointments and lots of pain.

                            Anthony Bryan 21:03

                            And I always said to myself, as I got older, I didn’t go through all that pain and trauma just to live an ordinary life, I want to live the best life I can for that young liberal child. So I will be a success now, for that child who had all those dreams and aspirations before.

                            Bill Gasiamis 21:23

                            Yeah, that’s a good thing to be. That’s a good way to look at life for that. younger self like to give that younger self. The What is it is that the not the respect but to give your younger self the

                            Anthony Bryan 21:41

                            the is that when you’re a child, you’re you want to be, I want to be a professional sports player, I want to be an astronaut, I will be a pop star, whatever. And then this kind of trauma happened and it just per an end to all of that. I always said to myself, important imagine if that six-year-old before the tumor had had a time machine and went forward 30 years and he looked at his life. I went to look around like, oh my god, wow, is that me? Say I’d made that little child proud.

                            Bill Gasiamis 22:20

                            And that little child then is gonna go through some of that stuff a little bit easier, less stressed, less worried, less concerned.

                            Anthony Bryan 22:28

                            that maybe we’re gonna go through this pain, but it’s gonna be worth it in the end because I know in the future, I’ve got this successful life.

                            Anthony Bryan: overcoming disability and achieving athletic success


                            Bill Gasiamis 22:44
                            Now I’m on your Instagram, and I’m been reading your little blurb about yourself. Left Hemi motivational speaker, brain tumor survivor, and stroke survivor. International power athlete two times a World Games champion in 800 meters and 1500 meters. Tell me about those events.

                            Anthony Bryan 23:06

                            And so so after that fitness test in my secondary school and beating Half past the students, my PE teacher went up to me and said, Wow, that was incredible. Have you ever thought about going to the Paralympics? And my reaction was was the Paralympics? And he said it’s like the Olympics. But for people with disabilities, you’d be great at it, you got some real fine determination in you.

                            Anthony Bryan 23:37

                            So straight away, my reaction was no way. I don’t want to do that. Why would I want to do a sport that shows off my disability for something I don’t want to do I was hiding it as it was my big coat and trying to hide away and just blend in as I could. So she said, let me speak to your parents.

                            Anthony Bryan 23:57

                            And my parents picked me up that evening. And she came over and she’s the first one she said was yet that boy in a running club. And my parents will Okay. Never before that before, but we’ll give that a try. So, I went along to my first ever running race, and it was an all-disability athletic race competition. I’ve never met anyone or any other person with a disability because I went to an able-bodied school and I would always have to play keep up with them or catch up with them.

                            Anthony Bryan 24:28

                            And for once I was looking around and all these athletes were going out there to do the best they possibly could some might be missing an arm while some might be missing a leg or in a wheelchair. And no it was giving each other funny local jobs and each other or going out there to give the best possible performance they could.

                            Anthony Bryan 24:46

                            I ended up winning gold medals in the 100 meters and 200 meters and this just kind of opened up my eyes to disability where I was like, I’ve been shy and self-conscious and hiding away all the time and ever on here, just going out there and being the best they can be. So this inspired me. So I thought I wouldn’t have been part of this. I won’t do more of this. So I joined the running club and started doing more races and competitions.

                            Intro 25:13

                            If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind, like, how long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, and doctors will explain things that, you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask.

                            Intro 25:38

                            If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

                            Intro 25:57

                            These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, they’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery, head to the website. Now, recoverafterstroke.com and download the guide. It’s free.

                            Anthony Bryan 26:16

                            And in 2012, I got to the Paralympics trials, which was at the Olympic Stadium. The tip-top three get selected to go to Great Britain for the Paralympics. And I finished fourth. So I just missed out. But this was an incredible experience for me because this was in front of big crowds of people. I was racing against the top guys. And even though I finished fourth at this point, I was like, just gave me more fire.

                            Anthony Bryan 26:46

                            I was like, I want to make sure I get there next time I want to put more training in on and make sure that I can achieve something. So I went to my coach and I said I want to make sure I get there next time. So she said, Okay, so you’re a bit slower than the others at the start line because of your left side weakness.

                            Anthony Bryan 27:05

                            So why don’t we try something a little longer distance? Why don’t we try 100 meters and 1500 meters? But my goodness, I’ve never gone that far. My reaction was, what? 1500 meters? That sounds like a million miles. I can’t do that. I’m struggling to do 200 meters. But she said to me, Well, how would you know if you’ve never tried?

                            Anthony Bryan 27:28

                            So give it a go. And then see how you get on. So I joined the distance group. And our first training session was like running 400 meters, you have a few minutes to rest, and you do this 10 times. And I remember I was in this group, mainly girls, we set off running at the same time.

                            Anthony Bryan 27:48

                            And I remember even like the girls half the size of me that are like six, seven years old, which is flying past me. And I was at the back of the group. And I was like, This is so embarrassing. Even the little little girls are going past me. And I hated it so much. But I made sure I did rep after rep and I just wanted to do the session and not don’t want to stop because that’d be even more embarrassing.

                            Anthony Bryan 28:11

                            So I finished the session and my coach went, so how did it go? And I was like, terrible. The little ones were going past me I was able to back just embarrassing. I hate not being good at something. So she’s she said to me, Well, you can’t expect to go in there and be the absolute best at it. Those guys have been training for years.

                            Anthony Bryan 28:34

                            You can’t expect to go in there and be the better than they are and you haven’t even put in the work yet. She said to give it a go for a month. And if you still hate it, you can always go back to sprinting. So I was like, Okay, I’ll give it a go.

                            Anthony Bryan 28:46

                            After a few weeks, I started getting fitter started getting stronger, I started believing in myself more, I was going from the back of the group, it’s in the middle of the group. So the middle group to near the front of the group.

                            Anthony Bryan 28:57

                            And these are kind of able-bodied girls, so I’m keeping up with them, which is kind of a good pace. And then I started going to competitions and started winning medals. In 2015, I got selected to represent England and the Cerebral Palsy World Games, which was in Barcelona, and ended up winning two gold medals in the 800 meters and 1500 years.

                            Anthony Bryan 29:20

                            And this was a moment where my kind of confidence started to grow because I thought I shouldn’t be shy about myself. I’m now a double world champion. And people I remember being there and like, young kids are asking for my autograph and I wasn’t used to it. So I was like, Wow, that’s so special. That made me feel really good. I was like Wow, that makes you feel cool.

                            Accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities


                            Bill Gasiamis 29:47
                            That’s awesome.

                            Anthony Bryan 29:50

                            That was kind of a change in my life because I thought I was told as a kid I would never be very active again. And now, I’m a double world champion in the 100 and 1500s. So, began thinking to myself I can do things, what am I capable of this, try and find out what I really can do.

                            Anthony Bryan 30:16

                            So it’s just like fist-pushing myself physically in the gym, running training. And I just started learning that I was getting fitter and stronger. Part of my peer group and my mates who didn’t do much sport were all able-bodied, and I was stronger and fitter than them. And I was like, How was this possible?

                            Bill Gasiamis 30:41

                            Because the mindset is, war has been so different up until then, you know, like, it just hasn’t been, we’ve come a long way, in the last 30 years, since, yes, your experience. And by that, I’m talking about society as a whole has come a long way.

                            Bill Gasiamis 31:04

                            Just understand that, if you make it possible for people, to attend an event, like if you create some of the things that they need to be there, or a wheelchair ramp, for example, then then you’ve solved 99.9% of the problems, all you got to do is make it accessible so that the people can arrive there.

                            Bill Gasiamis 31:31

                            And then they can participate if the court is there. And then there is a toilet, for example, for people who need disabled toilets, and a ramp for people who need wheelchair access and all those different things. There’s not much extra that’s required to make it possible for people who live with disability to participate and to attend.

                            Bill Gasiamis 31:57

                            I know in the football stadiums here, and there. I remember back in the day, you never used to see chairs or spaces for wheelchairs. Well, now you do know there’s, in every level, in every bay of every stadium, there’s a wheelchair accessible base, where people can get a lift up, or go up the ramp, and park their wheelchair, next one, a couple of other wheelchairs and sit and enjoy an event.

                            Bill Gasiamis 32:29

                            And it’s what it means is taking seats out rather than having to buy seats and install them, it’s just not putting them there. And then marking the space with blue paint or with orange paint, or yellow paint, or whatever it is just so that people know what that space is allocated for and you’re in. It’s so simple.

                            Bill Gasiamis 32:50

                            So we see that now on public transport here in Melbourne. All of the tram, the trams that we have, previously, you had to get up to in three steps to get into the tram. And then the tram doors weren’t wide enough so that people with a wheelchair could get in and use the tram. Whereas now the doors are double-width.

                            Disability caused by Pediatric Stroke and overcoming obstacles through self-belief

                            Bill Gasiamis 33:12

                            And every tram stop is starting to build platforms that are at the same level as you would at a train station that is at the same level as the door. So the person all they have to do is get to the tram stop push themselves in and then go to a space in the tram where the seats have been removed. And they could just park their wheelchair there. And when they’re not there, people can stand there. And it’s such a it seems like such a simple thing.

                            Bill Gasiamis 33:42

                            But able-bodied people take a while to get to that stage because they can’t picture themselves being in that situation and having to get to work or having to get to an appointment or whatever. That makes people more independent and more able to participate and be active members of the community just because one of your legs doesn’t work or one of your arms doesn’t work while both of your legs do work doesn’t mean you can’t fully active member in a community and live a life to the fullest.

                            Bill Gasiamis 34:16

                            It’s just ridiculous that it meant that and even now we are here stroke survivors all toxic some stroke survivors who had a stroke recently and the doctor said you probably won’t walk again. Yeah, only 20 It’s insane that it happens but it does still happen. And part of what the Paralympics does is prove everybody or the naysayers wrong is what it does.

                            Bill Gasiamis 34:45

                            And then hopefully it encourages young kids, young, old people, elderly, whatever, it doesn’t matter what heavily encourages people to go. What the hell I’m going to just turn up and give it a go. Nobody’s looking at me at the time. Are Olympics there’s plenty of other people to look at if, if that’s what we’re going to do if we’re going to look at people with disabilities and think they’re different or they’re different, what’s not going to happen at the Paralympics? Everyone’s the same different.

                            Anthony Bryan 35:14

                            Well, I spoke to one lady before and she was like, I prefer watching the Paralympics the Olympics and I said, Oh, really was that? She goes, Well, if you think about it, the Olympians train hard and they diet but that’s what that’s all they do. The Paralympians, have to train hard diet, and train as much as the Olympians, but with an added difficulty.

                            Anthony Bryan 35:39

                            And they’re gonna have to do all these kinds of massage and rehab to help all those different kinds of parts of the body that overcompensating so the Paralympics have put an extra amount of work that the Olympian would do so. So you know, that’s why I find it more impressive.

                            Bill Gasiamis 35:57

                            Yeah, I find it impressive, because it’s, it’s humans going, you know, despite what everyone expects of me. And despite what everyone said, I wouldn’t be able to do I’m going to prove them wrong. And then they end up doing it. And it’s simply because they believe in themselves. That’s all it is.

                            Anthony Bryan 36:15

                            Exactly, yeah. That’s how everyone should think about life. Yeah, this might be a fork in the road in my life. But it’s not the end. There’s this a different pathway. And there are always different pathways around every kind of difficult part of your life. Doesn’t mean it’s the end.

                            Bill Gasiamis 36:36

                            Yep. I interviewed very, very early on in the podcast. In Episode 106, I interviewed Kelly Studebaker, who was the first person I’d met, who was hemiplegic. And she was a powerlifter, and still is the powerlifter, I believe. And if you see the image of Kelly, she’s got one side of her body, which is the effective side, which is like, skinny, right? And the other side, which is like, massive in general, and powerlifter size, you know.

                            Bill Gasiamis 37:15

                            And it was such a cool episode. She was the first person I spoke to who just kind of goes, Well, I think I want to do weight training or lifting or something. And then somebody said to her, Well, why don’t you do powerlifting and she said, Okay, and that’s it. And then she went down the powerlifting journey.

                            Bill Gasiamis 37:36

                            And she’s got, and she’s got photos of herself, doing other things like knitting scarves, and knitting, you know, hats and all that kind of stuff. And then she’s got powerlifting photos, she’s the most, it was the most unbelievable thing to see that that was possible because for me, I’m, I look completely normal.

                            Bill Gasiamis 38:01

                            I have left-side deficits, so my left side doesn’t work the way my right side does. 100% But I avoided the gym, I hated going to the gym because it would remind me of how weak my left side is, or how much more of an effort I had to put in with my left side. And when I went to the gym, all it did was remind me that the risk was greater than I was looking for the problems.

                            Bill Gasiamis 38:29

                            If I lift the bar over my head my left side, fatigues quicker because it does almost two or three reps, and my left side is done. I was always concerned that it would fall on me that I would not be able to you know, do a benchpress properly or whatever. And I never did it. Whereas Kelly just goes I’m gonna go and do it.

                            Bill Gasiamis 38:54

                            She just did it that’s what was cool about listening to her overcome a lot of that stuff that she was experiencing because of the AVM that she had in her head she had a faulty blood vessel as well that person was similar to me, and then and she was like that we’re gonna go do this. So it is good to see other people achieving things when they’re not meant to have been achieving them according to some people.

                            Anthony Bryan 39:29

                            Exactly. I love I love hearing success stories because they show you that anyone is capable of achieving just go for it and just see how it goes. Don’t be scared of not giving it a go kind of thing.

                            Bill Gasiamis 39:49

                            As a six-year-old, do you have that other support that you need? Perhaps the mental mental health support, psychological support, that kind of stuff? Was that a thing? When you were going through In 1996?

                            Anthony Bryan 40:03

                            My parents did get me counseling. But as a child, I did not want to do counseling, I hated it. And I refused to, like, correspond during it. So I did go to counseling sessions, but whenever she would ask, she goes, So how are you feeling like I’m fine. And if you try and talk to me about my props, I just wouldn’t talk about it.

                            Anthony Bryan 40:28

                            So I kind of bottled it all, all my emotions up. I never talked about my disability. That’s all a sport kind of was my savior because it gave me something to focus on. Other than that, other than sports, I was very shy, self-conscious, and embarrassed.

                            Anthony Bryan 40:50

                            As I got into my teenage years and started going out drinking with mates, I was super shy around girls. I thought No girl was going to be interested in me because I’m the only disabled one. So I thought that self-consciousness was constantly with me. So maybe I probably needed to address that when I was quite young.

                            Bill Gasiamis 41:12

                            Did you start? Did you end up going and getting that help and sorting that stuff out? Or is it something that you haven’t gotten around to?

                            Anthony Bryan 41:22

                            And it’s probably something I do need to address. Really?

                            Bill Gasiamis 41:25

                            Hopefully still. Yeah. All right. I’m not laughing. I’m kind of nervous laughing. Because I didn’t think that that’s the answer you were gonna give? I don’t know. I thought you would have said you when you went about it. But you’re proving yourself wrong. A lot. Anyway. Right. So you’ve, you have overcome some of that stuff yourself. Anyway, you’ve

                            Anthony Bryan 41:47

                            Yeah, well, my sports side of life has excelled massively. But still, like, relationship-wise. I’ve probably been single, what, four years now. And even when it got I was mates now. My mates are quite confident they’ll go and talk to girls. I won’t talk to a girl. And she talks to me first because I don’t know. Sometimes I might think, Oh, I don’t want to bother her. She might not want to talk to someone who’s disabled. That’s, why I still have those kinds of thoughts in my head. I need that’s something we need to address.

                            Bill Gasiamis 42:21

                            Right. Right. Okay. Because one part of you wants to do that. And engage with Yeah,

                            Anthony Bryan 42:28

                            Yeah. So there’s still that self-consciousness inside of me. And where my confidence comes out is Spore, Jim, just kind of maybe socializing, that either self-consciousness comes, comes back into me.

                            Bill Gasiamis 42:49

                            And you’ve been in a relationship before?

                            Anthony Bryan 42:52

                            Yes, I’ve been in a few relationships. But I still just haven’t got that confidence in myself. That should have, yeah,

                            Bill Gasiamis 43:04

                            Fair enough. Those relationships show you that once upon a time, you did have confidence in yourself. And you did get the outcome you were after? Did I prove that?

                            Anthony Bryan: Dating with a disability

                            Anthony Bryan 43:21

                            Either No. So I always I always went for relationships. And the girls that I would go for it would go because I wasn’t that interested in it because if I got rejected, I didn’t I didn’t care. I never kind of approached any girls that I was interested in because I didn’t want to get rejected

                            Bill Gasiamis 43:40

                            Sounds like a normal bloke. That’s a normal thing.

                            Anthony Bryan 43:47

                            I avoided that all of my life. And sometimes I do think, what if I didn’t? Well, if I just tried Winfrey? Who knows?

                            Bill Gasiamis 43:58

                            It’s like playing sports. Just try who knows you might get exactly

                            Anthony Bryan 44:03

                            yeah, maybe so bring my sport. strategies into my social life?

                            Bill Gasiamis 44:10

                            Absolutely. Go for it. Officially. Officially, absolutely. You should just go for it, mate. Don’t worry about podcasts

                            Anthony Bryan 44:20

                            in a few weeks. Yeah, I got a new relationship.

                            Bill Gasiamis 44:25

                            Why not? Why not? You should go for it. I mean, every person who likes somebody is afraid of rejection and afraid of being told Look, I don’t like you. I’m not interested in you or whatever. And it does not matter.

                            Anthony Bryan 44:40

                            What I always black I will I always blamed my disability, I think oh, she won’t like me because I’m disabled. Yeah, that’s nice. Don’t blame my disability. That’s not true.

                            Bill Gasiamis 44:54

                            I know what you can do. Take some of your middles and wear them around your neck. When you go out. I’m

                            Anthony Bryan 45:02

                            always on my neck. That’s

                            Bill Gasiamis 45:06

                            a good icebreaker at least.

                            Anthony Bryan 45:09

                            Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

                            Bill Gasiamis 45:13

                            You never know. I do understand where you’re coming from. It does make sense. You’ve got that extra level of complexity that you add to that whole dating experience usually, it’s just that she won’t like me, I hate being rejected. But you’ve also got that other part that you think is, you know,

                            Anthony Bryan 45:33

                            I think I’m online dating is sometimes it can be such a bad thing. So it’s Judge Donilon. datings. All about image. So I’ve had a few bad ones where I’ve put an image of me I think I was looking ripped one year, and I had just loved so many shorts on. Six Pack is out. And I matched with this girl on Tinder, and she messaged me as you go, I said, Hey, how are you?

                            Anthony Bryan 46:06

                            And she said, Oh, I’m only matched with you to tell you what a terrible job you’ve done on photoshopping your picture. And I was like, What do you mean, I don’t even know how to use Photoshop.

                            Anthony Bryan 46:17

                            She goes, Well, you’ve made your one arm muscley and got six pack really good down one side. But you forgot to do the other side, I was like, No, I have a disability. And this, this, and this. And she was like, oh, and then she blocked me. And I was like, ah, that’s harsh. Little things like that.

                            Bill Gasiamis 46:44

                            But is harsh. Yeah. How can you just connect with somebody purely to tell them they’ve done a bad job on Photoshop?

                            Anthony Bryan 46:56

                            But I did have a few other times where I thought, well, what if I don’t put I have a disability on my profile? And I just act as a normal person. So I did that a few times. And I got talking to a few more girls and had a few more successes. And I went, I met up with a girl to go on a date. She was like, Oh my God, what happened to you? You’ve had a car crash. I was like, oh, no, I have a limp. And I can only use one arm.

                            Anthony Bryan 47:23

                            And she was like, oh, and that didn’t go well after that. So I thought, okay, that doesn’t work either. So I just need to be myself or my dating profile. And just say who I am, I have a year. So now my profile says, I have a stroke of a breach in Australia, branching, survive branching survivor, but I’m also a world champion in this and the world champion that in a motivational speaker.

                            Bill Gasiamis 47:56

                            I get it, that it’d be difficult to get people over the line. And most people on Tinder probably not looking for a deep connection with somebody initially, you know, yeah, out for different reasons. And then they, you know, being confronted with somebody who has a disability, when you’re not expecting that would be would make them think all sorts of weird things.

                            Bill Gasiamis 48:22

                            Like, you know, what, I don’t know what to say, how do I act around that person? Or? I haven’t got any experience in this space. Or what will my friends say, you know, there’ll be all sorts of shit going in their heads about the problem with interacting with somebody who’s, who has a disability. And, and it comes from being naive afraid.

                            Bill Gasiamis 48:49

                            Perhaps having been using derogatory words towards people, you know, in the past as young kids, and they just have a way of going about life avoiding disability, because it’s not common, even though there’s plenty of people who have a disability, it’s not common in quote-unquote, normal world, the normal world and then they kind of makes them look like an idiot.

                            Bill Gasiamis 49:23

                            So instead of looking like an idiot and fumbling their way through stuff they don’t know about and learning and becoming educated and becoming less ignorant. They just use their ignorance and get the hell out of it.

                            Anthony Bryan 49:39

                            Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

                            Bill Gasiamis 49:43

                            But it’s not Do you take it badly? Do you sort of see it as a real I?

                            Overcoming Pediatric Stroke disabilities and inspiring others


                            Anthony Bryan 49:52
                            I did as a teenager and in my 20s I did. Now. I’ve kind of started Learning. So you’ve stopped thinking of what? I’m not going to stop thinking of what I am. I’ve achieved this I’ve achieved that. I am, I am actually. Personally was fatigued quite a lot. Think about things that I have done. Don’t think of yourself things you haven’t done. So value yourself and stop thinking of yourself negatively is why I’ve probably only in the last three, or four years started learning to do.

                            Bill Gasiamis 50:31

                            Yeah. Tell me about your speaking. What are you speaking about when you address people?

                            Anthony Bryan 50:41

                            So I went to see David Goggins who had been a role model of mine.

                            Bill Gasiamis 50:47

                            Stop. David Goggins forgot that guy. He’ll run his legs into the ground, he’ll run his legs into the pavement, just point.

                            Anthony Bryan 51:03

                            That’s why I love him by him. But, yeah, I read his book in lockdown. One, there was one thing that stood out to me. And I was like, Wow, I’ve never fought myself on that before. So there’s a chapter in his book called, be the only. And it’s like, it kind of says, be the only in life to be successful. So if you’re in a crowd of people, if you want to stand out and be successful, you need to be the only the only one that’s the only one to stop.

                            Anthony Bryan 51:34

                            And he gave us a little story. When he was doing an ultra triathlon one day, he looked across the start line that all the others and he fought, yeah, these guys are fit. These guys are strong, they do their training. But none of these guys stand out, they all just kind of blend in. Then he looked to his left, and he saw one guy in his wheelchair jump out and was born chair, perch himself on the edge of the ledge ready to dive into the water.

                            Anthony Bryan 52:00

                            And he looked to me for there’s that guy, he is the only one he’s out here with all these ultra athletes. But he’s the only one who stands out. He’s the only one with that disability. And he’s out here proving his point and doing that work. And I read that and I thought, That’s me, every time I go and do a running race, so road running rates of 5k, or 10k, I’m always the only one with disability.

                            Anthony Bryan 52:28

                            When I was at school, I was the only one with a disability and everything I did. I’m always the only one with disability. But what I’ve been doing was I’ve been hiding away and trying to hide amongst the crowd. What I should be doing is being the only guy out there and standing out and owning it. And just doing the best I can do.

                            Anthony Bryan 52:51

                            And just being the best I can be. So I read that. And I thought, yeah, I like that. And then I started posting Instagram videos about myself lifting weights, doing my branding, doing all these kinds of great things. And people don’t know how you do that. How do you lift, like a lift, just the other day, I lifted the 80-kilogram deadlift with one arm and everyone’s gone. Whoa, you do that? To me, it’s just kind of normal.

                            Anthony Bryan 53:19

                            But I’m showing what I can do with my disability. And people get inspired by that, because I always thought people would judge me and think or look at me funny. But people get inspired by me pushing myself with my disability. And that kind of spurred me on. And just before locked down. People used to ask me, So what’s your story? What happened to you to tell them, they’re like, that’s incredible.

                            Anthony Bryan 53:50

                            You had a brain tumor and a stroke and told you never to walk again. And now you’re a world champion. You need to tell people your story and stop hiding away. So during lockdown, I started a YouTube channel, and I started telling people about me and my story. And it started doing well. And I got invited on to a few talks over Zoom for like physios and doctors and things like that.

                            Anthony Bryan 54:16

                            And just from doing that, a woman said, Oh, my my son’s school would love to come and hear you talk. So I went along to the school and did a talk I’ve never done a talk before, in front of 1000 kids. And I just told them my story. Because I have a picture of me as a six-year-old in a hospital bed with a bandage around my head.

                            Anthony Bryan 54:37

                            The kids could kind of relate to that. And they gave me this kind of big camera kind of response to my talk. At the beginning of the talk, the teachers were saying, oh, there’s a few like kindergarten five-year-olds and they might switch off and mess around but don’t worry about that. We’ll sort them out.

                            Anthony Bryan 54:56

                            And after doing an hour of my talk If the teacher said, I don’t know how you did it, every single kid like that, you could hear a pin drop. She’s even the fire rolls, which is sat there for the whole hour. She’s like, I’ve never seen that. And that just made me. I don’t know, that kind of made me feel good about myself, and, the fact that if I can inspire them, and maybe help them achieve something in their lives through my story, then this is a great feeling.

                            Anthony Bryan 55:29

                            So I then full, I’d love to do more of this. So I just started contacting schools and the schools of law and we’d love to have you in this year, I’ve done talk for over 8000 school kids. One of my favorite moments was when a girl wrote me a letter afterward. And she, she said, Thank you for your talk. today. I have cerebral palsy as well. And you inspired me, I would love to be like you. I was like, wow, that’s cool. That’s a great moment.

                            Fitness, injuries, and adaptive training for Anthony Bryan


                            Bill Gasiamis 56:03
                            It’s a bloody awesome moment. That’s That’s it. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? It’s about in. It’s about just being yourself with no agenda. And then other people going, Oh, I thought I couldn’t lift weights with one. Cheers. He’s doing it What an idiot I’ve been. Let me try.

                            Anthony Bryan 56:25

                            Yeah, and then they can stop believing in themselves in achieving, I think, especially. It’s, they have a lot of social media they’re looking at now, they ever, they have to relate to things that are kind of way out of real realistic things now, especially kids, they’ve gone through the pandemic, which no kids come from before. So I struggle with more, they’re going to say, mental health is going to be a big thing for those kids, pandemic kids in the future. So if I can give a bit of inspiration to them to go out and be the best you can fit your confidence incident, then ask great.

                            Bill Gasiamis 57:12

                            Who’s making a note of that? I get congested, does my head

                            Bill Gasiamis 57:20

                            Oh, the 85-kilogram deadlift is difficult. For most people, I couldn’t lift 85 kilos, I recently went back to the gym and every time and for two weeks in a row or two sessions in a row, I injured something. So session one, I injured my knee, doing a squat not a lot of weight. And then took two weeks off and went back to the gym. And then first day back I injured my shoulder.

                            Anthony Bryan 58:05

                            On your weaker side.

                            Bill Gasiamis 58:08

                            Yeah, on my weaker side, yeah, my knee I injured on my better side, my shoulder injured on my weaker side. And now those two things, bugging the hell out of me because I can’t go to the gym and participate the way that I wanted to, which is just to do my full range of weights, for all my sets and all my. So I go anyway, and I mean, in and out in, you know, maybe 15, 20 minutes because I just do what I can.

                            Bill Gasiamis 58:39

                            And I’ve reduced all the weights back down to just the bare minimum just so that I can still be in the gym and still go to the gym and have a habit and lift weights and still go through all the motions but there’s no way I can do squats at the moment. And there’s no way I can do certain movements with my left arm. And it’s frustrating. What’s it like for you to have to protect your muscles in your body what’s it like to go through that and be and be able to kind of get back to training every single week I find that the imbalance is because of my left side.

                            Bill Gasiamis 59:27

                            The imbalance compared to more so is always making my bag tense always sort of stretching and moving my muscles weirdly. So massages and chiropractic and all that kind of stuff to loosen my left side is something that I spend a ton of money on. How do you prepare to do deadlifting Tell me about that whole process because it’s got to be hard.

                            Anthony Bryan 59:57

                            I’d never lift that heavy ball and all the guys around me were lifting heavy. So I thought I’d go with it and see if I can do it. Ended up lifting in 85, never lifted 85 before my best would be 80. But the next day I was so stiff, like my lower back, because I was lifting one-sided. All this strain is going through one side, and I see it because I’m running three to four times a week as well.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:00:24

                            The muscles on my right side are so tight. I see a chiropractor every once a week and it’s like 50 quid a session. So it does drain your money, but it needs to be done. Like, it makes a huge difference. If you’re not seeing those chiropractors and physios getting a sports massage, you’re gonna get injured and do more damage. So I do a lot of hard hard training, but I pay the money.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:00:51

                            So a lot of my money does go on chiropractors, like 50 quid, or more weeks sometimes. Yes. So I do a lot of that. But with your stories, you’re saying that you struggle to do certain exercises. Because I work in a gym. I’m very good at adapting exercises. And there was this one guy in the gym. Not long ago, he came up to me and he goes, I had a stroke recently.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:01:18

                            And every time I sit on the leg extension, I just can’t do it. It frustrated me and it gave me knee pain. So I said, I’ve got an idea. So what I do is I have ankle weights that I leave in the gym, and I have some lighter ones and some heavier ones. So I said, sit down on the bench, and I tied the ankle weights around his ankles. Now extend your leg up bring it down and bring it up.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:01:47

                            Bring it I said do that 20 To 30 Times now Can you feel your quads work? He’s like, Oh, yeah, I can feel it working. Now. This is kind of adapting around ways of getting those muscles. So when you go to a gym, everyone’s taught a set way to do things squat, you do it this way, deadlift, you do it this way. There are still ways to do those exercises, but getting the right muscles working in the body, not in a way that’s hurting itself.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:02:20

                            So people in a wheelchair can do deadlifts, but what they’ll do is sit on the bench, and the bar goes under the bench. And they just use their upper body to deadlift that’s going to get their core on the lower back working. And that’s how they would deadlift. Right. So I’ve just started doing adaptive CrossFit. And it’s honestly it’s, it’s amazing because you have all these athletes go now and absolutely beast in these workouts.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:02:50

                            And you just think how on earth. I mean, there was one guy and so in one of the workouts we had shuttle runs going back and forth. And there’s one guy who had one leg. So he was hopping to one end and then hopping back. And then he came back. He got to do deadlifts. And he’s doing deadlifts on one leg, and then you pop it over there. And he popped in the back and it’s like wicked. This is This is so cool. Yeah, there’s always a way.

                            Adaptive yoga and marathon training

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:03:16

                            always a way and humans are so adaptable, we’ve been able to live in every part of the planet, cold, hot, dry, wet. It doesn’t, you know, like humans are so adaptable with or without limbs. No matter what I mean, everything is possible. With a little bit of creativity and a little bit of guts and determination and a little bit of encouragement. That’s kind of all we need and support.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:03:49

                            There’s a whole bunch of people that I’ve spoken to and are doing adaptive types of yoga, and adapted Pilates and adaptive all sorts of things. It’s so good that it’s happening. Because like you said, you know, then anyone, you can rock up and participate and then just be able to experience that stuff. Most people can experience regular gym sessions or Pilates or yoga, etc.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:04:20

                            Adaptive yoga seems to be kind of done on a chair, which you’d think is not, you know, it doesn’t wouldn’t have the benefits, but it does have the benefits just as if you were doing it on the floor. So I love that idea. So what’s on the agenda? What do you get coming up? What’s going to happen to you in the future? Sounds like there’s plenty on.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:04:55

                            So I started thinking, what more am I capable of? I’ve done the 1500 I’ve done the 800. I’ve got golden. I then thought. So that year, my brother who doesn’t do a lot of training, but he’d answered a charity 10k race. I thought surely if he can complete a 10k I can do I do a lot more training than him. So I thought, What the hell always it’s 10k as well. So I ran the 10k.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:05:27

                            And I didn’t know how to train for it. So I just thought, let’s go just go do it and see what happens. And I got through about halfway 5k feeling okay, my legs started to ache a bit. But I feel like I got to 7k and my left leg, which is my weaker side, started dragging along the ground, and my right side is trying to pull me along. And I must admit, it’s an absolute mess, awful.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:05:55

                            And my head said to me, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Stop? This is crazy. Start walking. And I was about to stop and start walking. And this random lady runs past me. She goes, Oh, my God, we’re doing amazing. Don’t stop, don’t stop, keep going. You inspire me. I’ve been watching you for the last few miles. And you’ve been helping me get through this. It going to keep going. And she kind of picked up my spirits. And I thought, yeah, you’re right. It’s only 3k to go.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:06:24

                            So I started pushing along and managed to get to the finish line in about 55 minutes. Wow, I never thought I’d be able to FBA capable of running 10k. It sounds like a million miles. But I completed it. And I went back to my coach. And I was like, I want to train more or look over fast. And I managed to not buy time, from 55 minutes down to 47 minutes.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:06:49

                            And I’ve just been doing these runs ever since. And I’ve been getting better at them. So then I thought, what’s what’s the next challenge? So next year, I’m running the London Marathon. And this is this is, again, just unknown territory for me. I’ve never gotten this far. I don’t know if my weaker side can go that far. But I’m gonna give it everything I’ve got to try and get there.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:07:18

                            All 42 kilometers?

                            Anthony Bryan 1:07:21

                            That’s it. Yeah. The furthest I’ve ever run so far is 10 miles and said the Americans double that and a bit more.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:07:30

                            Yeah. You’ve got a bit of training to do. So you’ve got heaps of time? Yeah.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:07:35

                            So it’s next April. So I’ve got about five months.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:07:39

                            Okay, so you’ve got five months, I think you could get there. So what I love about this is that there are people that have already done this. I interviewed very early on in the process I interviewed. I’m just looking for it right now. Where is it? Where is it? A lady who lives in Melbourne, had a stroke when she was a kid as well, probably around your age. She has hemiplegia and then she has foot drop. I’ve got that.

                            Overcoming pediatric stroke challenges and achieving goals

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:08:17

                            And she decided I’d just search. There you go. And she decided that she was going to run a marathon. And then no, she decided to like you, she decided she was going to be five or 10 kilometers, something like that. And she got somebody to help her out. And then that trainer said to her, this is nothing, you know, we’re going to run five trying to run five kilometers or 10 kilometers. Big deal here case, why don’t you run a marathon? And he kind of continues to do it.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:08:57

                            Just go hard or go home.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:08:58

                            Yeah, and then she kind of just said, Well, all right. She’s sort of signed up for his supposed marathon. Donna Campisi her name is running after a stroke episode. 28. Right. And she goes through that process of being convinced by this guy to run a marathon and she did it.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:09:25

                            She ran it all she was completely exhausted and spent like most people who run a marathon and then she had to overcome some unique challenges that you know, that are related to foot drop and the way that all of that has to be managed. But she did make it she had a stroke at eight.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:09:52

                            Yeah, a similar story to you. And she was a machine and she was an absolute machine. She just didn’t let anything get in her way. But she started her kind of athletic journey in her mid-40s. You know, she didn’t get around to doing that type of stuff until she was beyond 40 years old. And it’s just crazy. One of the first people who I met, who showed me what’s possible after a stroke that’s debilitating or, you know, causes disability or caused all these problems, and she grew up with all of the drama that you grew up with, which was.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:10:41

                            So she was born in the 70s. So she would have been even more dealing with all that you will never be able to do this stuff, and whatever. And then she has been able to work your way through that and get to the other side, it’s cool that you’re going to run the marathon, I’d love to talk to you, after you’ve run the marathon, right? So remember, after you’ve run the marathon get in touch, so we can have another episode so we can talk about how.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:11:11

                            I’m doing a vlog on my YouTube channel on it as well. So, all the weeks, or the weeks leading up to the marathon, I’m talking about how my training went, what went well, what went bad. So I’ve got a guide runner to run the marathon with me, and he’s gonna like video alongside me as I run, and then we’ll do a video after the video together, which would be cool. Awesome,

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:11:34

                            awesome. Well, there’ll be links to all of that stuff in the show notes. So, anyone who wants to connect with anything can do that via the links that I’ll share. As we wrap up. What’s the hardest thing about stroke for you?

                            Anthony Bryan 1:11:54

                            It’s the hardest thing, right? Stroke is, is change, flipping your whole life upside down, and you have to pick yourself up. And start again, you think this is the kind of my life is over, I’ll never be able to do this. And I’ll never be able to do that again.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:12:12

                            But like I said before, it’s just the start of a new pathway in life. There’s lots of help out there. You just have to look in the right places, you’ll find communities, you’ll find other people, groups that can help you live a full, great life. It’s just sort of a new pathway. It’s not the end of life. This is the new part. That’s why it is a very hard journey. Because a struggle, it’s going to be painful. It’s going to be hard. But there is a way for it.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:12:46

                            You might have already kind of sort of, in your answer answered some of the next questions, but I’m gonna ask them anyway, what’s the you’ve had 27 years now, since your stroke? What does it teach you? I imagine the lessons have been many, and they keep coming.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:13:08

                            And it’s told me that not just me, but all humans so capable of achieving such great things that we could never even realize. But we all sit in our comfort zones. And we are our own worst enemy. Sometimes we think we can’t do this. And we can’t do that we look at others and go, I can’t do that. Well, we don’t know. Because unless we try. So what I’ve learned is to give everything a try. I didn’t think I’d be able to do weightlifting. I just gave it a try and turns out pretty strong.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:13:46

                            I didn’t think I could do running, but I gave it a go, and it turned out to be a bit of work. I’m pretty good. I’m very good at pushing myself. I think the one thing I’m good at is just never giving up. Resilience is the main thing. I just don’t want to be like, be embarrassed, be that person who’s embarrassed or myself again, I want to go there and achieve things.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:14:15

                            So I think one of the biggest things I learned is we are also capable of achieving so much and we don’t even realize one of my biggest fears is kind of getting to an old age let’s say I live to 100 I don’t be there look back on my life and be in thought I could have been something once upon a time but I just never gave it a go. Or as you hear a lot of people say in life. I couldn’t be someone once but I didn’t do it. And I don’t want to I don’t want to be that person. Oh well. I’m older and live with regret.

                            Pediatric Stroke recovery with a survivor and researcher

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:14:53

                            Yeah, fair enough. And What’s good about interviewing you, amongst many other things is that you’re such a long way away from your stroke like it’s been ages. So with that in mind, what do you want to tell others? who are just starting their stroke recovery journey? Because they reckon it’s probably feeling like, it’s hard. It’s shit. It’s terrible. life’s gonna suck from now on and they’ve got all this stuff.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:15:29

                            Yeah, you feel like your life’s over. So doom and gloom right now. But it’s a, it’s a slow process, but you just have to keep going. Keep on going. And, believe me. When you keep trying and keep trying, keep trying to use that weak hand because you might not be able to use it now about what, what one day and get a little flicker like that. And when you get a flicker, it’s going to feel like the absolute best thing in the world that needs to keep going. And these good things will happen you might get.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:16:07

                            So the brain is always developing. So you just have to get into Pathways and go in. So get that movement going. So don’t give up. Just keep trying. Keep trying. And these brain pathways will get stronger and stronger over time. Small little movements will come back just don’t give up on yourself that’s the main thing.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:16:28

                            Set a goal for yourself. You want to in a year or two years walk 100 meters or something like that. Then you’ve got a goal and the mind is an incredible thing. If you set that goal, a lot of the time you will hit it. You just have to be committed and determined to do it.

                            Bill Gasiamis 1:16:54

                            Awesome. Anthony, I appreciate you joining me on the podcast and sharing your story. I wish you well in all of the upcoming things that you want to do and achieve and I love to hear how the marathon went.

                            Anthony Bryan 1:17:13

                            Thank you for having me. Yeah, it’s gonna be a challenge it’s going to be a tough one. The biggest one I’ve done, but let’s see how it goes.

                            Bill 1:17:21

                            Thank you to everyone who has already left the review on iTunes and Spotify, it is making a huge difference to the show’s popularity and how easily other stroke survivors will be able to find the show. If you haven’t left a review and would like to the best way to do that is just to go to Spotify and iTunes and leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you.

                            Bill 1:17:43

                            If you are a stroke survivor with a story to share about your experience, come and join me on the show that interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them. All you need to do to qualify is be a stroke survivor who wants to share your story in the hope that it will help somebody else who’s going through something similar.

                            Bill 1:18:00

                            If you are a researcher who wants to share the findings of a recent study or you are looking to recruit people into studies, you may also wish to reach out and be a guest on my show. If you have a commercial product that you would like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors to recover. There is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show.

                            Bill 1:18:20

                            Just go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact Fill out the form, explaining which category you belong to and I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom. To learn more about my guests, including links to their social media and other pages, and to download a full transcript of the entire interview please go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes.

                            Bill 1:18:42

                            If you’re watching on YouTube, please comment below the video. I love seeing people’s comments I respond to all the comments and liked this episode and to get notifications of future episodes subscribe to the show on the platform of your choice. Thanks again for being here and listening. I appreciate you see you on the next episode.

                            Intro 1:19:02

                            Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcasts are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

                            Intro 1:19:19

                            All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis, the content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing.

                            Intro 1:19:36

                            It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice the information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

                            Intro 1:19:57

                            Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice As a medical professional, your doctor or your rehabilitation program is based on our content. If you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be, call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.

                            Intro 1:20:21

                            Medical information changes constantly. While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

                            The post From Pediatric Stroke To Gold Medalist | Anthony Bryan appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

                            1 hr 21 min
                          • Losing Your Identity To Aphasia | James Behre

                            James Behre is living with the loss of identity due to Aphasia after a stroke at the age of 68.

                            Highlights:

                            01:33 Introduction

                            08:39 Living with Aphasia after a stroke
                            18:53 How other people deal with my aphasia
                            28:30 Communication challenges after a stroke
                            35:59 Adjusting speech approach
                            44:10 Aphasia and stroke survival

                            Transcript:

                            James Behre 0:00

                            I have to write stuff down or I will forget it, one thing I’ve learned is I can no longer be the narrator of my own life. Well, I can, but it takes forever. As you can see, I talk this way and with pauses, and while I’m thinking of the next word to say or a way to say it, get my mouth ready to say it.

                            Intro 1:05

                            This is the Recovery after Stroke podcast. With Bill Gasiamis, helping you navigate recovery after stroke.

                            Bill 1:18

                            Hello, everybody, my book The Unexpected Way The Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened is now available for purchase on Amazon. Just search by the name Bill Gasiamis. Or follow the links in the YouTube description and the show notes.

                            Introduction – James Behre

                            Bill 1:33

                            And if you are an Aussie, and follow the Aussie link, rather than purchase it on Amazon, you can even get your copy signed by the author, me. This is episode 281 of my guest today James Behre, who experienced a stroke aged 68. And despite his aphasia, wanted to appear on the show to inspire other stroke survivors going through something similar. James Behre, welcome to the podcast.

                            James Behre 2:03

                            Thank you. It’s good to be here.

                            Bill 2:08

                            Thank you for being here. Tell me a little bit about what happened to you.

                            James Behre 2:12

                            I had a stroke almost five and a half years ago. It happened while I was asleep. And sometime between 10 and 5 at night. I woke up around five. And the only symptom I had was presence involving the right side of my mouth. It didn’t hurt but I felt it felt strange.

                            James Behre 2:58

                            And I got up to go to work. I am retired and had a part-time job at the time. That involves opening houses for vacation road rail companies. And this morning it happened I will only have one house to open. So I got up and took a shower and did everything normally and drove off to work.

                            James Behre 3:44

                            And I got to an arco station which sells coffee. And I got my coffee and gave the guy two bucks at the counter because it cost $1.60. And I went and opened the house. I didn’t talk to anybody because I didn’t need to. And so after I opened the house, I started to think about the right side of my mouth. I went home to try to say it to my wife.

                            James Behre 4:39

                            And when I got there and started to talk, I found out that I could and she thought at first I had been in some terrible accident and was so stressed out and out thought about it. I couldn’t talk. But she finally noticed a droop in my lip and said, I think you’re having a stroke and we went to the hospital.

                            Bill 5:17

                            Did you offer any resistance to the “I think you’re having a stroke” comment, or were you pretty compliant?

                            James Behre 5:24

                            I was completely compliant. I knew something was wrong, especially when I couldn’t speak at the hospital. It’s a remote location, Big Bear, California, they curtain curd that I had the stroke, and immediately put my knee on a helicopter and transported me out to a stroke unit that was in a nearby town, it took 25 minutes by helicopter, and it would have taken an hour and a half to get there. By car. So once I got there, I don’t remember a lot about it.

                            James Behre 6:28

                            But I had a CAT scan. In the MRI, I checked into the stroke unit they had, but that confirmed that I had a stroke. But I didn’t quite believe it because I associated a stroke with being paralyzed. And to some degree, and I wasn’t, I was not paralyzed at all. So I was in the hospital for about a week. And then they discharged me. I had a bad experience there.

                            James Behre 7:17

                            I had been fighting AFib attacks for about 10 years at a time. And as it happened, I had one the next day I was in the hospital. And they sent me to a different unit because I was they said My heart was beating too fast.

                            James Behre 7:45

                            And I couldn’t explain to them what was going on, they kept me in a different unit for three days. And back in the original stroke unit, the AFib went away. And they released me to go home. And I frankly was no better off when I got home. And I was in the hospital.

                            Living with Aphasia after a stroke

                            Bill 8:21

                            So you were 68 when this happened, and that was in 2018. And your voice at the moment is quite labored. are you demonstrating some major improvement since your hospital stay? Was your voice nowhere near what it’s like now?

                            James Behre 8:44

                            If you asked me and you did, I think it’s about 10% of what it used to be. That isn’t to say that I have come a long way in that I can speak rather laboriously, as you say, and my speech has no rhythm to it. And it’s enough to get by and getting by is not what I have been used to all my life before this stroke.

                            Bill 9:25

                            What was life like before the stroke? How did you occupy your time?

                            James Behre 9:30

                            I spent 30 years in the home-building business. That was my career as a superintendent, customer service manager, and purchasing manager. Those three jobs I did in those 38 years and I never was afraid to talk to large groups.

                            James Behre 9:58

                            I liked it and I did it all the time in my work, I had meetings that I did when I was a Customer Service Manager, meetings with homeowners who were about to close escrow on their house. And I ran the meeting. And I told him what to expect with, as through closing, and the walkthrough, and presented them with a manual our company had made.

                            James Behre 10:37

                            And I enjoyed it, I did about 50 of those meetings. I’m also very creative. I think I’ve written songs and played guitar since I was 16 years old. Some of the songs I’ve written are, frankly, pretty good. If I do say so myself, I’ve been creative in my job. I I thought, though, the meanings I was just telling you about, I came up with that concept for our company.

                            James Behre 11:23

                            And I did other things like I’ve reworked their construction, scheduling to fit a better way of doing it. And that could be trapped on a computer computer was just starting at that time. It was in the early 90s.

                            James Behre 11:52

                            But, later, I started a construction class amongst the employees who didn’t work in the field, our company at the time, had about 150 employees, and about 30 of us worked in the field, the rest didn’t. So I wrote the textbook I was going to use in the class. And I did it.

                            James Behre 12:29

                            I conducted a two-day class, I gave diplomas out. To those who were there both days, if you were there one day, you didn’t get a diploma. But I had fun with it. And it was something of value and the company, company, company loved it.

                            Bill 12:59

                            Tell me. So you were quite independent, you’re responsible for a lot of things. You had a lot of people that you communicated with. And then you experienced a stroke. And the one thing that’s impacted the most is your ability to communicate. How does that impact your identity and how you see yourself in the world now?

                            James Behre 13:24

                            Glad you brought that up. Because I have notes that I’ve made. I hope you don’t mind, my attention span is so bad due to the stroke that I have to write stuff down, or I will forget it. One thing I’ve learned is I can no longer be the narrator or have my own life. That’s out. Well, I can but it takes forever. As you can see.

                            James Behre 14:07

                            I talk this way and with pauses and while I’m thinking of the next word to say or a way to say it, get my mouth ready to say it. I had a website about a year ago. One of the articles I wrote on the website was Aphasia, the Real Identity Thief I talked about that and it’s true because how else can you or anybody tell the story Worrying about who we are if you don’t speak well? You can’t?

                            Bill 15:10

                            Yes, perhaps. So, out of curiosity, when I speak in the speed and the tone and the way that I speak to you, is that difficult for you to grasp any of that? Or is that okay still?

                            James Behre 15:27

                            No problem at all. Okay, I can understand everything you say, or most people say to me, reception is not a problem with me. Getting words out is.

                            Bill 15:48

                            And the words. So I have to, I don’t have to think about the next word that’s coming up. Are you formulating the whole sentence before you say it? Or are you formulating it as you go?

                            James Behre 16:02

                            A little of both? I formulate a few words, and then try to connect those words as I go.

                            Bill 16:14

                            Is that requiring a lot of a lot of your battery? A lot of energy to have a long conversation with somebody?

                            James Behre 16:24

                            Yes, talking for any length or, of time wears me out, It’s physically hard.

                            Bill 16:37

                            Does writing have a similar impact on your energy levels? And is writing able to be as fluid as it was before? Or is there a harder-to-create written text as well?

                            James Behre 16:54

                            I write exactly how I talk. Therefore It wears me out to write. I’m writing a book about my experience with aphasia. And at the same time, I’m, I think my life has been rather interesting. If I do say so myself. For other things that I’ve not mentioned to you.

                            James Behre 17:29

                            I tried to combine those things in the book. The book starts with me, with what I told you originally about what happened to me. And then the next chapter is the summer of 57 when I had my first open heart surgery.

                            James Behre 17:56

                            Then the next chapter continues my journey with aphasia, and so on, eventually, I’ll finish a book, the book, but it takes, like I said, I’m right, exactly how I talk. And when I type the words, I’m careful to not leave anything out.

                            James Behre 18:23

                            But I have to re-read about every four sentences to make sure Yeah, I haven’t left it thing out. And I do that because my intelligence hasn’t been affected. So I know what it is supposed to look like. And that if I have to, and I have to all the time, I fix it. Okay, tell me takes a lot of time.

                            James Behre: How other people deal with my aphasia

                            Bill 18:56

                            Tell me about how other people receive you. So I’ve interviewed a lot of stroke survivors, and many of them have had aphasia. And I have to listen and also have to edit the episode so that I can decrease the pauses to make it easy for people who are listening to listen.

                            Bill 19:18

                            But what I like to do at the beginning of each episode, where there’s somebody who has aphasia, is to leave the first few minutes of conversation at your normal speed so that people can get a sense of what aphasia is like.

                            Bill 19:35

                            And then we can hopefully give them a bit of an understanding of what happens when people have aphasia. When people opposite you are having a conversation with you, how do you find them struggling with your aphasia, it’s not an easy task, to give somebody the amount of time that they need to have a deep and meaningful conversation. It’s a new skill they need to learn.

                            James Behre 20:03

                            Well, my daughter, who you saw momentarily, is my technical advisor. And my wife, it’s been five years, but they struggle with it too. And I’m not the same person I was before. That’s a fact.

                            James Behre 20:34

                            And most people that I, on the calendar, at the grocery store or fast food store are right away. I tell them if I have to, I’ve had a stroke. And it’s difficult for me to talk. I don’t say aphasia, because most of them don’t know what that is. So I leave that out.

                            James Behre 21:02

                            And people understand for the most part, that one of the stroke symptoms is having trouble talking, I’ve met a couple of people who didn’t care that I have this deficit, but for the most part, people understand it, because chances are, I’ll never see them again. And I move on. But what I like to tell them, if they have time is.

                            Intro 21:40

                            If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. How long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid?

                            Intro 21:55

                            In case I make matters worse, doctors will explain things. But, if you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask. If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery.

                            Intro 22:09

                            If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

                            Intro 22:23

                            These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, they’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery. Head to the website. Now recoveryafterstroke.com and download the guide. It’s free.

                            James Behre 22:42

                            I have trouble reading, and writing, and working with numbers drives me crazy. My attention span is all but zero which affects everything I do the concentration I require to stick with something wears me out also, I have to remind myself as I’m going to the kitchen, why I’m going there. And sometimes I don’t then I have to concentrate. And usually, I figure it out.

                            Bill 23:24

                            So you have a memory deficit as well?

                            James Behre 23:27

                            I call it concentration and the ability to concentrate on one thing is gone. I know I’m getting old. And old people have those bouts, where they have to think about why they’re in the room and from time to time. But this is something different. I’m not conflating the two of them.

                            James Behre 24:00

                            I think it’s because my attention span is so low that for example, people, like my daughter and my wife turned down the TV when I approached them. After all, I can’t stand loud noises of any kind. And if the TV is going at a normal volume, I can’t concentrate on what I’m doing.

                            Bill 24:34

                            Yeah, sounds like sensory overload kicks in as well. And that then derails your ability to speak your ability to focus on a task, your ability to get done, the things that you’re attempting to get done. Exactly.

                            James Behre 24:52

                            Sensory overload is a good way to talk about it. And it requires minimal sensory overload. It doesn’t take much at all. Now to get me off track, I wasn’t like that. Before the stroke. I was no multi-tasker, but I couldn’t do as they say, I could walk into gum at the same time and now, I can’t.

                            Bill 25:33

                            Fair enough. Yeah. Fair enough. How does it affect your psychology, your mental health, and your emotional health when you wake up one day, and you’re different in so many ways, and trying to navigate your life?

                            James Behre 25:48

                            Well, I watched your podcast this morning with Brooke Lang. For the first time, you struck on two topics that are the crux of the way I feel now, those topics are loss of identity. And you talk a bit about feeling stupid.

                            James Behre 26:19

                            I’m a person who questions everything I ever did as an adult, for fear of looking stupid, or the appearance of looking stupid. And now you can imagine how I feel because people aren’t cruel to me. They don’t tell me I’m stupid, but it’s me. I feel stupid talking this way.

                            Bill 26:53

                            Okay, so it’s not that you care what people think. Do you give a shit about what you think about yourself?

                            James Behre 27:03

                            Yes, I do. And when I open my mouth, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell me that I have a problem. You can tell immediately. You touched on something else with your talk with Brooke, the invisible deficits. I’ve got a bunch of those.

                            James Behre 27:33

                            And she said, in the podcast, she was referred to if I’m paraphrasing, of course. But she thought if I approached you with a no, this a bull limp, or my hand collects in a certain way before I spoke, you would be somewhat prepared for the way I speak.

                            James Behre 28:08

                            And I had that very thought a year ago. And it’s nice to know that Brooke Lang said what I was thinking, someone else that cut caliber proved me, right, because I can’t read right?

                            Communication challenges while living with aphasia

                            Bill 28:30

                            Well, you can, it’s just that you do it differently.

                            James Behre 28:34

                            It’s harder for me, too. When I first had a stroke, when I would attempt to read something, everything looked like a word salad to me. And I just couldn’t

                            Bill 28:51

                            It even looks different. It’s not only that your connections are different than the way that you make sentences and smooth things through. It’s also that it looks different than it did before. So is it you know, some people explained that they’ve had that condition all their lives. What’s a call did some were the words get jumbled is that what you’re experiencing?

                            James Behre 29:23

                            Sort of dyslexia. I’ve used that term before, but it’s not quite right. The words didn’t seem to go together. When I look at something, and I’ve gotten so I can read, but I read one word at a time and try to make the words connect their meanings I’m thinking, and I get lost because my concentration is so bad, I have to start over.

                            James Behre 30:11

                            I can’t even concentrate that long. I had, I went back to work with my job two weeks after the stroke. And I could barely speak, but I didn’t have to my job was sets that I didn’t have to talk to anybody. And if I did, I would call the office and tell them something was wrong with a particular house that had to be opened. And they understood.

                            James Behre 30:50

                            And sometimes when I had to do that, I drive to the office and just tell him or show them in some way, what was wrong. I found that I couldn’t count things, I couldn’t tell to a million in my head. But I couldn’t. If you gave me anything to count, I had trouble.

                            James Behre 31:19

                            And I got to where I used to count days, houses on my schedule, they give us a schedule every week. And I got so much money per house. I counted the houses every Monday when the schedule came out and knew very close to what I was going to make that week.

                            James Behre 31:48

                            And when I tried to do that, after the stroke, I couldn’t I learned to count in increments of five and make a mark five more and make a mark, and so on. And then I use a calculator to add up the fives. So I know how much I would make. It was embarrassing for me. Even by myself, it was embarrassing.

                            Bill 32:31

                            What do you think of that? What do you think? Embarrassment is interesting. But it’s embarrassing. I mean, because are you judging yourself? Why is it embarrassing?

                            James Behre 32:47

                            Because I have to do all these things that I could have done in a minute. Before it took me 10 minutes to figure it out. And it’s just embarrassing to me.

                            Bill 33:11

                            Yeah. Is it because the world is not set up to operate with people who are at a slower pace?

                            James Behre 33:25

                            No. I feel like I’m 33 rp in the record. The world’s going at 78. And I don’t know how to catch up. And I can see it in people’s eyes. The way they want to hurry me up with talking. Everybody’s in a hurry.

                            Bill 33:56

                            Were you in a hurry? In the old days?

                            James Behre 34:01

                            No, I didn’t talk fast. I know some people who talk fast. Some people that I didn’t necessarily like and I hope they get aphasia because that is one of the biggest problems. I can speak rather well. If I slow down.

                            James Behre 34:35

                            And I was taught that in speech therapy, there are problems with slowing down. First of all, you sound like a robot. When you do that, you can talk and make words more or less bold to others by slowing down your speech, and I forget to do that most of the time because I don’t like sounding that way. But okay, well, when I talk, faster rate, you know what happens.

                            Bill 35:25

                            It’s not about what you like, it’s about what’s more effective in helping you communicate James, there I’m going to tell you, I’m going to whack you over the hand and tell you. So I know that you’re frustrated. And I know that it’s challenging. And I know that people don’t understand.

                            Bill 35:45

                            And they never will, the only way they’ll understand is if they go through what you go through, and then it’s too late anyway, because, you know, it hasn’t solved your problem at the beginning of the conversation that you had with them.

                            Adjusting speech approach

                            Bill 35:59

                            So right now your conditions are different, you’ve got to navigate them differently, you’re in a boat. And when you set sail, it will smooth seas. But it’s not smooth seas that make the sailor, it’s the difficult conditions that make the sailor.

                            Bill 36:17

                            And that’s the whole point of the adjustment in your approach to life, you have to let go of the way they used to do things and find an alternative route, you see a highway, and it’s got, you know, four lanes one way and four lanes the other way.

                            Bill 36:35

                            And then there’s a massive tree in the middle of the four lanes, where you’re not going to try and drive over the tree, you’re gonna find a way around the shore, if you’re in the right car, you might get over the tree to an extent.

                            Bill 36:50

                            But now that you’re not in the right car, you’ve got to use the car that you have in the most appropriate way to get you to your destination, as efficiently and using as low fuel and as low energy as you possibly can. So that when you get to the other side, you still have some reserves, left in the tank to get back to where you started.

                            Bill 37:15

                            And I, I know, it’s easy for me to say all of this stuff to you because it’s I’m not in your shoes. But from the observer, you’re doing well. And I reckon you could do you could get better by being the tortoise instead of the hare.

                            Bill 37:35

                            And then once you are the tortoise for a little while, you’ll start to be able to increase your speed. And if you don’t become the hair, you’d be able to work towards speaking quicker. Not as quick as the people you disliked. But quicker than your current five-year post-stroke speech.

                            James Behre 37:59

                            Thank you for the kind words, I mean it because I have come a long way with very little help. Eight weeks of speech therapy. That’s it, looked on YouTube for videos about aphasia and educated myself from then on. That’s why I know a lot about the condition.

                            James Behre 38:37

                            I know about this artheria. Because I’ve been diagnosed with this arteria, that’s more prevalent than aphasia. But What you said makes a lot of sense. I can’t argue with that. But before the stroke, I was always from my emotions would take control. And my elastic would be second. And that’s the dilemma you placed me in currently.

                            Bill 39:31

                            I understand. So you wear your heart on your sleeve, and that gets in the way. You know, so the skill, the skill here is going to be that you need to get out of your way. Because what I noticed with a lot of stroke survivors is that most of them get in the way of their recovery.

                            Bill 39:54

                            Of course, they’re dealing with some serious issues, but the skill that they need to learn is how to get out of their way. With people who have aphasia, the third skill they need to learn is not how to talk, it’s how to be more conscious of the things that they do that get in the way of their recovery.

                            Bill 40:21

                            And then once you master yourself, the thing that you’re trying to overcome becomes a smaller obstacle to overcome. And you also start to deal with it better, you start to deal with the fact that you have the condition better, because when you’re going fast, your vocal cords operate at a different frequency, you’re your lungs, your chest expands differently, your brain works differently, your blood flow changes your oxygenation changes.

                            Bill 40:58

                            So if you’re working at a rate that is far more rapid, well, then that energy drain is taken up by things that you don’t want to be stimulating. While you’re talking, what you want to be doing while you’re talking is just allowing all the energy resources to go to the vocal cords to get the words out, and to make the connection from the brain to the mouth.

                            Bill 41:25

                            And it just seems like a lot of people recovering from a stroke, and particularly aphasia use a lot of their energy in other areas, and if they learned to disengage those areas, they would have more resources available to put towards the talking tortoise and hare. And anyhow, because you’re an older guy, when you talk slowly, you sound wise.

                            James Behre 41:52

                            I’ve been told that I can verify what you just said. When I get upset, or mad, I can barely say a word I think it might as well be, that I have to come down if I can. For instance, we had an example before the video, and I was so scared that I would do something wrong. In the podcast. I didn’t know how to set it up. I’m I’m when it comes to technical stuff. I’m nowhere.

                            James Behre 42:48

                            And that’s why my daughter helped me. But I could see it welling up in me. And I tried to control it because I was going to be with you eventually. And that proves what you just said when I get excited mad or upset. I can’t find any words.

                            James Behre 43:19

                            And when I’m talking to you at a slower pace, it comes easier. And so what you said about me being a tortoise makes complete sense except when I want to be the hare.

                            Bill 43:41

                            You can be the hare sometimes as well, there’s no problem. You can be the hare you know 10% of the time, and that’s okay. You are the tortoise 90% of the time you’ll get more results. And then when you want to be the hare be the hare.

                            Aphasia and stroke survival

                            James Behre 44:01

                            I did some homework before I started this podcast. I watch a view of your videos. You’re calm and patient demeanor sold me that I wanted to be a guest. If you were talking fast and as a car salesman, I wouldn’t be here.

                            James Behre 44:32

                            But I didn’t expect it. I expected you to be patient and well-informed the way you are and I thank you for that. I don’t get to talk this long about aphasia in my condition with anybody.

                            Bill 44:57

                            I don’t normally record our long episodes with somebody who’s had aphasia because A, they can’t get their B, it doesn’t usually make good listening, like we just spoke about people on the other side, don’t get excited to listen to a one-hour conversation, they’re impatient or whatever, I understand that not everybody has got a lot of time.

                            Bill 45:22

                            But this podcast is exactly that. It’s I’ve got time, we have an hour and when the hour is up, we will wrap it up. But until then, this is your platform. It’s about you. And the people listening, and it’s less about me, I’m just the vessel to allow this type of information out, you understand?

                            Bill 45:44

                            So I, I’ve interviewed now, I think you know, you’re well in the 270, range of podcast episodes. So it’s not unfamiliar to me, I’m completely familiar with it. But how many people come across 270 stroke survivors? None.

                            James Behre 46:04

                            That’s what, my intent for doing this would be for others who have aphasia. And I understand it affects everybody differently. But if I can get them to say, oh, yeah, I felt that way. At times, and I, I can relate, then I’ve done my job as a helper because this condition sucks. Well, for lack of a better term, I’m still learning new things. Almost every day I didn’t know I was affected by this condition.

                            Bill 47:16

                            And yet, you still decided, after all of these challenges and issues, you still decided you’re going to put a book together?

                            James Behre 47:24

                            Yes. Like I said, I think my life has been interesting before aphasia, and now that aphasia has happened, it’s more interesting. And I put that together in the section called notes from the author, where I say, I planned on retirement, telling my story to grandchildren or whoever wants to know, but now I can’t. And the book does that. Yeah. It’s a perfect excuse if you want to call it that, for writing the book.

                            Bill 48:18

                            Yeah. Well, we are at that time where we have to wrap up this interview, I do appreciate you reaching out and sharing part of your story. And, unfortunately, you cannot participate the way that you prefer. But still, I want to emphasize that participation. And the way that you go about it, you’ve gone about it so far, is amazing.

                            Bill 48:52

                            You’re doing a fabulous job. And you’re being an example, of how to keep going, Despite the setbacks that we faced, and to do something like coming onto a podcast, where speech is the main tool for getting the message across.

                            Bill 49:18

                            And the decision to do that I think is fabulous. It’s great because it just goes to show that even though you’re dealing with all the things that you’re dealing with, and it sucks and you dislike it and you get frustrated, and you get all those things, you’re still looking for solutions. You’re still looking to help other people, and you’re still practicing your speech.

                            James Behre 49:48

                            Thank you for saying that. It’s true. That’s all I can say.

                            Bill 49:57

                            Well, thanks for joining us on today’s episode remember, grab your copy of the book, go to Amazon type in my name Bill Gasiamis, or the unexpected way the district became the best thing that happened. And get your copy today. If you’re an Ozzy click the Ozzy link, and you’ll even be able to get your copy signed.

                            Bill 50:22

                            As always, to learn more about my guests, including links to their social media and other pages. To download a full transcript of the entire interview, please go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes. Thank you to everyone who has already left a review for the podcast on iTunes and Spotify, it means a lot, it makes a massive difference to people who are looking for this type of information.

                            Bill 50:48

                            And remember what it was like when you found the podcast and what a difference it made in your recovery. And that is why I’m asking for reviews. Because the more reviews we leave, the easier it is for other stroke survivors to find this content.

                            Bill 51:02

                            And that’s one little thing you can do to make life easier for somebody else. If you haven’t left a review would like to all you have to do is just go to iTunes and Spotify, leave a five-star review, and a few words about what the show means to you.

                            Bill 51:16

                            Now, if you’re watching on YouTube, comment below the video like the episode, and to get notifications of future episodes, subscribe to the show, and hit the notifications bell. Now, if you are a stroke survivor with a story to share, and you want to join me on the podcast come and do so. The interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them.

                            Bill 51:39

                            All you need to do to qualify is be a stroke survivor who wants to share your story in the hopes that it’ll make somebody’s life a little easier. If you are a researcher who wants to share the findings of a recent study or you are looking to recruit people into studies, you may also wish to reach out and be a guest on my show.

                            Bill 51:58

                            If you have a commercial product that you would like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors to recover there is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show. If you go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact Fill out the form explaining which category you belong to. And I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom.

                            Bill 52:23

                            Thank you so much for being here. Thank you to all the people who have supported the podcast so far. Thank you. For everyone who’s left the review thank you to the people who’s purchased a copy of the book. I truly appreciate you see you on the next episode.

                            Intro 52:36

                            Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.

                            Intro 52:53

                            All content on this website at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled by this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis, the content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing.

                            Intro 53:10

                            It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives.

                            Intro 53:22

                            Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional. Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content.

                            Intro 53:38

                            If you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be called triple zero in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department medical information changes constantly.

                            Intro 53:58

                            While we aim to provide current quality information and our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

                            The post Losing Your Identity To Aphasia | James Behre appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

                            55 min
                          • Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Improves Stroke Deficits
                            Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding and Benefits

                            Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment that involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber. This therapy has gained popularity due to its diverse applications and promising results across various health conditions.

                            What is HBOT?

                            Initially introduced in the mid-20th century, HBOT involves patients inhaling 100% oxygen in a chamber where the atmospheric pressure is increased. This process allows the lungs to gather more oxygen than usual and significantly increases the oxygen levels in the blood, thereby promoting healing and regeneration.

                            Mechanism of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

                            HBOT works by increasing the amount of oxygen dissolved in the body’s tissues. Under increased atmospheric pressure, oxygen becomes more soluble in the bloodstream, facilitating its delivery to organs and tissues, even to those with compromised circulation. This heightened oxygen concentration stimulates the release of growth factors and stem cells, accelerating the healing process.

                            Conditions Treated with HBOT

                            The therapy has proven effective in treating various conditions such as decompression sickness, non-healing wounds, carbon monoxide poisoning, radiation injuries, and certain infections. Its efficacy in these diverse conditions stems from its ability to promote tissue repair and reduce inflammation.

                            Procedure and Sessions of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

                            HBOT sessions typically last from 60 to 90 minutes, with patients comfortably resting inside the pressurized chamber. The number of sessions varies based on the condition being treated and its severity, often ranging from a few to several sessions over weeks or months.

                            Benefits and Risks of HBOT

                            The therapy offers numerous benefits, including improved wound healing, reduced swelling, and enhanced recovery from injuries. However, there are some risks associated with HBOT, such as ear injuries, sinus discomfort, and rarely, oxygen toxicity, which are usually mild and transient.

                            HBOT in Sports and Rehabilitation

                            Athletes have increasingly adopted HBOT to expedite recovery from injuries and enhance performance. Additionally, it has been utilized in rehabilitation programs, aiding patients in regaining functionality after various medical interventions.

                            Research and Advancements in HBOT

                            Ongoing research continues to explore the potential of HBOT in various medical conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases, autism, and chronic conditions, with promising results. Advancements in technology have also led to innovations in the design of hyperbaric chambers, improving patient comfort and efficiency.

                            Cost and Accessibility of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

                            The cost of HBOT sessions can vary based on location, facility, and the condition being treated. While accessibility has improved over the years, availability might still be limited in certain regions due to the requirement of specialized equipment and trained personnel.

                            Myths and Misconceptions about HBOT

                            Despite its proven efficacy, there are misconceptions surrounding HBOT, such as it being a cure-all or unsafe. Addressing these myths is crucial to help individuals make informed decisions about the therapy.

                            Patient Experiences and Testimonials

                            Real-life stories from individuals who have undergone HBOT emphasize its positive impact on their health and quality of life. These testimonials serve as a testament to the therapy’s effectiveness.

                            Comparing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy with Other Treatments

                            While HBOT offers numerous benefits, it’s essential to compare it with alternative treatments to understand its advantages and limitations fully.

                            Conclusion

                            In conclusion, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy stands as a promising treatment option across various medical conditions, offering a non-invasive approach to enhance healing and recovery. Its continued research and advancements position it as a valuable component in modern healthcare.

                            FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
                            • Is HBOT painful or uncomfortable?
                            • HBOT sessions are generally painless and comfortable, with most individuals experiencing minimal to no discomfort.
                            • Can anyone undergo HBOT?
                            • While generally safe, certain medical conditions or medications may contraindicate HBOT. Consultation with a healthcare professional is essential.
                            • How many sessions of HBOT are typically needed?
                            • The number of sessions varies based on the condition being treated, and a healthcare provider will determine the appropriate treatment plan.
                            • Are there any side effects of HBOT?
                            • Mild side effects like ear popping or temporary vision changes may occur but are usually transient and resolve quickly after the session.
                            • Is HBOT covered by insurance?
                            • In some cases, insurance might cover HBOT, especially when it’s prescribed for certain approved medical conditions. However, coverage can vary, and it’s best to check with your insurance provider.
                            The Interview

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny joins the podcast to share the positive results of a stroke patient after hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

                            Learn More About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)

                            Dr. Shai Efrati on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: A Game-Changer for Stroke Recovery
                            Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy With Dr. Amir Hadanny
                            Bud Beucher: From Silent Survivor to Speaking His Truth Again

                            Highlights:

                            01:14 About Bill’s Book
                            03:01 Hyperbaric oxygen therapy with functional MRI
                            09:24 Brain function and stroke recovery using fMRI
                            16:53 Neuroplasticity and Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
                            22:41 Stroke recovery with Dr. Amir Hadanny

                            Transcript:

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 0:00
                            More interestingly we see that on the right side the so-called healthy side, we saw some mild activation. But after the treatment we see much higher activation, meaning the right hemisphere, the nonaffected hemisphere is being activated when the weak hand is requested to be activated.

                            Bill 0:26
                            One second, that’s neuroplasticity happening right there. Right?

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 0:32
                            Exactly this is neuroplasticity right in front of your eyes. So we’re talking about both the injured hemisphere and the noninjured hemisphere. And the reason why we get the other side being affected is the lower image you’re able to see here is the connectivity there is a connection between the injured side and the non-injured side.

                            Intro 1:00
                            This is the recovery after stroke podcast with Bill Gasiamis helping you navigate recovery after a stroke.

                            About Bill’s Book


                            Bill 1:14
                            Hello, everyone, it is with great excitement that I share that my book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened is now live and available for sale on Amazon. The links for where to purchase the book will be available in the show notes and the YouTube description. Also, if you go to your local Amazon and type in my name Bill Gasiamis which if that’s too hard, you can also type in Stroke The Best Thing you will see the listing for both the Kindle and the paperback.

                            Bill 1:46
                            Thanks so much to everyone who has supported me on this journey and has already purchased a copy. I am very keen to hear your feedback. Now in episode 280, my guest is Dr. Amir Hadanny, who previously joined me on episode 250 titled Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, where we discussed the benefits of clinically supervised high-dose hyperbaric oxygen therapy for stroke survivors, even after they had been told that they had reached the plateau and would most likely not recover much more.

                            Bill 2:25
                            In today’s episode, we discuss the results of a case study of a 61-year-old male who had a left frontal stroke that caused deficits to the right side, impacting the use of his right hand and the outcome after 60 oxygen therapy sessions, also known as dives. In this episode, Dr. Hadanny takes us through some slides, so if you’d like to see them, you may prefer to watch the interview on YouTube.

                            Bill 2:56
                            Dr. Amir. Hadanny, welcome back to the podcast.

                            Hyperbaric oxygen therapy with functional MRI

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 3:01
                            Thank you so much for having me again. Real pleasure.

                            Bill 3:04
                            Thank you for being here. I appreciate it again, we had you on a little while ago on episode 250. And we discussed for the first time, hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We spoke about a few things that your organization and your team have found out there is a way to discover Penumbra is areas of the brain that can be rehabilitated many, many years after the initial 12 to 24 months after stroke.

                            Bill 3:43
                            And that you guys have had with oxygen, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, some amazing results in helping stroke survivors improve the deficits and get better in places where they perhaps didn’t think that there was any improvement to be had. At that time, we spoke about what hyperbaric oxygen therapy was and the risks of too much oxygen we spoke about that it’s not necessarily something that can be applied to everybody.

                            Bill 4:21
                            Everybody not everybody who comes in for evaluation is a suitable candidate, they may not have the numbers that can be rehabilitated. And the episode I’ve got to say did get quite an interesting response because there are people who are getting hyperbaric oxygen tanks and putting them into their homes and doing their therapy without any real idea. Monitoring guidance or support by anyone from the medical field.

                            Bill 5:04
                            So it was a very interesting episode. for that. Here, we’ve got one extreme person, I had a couple of episodes before you on the podcast, who were doing it completely on their own without medical support. And then we’ve got the complete opposite on the other end of the spectrum with hundreds of 1000s of dollars being spent on this, perhaps even more than that. And then how clinics, research studies, and proper evidence-based methods.

                            Bill 5:42
                            So what I like about it is that our conversation created the possibility for maybe, maybe other organizations to take on this type of effort so that the science can improve beyond what only, I mean, how Danny and the team are doing. But I love that you’re playing in the game. And recently, I was contacted, because there’s been some updates that we need to share with the audience. Give me a bit of an update as to what you guys have been up to in the last few months.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 6:27
                            For sure so just to cap on what you just said. So yes, definitely, we talked about the different ways you can apply hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and what I consider hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and what you know, some people called mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or mild oxygen. We talked about the issues with safety and efficacy. But, I think there’s a right way to do it, there’s a research backup way to do it.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 7:00
                            And by all means, I’m opening my arms and hands reaching out, to do more research to prove it much further and further along. We’re just one group that’s leading it, but definitely, people who want to collaborate with us and do more research about it. It’s what the world needs, what the science community needs, and we welcome it.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 7:36
                            Building on that, we did a nice methods exploration, that I want to report to you guys, on a patient on a stroke patient that we wanted to see what we’re able to achieve with hyperbaric oxygen therapy but measure it on a different way than what we did so far. And the way we did it is with functional MRI. What is functional MRI, I’m sure that most of the viewers know that an MRI or Magnetic resonance imaging machine is that huge donut that you go in, very similar to a CT scan, but makes those weird noises for 30 or 40 minutes.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 8:27
                            And what you get is great high-resolution images of your brain. But you’re able to build on it by doing a task, meaning I’m asking the patient who’s lying in there to do something, sometimes they watch a screen and do something cognitive. But in this case, he was watching a screen and we gave him buttons. So he’s able to click with his hands on buttons on each hand. And he’s supposed to react to what is being told on the screen, click on it now click on it. And he has to do it as fast as possible.

                            Brain Function and Stroke Recovery Using fMRI


                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 9:15
                            With his hands, what we’re able to do with this technique, one, we’re able to see how quick is meaning the response time. But more interesting, we can see what regions of the brain are being activated and the network that’s processing this activity. And that brings a whole new aspect of research of what you’re able to determine from that. So that’s what we did.

                            Bill 9:46
                            So let’s break it down for a second. So you’ve got a patient they have qualified for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Firstly, they are a stroke survivor. Yep. And the patient goes into The tube. Normally, when we go into the tube of the MRI, we’re not meant to do anything because if we move, we interfere with the signal or the image. And then it has to start again. This particular version of functional MRI is specifically designed to see somebody who is doing an activity so that we can see the before and after.

                            Bill 10:27
                            So how their brain looks before the activity begins. And then what happens after the activity begins? So we can see which part of the brain is being used or, or firing, to enable not firing or not firing, so that we’re trying to understand the before and after here.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 10:49
                            Correct exactly that it’s literally to understand brain function. So not brain anatomy, but function. It’s another tool to access it and a pretty amazing tool. I want to show you so to answer your first question, we’re going to share my screen and hope.

                            Intro 11:13
                            If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind, like how long will it take to recover? Will I recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, doctors will explain things. But, if you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask.

                            Intro 11:37
                            If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recoveryafterstroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called Seven Questions to Ask Your Doctor about your Stroke.

                            Intro 11:56
                            These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, they’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery, head to the website. Now, recoverafterstroke.com and download the guide. It’s free.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 12:16
                            So this is the patient. In our case report that we have published in the scientific literature. This is a 61-year-old male who suffered a left frontal throat, meaning this part of the brain, the left side, about two years, so 24 months before that he was he came to us for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And what you see here on the right side is you see the destruction or the injury from the stroke, you see all that area that was significantly injured by that left frontal stroke. And so that’s, that’s how we start.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 13:04
                            That’s the anatomy. And that’s what MRI gives us on the anatomy, those things that we describe here is we talk about where’s the motor cortex, where’s the supplementary motor areas in our brain that are participating in motor function in on those areas, what you see on the on those arrows, stroke was there. But we still don’t have destruction. So the anatomy is still not destroyed.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 13:41
                            That’s why when we talked about it on the first episode we did together, it’s important to understand who is eligible and who’s not if we have enough to work on that number that you mentioned. So this is what we’re describing here on the left side on the anatomic side. Then, this is what we’re doing. So again, this is a patient that 61 years a 61-year-old person stroke survivor who was treated with 60 sessions and 60 daily sessions.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 14:21
                            What we see here on the left side is the functional MRI test at baseline, again two years after the stroke when he just started before his first session, and on the right side, we see the brain activation three weeks from when he finished his 60s Diving sessions. What we’re able to see here is it’s pretty convenient to see that with those colors you see exactly which part of his brain is activated, when he’s asked to press the button with the weekend, we have a weekend because of hemiparesis from the stroke.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 15:18
                            And, please don’t, and maybe for the more sophisticated viewers, here, it seems like the stroke is on the right side, it’s still the left side, it’s just conventions of how fMRI is being shown compared to anatomical MRI, it’s still left frontal, so the right hand was weak. And here’s what we can see at baseline. So basically, no activation at all, in the areas of the motor cortex and the supplementary motor areas on the left hemisphere.

                            Neuroplasticity and Hyperbaric oxygen therapy


                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 15:59
                            And then you see here, those red areas here are exactly that, though, that’s the motor cortex and supplementary motor areas that have been have awoken, meaning we awoke the penumbra, we can get activations in these areas that did not function before. More interestingly, we see that on the right side, the so-called healthy side, we saw some mild activation. But after the treatment, we see much higher activation, meaning the right hemisphere, the nonaffected hemisphere is being activated when the weak hand is requested to be activated.

                            Bill 16:51
                            One second, one second. That’s Neuroplasticity. happening right there. Right?

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 16:59
                            Exactly, this is Neuroplasticity right in front of your eyes. So we’re talking about both the injured and the noninjured hemispheres. The reason why we get the other side being affected is the lower image, what you’re able to see here is the connectivity, there is a connection between the injured side and the noninjured side, right hemispheres are connected.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 17:32
                            So what we’re able to see here is better connectivity between the two hemispheres. And that’s why you’re getting this that’s why you’re getting the higher activation on the non-insured side. So exactly like you said, Neuroplasticity at its best using functional MRI. This correlated with significant improvement of this patient clinically, his weakness has become much stronger as Dougal Meyer went through the roof, sugar Meyer is clinical score, and physical therapists are measuring hand movement after stroke.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 18:14
                            So significant improvement there, which translated to actual quality of life and daily life activities he was unable to do before. So, this is an incredible case report I wanted to share with you.

                            Bill 18:30
                            That is fantastic to see. And, you know, you imagine Neuroplasticity, and people tell you about Neuroplasticity, but it’s this enigma, you can’t see it happening unless there’s an exterior outcome. And if the outcome isn’t dramatic, what people don’t recognize and perhaps don’t give the credit where credit is true. But that’s irrefutable evidence of Neuroplasticity and other parts of the brain.

                            Bill 19:01
                            What I call may not be the right word rewiring and recruiting a different part of the brain to support function in an area that was lost in another part of the brain, even though the other, the damaged part is still recovering and being supported by those new the new life that it’s getting through the oxygen therapy where we’ve recruited another part of the brain to get this outcome. It’s amazing.

                            Bill 19:34
                            It’s what we get told I got told when I went into rehab about Neuroplasticity, but nobody could show me what it looked like I just was kind of lucky that I had read up on it and knew a little bit about it, and knew that I could activate that on my own through visualization and meditation and being more conscious The aware of my the way that I needed to walk after brain surgery when I wasn’t able to walk.

                            Bill 20:09
                            But that’s kind of the missing piece of the puzzle for me. That’s the part that this is what it is, this is the theory behind it. Let me tell you all about it. But now let me show you want Neuroplasticity looks like. So this patient? What’s the next step for that patient? How do they then continue the recovery phase, what happens after they get this outcome at a Viva Aviv clinic?

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 20:39
                            Perfect. So obviously, the road has resurfaced once again. Because this person has been through two years of OT and PT. So we know it’s all about them. But the moment he got to us, you know, that’s, that’s the new baseline. That’s where we are picking it off. And when we can generate Neuroplasticity, we want to capitalize on that, right?

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 21:06
                            So now, we’re pushing him through much, much bigger challenges through more PT and more or to use the new abilities to stimulate more and more new parts of his brain that can generate new functions. So he’s working every day on PT and OT and getting stronger and stronger. Because as you know, you have to get your muscles back, and you need to regenerate those fine movements. Much, much better. So he’s on a new road now. Too much, much better daily life.

                            Bill 21:48
                            After 60, 60 dives did you do? Yeah. After 60 Dive, is there a need to do more dives? Would it be more beneficial to continue? I imagine, like a Formula One car at some point, you know, you can spend X amount of time to get the little result and it’s what the insurance companies use as supposedly the excuse that you’ve reached the plateau. So you know, we’ve read he reached the plateau, or this patient reached the plateau, then then the plateau was smashed, and additional recovery was verified, then he’s back into rehab, then is it possible or necessary to continue doing dives?

                            Stroke recovery with Dr. Amir Hadanny

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 22:41
                            That’s a great question. I can tell you, we don’t know. But the issue is, whatever we gained to gain, those networks that we saw are going to be there, the activations that we saw are going to be there, they’re not going to be lost from not using them or anything. He has built, the rewiring, you mentioned. And that’s not going to go away. The real question is if we wait a while and then do more, another program? Will we gain more?

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 23:13
                            That’s a great question. And this is still something that we’re investigating. The real approach to it is, again, to evaluate to see do we have more Penumbra to work on. Do we think there is more of a number that can react to another one or not? And that’s a great question. Usually most of the improvement and Neuroplasticity, we get on the first program.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 23:41
                            But Are there cases that can benefit from a second or third one? Yes, there are. But we still don’t have enough to predict which one they are. And we do them on a case-by-case evaluation again, probably he’ll be back to us within a year. We’re going to do the assessment again. Rethink it, do the functional MRI again, and see if we have more to work on or not. Yeah.

                            Bill 24:11
                            And who handles the occupational therapy and the physical therapy? Is that done by somebody that you that the clinic collaborates with? Or is it done on his own? Own therapists.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 24:26
                            So usually when they’re with us during the SR session. It’s all by us. So we have our own PT and our own OT. To be available to them daily hammer it as much as possible, and guide them to do everything. But you know, once they’re out and go back to their daily lives, in most cases, they do not use our guys and go to their own but we They are guidelines and what we want them to do with our recommendation exactly what do they do?

                            Bill 25:06
                            Okay, so I understand it’s easier to control the well, it’s not a study, but it’s easier to control the whole process if the therapists are in-house, so to speak, and then they are understanding of what you guys are trying to demonstrate in the study, and how, how to rehabilitate that particular person so that you can then report on, on that in the parameters of how you guys like to get information and deliver information on that.

                            Bill 25:47
                            Well, that is fascinating, just as fascinating as it was, when we first spoke in Episode 250. We’ve discussed the next thing that you guys overcame, or dis or found or supported somebody to achieve with oxygen therapy. There are several clinics where you guys have worked, where are you located?

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 26:17
                            We have a couple of clinics. I’m personally at the INR clinic in Central Florida. In the States, we have another one in Asia in Dubai. And our third one is in Israel. And that’s where we do most of our clinical research as well. So right now, though, three clinics are our main ones.

                            Bill 26:39
                            Everybody who’s listening, this is an episode that would be awesome. If you happen to go to YouTube and watch it, the links will all be in the show notes go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes. You can find out more about the clinic there. I’ll link back to the clinic and also to the YouTube video. And you just need to see those images because a picture tells 1000 words. And it’s really exciting.

                            Bill 27:07
                            I get so excited when I see things like that, that I would encourage everybody who’s listening, instead of watching on YouTube to go and have a look. Dr. Amir Hadanny, thank you again for joining us on the podcast.

                            Dr. Amir Hadanny 27:21
                            Thank you, Bill. Thank you for having me. Appreciate.

                            Bill 27:25
                            Thanks again for joining us on today’s episode. Remember, go to Amazon and type in Bill Gasiamis or stroke the best thing to grab a copy of my book which is available now. You can get it on paper in paperback or you can get it on Kindle. Now if you’re a stroke survivor with a story to share about your stroke experience, come and join me on the show.

                            Bill 27:49
                            The interviews are not scripted, you do not have to plan for them. All you need to do to qualify is be a stroke survivor or care for someone who is a stroke survivor. If you are a researcher who wants to share the findings like Dr. Amir of a recent study, you are looking to recruit people into studies You may also wish to reach out and be a guest on my show. If you have a commercial product that you’d like to promote that is related to supporting stroke survivors. To recover there is also a path for you to join me on a sponsored episode of the show.

                            Bill 28:24
                            Go to recoveryafterstroke.com/contact and fill out the form explaining briefly which category you belong to. And I will respond with more details about how we can connect via Zoom. Now to all the people who have left a review, thank you so so much it means the world to me.

                            Bill 28:43
                            It means that this podcast episode is found easier by more stroke survivors. And what that means is that that helps them on the recovery just like this podcast has helped you on your recovery and made a difference in your life and made you feel like you were less alone or that somebody else out there at least understood what you were going through.

                            Bill 29:09
                            That’s what it’s doing for other people who desperately need more information about their stroke recovery journey. So if you’d like to leave a review, but haven’t yet, just go to iTunes or Spotify, and leave a five-star review and a few words about what the show means to you. If you’re watching on YouTube, leave a comment below the video I love receiving them. And I will always respond. And like the episode share the episode, hit the notifications bell.

                            Bill 29:41
                            And as always, to learn more about my guests including links to this social media. And to get a full transcript of the entire interview please go to recoveryafterstroke.com/episodes. Thank you once again for listening, being here, and supporting me, I appreciate seeing you on the next episode.

                            Intro 29:59
                            Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals’ opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast or the individual’s own experience and we do not necessarily share the same opinion nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed all content on this website. at any linked blog, podcast, or video material controlled this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.

                            Intro 30:33
                            The content is intended to complement your medical treatment and support healing. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. The information is general and may not be suitable for your personal injuries, circumstances, or health objectives. Do not use our content as a standalone resource to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for the advice of a health professional.

                            Intro 30:58
                            Never delay seeking advice or disregard the advice of a medical professional, your doctor, or your rehabilitation program based on our content. If you have any questions or concerns about your health or medical condition, please seek guidance from a doctor or other medical professional if you are experiencing a health emergency or think you might be, call 000 if in Australia or your local emergency number immediately for emergency assistance or go to the nearest hospital emergency department medical information changes constantly.

                            Intro 31:25
                            While we aim to provide current quality information in our content. We did not provide any guarantees and assume no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the content. If you choose to rely on any information within our content, you do so solely at your own risk. We are careful with the links we provide however third-party links from our website are followed at your own risk and we are not responsible for any information you find there.

                            The post Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Improves Stroke Deficits appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

                            32 min

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