Podcasts about hemorrhagic stroke

In this standout episode of Next Steps 4 Seniors: Conversations on Aging, we’re bringing back an audience favorite: our eye-opening interview with Nurse Practitioner Liz Jackson from Henry Ford Hospital. Liz breaks down the B.E.F.A.S.T. method for spotting stroke symptoms early, dives into the different types of strokes, and explains why timing is everything when it comes to treatment. We also tackle the red flags of heart attacks, the sneaky signs of vascular disease (yes, even leg cramping!), and how managing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes can be game-changers. Early detection = lives saved. This episode is packed with info that could protect you or someone you love. Every week brings two ways to grow: Tuesdays dive into the physical next steps with real-life guidance for seniors and families, and Fridays uplift the heart with spiritual and emotional next steps—encouragement, faith, and hope for the journey ahead. To learn more about Next Steps 4 Seniors, contact us at 248-651-5010 or visit us online at www.nextsteps4seniors.com Find us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@nextsteps4seniorsLearn more : https://omny.fm/shows/next-steps-4-seniors-with-wendy-jonesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stroke Effects: What a Hemorrhagic Stroke Did to Jake Stroke effects aren't always obvious. Some show up immediately. Others arrive quietly, long after the hospital discharge papers are signed. For Jake, the stroke effects didn't end when his life was saved; they began there. Four months after a hemorrhagic stroke, Jake can walk, talk, think clearly, and hold a conversation that's thoughtful, articulate, and reflective. To someone passing him in the street, he might look “lucky.” But stroke effects don't ask for permission to be visible. They live beneath the surface, shaping movement, sensation, pain, identity, and recovery in ways few people prepare you for. This is what stroke did to Jake. The Stroke Effects That Came Without Warning Before his stroke, Jake's life was full and demanding. A husband. A father of four. An administrator coordinating drivers and operations. Active. Fit. Always moving toward the next opportunity. But in hindsight, the stroke effects were quietly signaling their arrival. Jake experienced severe headaches with a rapid onset. Nausea. Vomiting. Visual disturbances. At the time, they were dismissed as migraines. His blood pressure had been flagged as “pre-high” years earlier while living overseas, but after returning to Canada, he found himself without a regular doctor in an overloaded medical system. These were early stroke effects masquerading as manageable inconveniences. When the hemorrhagic stroke finally hit, it did so decisively, affecting the right side of his body, disrupting speech, movement, sensation, and cognition all at once. What Stroke Did to His Body One of the most misunderstood stroke effects is how specific and strange the deficits can be. Jake didn't just “lose strength.” He lost motor planning. When he tried to write the letter T, his brain sent the wrong instruction. Instead of a straight downward line, his hand looped as if writing an L. The muscles worked. The intention was there. The signal was wrong. To retrain that connection, he didn't practice ten times. He practiced thousands. This is one of the realities of stroke effects: recovery isn't about effort alone, it's about repetition at a scale most rehab programs don't explain clearly enough. Post-Stroke Pain: The Stroke Effect No One Warns You About If there's one stroke effect that dominates Jake's day-to-day experience, it's pain. Not soreness. Not discomfort. Neuropathic pain. Jake describes it as: Burning sensations Tingling Tightness, like plastic strapping wrapped around his limbs At its worst, a “12 out of 10” pain, like being tased while his hand is on fire This kind of post-stroke pain often resets overnight. One morning, he wakes up and feels almost normal. The next, the pain returns without warning, severe enough to stop him in his tracks. This is a stroke effect that confuses survivors and clinicians alike because it doesn't follow logic, effort, or consistency. It simply exists. And for many survivors, it's one of the hardest stroke effects to live with. The Non-Linear Reality of Stroke Effects Stroke recovery doesn't move forward in a straight line. Jake learned this quickly. One week brings noticeable gains. The next feels like a regression. Then progress returns quietly, unexpectedly. This non-linear pattern is itself a stroke effect. Early on, these fluctuations feel frightening. Survivors worry they're “going backwards.” But over time, patterns emerge. Rest days aren't failures. They're part of recovery. Silent healing days matter just as much as active ones. Understanding this changed how Jake viewed his recovery and how he measured progress. Identity Loss: An Overlooked Stroke Effect Some stroke effects don't show up on scans. Jake wasn't defined by his job, but work still mattered. Structure mattered. Contribution mattered. After the stroke, uncertainty crept in. Would he return to the same role? Could he handle the same responsibility? Should he? Stroke effects often force people to renegotiate identity, not because they want to, but because they must. The question shifts from “What do I do?” to “Who am I now?” For many survivors, this is one of the most emotionally demanding stroke effects of all. Recovery Begins With Action, Not Permission While hospitalized, Jake made a decision. He wouldn't wait passively. He brought in notebooks. Pencils. Hand grippers. Hair clippers. He practiced shaving, writing, and gripping, no matter how long it took. If writing the alphabet took all day, that was the day's work. By discharge, his writing had moved from scribbles to cursive. This wasn't luck. It was intentional engagement with stroke effects, meeting them head-on instead of avoiding them. What Stroke Effects Teach Us Jake's experience reveals something important: Stroke effects are not just medical outcomes. They are lived realities. They affect: How your body moves How pain shows up How progress feels How identity shifts How hope is tested And yet, understanding stroke effects, naming them, and normalizing them can reduce fear and isolation. That's why conversations like this matter. You're Not Alone With These Stroke Effects If you're early in recovery, you might recognize yourself in Jake's story. If you're years in, you might recognize where you've been. Either way, stroke effects don't mean the end of progress. They mean the beginning of a different kind of journey, one that rewards patience, repetition, and perspective. If you want to go deeper into recovery insights, lived experience, and hope-driven guidance: Learn more about the book here: The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened Support the podcast and community here: Recovery After Stroke Patreon Final Thought Stroke effects don't define who you are, but they do shape how you recover. Jake's story reminds us that recovery isn't about returning to who you were. It's about learning how to live fully with what remains and discovering what's still possible. Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Living With Stroke Effects You Can't Always See Jake reveals the stroke effects that remained after the hospital—pain, motor issues, fatigue, and how he's navigating recovery four months on. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Background 05:10 Health Awareness and Signs 16:56 Personal Health Journey and Challenges 23:11 Recovery Process and Emotional Impact 38:28 Attitude Towards Recovery 46:30 Long-Term Recovery and Reflection 55:06 Work and Identity Post-Stroke 01:07:40 Pain Management and Coping Strategies 01:16:16 Community and Shared Experiences Transcript: Introduction and Background Bill Gasiamis (00:00) Today’s episode is one that really stayed with me long after we finished recording. You’re going to meet Jake, a stroke survivor who is very early in recovery and navigating the reality of what stroke actually does to a person long after the emergency has What makes this conversation so powerful isn’t just the hemorrhagic stroke Jake experienced. It’s how openly he talks about the stroke effects that followed. The pain, the confusion. the nonlinear recovery and the parts of stroke that are hard to explain unless you’ve lived them. I won’t give away Jake’s story that’s his to tell, but I will say this. If you’re early in recovery or you’re trying to make sense of symptoms that don’t quite fit the brochures or discharge notes, there’s a good chance you’ll hear something in Jake’s experience that feels confronting and reassuring at the same time. Now, before we get into the conversation, want to pause for a moment and say this, everything you hear, the interviews, the hosting, the editing exists because listeners like you help keep this podcast going. When you visit patreon.com slash recovery after stroke, you’re supporting my goal of recording a thousand episodes. So no stroke survivor has to ever feel like they’re navigating this if you’re looking for something you can lean on throughout your recovery or while supporting someone you love my book, the unexpected way that a stroke became the best thing that happened is available at recovery after stroke.com slash book. It’s the resource I wished I’d had when I was confused, overwhelmed and trying to understand what stroke had done to my life. all right. Now let’s get into the conversation with Jake. Bill (01:40) Jake Bordeaux, welcome to the podcast. Jake (01:42) Hi Bill, how are you this evening? Bill (01:44) I’m very well my friend. It is morning here. Just gone past 9am. We had a late night last night. We went to the opera and we saw Carmen. Jake (01:57) Hmm. How’s that? Bill (01:59) And for those who haven’t seen it, it’s in French and you have to read the subtitles because it has subtitles. I couldn’t read them because I was just a little too far. So I was squinting the whole night. But it’s a great opera, it was a great show, but we got home late so I’m quite tired. Jake (02:20) I couldn’t imagine that. Luckily I do speak French. So I wouldn’t need the subtitles, but that’s something I was afraid of actually, you know, coming out of the stroke is I was afraid almost that I had forgotten how to speak French or that I’d forgotten how to speak both languages. But luckily I speak ⁓ English and French. Bill (02:40) With a name like Bordeaux, I would definitely expect you to at least have some idea of French. Jake (02:45) Yes, indeed, sir. Half English and half French. I’ve been using that largely to my advantage. I’d been working up here in Northern Ontario with Federal Express. So I was working in administration here and sort of coordinating the management and the drivers being the liaison during the two during the day. so, you know, anytime the drivers might have equipment that needs any kind of repair or any kind of issues they might come up with on road as well as when they leave the station and when they come back into the station, I’m the guy that they would deal with. Bill (03:22) Wow, that’s cool. So tell me what was life like before stroke for you? What were you up to? What kind of things did you do? How did you spend your time? Jake (03:33) Well, life has had a lot of ups and downs for me in the last year’s bill. So, ⁓ I had been living for many years in, in Hong Kong and I’m originally from Canada and, I was born in the seventies, born in Ontario here. And by 2009, I had had various, you know, done grit, various career, choices or opportunities, job opportunities here. And I decided to. try my hand at a little something overseas. ⁓ I had an opportunity with a fellow Canadian named Noah Fuller who brought me over wanting to show me how to get into the watch business. And being two ⁓ enthusiasts, you know, being, ⁓ you know, I’d say we were into watch modification, watch restoration, and we were wanting to get a little bit more into building custom parts and building out custom watches. ⁓ working with various ⁓ people, military groups, et cetera, at working on their watch project. So he asked me to come to Hong Kong, learn everything that he knew about the business, and hopefully show me what I was gonna get into over there. That worked out, and while I was over there, I met my wife, I love my wife, I’m still with her. Stroke Effects: Health Awareness and Signs I got together with my wife in 2009 when I had first arrived in Hong Kong and I got married to her in 2010. During that time, Noah unfortunately passed away, so I lost my business partner, but the business continued to grow. So over the years, the business grew with my wife and I running that on our own. ⁓ Unfortunately, maybe it got some of the attention on the world stage. There’s been a lot of political, we’ll say issues in Hong Kong and leading into the pandemic, business was already suffering. ⁓ Once the pandemic hit and Hong Kong was locked down for a ⁓ big chunk of time. that really affected our business and took it down. By the time the pandemic had played its way out, our life over there was looking like it wasn’t panning out the way we’d wanted it to. And a lot of the opportunities that had been unfolding for us all of a sudden came to a close. ⁓ So we moved back to Canada. about two years ago and I started working up here and thinking about our next business opportunity. I’m a lot like you and I’m never really satisfied with what I’m doing and I kind of want to reach for the next thing and I kind of want to reach for more. So I like to work a lot. So while I was working on getting the next thing started, I was working with Federal Express. My days would be really, really busy. I would get up quite early in the morning and I’d chop wood here. I have a dog that I like to walk. I have a golden retriever. I have four children. So I have three girls and a boy and they’re ranging from four years old to 14 years old. They’re all in school. And of course, I was working full time at Federal Express and ⁓ working towards the next thing. So I guess life was pretty active. Bill (07:27) Pretty helpful. Did you have any sense that, you know, with regards to your health, things might take a turn? Was there any information coming to you that you might see now kind of in hindsight and go, well, that was probably a sign. Jake (07:45) Yeah, Bill. So I’ve watched a lot of your podcasts and I found them particularly helpful, especially a lot of the ones relating to hemorrhagic stroke. ⁓ Reason being that’s what happened to me. So ⁓ I had a hemorrhagic stroke ⁓ and it took out a large part of ⁓ my capabilities, I guess, mobility on my right side. So a lot of my body that’s affected is my right side. ⁓ Now, when I got back here from Hong Kong to Canada, unfortunately, I came here to a little bit of an overloaded medical system, to say the least. So I’m hoping that maybe some of what we’re talking today might help people who are in Canada if they suffer the ⁓ same thing as I did to try and get them on track for us, get them back into recovery. ⁓ When I arrived here, the system was overloaded. I didn’t have a doctor. So unfortunately, while I had been warned for several years that I had pre high blood pressure and ⁓ the doctors in Hong Kong had been, you know, monitoring my blood pressure and keeping a pretty close eye on things after arriving here in Canada, that wasn’t a case. And so you know, it would look now that I think about it, that I was having some warning signs. I was having headaches and I’d say that some of those headaches were pretty severe. ⁓ The headaches would come on like a, like a very fast, ⁓ fast onset headache. I would get very nauseated very quickly. ⁓ And then sort of, would, I’d vomit the headache. would pass. At first, I thought I was getting migraine headaches. I’d had one when I was a lot younger. But ⁓ these were coming with some visual disturbance. I was having this horrible headache. was having nausea. So all the things you might expect from a migraine, except that it was going away within minutes and all of a sudden I was back at work. you know, in hindsight, that definitely was ⁓ a warning flashes. And ⁓ had I had a proper physician, if I had somebody watching out for me, they may have caught that. I don’t know, there’s no way for us to know that. So what I would say is, if anybody’s having pretty high blood pressure, keep an eye on that. I would say my blood pressure when I had the stroke was quite high. And if I had been monitoring that, I might’ve been on top of it. So would you like to hear about the day that it happened or? Bill (10:45) Yeah, I would in a moment. So with the blood pressure in Hong Kong, were you being monitored and also medicated or was it just you were being monitored? Bill Gasiamis (10:56) We’ll get back to Jake’s story in just a moment. I want to pause for a second and ask you something important. Why do you listen to this podcast? For many people, it’s because they finally hear someone who understands what they’re going through or because they learn something that helps them make sense of their own stroke effects without feeling overwhelmed or alone. And here’s the part most listeners never really think podcast only exists because people like you help keep it There’s no big company behind it. No medical organization funding the work. It’s just me, a fellow stroke survivor doing everything I can to make sure these conversations are available for the next person who wakes up after a stroke and doesn’t know what comes One of the biggest challenges after stroke is finding reliable information without spending years searching, reading and second guessing yourself. That’s why I want to mention turn2.ai. Turn2 isn’t a sponsor, it’s a tool I personally use. If you choose to sign up using my affiliate link, you’ll get 10 % off and I’ll receive a small commission and no extra cost to you. That commission helps support the podcast and keep these conversations free. What Turn2 does is simple but powerful. It saves you time. Instead of spending years trying to track down research, discussions and updates about stroke, Turn2 brings relevant information straight to you. If you’re already dealing with fatigue, pain or cognitive overload, saving time and mental energy matters. And if you want to go deeper on your recovery journey, you can also grab my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened at recoveryafterstroke.com slash book. If this podcast has helped you feel understood even once, consider supporting the mission in whatever way feels right for you. All right, let’s get back to Jake. Jake (12:46) No, so I wasn’t being medicated for high blood pressure at all. was kind of these, well, it’s not quite severe enough to really do anything about it, so we’ll just keep an eye on it. ⁓ I did have pre-existing ⁓ medical issues. When I was quite a lot younger, I had suffered from ⁓ what some people might call Crohn’s disease or an inflammatory bowel issue. and I had some back pain. But other than that, I wasn’t really on any other types of medications. I wasn’t on any kinds of blood pressure medications, any kind of heart medications. ⁓ I wasn’t on any kind of antidepressants or anything like that. ⁓ I would say that I was pretty much feeling like I was in fairly good shape. haven’t gained or lost a heck of a lot of weight since the stroke. So what you see is what you get. wasn’t overweight. I wasn’t eating a lot of junk. I don’t smoke cigarettes. So. Bill (13:56) Yeah. One of those things. I know what you mean. Like I’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure in the last six months and headaches. Jake, I’ve had headaches for years. I’m talking maybe four or five years. And at the beginning, they were intermittent. They would come and go similar to what you mentioned. And I would be able to get through the day. And I thought they were migraines, although nobody really convinced me that they were migraines. I couldn’t really say. That sounds familiar if I look up what migraine is and all the people who I’ve ever asked about a migraine, it never sounded like, I was never convinced by it. And then a little while ago, was at home, excuse me, I was at home with my wife, feeling really unwell. Did my, checked my blood pressure and it was about 170 over 110, 120, somewhere there. And that was, I knew that’s way too high, know, previously. I’ve checked my blood pressure maybe on the on perfect day and it was 120 over 80. So for me that was pretty serious. We went to the hospital because of all my history and they said your blood pressure is high. It’s probably a migraine causing you to have a migraine which is then causing your blood pressure to go high rather than the other way around. They didn’t say it’s high blood pressure is causing the migraine and or the headache. And then they put me on some migraine medication and they said, if we give you this migraine medication, it’s going to knock you out. You’re going to sleep, but you should wake up without a headache. Well, I woke up with a headache. The migraine medication didn’t do anything. So within a couple of weeks of that particular hospitalization and then going to my general practitioner, he prescribed me a blood pressure medication, came to start on it’s called to help keep the blood pressure down. Now I’m trying to get to the bottom of why do I have high blood pressure? That’s the part that’s frustrating me, because no one can tell you why you have high blood pressure unless they check your arteries and they’re half clogged or you’ve got some other issues with your heart or something like that. And I don’t have any of those issues. So now ⁓ it’s one of those things. It’s kind of like, well, you have high blood pressure. It might be something that runs in your family. When I check with my dad, my dad says that he has high blood pressure. My dad’s 84. So it’s like, you know, and he says, I started taking blood pressure medication at around 50, which is my age. But that’s still, that’s not good enough for me. Like I’m still not comfortable with, well, your dad did. So you are, and then therefore, just move on with life, take this tablet and then move on. Now I’m happy to take the tablet because I do not want to have another hemorrhagic stroke. I’m very comfortable taking a tablet to prevent that, right? No trauma, no traumas. Personal Health Journey, Stroke Effects, and Challenges But ⁓ it’s a very interesting place to find myself in after going through all the three brain hemorrhages that I’ve already had since 2012, brain surgery, learning how to walk again. Now I’ve had enough. I don’t want… I don’t want to be doing this anymore, even though I am finding myself here and I’m tackling it. Part of me is going, man, this is too much. Why do we need to go through this now? Jake (17:29) Yeah, I wanted to ask you something actually, maybe if you’ve had the same, you brought something back to mind here, is that one thing I did have, again, in hindsight, I had visual disturbance. in 2018, my grandmother, bless her shit, my grandmother passed away and I was abroad and I took it pretty hard. was largely raised by my grandfather, my grandmother. And I took it, it was very emotional. And ⁓ when I was grieving, I had an episode where I had a rather bad headache. And again, I had one of these feelings, like I thought I had a migraine headache. Maybe I did, or maybe we’re reading something into it. But coming out of that, I had a visual problem. And it was one of my eyes. in my right eye, you know, again, I have my issues now with my right hand side. My right eye had gotten quite blurry. I was having ⁓ issues with my vision in my right eye. And ⁓ a doctor had decided that, well, maybe it’s a form of macular degeneration. And he decided to do a laser surgery. at the time in Hong Kong. However, it didn’t have any effect. It didn’t help me out at all. And the only thing that helped that was time. And I wonder again now if the reason why treating the eye didn’t take any effect is because he should have been treating or looking at the brain. I think that maybe the issue might have been a small stroke to begin with. and I didn’t realize it at the time. Bill (19:25) That sounds very plausible, right? That’s I think probably a very logical conclusion to get to. Sometimes, you you hear people lose their vision and the way they discovered they’ve had a stroke is they’ll go to the ophthalmologist and they’ll say, I can’t see. And the guy will go, well, your eye looks perfect. I there’s nothing wrong with your lens. There’s nothing wrong with the macula. The eye pressure is fine. Everything’s fine. And that definitely suggests that there is a ⁓ neurological issue of some kind, right? So it’s like, next step is go to the hospital, get it checked out. But ⁓ yeah, well, there’ll be no way of knowing, but I science, I had similar kind of things happen about a year and a half before my first bleed. was at our local football here, which ⁓ my team made the what we call the grand final. There’s usually a playoff series and then the last two teams get to the final game of the year and then the one that wins wins the championship. And my team made it and I was there cheering them on, screaming my head off, you know, just being a really passionate supporter and went home that weekend with a massive headache that lasted about five days and ended up in hospital. They did a lumbar puncture. They checked for a brain hemorrhage or anything along those lines and they didn’t find anything and they also didn’t find the faulty blood vessel that later would cause the first brain hemorrhage. But when I speak to people about it, everyone will say, well, we’ll never know, Bill. There’s no way of knowing whether they were linked. But in my mind, it’s pretty logical to conclude that that first massive five day headache was a sign that something wasn’t right in my brain. And although they had that suspicion of that, they didn’t know what they were looking for. So they couldn’t find the faulty blood vessel. just did a scan, a CT, sorry. Yeah, they just did a CT to actually see if there was any visible signs of a tumor or a bleed or something like that. And since there wasn’t, they weren’t able to diagnose the faulty blood vessel that would later. ⁓ bleed three times. Jake (21:55) That’s incredible, by the way, the three times thing, and that’s got to take a lot of strength to get through. ⁓ I don’t know if I had mentioned to you, how recent this has been. So ⁓ one thing that I’ve noticed with your podcast is that most of the guests who are on have had a considerable amount of time elapse in between when the event has taken place and when they’ve been able to get back lot of their capabilities, a lot of their abilities. So how long exactly did it take you to get back to the stage or the state that you’re in now? Bill (22:36) I would say that I had, ⁓ well, the first three years were tumultuous because every time I was on the road to recovery after the first bleed, then the second bleed happened, that was six weeks apart. And then after the second bleed, I was really unwell. ⁓ Memory issues, couldn’t type an email, couldn’t read, couldn’t drive, couldn’t work. Recovery Process and Emotional Impact angry, really angry. I was probably in that state for the best part of about six to nine months. And then it started to ease and settle down as the blood vessel stopped bleeding. And then the, and then the blood in my head started to dissipate and kind of dissolved, I suppose. And I think I thought everything was going fine. So between February, 2012 and November, 2014, that’s when I had the next bleed November, 2014. the third one. And then when I woke up from that, I had to learn how to walk again. So by the time I got to February 2015, I had been three years in you know, in the dungeon, you know, getting just smashed around by stroke again and again and again, and then brain surgery, then learning how to walk again. And I think personally, I turned the tide maybe at around 2018, 2019. So it took another three to four years for me to feel like even though I’m living with all these deficits, I have got enough of my cognitive function back, my physical function back to be able to go back to my painting company, which had been on pause for a number of years. yeah, so all up, you know, from first bleed, Jake (24:25) incredible. Bill (24:30) to back to the painting company, you know, it seven years. It was quite a long time. And I hear people have similar kind of stories about five, six, seven years. They’re still dealing with everything that the stroke caused, but they have some kind of a turn, like for the better, some kind of like a shift in whether it’s mindset, whether it’s emotionally or whether it’s physically, they have kind of some. Like a fork in the road moment where things change for the better. Jake (25:03) That’s incredibly inspiring for me. So yeah, you give me a lot of hope because I’ve been going through a lot and I’ve only been at this for four months now. so I had this stroke in late July and upon getting into the hospital, again, I wasn’t able to talk. I wasn’t able to use my, couldn’t move my right hand side at all. ⁓ I wasn’t able to go to the washroom, any of the things. I was basically left with kind of like ⁓ a blank slate and everything that I’ve gotten back has been pretty rapid. So I’m really extremely thankful for that, especially that, given that hemorrhagic strokes are rare, ⁓ consequences seem to be more severe and more often fatal. So, yeah, I’ve only been at this for a few months, Bill (26:10) Yeah, I was gonna ask what was it what happened on the day of the strike? What was it like? Jake (26:16) Yeah, so on the day of the stroke, let me get back there for just a second. Right, so on the day of, it was a pretty regular day and I had got up, it was a beautiful day, it was July. ⁓ My family had been on a trip recently, they’d gone to the nation’s capital and visited my family and I was happy to have them back. I just bought my wife a new bike and ⁓ I tuned it up. The dog had been out and I was starting work at 2 p.m. So I was about to go in for 2 p.m. and see the drivers for the whole second part of their day until the closing. ⁓ And I ⁓ was biking into work. again, I was incredibly active. ⁓ So I was biking to work and it would be generally about a 15 minute bike ride and it’s a lot of uphill, et cetera. And some of the route is through some residential areas and even some pathways that go through the woods. Again, I live in Canada and in particular in Northern Ontario in quite a small town named Kirkland called Kirkland Lake, which is a gold mining town. we’re in a gold mining boom right now. And so yeah, I was biking to work, feeling pretty good. ⁓ When I got to work, or when I was just getting to work, I was pretty close to being late ⁓ after messing around with the kids a little bit. And so I pushed myself a little bit harder than I usually do. ⁓ I got to work right on time. I got in a little bit winded. And I started getting my equipment together, got all of my equipment and headed to my office and headed to the window where I’d be greeting all of the drivers as they come into the station. And I started to feel a little bit dizzy. So my thinking was though, I probably just pushed it a little too hard and I probably should have had a drink of water. So I grabbed a drink of water. And ⁓ I sat back down at my desk and the first drivers started to come in. And as they started to come in, I started to feel like it was hard ⁓ to keep track of what they were saying. I was having a hard time concentrating and that’s really not like me. Usually I’m able to concentrate on four children, a wife, a pet, myself. And when I’m at work, I’m able to deal with the whole station full of FedEx workers, drivers, et cetera. So I started asking the drivers, can you just leave your things with me? I’m going to put them aside for a few minutes until I’m back in the game here. I think I’ve winded myself a bit. I’m just going to chill. And the equipment started to pile up, because it was one driver, two drivers. three drivers. And as this was starting to go on, I was looking over at a lady who was working next to me in the office. ⁓ And ⁓ I’m very lucky that she was there. And ⁓ I’ll let you know why in a second. But ⁓ I started to look at her and I started to look at the drivers. And I think at that point, she looked at me and ⁓ it struck her there’s something really not right with Jake. So she came over and started to ask me some questions and she started to try and direct the drivers away from me so that maybe they’d stop asking questions. And it became pretty apparent to her real quick ⁓ that I was having a stroke. Now, thankfully, this lady’s not usually sitting in the office next to me. It was one of those things where she just happened to be there this day and she happens to work with the fire brigade here. and she works with first responders and she’s incredibly well educated as far as first aid and strokes and heart attacks, et cetera. So she was able to recognize what was going on with me right away. ⁓ She had management and she had everybody ⁓ take a look at me and they had the first responders coming right away. The emergency crew showed up within minutes. and they started asking me all the appropriate questions and they started lifting me out of there and driving me away. So I got to work, I guess, at about 2 p.m. That was when my shift started. And ⁓ by 2.25, ⁓ my wife was walking home from the neighborhood park with our kids and heard an ambulance. go by here, not realizing it was me. I’d been taken off in the ambulance. They brought me to a nearby town and then they airlifted me to Sudbury, Ontario. I guess in our nearby town, they determined that yes, I was having a stroke. They did a very quick preliminary scan. They sent me to Sudbury, Ontario, where they started doing more scans and figured out exactly what was going on. Although the medical system had failed me and I didn’t have a doctor going into it, when the rubber hit the road there, they had it together and they got me the appropriate help as fast as possible. That’s probably what helped me to get my recovery online so quick. Bill (32:18) definitely does the time that you take to get to hospital makes a massive difference. That was a good outcome considering everything that was going wrong at the time. So then how does the hospital stay go? How long are you in the hospital and how does it play out? Jake (32:37) Yeah, so I arrived in in the hospital in in Sudbury and I was there for for a few days so ⁓ yeah, I was there for a few days and in that time my My ⁓ my wife and ⁓ one of my good friends one of our children there They managed to come and see me and from what they say I was incoherent at the time So I guess I was still able to talk ⁓ but what was coming out of me was a lot of garbled nonsense. I’ve seen some of your guests say, I thought I was saying, can you please hand me my bag and I need you to bring, and all that was coming out was sort of, blah, blah, blah, blah, like it wasn’t making any sense at all. ⁓ So I was in there for days. And once they had me stabilized in ⁓ Sudbury, Ontario, they decided to transfer me and I had my choice between a couple of different towns. So I would say that by the 25th, 24th, 25th, I was stabilized and I was heading to Sudbury on the 25th. ⁓ Once I arrived in Sudbury, I think I was visited, ⁓ by my folks and my wife and kids. And then I was sent to Timmins, Ontario for my actual recovery. So it was pretty fast. I had the stroke on the 21st and by the 26th, I was in Timmins where I’d spend the rest of my ⁓ recovery time. Bill (34:27) How did they deal with leaking blood vessel? Jake (34:30) ⁓ They didn’t. So they had determined that they were going to probably do a surgery. When they were taking me into the hospital, they had told me that there was a ⁓ brain hemorrhage, ⁓ that it was leaking, that they were going to be monitoring it, that it would be likely there would be a surgery, and that I should probably be be prepared not to make it through. ⁓ So I guess, you know, they gave me some hope. I mean, they told me that we can hope for the best, but they were quite honest with me at the time in saying you might be going for the rest of your life ⁓ wearing diapers or unable to talk. ⁓ And it’s quite probable that you might not make it out of this. Uh, so they monitored it and they continued to bring me while I was in the Sudbury for scans and they continued to monitor the situation. Um, but they didn’t do any surgery. So, uh, I was put on medications to bring the blood pressure down, to keep the blood pressure down. And, uh, and I was placed on those while I was in, in hospital. And I continued to. recover all the way through August. And by the end of August, I had come back home. ⁓ while I was in hospital, I was only visited twice because it was far away from, from my home. And, ⁓ I’m honestly, Bill, I’m glad. ⁓ I was really happy. I was able to see my, my, my wife and kids by phone, obviously, you know, the wonders of modern technology. ⁓ but I was left with a lot of time on my own to reflect and I was left with a lot of time on my own to get better. you know, one of the things I decided once I got to the hospital was I’m not going to spend any time in the lounge. I’m not going to spend any of the time with the other patients who are ⁓ in here, nothing against them or anything like that. But the very first thing I did, was I started to try and find more information about what exactly happened to me and ⁓ what are my chances of getting better and what gives me the best chances. And what I came up with was I had better start working on my recovery immediately. yeah, so one of the very first things that I did is I got my notebook into me. notebook, got pencils, I got a pencil sharpener, I got one of those, ⁓ you know, hand gripper ⁓ exercise, you know, for your hands. ⁓ And I got a razor blade, and I got my wife and kids to bring in a hair trimmer. And I decided that no matter how long it was going to take me to shave, I was going to do that on my own. no matter how long I thought I’m in here, I don’t have anything else to do today. If it’s going to take me all day to cut my hair and shave my face, I’m going to do that. ⁓ If it takes me all day to do the, write the alphabet down, I’m going to get through that. And I went from again, ⁓ scribbles from just scribbles and barely being able to hold onto the pencil to, ⁓ by the time I left the hospital, I was writing in perfect cursive. Attitude Towards Recovery Bill (38:22) Yeah, that’s brilliant. I love that attitude. That attitude is probably ⁓ something that holds people in very, like creates a great outcomes for people, regardless of how much the stroke has affected them, regardless of how bad their deficits are, you know, regardless of what version of stroke they caught, they, they had to experience. And this is what I was doing when I was in rehab as well. So I did the same thing when I came back from hospital. So My first stay, I came back and we were on the internet checking, you know, is a blade in the brain? What is all this stuff? What does it all mean? Trying to get some answers. The second time, ⁓ six weeks later, I was searching for what kind of food should I be eating? If I’ve had a stroke, what should I be avoiding, et cetera? That was pretty cool to find out and learn, wow, there is actually a protocol that you can ⁓ take that supports your brain health instead of one. that doesn’t support your brain health. So that was pretty awesome. And then ⁓ in rehab, I was searching YouTube for videos about neuroplasticity. was searching videos for ⁓ anything that had to do with recovery of a neurological challenge, et cetera. And it was just way better than being ⁓ sort of worrying about my own situation and focusing on me like. internalizing it, you know, I was externalizing it and becoming proactive and I found, ⁓ and I found some great meditations. So I’m lying there. I can’t walk. I’m very sleepy. I need to sleep most of the time because I’m exhausted from all of the rehab. I’ll put on a meditation and just let it do its thing in the background while I was healing, resting, you know, recuperating. ⁓ so I think that approach just changes the way that your body responds as well because your body wants to step up to the plate. If you set an intention, we’re going through the healing process, this is the path that we’re gonna take, the body follows. If you go through the other part, if you take the different path and go, well, things are not going good for us, we’re doing it really tough, we’re feeling sorry for ourselves, we’re not gonna put any extra effort in. the body’s going to go, no, I’m listening. I’ll do exactly what you want. And you get the results that, that your intention has set. Right. So I think that’s brilliant. The way that you went about that and not interacting with other people. kind of get that too, because it can bring you down. Like seeing other people doing it hard can bring you down. And also ⁓ sometimes other people’s attitudes can rub off as well. And they can bring you down if They’re feeling bad about this situation and you don’t want to be around people who are going to ruin your vibe. Doesn’t matter who they are or where they are. Jake (41:27) Right. And one thing that where I think the hospitals and doctors and therapy where I think they really let us down is something that I believe it was on one of your podcasts and someone talking about neuroplasticity is that when we do something for therapy, we should be doing it thousands of times. We shouldn’t be doing it a few times. I think where we’re let down is like, ⁓ for instance, I went for my physiotherapy today and I find it helpful and I definitely do go, I would recommend it to anybody. But we will do each of these exercises 10 times. Do this 10 times, do this 10 times, do this 10 times. But what we’re failing to see is that, you know, To really make those connections, need to do things hundreds or thousands of times. ⁓ I have a, know, a, for instance, for you, you know, I mentioned the writing. So a place where I have an incredible block is, ⁓ I will go to try and begin something, particularly where I’m going to write something down and I’ll have the intention of writing one thing and something different will come. So, I would try and begin a word with the letter T and instead of beginning by going up and then straight down and crossing my T, instead I’m doing a loop like it’s an L. So in order to, you know, retrain, sort of get that, get that connection made, to go and start doing words that begin with the letter T. Bill (43:17) I have Jake (43:24) and a lot of times, mean like thousands of times before I could sit down and write a letter T. if people are feeling like they’re not getting anywhere or it’s not coming along for them and they are doing the exercises, I would say don’t give up and do them more. Don’t give up and do them less, do them more. Bill (43:33) Wow. Jake (43:53) ⁓ If you’re going to be doing something like walking, if you’re finding that difficult, then I think maybe if you walked around the block on Tuesday, go another 10 steps further and do that for the following week and always just keep adding to it because it does get better. And I don’t know about you, do you find Bill like I know one of your recent guests mentioned that it was a challenge for him to deal with how non-linear the recovery is. And I think that only hearing that from other people allowed me to accept that. Because a lot of the time I’ll feel like I’m doing great and things are incredibly better. And then maybe I have a week where I’m doing in respects, I’m doing worse than I was when I was in hospital. And I think that that’s really hard to deal with. you have that too, or did you find that? The non-linear kind of feeling? Yeah. Bill (44:55) Indeed, and then what happens four months, five months, six months, 10 months, is you start seeing the pattern and the pattern is, okay, I’ve made some inroads, okay, here’s the quiet time or the downtime coming and then you feel better about it because it’s not a big deal. You see the pattern and you notice it and it’s less frustrating because that’s actually, it appears as though you’re doing nothing to your head. Your head might be going, oh, I’m not doing anything. Long-Term Recovery and Reflection sitting on my butt, I’m not able to get through a day of physical exertion or anything like that. I must be going backwards. Well, in fact, your body’s just doing a different version of recovery and it looks different. It looks still and it looks silent and it looks fatigued, but it isn’t going backwards. It’s just a different phase and it needs all of it. You need to do that silent, still, quiet, fatigued resting one. And then you need to do the one which is to whatever extent you can, full on, full out, doing too much, going too far, ⁓ over-exerting yourself. And they kind of, you can’t have one without the other. You have to have them both. And ⁓ if you understand that, then you don’t get anxious or upset about it or bothered about it. And you start playing the long game. You stop focusing on today, I didn’t have a lot of effort, but… If I reflect on my last six months or nine months, there was maybe only seven days that I was really low or didn’t feel great. The rest were better days or I felt okay or whatever it was. if you start playing when you’re only four months out, it’s hard to play the long game. But when you get to a year or 12 months out, you look back and reflect, you can see that majority of what you were doing was getting. outcomes that were favorable and therefore, you know, and therefore you can sort of be okay with the quiet days, rest, the rest of all those. I used to go to loud events, whether they were a concert, a family event, a party, wedding, whatever. If they were long drawn out days, I would have to plan for the next day to be completely a write off, nothing on the calendar. No going anywhere, seeing anybody, doing anything so that I could rest properly and get my brain back online so that I could have a good day, the third day, you know? And that’s how we did it for many, many years. And I remember one time when the shift came, when I said to my wife, I am not doing anything tomorrow. You make sure that whatever you do, you do without me. You’re going to go and do your thing, but I’m not going to be involved. And then waking up in the morning and going, hey, I feel fantastic. What are we doing today? And she’s like, I didn’t plan for you, but okay. ⁓ let’s get the ball rolling on something. So we did something minor, but it was more than nothing. And that was my, okay. My moment of things are shifting and I’m able to recover overnight with a good night’s sleep quicker than I was. doing previously. Jake (48:19) That’s great. That’s great. Yeah. A lot of this, I really appreciate talking to you and I appreciate hearing your guests who have been at this a lot longer than I have. ⁓ I’m incredibly encouraged by how well I’ve done so far, but it’s also, there’s a lot of questions. ⁓ For instance, I’m in this stage where I don’t know, Bill, if I’m going to make it back to the same job as I was doing before, don’t know whether it’s reasonable to think that. Right now I’m doing, you know, going through all the steps that I need to go through and doing all the evaluations that I need to do. ⁓ But I’m not sure what the outcome is going to be. And that’s a little bit hard because I’m, you know, like most people who are entrepreneurs or, you know, have large families, we like to have an element of control, you know, with things. So it’s been hard to just sort of sit back here and not know what’s coming along. As far as work goes, I don’t know. Luckily, you know, I have a building here where I do own the building and I do have commercial space downstairs. So maybe I have the option to now use that space for myself. And ⁓ maybe I’ll have to be, maybe I’ll be forced to go back into. entrepreneurship and open my own business. Maybe going back to work ⁓ is not the path for me. We’ll have to wait and see. Bill (49:56) It will emerge. You’ll get a sense of it. I had ⁓ three years where I worked for another organization and it was a completely different field and they were, the role was a very entry level administrative role. Very, we’re talking a role that would probably be replaced by AI now. ⁓ So we, I was doing that for three years and what was good about planning and trying to get back to that level of effort and work was that it served a purpose. And part of the purpose was talking to people, traveling, ⁓ doing work on the computer. It was retraining me as I was getting comfortable with the role, getting used to traveling, getting back to being in loud environments, et cetera. So it was difficult, was tiresome, it was challenging, but it was… kind of like its own therapy. And when it served its purpose after three years, I was done. I just said, okay, I’m out of here. going back to running my own business again. And I’ll be, I’ll do that as slowly or at my own pace in any other way that I can so that ⁓ I create the whole, all the rules around the amount of hours that I attend, the type of work that I take on. You know, so if I was too tired to work the following week, I would just tell my clients I’m busy for a week and I can book you in two weeks down the road, you know. So that was what was good about going back to my business. And also what was good about going back to a job for somebody else because their expectations, you know, working for a corporation, the expectations are far lower than the ones that we put on ourselves when we’re working. for ourselves. So I know some people think working for a corporation is really stressful and all that kind of stuff. And it probably is. No. But I mean, I was barely working six hours a day. Whereas working for myself six hours a day that the day’s just starting, you six hours. You haven’t even hit lunchtime yet. So it’s interesting to think about work and how ⁓ and how you can use it as a therapy. Jake (52:23) It is well, I mean the difference for me is that I was actually in that role that you’re explaining right now when I had the stroke so I I’d gone through a whole bunch of very difficult things in Hong Kong and upon coming back here to Canada, I was almost feeling like I I had a lot of stress going on and I had a lot of things that I needed to sort out and ⁓ there was a lot of things that we need to settle with the kids. There was all sorts of stuff that needed to be done. So the job that I was working was actually, it was already fulfilling that role that you explained. I was having that less responsibility. was going in for a specific amount of hours that they were letting me know. So that was exactly it. was an administration job, but it was really not close to the amount of responsibility that I was used to having. ironically, now that this has happened to me, it might be the amount of control that I have over the amount of worked that might be an advantage after going to stroke. I’d be interested to see or to hear more about ⁓ how people deal with the change that comes with the different type of work they might be forced into, forced out of, and how they deal with that. Because I think that a lot of people deal with, ⁓ they think of their employment or they deal with their life in this sort of way, like people often ask, especially in Asia. What do you do? The first thing that people do if you’re in Hong Kong is they hand you a business card. They call it a name card there. And the very first thing that you do when you meet somebody before you even speak is you hand them the card and you each examine each other’s cards. So this idea of like, what I do is who I am. And I, and I think that when you have something like this happen to you often what you do must change. when you’re identifying with what you do, you’re sort of declaring that as your title, who you are, I would imagine that’s pretty tough. Luckily, I wasn’t tied to Federal Express, thankfully. Work and Identity Post-Stroke Bill (55:00) Yeah, I hear you. is, people will work as a lawyer for 20 years or 30 years, have a stroke, and then it’s like, well, who am I now? What am I now? And that’s the challenge with working and identifying as the work that you do. know, those days are gone in theory. You know, you don’t get named John lawyer anymore. You don’t get named John banker. anymore, you you don’t get the your surname from the occupation that you do back in the day, you know, Baker, carpenter, plumber, you know, all those people, they were their entire job, they did it for 3040 5060 years, that was what they did. And then when they couldn’t work anymore, well, they still identified as john plumber, because they had the name, the name was given to them or John Carpenter or whomever. The thing about it is now with jobs being so ⁓ not long term anymore, you get a job or you go to a particular employer and then two, three years you’re in another role or another title, et cetera, ⁓ or you’ve moved up the corporate ladder, et cetera. Well, if you’ve never even done that, if you’ve only ever worked and you haven’t explored your interests, ⁓ hiking, walking, running, playing ball, ⁓ becoming a poker player, ⁓ whatever, whatever it is other than my job, you’re very, it’s understandable that it’s very narrow how you can explain to somebody how you occupy your time. Like what do you do? Well, I do plumbing, but I also do poker. ⁓ I do this, but I also do that. I’m that guy. Like when you ask me, sometimes I will literally be in a painting outfit, not so often now, but my painting clothes, and then I’ll take them off and I’ll sit in front of the computer and I’ll record a podcast episode. And then at the end of the day, I’ll be doing a presentation somewhere, speaking publicly on a particular topic at the moment. My favorite topic is post-traumatic growth. When somebody asks me, what do you do? If they know me, they know I do podcasting. They know I do painting. They know I do speaking. They know I’ve written a book. ⁓ they know all these things about me. If they don’t know me, depending on which room I’m in, I’m a podcaster. If I’m in one room, I’m an author. If I’m in another room, if I’m in another room, I’m a painter and so on. And what that allows me to do is. not be tied down to my entire existence being about only one thing, because I think that would be boring as, and I would hate to be the guy that only knows something about painting, how to paint the wall fantastically. mean, great, maybe, but not really rewarding, and not a lot of ⁓ spiritual and existential growth in painting a wall. I solve a problem for you, but I haven’t gained anything. other than money for me. It’s not really, you know, it’s not my cup of tea anymore. Now I get to have a podcast, I get to make way less money out of a podcast episode and yet reach hundreds and thousands of people and feel really amazing about that. And what that does is that fills up my cup. That allows me to fill up my cup on the down days where I’m not earning a living. And then it allows me to go earn a living. and then not feel like all I’m doing is working and going through the maze all day every day and just being on the constant cycle of the boredom and the sameness and all that kind of stuff. So I sprinkle a little bit of this and that into my life so that I don’t have ⁓ the same day twice because I can’t cope with the same day three times. Twice is a real bad sign for me. If there’s a third day coming, that’s gonna be the same as yesterday. I’m not up for that, I don’t want to know about it. Jake (59:21) Right. Well, that also helps with your recovery. I think like, as you say, you do a lot of different things and that helps a lot. Right. So, you know, one, for instance, is, know, the, of the first things I started to think of when I was in the hospital in Sudbury and thinking of getting home is my gosh, it’s going to start getting cold soon. Winter’s going to hit. And I really have to start getting that wood all stacked. Right. So So, you know, here I am, I’m benefiting from it now. I burn wood all winter, but, ⁓ you know, I spent a lot of my rehab ⁓ stacking wood. And I mean, that’s incredibly great physiotherapy, right? Whether you’re stacking wood or like you said, you made me think when you’re talking about painting, I’m thinking about like the karate kid, right? Like with wax on wax on paint on, this is the kind of stuff that gets you out of one particular mold. And with your brain sort of like focused on recovering in one single area, you can recover in all these different areas. And I think they contribute to like a big picture of your recovery. Bill (1:00:34) I agree with that. It’s exactly right. It’s you know standing on the ladder which I do less of these days because I Felt off about a year and a half ago. So standing on the ladder and Getting down the ladder holding a paint can and applying paint ⁓ Putting drop shades down and picking up tubs of paint, you know ⁓ That whole every part of that physical activity is using a different part of the brain. Writing a book, even if it’s only 10 minutes a day, writing half a page or 10 paragraphs or whatever it is, that uses a different part of the brain. ⁓ Public speaking, that trains and uses a different part of the brain. Everything that I do definitely kind of helps to rewire the brain in many, different ways and supports my ongoing recovery and… ⁓ is and the idea behind it amongst other things, the idea behind it from a neurological kind of perspective is that it activates more of the brain. The more of the brain that’s activated, the more chance you are of creating new neuronal pathways and having ⁓ more options for healing or recovery. And then it works emotionally for me, it works mentally for me. Do you know, so I get… the emotional fitness and the mental fitness out of it. Speaking on the podcast, meeting people gives back. you know, that serves my, I need to serve other people purpose. Do you know, like, it’s just so much, everyone ⁓ who knows me kind of knows that I wear a lot of hats. I kind of. I kind of like, I do it. I show people like when they’re saying, what are you up to today? I’ve been wearing a lot of hats today. And if I’m not wearing a hat, like I pretend that I put another one off or just took one off when I’m sitting with them or talking with them. It’s crazy how many things I do. And about the only hat I would prefer not to wear right now is I prefer to put the painting hat down. and just hand that over to somebody else and just go, I think that part of my life’s done and I’ll move on to other things. Jake (1:02:57) If you don’t mind, have one, there’s one more thing that right now that I’d like to mention just before I forget. Is that all right? All right. All right. So the only other thing, the thing that I’ve been dealing with myself and I don’t know how many people deal with it or don’t deal with it. I know that not everybody does. don’t, I deal with a lot of post, uh, post stroke pain. So while I don’t have Bill (1:03:04) Yeah, of course. Jake (1:03:25) ⁓ the misfortune of losing use of my feet or losing use of my hand. I mean, it’s limited. do therapy, but I’m able to use my hands. I’m able to write and all this. But coming along with that is an incredible amount of ⁓ burning, tingling ⁓ sort of ⁓ feelings like there is ⁓ almost like the, know, if you can think of newspapers when they’re delivered in a bundle and they’ve got this kind of plastic strapping around it. ⁓ It’s usually it’s yellow, you know, this sort of plastic strapping. I feel often like that is wrapped around my arms, like it’s wrapped around my leg. I deal with a lot of this kind of stuff, unfortunately. So again, I mean, I’m not going to sit here and whine about it because again, ⁓ I can walk, I can do all the things that I need to do and I’d rather have that than what I do. But I’m wondering if it’s really common for a lot of people to have this, you know, post stroke pain. Bill (1:04:44) If 10 was the worst pain you’ve ever experienced in your life, that’s like we’re talking about 10 is somebody’s cut your limb off ⁓ and one is no pain at all. Like where would the pain be for you? Jake (1:05:00) Well, thankfully, again, thankfully ⁓ I’ve had some progress in this. So when I first came to, when I was first starting to get all the feeling back, ⁓ I started to notice that some feeling wasn’t coming back. But while I was in the hospital, I was on quite a lot of medication. So I was on some pretty heavy painkillers. ⁓ I think hydro-morphone, things like this. And I came off of those when I was coming home and a lot of the feelings started coming back. I would say that some days and at some times that pain can be what I would say maybe it’s a 12 out of 10. Like it’s bad. at some points I’ve been left doing nothing but be able to just really just sit there and cry. I’m going to be honest with you. And the pain could be quite severe. Now luckily those days are few and far between. It’s not all the time. ⁓ And here’s the deal. The thing that’s very strange with the post stroke pain or the intensity of it is that it’s like going to sleep or it’s like the start of a new day, the beginning of a new day is like a reset button’s been hit. So for instance, I could wake up on a Monday and I could be hit with the worst pain that I’ve ever had in my life. It feels literally like I’m being hit with a taser gun on the right side of my body and that while somebody’s hitting it with the taser gun, they’ve lit my hand on fire. And, ⁓ And then the very next day after I’ve gone to sleep, I woke up and I’ve had the rest. I wake up almost scared to move because for me, sort of when I wake up and I haven’t moved yet, it’s almost like nothing’s happened to me. It’s like I wake up and I don’t know that I’m numb. don’t know that I’m in pain. don’t know that all this is going on. And then I start to move and sometimes I can sit there and feel a relief. Think, wow. There’s nothing severe going on. This is pretty good and it’s going to be a great day. Or sometimes I can be struck with a type of debilitating pain that I can’t even describe. Yeah. Pain Management and Coping Strategies Bill (1:07:34) Well, what you’re describing is very common. I know a lot of people going through post stroke pain. ⁓ It is a thing. I have a very minor version of exactly the thing that you described about how the tightness and things wrapped around ⁓ your hand, like the newspaper. that’s kind of what I feel on my left side, the whole left side all the time and the burning and tingling sensation all the time. And okay, on my worst days, these days, like it’s probably, you know, I know, it’s probably a four and a terrible one would be a five, but it doesn’t get there much. And what I’ve noticed is that the, either I’ve become more tolerant of it or my my pain has decreased in my awareness. Like I’m aware of the fact that my limb is in the state that it’s in. And sometimes I’ll go to get a massage to get the muscles loo

Hemorrhagic Stroke Patients Recovery: Jonathan's Journey Through Chaos and Renewal When the clock struck midnight on January 1st, 2021, most people were celebrating a fresh start. Jonathan, at just 35 years old, was unknowingly entering the most challenging chapter of his life. His speech had begun to slur, his head pulsed with pain he couldn't explain, and within hours he was rushed to the hospital during the height of COVID restrictions. That moment was the dividing line between the life he once knew and the life he would rebuild from the ground up. This is a story about what hemorrhagic stroke patients recovery really looks like, the kind that forces you to confront who you used to be and decide who you're going to become next. Before the Stroke — A Life Built on Momentum Before everything changed, Jonathan was thriving. He worked in food science — a field he loved, filled with global imports, inspections, and ensuring food safety for the public. He enjoyed hiking, biking, dinners with friends, and a vibrant social life in the city. He'd finally built independence, moved into his own space, and was exploring a new relationship. His life had rhythm, structure, forward motion. But as many survivors later recognize, stroke doesn't appear at a convenient time. It arrives abruptly, often when everything seems stable. And for people seeking to understand hemorrhagic stroke patients recovery, this contrast before and after becomes a core part of the journey. When the Body Sends Signals In the days before the stroke, something felt off. Jonathan experienced intense migraines, stronger and stranger than anything he'd felt before. But like so many young survivors, he didn't recognize them as warning signs. Then, on New Year’s Eve, his speech began to fall apart. Words wouldn't line up. Sounds emerged out of order. His girlfriend noticed instantly: something was horribly wrong. In minutes, Jonathan went from preparing to welcome the new year to being rushed through hospital doors under strict pandemic protocols. He had no idea this day would reshape him forever. Early symptoms often become the first chapter of hemorrhagic stroke patients recovery, because they reveal how quickly life can break open. The Diagnosis No One Expects at 35 Doctors discovered an AVM — an arteriovenous malformation on the left side of Jonathan's brain. It had ruptured, causing a hemorrhagic stroke. The bleed had stopped on its own and even drained naturally, something his neurologists called miraculous. Still, the damage was significant: His speech was severely impaired His mobility weakened His memory disrupted His emotional world destabilised He heard the words “hemorrhagic stroke” and “AVM rupture,” but they didn't make sense at the time. Many survivors describe this moment as surreal, as if the diagnosis is happening to someone else. “When your own words disappear, your whole identity feels like it's gone with them.” Recovery in Isolation — A Stroke During COVID After only seven days in the hospital, Jonathan was sent home in a wheelchair. There were no open rehabilitation centres, no inpatient programs, and no in-person speech therapy available. Therapists arrived at his family home wearing full PPE, “like a movie scene.” Everything felt unreal. Occupational therapy Physiotherapy Cognitive rehabilitation Speech therapy (virtual for an entire year) Social work support Nutrition guidance All delivered at home, all while the world was shut down. This is the reality for many navigating hemorrhagic stroke patients recovery during unpredictable times: healing becomes a collaboration between professionals, family, and faith. Losing Everything — And Feeling All of It The physical deficits were challenging, but the emotional costs cut deepest. Jonathan lost: His job His independence His ability to drive His long-term relationship His financial stability His sense of identity Anger, sadness, frustration, and confusion were constant companions. These emotional injuries rarely show up on scans, but they shape recovery just as strongly as the physical ones. And like many survivors, he wondered: Who am I now? Will I ever get myself back? This is where recovery becomes something deeper than rehab. It becomes a reorientation of the self. The Turning Point — Gratitude and Mindset Shift One of the most powerful moments in Jonathan's story came when he realized he could walk again. And speak again. And see his family. And simply breathe. He realized: I am still here. I have another chance. Gratitude is rarely the first emotion during a stroke recovery. But eventually, it becomes one of the most transformative. Mindset is one of the greatest predictors of hemorrhagic stroke patients recovery, not because positivity fixes everything, but because a resilient mindset helps survivors keep trying even when the path is uncertain. I've been there myself. When I experienced my strokes, I knew instantly that certain habits and patterns in my life had to change. Not because anyone told me to, but because something inside me shifted. You begin to recognize what no longer serves you. And you begin to aim your life differently. Faith, Identity, and Rebuilding From the Inside Out For Jonathan, faith became a compass. He studied scripture. He leaned into prayer. He found community in his church and mentorship in his pastor. Whether someone practices religion or not, the principle is universal: Recovery requires trust — in yourself, in the process, in the possibility of your future. Faith, in its many forms, becomes a stabilizing force in chaos. From Survivor to Guide — Serving Others Through His Pain As Jonathan regained strength, he realized he wanted to give back. He became a volunteer with: March of Dimes Canada Heart & Stroke Canada He now supports survivors aged 20–80 in both English and Spanish, one of the most unique and powerful aspects of his journey. The moment a survivor steps into service, their recovery deepens. Helping others expands meaning, connection, and purpose. I saw this in my own journey when I became a stroke advocate and launched this podcast. Jonathan discovered a simple truth: Helping others helps you heal too. Visit: recoveryafterstroke.com/book patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke Building a New Life — Marriage, Mentorship, and Hope In 2024, against all expectations, Jonathan got married. He started his own mentorship initiative for survivors, still volunteers across Canada, and continues to rebuild his life with clarity and gratitude. His story is less about “getting back to normal” and more about discovering a new, purposeful version of himself. What Jonathan Teaches Us About Hemorrhagic Stroke Patients Recovery Recovery is not linear. Identity gets rebuilt, not restored. You don't need to do this alone. Emotional healing is just as real as physical healing. Gratitude can shift your entire experience. Community accelerates recovery. Most importantly, your life didn't end with your stroke — a new one began. A Young Man's Fight Back: Jonathan's Hemorrhagic Stroke Story A young survivor's journey shows what hemorrhagic stroke patients recovery can look like — courage, faith, and rebuilding life step by step. Instagram Youtube Facebook TikTok Website Support The Recovery After Stroke Podcast on Patreon Highlights: 00:00 Introduction to Jonathan’s Journey 01:31 Life Before the Stroke 05:41 The Day of the Stroke 14:02 Hemorrhagic Stroke Patients Recovery 23:05 Emotional Challenges Post-Stroke 31:38 Overcoming Bad Habits and Health Challenges 37:38 Finding Purpose Through Volunteering 45:31 The Role of Faith in Recovery 55:32 Understanding Suffering and Connection to God 01:01:01 Building Community and Fellowship 01:05:31 Future Goals and New Beginnings Transcript: Introduction to Jonathan’s Journey Bill Gasiamis (00:00) Today’s episode is one that really stayed with me long after we finished recording. You’re going to meet Jonathan, a young stroke survivor whose life changed in a moment he never expected. And what makes this conversation so powerful isn’t just what happened to him, but how he tried to make sense of it, rebuild from it, and eventually find direction again. I won’t give away the details. That’s Jonathan’s story to tell. But I will say this. If you’ve ever struggled with the fear, uncertainty, or emotional weight that comes after a stroke, You may hear something in this journey that feels uncomfortably familiar and surprisingly reassuring. Now, before we get into it, I want to mention something quickly. Everything you hear, the interviews, the hosting, the editing, exists because listeners like you keep this going. When you visit patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke, you’re supporting my goal of recording a thousand episodes so no stroke survivor ever has to feel like they’re navigating this alone. And if you’re looking for something you can lean on, throughout your recovery or while supporting someone you love, my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened is available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. It’s the resource I wish I had had when I was trying to find my way. All right, let’s dive into my conversation with Jonathan now. Jonathan Arevalo, welcome to the podcast. Jonathan Arevalo (01:23) Yes, hi there Bill. Bill Gasiamis (01:26) Jonathan, tell me a little bit about what life was like before the stroke. Life Before the Stroke Jonathan Arevalo (01:31) Well, life before stroke at 35 years old was good. It was really good. I had the opportunity to travel a lot and also I worked for a company related in foods. And it was something that I had a passion for since I studied that in university when it came to studying chemistry. biology and also food sciences. And during that time is what led prior to my stroke, which was in January 1st, 2021. Bill Gasiamis (02:14) So you did, ⁓ you worked in food sciences. What kind of work did that involve? What does a food scientist do? Jonathan Arevalo (02:24) So for that type of job, worked as ⁓ specifically, it was QA coordinator, which I was in charge of all food products that come from all over the world into Canada, where I had to do audit checks, inspections, and make sure that every single fruits and vegetables had to meet the requirements, which are government requirements, and also meeting specifications. for the safety, the safety before it goes out to the public. Bill Gasiamis (02:57) Wow. Was that a government job? Jonathan Arevalo (03:00) It was not a government job. It was more of a food company that is known all over North America. Bill Gasiamis (03:11) So just a very popular food importer for example that brings different products in and you’ve got to check them and inspect them So what do you do you opening boxes and looking literally at the food before? ⁓ gets the tick Jonathan Arevalo (03:26) Yes. So before anything gets accepted, ⁓ I receive C of As, which are certificate of analysis that come from different countries. And I need to go through all of those to make sure it meets government regulations and at the same time for the health and safety. So all of that, ⁓ I had to make sure both reading it and as well physically inspecting myself. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (04:01) I understood. What about home life? What was that like? How were you? Where were you living? Who were you living with? Jonathan Arevalo (04:08) Yes. So when it came to that, I was living in the city and I was living with ⁓ an ex-girlfriend who I was during that time. And what it was, it was a different change in life where I started to adjust a new relationship. And at the same time, I was adjusting in building my independence outside from home. and starting like my own life differently. But everything went well until things started to change when it came to relationships and also work and also other things that came along with it over time. Bill Gasiamis (04:58) What did you do for downtime? Do you have some hobbies or are there some things that you enjoy doing after work or on the weekend? Jonathan Arevalo (05:07) Yes, yes. Usually, ⁓ would mostly hang out with friends, go out to meet up with friends to different places. We’d go out for dinner, out in the city. And also, I was very active, so we would go to different trails to do hiking. ⁓ Or also biking, like riding the bike and all that. So different activities like that to stay active. The Day of the Stroke Bill Gasiamis (05:41) Do you remember the day of the stroke? did you start noticing something going wrong? What happened on that particular day? What was different about that day? Jonathan Arevalo (05:52) Yes, well leading to the stroke, was more during Christmas time. So in ⁓ this exact same time in December, where it was leading to my stroke that I started to get certain signs of, I wasn’t too sure what it was though, because I was getting some headaches and something very intense that I never had before, which are migraines. And that was leading prior to the stroke and starting the new year. so then pretty much like on the 31st, leading to January the 1st, was the moment that I had my stroke. And then my ex-girlfriend who I was with during that time, which is already almost five years, ⁓ she noticed that my speech was, was, was going off. I had a lot of slurs in my words. I was getting like very intense headaches and it just didn’t seem normal. So she started to question and ask me questions that didn’t, didn’t make sense. So she automatically ended up calling emergency and I got rushed, ⁓ through emergency to, the hospital. starting the new year. Bill Gasiamis (07:22) Well, so first of January 2021, was it? Jonathan Arevalo (07:27) Yes, January 1st, 2021. Correct. Bill Gasiamis (07:30) Wow, man. First day of the new year, straight into hospital. Jonathan Arevalo (07:34) straight to the hospital, but not only straight to the hospital, but it was also during the time of COVID. And so that made it even more complicated because in the hospital, there was different cases going on at the same time. And whether it’s doctors, nurses, or different people entering and going out, ⁓ there was Bill Gasiamis (07:42) Uh-huh. Jonathan Arevalo (08:04) a lot of restrictions that was going on that certain people weren’t allowed to go in unless it was an emergency purposes. And also I had to wear a mask and all that because they weren’t sure whether I had COVID or it was something else. Bill Gasiamis (08:26) So do you, is this a story that you remember or somebody has told you about what happened that day? Because sometimes people hear the story from others, but they don’t remember going through it or what they were thinking or what they were feeling. What were you thinking or feeling during this whole thing with the strange migraine and then being taken to the hospital? Jonathan Arevalo (08:49) Yeah, for me, I slightly remember since I had ⁓ very, very like, like vague ⁓ scenarios that I was ⁓ that I still remember. But there’s other occasions that I don’t remember anymore. Like I lost a lot of that memory during that period of time because it happened so quickly that that it was also a first time experiencing having a stroke. But I do remember like certain scenarios of being picked up from paramedics and then being rushed to the hospital. And then from there, not that much what happened afterwards, are certain things that I’ve forgotten or it’s hard to remember. Bill Gasiamis (09:46) Yeah, so you’re in the hospital. Do you understand when they tell you that we’ve discovered that you’ve had a hemorrhagic stroke? Like, are you aware of that? Or is it just noise? What’s it like to be told that you ever had a bleed on the brain? Jonathan Arevalo (10:04) Yeah, I find it that it’s very hard to understand that because I didn’t know what a stroke was in that time. And not only a stroke in general, but also the type of stroke that I had, which was a hemorrhagic stroke. But not only was it hemorrhagic stroke, it was as like the couple of days passed by, I was also transferred to another hospital since the hospital where I was at, didn’t have the adequate ⁓ neurologist and specialist for stroke. So I believe it was on the third day or something like that. I was taken to another hospital where they do have specialists, neurologists and all that related to stroke. So they took my case because it was something very important. And at the same time, they didn’t understand how I survived it as well because it wasn’t just a stroke on the left side of my brain. They found that it was an AVM. So it’s called anterior venous malformation, which could be caused from childbirth. As you get older, it could start to develop where you really don’t know because it’s internal. So what triggered it was an aneurysm that made it rupture. Bill Gasiamis (11:43) We’ll be back to Jonathan’s story in just a moment. wanna pause for a second and ask you something important. Why do you listen to this podcast? For many people, it’s because they finally hear someone who understands what they’re going through or because they learn something that helps them feel less alone in their recovery. And here’s the part most listeners never think about. This show only stays alive because of people like you help it keep it going. There’s no big company funding it, no medical organization covering the costs. It’s just me, a fellow survivor doing everything I can to make sure these episodes exist for the next person who wakes up after a stroke and has no idea what happens next. When you support the podcast, you’re making sure these conversations stay online. You’re helping cover hosting and production fees, and you’re making it possible for new survivors months or even years from now to find hope when they need it most. Hemorrhagic Stroke Patients Recovery Some people think my support won’t make a difference, but that’s a misunderstanding. Every single contribution is what keeps this podcast available for free to the people who need it most. And if you want to go even deeper on your recovery, you can also grab a copy of my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. Yeah, I know all about arteriovenous malformations. That’s why I’m… talking to you on this podcast because I had one of those in my head on the right side, near the cerebellum and it bled for the first time in November, in February 2012 was the first time my one bled. ⁓ But ⁓ I had numbness on my left side, the entire left side for a whole week before I went to the hospital. And then when they scanned my head, they said, we found a… a shadow on your brain. The shadow on my brain is the white part on the brain scan on the MRI that reveals the bleed and the bleed. The bleed was caused by this blood vessel, faulty blood vessel that they called an AVM that burst and then created a lot of trouble, right? And then the whole journey begins and then it’s just, you know, starting out. So, with mine, eventually they removed it from my head with brain surgery. How did they rectify the bleed in your brain? What did they do to stop it bleeding? Jonathan Arevalo (14:15) Well, it didn’t, it stopped on its own actually. ⁓ Bill Gasiamis (14:19) Sometimes they do that. I was told that sometimes they stop on their own and they don’t have to take any further action. But with mine, it bled another two times and they had to have brain surgery. But with yours, luckily, it stopped bleeding on its own. Jonathan Arevalo (14:34) Yes, Bill. So in reality, it was a miracle. It was a miracle behind it because it stopped the bleeding, but it also drained the bleeding that was inside. So it was like a drainage on its own. And that’s the miracle itself. And the doctors had a team of 10 in the hospital trying to monitor me. and see exactly how did it happen and at a young age and someone that’s healthy and doesn’t have a history of being in the hospital or anything such as that. So that was the miracle itself. So the neurologist ended up ⁓ with their team. They ended up having, I had an angiogram. And the angiogram was done through the side of the groin that goes up to your head, which they tried to ⁓ detect exactly the AVM. And that’s how they were able to find only one specific one that ruptured. Bill Gasiamis (15:53) Yeah, I had the same procedure through the groin and ⁓ they put the the contrast into the brain and then they take photos of that and it shows exactly where it’s bleeding. And that’s an interesting experience because you’re awake the whole time and they go past your heart and they go up into through your neck and then they go into your brain. Jonathan Arevalo (16:11) Yes. Yes, it is. was like an experience that it’s hard to explain, but I felt like electricity in my body. And I don’t know why I felt electricity in my body, but I felt like shocks in my brain or like fireworks. And I was thinking, what’s happening? Bill Gasiamis (16:19) Pretty crazy. Fireworks. Jonathan Arevalo (16:47) But the hardest part, Bill, was the fact that I had lot of difficulties in speaking. So words wouldn’t come out. For me, was like I tried to explain myself through, I don’t know how to say it, emotion. So like facial, facial expression, kind of like when you feel in pain or something like that, or you’re trying to say things. So I had a lot of difficulty for that period of time. And also, since it happened on the left side of my brain, on the opposite side from arm to leg, I had ⁓ difficulty with my mobility. And also with my memory, my memory was affected. ⁓ about a percentage amount. it was very hard ⁓ my first year. It was very difficult. Bill Gasiamis (17:59) I was 37 when I had mine and you were 35. Jonathan Arevalo (18:04) 35. Bill Gasiamis (18:07) Yeah, very young, very young age and then a lot of challenges. So who was supporting you when you were at hospital? Was it your girlfriend at the time and other family members or nobody able to come because of the lockdowns? Jonathan Arevalo (18:21) Yes. So because of the lockdowns and all that, the only person that I had the permission ⁓ for that support was my sister, my older sister. So she ⁓ would be the only one that just by phone, so not in person, because ⁓ my family lived two hours away from the city. And since they live very far away, ⁓ ⁓ My sister was the only one that had communication with the doctors, with the nurses and any specialist when it came to my case. Bill Gasiamis (19:02) Wow. After surgery, after you woke up from hospital, the first seven days, you said the better week you’re in ⁓ that situation. Jonathan Arevalo (19:17) Yes, for a week. ⁓ so they ended up not doing anything. I’m not too sure why. And they let me go home. Bill Gasiamis (19:29) Wow, so they had drained the blood already out of your head and then just sent you home Jonathan Arevalo (19:35) They sent me home on a wheelchair. So what happened was that I ended up getting picked up by my sister and I didn’t go back to where I was currently living in the city. Instead, I went back to the countryside with my parents who ended up becoming my caregivers. Bill Gasiamis (19:59) So you had a, they sent you home in a wheelchair. Did that mean you couldn’t walk when you were sent home? Jonathan Arevalo (20:08) I could walk a bit, but not too well. Bill Gasiamis (20:12) So there was no rehabilitation option, you didn’t get rehabilitated, they didn’t give you occupational therapy or anything? Jonathan Arevalo (20:19) They did that at home as well. Because of COVID, I ended up receiving rehabilitation at home. ⁓ When it came to walking, speaking, understanding, cognitive, and social worker, and nutritionist, all of those types of therapists, ⁓ they had to dress up in a suit as if… As if they’re going to see someone who’s with a virus or something. So it was like watching a movie. Bill Gasiamis (20:55) Wow Yeah, pretty crazy times. So you did get rehabilitation. They did ⁓ support you with therapy for speech and all that kind of stuff. ⁓ How long did all of those therapies last? Was it? Jonathan Arevalo (21:16) Yes, that lasted for seven months. Bill Gasiamis (21:20) Wow man, all at home. Jonathan Arevalo (21:23) all at home, ⁓ in person, and also virtually the way we’re doing right now. Bill Gasiamis (21:29) Yeah, was it virtually for speech therapy? Jonathan Arevalo (21:34) Yes, virtually it lasted longer than seven months for speech therapy. It lasted a year. Bill Gasiamis (21:40) Wow, Yeah, that that’s kind of cool that even though they were going through a really difficult time in Canada, with lockdowns with all the stuff that ⁓ happened because of COVID that you still got access to all of the necessary tools to help you overcome what it was that you went home with. Jonathan Arevalo (22:02) Yes, yes, I’m very thankful. I’m very thankful that I received the support that I needed and also the support of my caregivers, my parents and my older sister, because mainly my older sister was the one that was on top of everything. So that way I may receive everything the moment that I got released from the hospital. she ended up getting everything that I needed, so that way I get that support automatically right away, over the time, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (22:40) Wow, that’s excellent. So, however, now you’re living in different circumstances under lockdown, very difficult to access all these things, like things are seriously have gone wrong for you, know, quote unquote, in your health journey, okay? What is it like dealing with the emotional side of that? Emotional Challenges Post-Stroke Jonathan Arevalo (23:05) Very difficult. I was very angry. I was very frustrated. I was very upset. I was confused. Those are the different emotions that I felt. And I believe that many other stroke survivors would feel the same way. Because I find it that whenever something has been taken away from you, then it hurts a lot. And it hurts you a lot because it’s kind of like not being yourself anymore. So you have something that’s been taken away from you. And so I did lose quite a lot. I lost my job. I lost the ability to drive. So I had to sell my car. And I also ⁓ lost that relationship that I was in. that relationship ended. And I also wasn’t earning any money as well. So the only caregivers were my parents. had to live with them again. And for the past four years of recovery, which I’m still in that recovery stage of stroke, but I’ve improved a lot though. I’ve improved a lot and which I’m very, very thankful. And that just goes based on just having faith. And that’s where I started to change my life. I started to change my life the moment I started to change my mindset, the way I think. And because the moment I started to change the way I think, it was the moment that I was just much more grateful for even though I lost everything. I was simply grateful to be alive. And that was much, much more meaningful than everything that I had. Bill Gasiamis (25:08) than being grateful for a car, for example. Jonathan Arevalo (25:11) Being much grateful for having the second opportunity to live when possibly I wouldn’t be here telling my story. Bill Gasiamis (25:20) Yeah, I totally get that. I went through a similar experience, know, gratitude. Even if you’re not able to come up with something that’s as meaningful as I’m grateful to be alive, like maybe you’re grateful because, I don’t know, there’s a roof over your head or, I don’t know, somebody said something nice to you or whatever. Like you can be grateful about many things, but- being grateful to be alive. Well, that was an easy one for me as well. I totally get it. That’s what I went through. And I had another opportunity to make things right, to support ⁓ myself in a different way, to think in a different way, have it, to try different things and experience things that I’d never experienced before. What, what was the thing that kind of made you feel grateful to be alive? I know that Do you know what I mean? There’s a layer beneath that. is, I’m alive, okay, but what does that mean that you’re grateful to be alive? I get it, but there’s more to that. Jonathan Arevalo (26:33) Yes, of course. Yes. I’m grateful for being alive because I have a second opportunity to change my life to something even better when it comes to helping others, when it comes to being a difference from our old self. Sometimes we don’t get a second opportunity to reflect, but I had… four years, and it’s going to be almost five years, of the opportunity to reflect, of being thankful for, as you said, a place to live, for having my parents, for having my sister, and for having other loved ones that were there praying for me so that way I may live and not die. And at the same time, ⁓ Just being able to walk, to see, to speak, to understand. I was able to regain all of that that was lost. those were the reasons why I was grateful for. Bill Gasiamis (27:48) Yeah, your, ⁓ so your mindset and who you were and how you acted and how you behaved. Like, are you a very different person than the person beforehand? Like, what were the issues with your mindset? What were the issues with the way that you turned up in the world that you needed to tweak to be a better version of yourself back then? Now, I say that because many stroke survivors will say, I want to go back to how things were before stroke. And I’m like, I didn’t want to do that. Like, that’s not a good place to go. You’re smiling. So I’m imagining that you think a similar way. Jonathan Arevalo (28:30) Yes, agree with you, Bill. I find it that sometimes we don’t change our old habits, let’s say. Sometimes we carry habits or cycles in our life that we think it’s good, but in reality, it’s not something good that actually ⁓ represents us. or does good for others or even for ourselves. So myself, I can say that I had everything that I wanted and I had the opportunity to do pretty much everything that I wanted. But at the same time, I wasn’t completely happy. And at the same time, we carry certain bad habits because we think according to society, where society will will accept you based on the things and the patterns that you follow society. When it comes to doing certain bad habits that you think that’s good, but in reality, it’s not really good because you’re actually hurting and damaging who? Yourself. Which is something internally, both mentally, physically, and emotionally. But over time, When you start to reflect on your old habits that weren’t completely fulfilling or bringing that happiness or that peace or that joy, then in reality, it’s nothing good. It’s only for the moment. And sometimes we keep on rushing and doing things for the moment to get that pleasure. But that pleasure only lasts for a moment. So I had to change. And this recovery over these almost five years was a recovery not to just change myself, but to change the way I think, the way I speak and the way I act, because it’s a full connection. And that full connection is the reason why now what I’m currently doing is helping other people, other stroke survivors and other people with disability and also mental health, because we find it that each day The world is getting worse, not better, but worse. Why? Because we live in a broken world. And the fact that we live in a broken world is a reason why there’s many, many men and women that are looking for pleasure, but for the moment. And that’s something that I had to learn for myself the hard way. Even though I wasn’t in drugs, even though I wasn’t an alcoholic, even though I wasn’t doing harm to people, but I would still have bad vices or certain things that still didn’t make me happy. So that’s the main reason why. Overcoming Bad Habits and Health Challenges Bill Gasiamis (31:38) Yeah, it’s exactly my experience as well. Like I had some bad vices that were not ideal. They seemed minor, but the behavior, the habit behind it was not minor. It was major because it was there for many, many years. And if it continued to go on, wouldn’t be helping in a positive way. It wouldn’t be achieving a positive outcome. will be achieving something that my head thought was a good idea at the time, but not really something that is meaningful, purposeful, useful in life. Smoking was one of those things I used to smoke. And people, often I had a friend of mine who would say that that thing will kill you if you keep doing it. And I was like, yeah, don’t worry about it. That’s a problem for Bill in the future. It’s not a problem for Bill today. However, Bill of the future had a bloody brain and… a brain AVM bleed in his head. that became a 37. Really, that became a problem for Bill. Now. And I was smoking from about the age of 13, something like that, on and off. And my friend was telling me that from probably the age of 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. It didn’t take a lot of years to get to 37 and then be experiencing you know, negative impact of a health situation. And I realized that I’ve got to make some massive changes. And obviously, to me at least, it was the most obvious thing that I have to give up smoking. Also alcohol, even though I wasn’t an alcoholic, I had to stop drinking alcohol. And now I very, very rarely drink alcohol. Even 13, 14 years past the first bleed, I very rarely have an alcoholic drink. ⁓ So it’s amazing what came to my mind. I immediately knew the things that I had to change. No one had to tell me, ⁓ well, since you’re ⁓ having a stroke, since you can’t walk properly yet, since your left arm doesn’t work correctly, why don’t you think about fixing this, changing that, doing this, doing that? No one had to tell me. Inside of me, instinctively, I knew what I was doing that was not supporting me, was not supporting my mission in life and my goal in life. And it was the easiest thing to change. ⁓ I did receive some help though. I didn’t do it alone, right? So I had a counselor, I had a coach, a life coach. ⁓ I sought out the wisdom of people that were older than me, smarter than me, know, been on the planet longer than me whatever. And I did it together with other people, not just on my own, because change is not very easy, especially when you remove an old habit and then you have to replace it with something. Initially, replacing it with something feels a bit strange and you don’t know if it’s the right thing that you’ve replaced it with and how that’s going to look like in six months or 12 months. So that’s what I found was that in order to help me find the right things to replace the things that needed to be left behind. I needed to seek the support of other people, counselors, coaches, et cetera. Did you have some support in that part of your recovery so that you can kind of make sense of all the changes that were happening in your body, in your emotions and in your life? Jonathan Arevalo (35:15) Yes. So I ended up joining a nonprofit organization here in Canada called March of Dimes. And March of Dimes provides support for stroke survivors, people with disability, and they have peer support. And it’s a form of counseling with other stroke survivors. And they do this within all of Canada. And also through Heart and Stroke as well, which is another nonprofit organization, Heart and Stroke. So both of them, would do this virtually where I would seek support to talk to someone based on what I’m going through, my thoughts, my emotions, and also telling my story. And from that moment, I said to myself, I want to do the same. I want to give back to the community and to other survivors. So I ended up becoming a volunteer. And for the past three years, I’ve been a volunteer at ⁓ March of Dimes and also Heart and Stroke, where I ended up becoming an advocate. for both nonprofit organizations. And you can also see me on their website on both of them where it tells my story, but also the fact that I volunteer helping out people from the ages of 20 to the ages of 80 years old in two languages now. So I do it in English and Spanish. And it feels really, really good. It really does. Bill Gasiamis (37:09) Yeah, we have very similar stories and journeys. So I went and connected with the Stroke Foundation here in Australia and then provided became an advocate so that we can raise awareness about stroke and then started doing some speaking on their behalf at different organizations. And and like you said, like it gives you a lot of purpose and meaning. It makes what happened to you worthwhile. You know, it’s a very important part of, well, why did this happen to me? I don’t know. You could come up with a lot of negative reasons why something bad happened to you, but what am I going to do about this? And how can I transform this in a way that can help other people? Well, that is a better question to ask. And then volunteering is the best way to do that. I volunteered probably from 2013 through to about 2019. Finding Purpose Through Volunteering For about six years I volunteered. And at the same time I was running the podcast, I started the podcast in 2015. ⁓ And it was just ⁓ meeting other people who had understood me as well in those communities. That was fantastic. Being able to connect with people like that and feeling like, you know, this person really understands what happened to me because it happened to them in a different way, but they have a similar kind of recovery. And… we are aligned in our mission to support others and make a difference and not to make it just about us because that’s a really difficult thing to ⁓ do is you you become anxious and depressed when you just make it about yourself so making it about other people’s stops that thinking pattern ⁓ and I just love the journey that you’re on because you’re very early on in the journey and I can see it’s going to continue ⁓ to be that kind of meaning making journey. I found that I said that I discovered my purpose after the stroke. Now you would have thought that somebody who was married had two children, had plenty of purpose in their life, plenty of meaning. Why do I exist for my children? To support them, to teach them, to make them great men, to ⁓ give them the opportunities in the world, in the community, except They move out of home eventually, and then they become independent. And then your purpose and meaning has to shift. It cannot just be about them. You can include them in your purpose and meaning because you love them, they’re your children, et cetera, in my case. But, you know, they don’t need me now to be the guy that shows them the way of the world and… educate them and prepare them and all that kind of stuff. They are doing it on their own. When they do need me, they come for five minutes or 10 minutes. We have a conversation and they’re done. So it’s important to shift that energy that I had as a parent to other people who need support in the early days of their experience when they have a negative health experience so that we can help guide them through that adversity and overcome and then maybe grow and be a better version of themselves in a few years down the track. Jonathan Arevalo (40:41) Yes, I think that it’s important to be a good example, a good leader, whether it’s at home or everywhere we go. We always need to be a good testimony. And the way I’ve learned that is also through my dad, which he taught me at a young age to be to be a man of righteousness, where he shows a good example through his good actions, but not only through words, but through actions, right? Because sometimes we may speak and say a lot of things, but we don’t live it. But when you live it, it makes a huge difference. And whenever we show those examples, whether it’s… to anyone, any family members, strangers, or anything like that. We need to be like that everywhere we go. And that’s something that I’ve learned a lot, that we need to be a good example to anyone. Bill Gasiamis (41:47) Yeah, I imagine that in the last five years you would have had some setbacks as well. What was the hardest challenge to overcome, do you think, for you? Was it physically or was it emotionally? Jonathan Arevalo (41:59) ⁓ I think it was more emotionally than physically. But it’s something that I was able to work on because even myself, ended up seeking support. And not only through these nonprofit organizations, but also within the church. So I ended up going to church and I had one of the pastors being my mentor ⁓ for a year and a half, and he ended up helping me out a lot. And it was a big amount of support that I received also from my dad and my mom and my sister. So I always had ⁓ a close family support. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (42:54) Yeah, the church is very common in people’s recovery. You hear a lot about people reconnecting with their church or even if they were still connected with their church, getting supported and having people turn up, ⁓ provide food, provide counseling, provide encouragement, all sorts of things. ⁓ And it sounds like it’s a fantastic community. And then you also hear from people who had ⁓ non-church type of. communities who come forward, support them and give them ⁓ the things that they need to kind of get them settled and in some kind of routine where they can continue recovery in their own way. ⁓ But there would have also been hard times, right? Where, because most people, and on my podcast, we talk about all the amazing things that stroke survivors do and they overcome, et cetera, but there’s also a… really, really hard times. I went through what I would call rock bottom moments, found myself in the abyss. Did you find yourself there at all? Had you experienced kind of that really down negative part of stroke ⁓ in your mental state and your emotional state as well? Jonathan Arevalo (44:09) Yes, ⁓ within the first year. So the first year was everything like I mentioned earlier about feeling angry, frustrated, ⁓ sad and all that. The first year was the hardest part of ⁓ just not knowing what to do. And the only support was ⁓ through my parents that helped me a lot to kind of take away those negative thoughts. And also getting into the church where I had support with the pastor. And then myself just changing my mindset where I had to start looking more into, more to God because I find it that without God we’re nothing. And based on my faith, that’s what gave me the strength, the encouragement, and the joy that was taken away the moment I had my stroke. So my faith in God was what gave me the strength and gave me the encouragement to move on forward. The Role of Faith in Recovery Bill Gasiamis (45:31) Let’s talk about faith for a moment because people may not believe in God. Some people may not believe in God, a God, their God, whatever. faith on its own as a experience is something that we, if we practice, ⁓ is really supportive of recovery. So faith in ourselves, faith in the medical system, faith in any situation where We have to put our kind of our life in the hands of other people. That’s what we’re practicing for people who don’t have faith in God or who don’t have a God or don’t believe in God. You still have to practice faith and you practice faith every single day. ⁓ I wanna go and receive one of my medications. You have to have faith in the medication that is going to work for you and it’s going to actually do the job. that it’s meant to do. Keep your blood pressure down, for example. I’m on blood pressure medication. ⁓ When I drive my car, I have to have faith that the other person is gonna stay on their side of the road and they’re not gonna come on my side of the road. And you know, 99.999 times out of 100, that’s exactly what happens. know, ⁓ when I have, when I’m driving the car, once again, I have to have faith that the lights that I stop at are going to, in fact, when it’s red on my side, it’s going to be green on the other side. And at some point it’s going to switch and it’s going to go green on my side and it will definitely go red on the other side so that we don’t collide. You know, there’s faith. We practice faith all the time throughout our day, throughout our whole life without even really knowing it and without needing to practice faith in a religious way. ⁓ And that’s what I’ve kind of got out of my whole, my whole journey is I didn’t find God so much in that I see God differently these days. I kind of believe that God is me. I am God, God is within me. So when I request a solution, if I use the word God in the sentence, God guide me to find the answer to this difficult question, what I’m actually doing is I’m having an internal conversation with myself. And I’m asking myself, my unconscious self to guide me to find the answer in this particular way. And that way I can combine God, the non-religious version of God, we’ll call it spirit or our creator or whatever you want to call it. And I can embody that and then make it part of me. And then in the right context, I can access the wisdom of God, the creator, nature, whoever, and I can be guided instinctively to follow my gut to an answer. And then if I go down a particular path that was not that way, and I find the wrong path, I can redirect, go back in, redirect and go again. So I became I suppose more, maybe the word is spiritual, it’s probably not the right word, but it’s how I kind of practice my, what you might call connection to God and faith. That’s how I practice it. How does that sound to you? Jonathan Arevalo (49:08) Yes, for me, it’s having faith is believing without seeing. And whenever you build a relationship with God is the moment that you start to learn who God is. And when you read God’s Word, God’s Word teaches us about His promises. His promises that He has for each one of His children, which God created, heaven and earth and everything that we see. And the fact that we breathe and and all that, that’s God who does that. there was this, the other day I was reading and it’s ⁓ in the Bible in the book of Isaiah, who’s a prophet. And it was based on the story of a king and the king is his name is Hezekiah. And Hezekiah had an illness, but not only that, it said, actually, can I read it in? in a second. So it says in his book that It says in Isaiah 38, it says, In those days, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him and said, What is what the Lord says? Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You will not recover. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah. Go and tell Hezekiah, this is what the Lord, the God of your father, David, says. I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will add 15 years to your life and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Azariah. I will defend this city. This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised.” So when I read that, I said, wow, how amazing God is that not only does he give promises to either kings and all of that during 2000 years ago in history and how God is still faithful to each one of us. Why? Because each one of us have a purpose and because God has created us with purpose is the reason why his love and mercy is so great. And that’s why I’m thankful for it I know that God is faithful and because his faithfulness He’s given me a second opportunity to live. Bill Gasiamis (52:16) Yeah. So you you take your Bible everywhere now. Jonathan Arevalo (52:21) I take his word everywhere in my heart and I find it that his word is real and is truthful because without God’s word, there’s no life. Bill Gasiamis (52:28) Yeah. So what about before stroke? Were you somebody that knew the scripture? Were you somebody that ⁓ had that type of connection to the word? Jonathan Arevalo (52:47) I didn’t have that connection as much as I have it now. Bill Gasiamis (52:51) Yeah. That’s cool. Jonathan Arevalo (52:53) And that goes based on like we spoke earlier about having a relationship. It’s not really following a religion. It’s knowing that there’s something greater than us. That’s the difference. Bill Gasiamis (53:05) Yeah. I agree with that. Jonathan Arevalo (53:09) And when we know that there’s something greater than us, then we can see that things change. But only things change only if we change ourselves in the inside. Because remember, this world that we live in, as I said earlier, we live in a broken world, right? A broken world where we find a lot of chaos and a lot of things going on. But without that love, without that peace, without that joy, that can only come. through the creator, which is God. And that’s the only way that you can actually be molded to the righteous man of who God has created in us. But we just need to know how to find that. And that way is through His word. His word teaches us that. And the moment that we apply that to our lives, day by day, the same way like with our health, our sickness, our weakness, our insecurities, How can we change that? We can only change it the moment that we apply it into our lives, little by little. And through that is the moment that we can see transformation and a step of moving forward and also breakthrough. Breakthrough is only done through changing our old selves. Because our old self is very hard to break, because we still carry that. Understanding Suffering and Connection to God Bill Gasiamis (54:35) Yeah, I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. Some people will be listening and going, well, if God is so good, why did God do this to me? You know, some people are far more injured because of stroke than you or I, even though your injuries and mine are all valid. There’s people who won’t walk again. There’s people who lose their memory, who can’t remember anymore. There’s people who cannot get their speech back. There’s people who’s… left arm, right leg won’t work again, then there’s people who will pass away. And then some of those people find that they’ve been harshly treated by God, by their maker, their creator. How do you talk to people like that to make them feel like it’s not personal? God, your creator, your maker has not gone after you and ⁓ is not punishing you. Like what do you say to people who lose connection with spirit, with God, with their creator? Jonathan Arevalo (55:40) Yeah, well, what I can say is that that God is so merciful, right? And because God is so merciful and through His love, we see in God’s Word that He died for us in the cross for our sins and is due to sin that we go through all these challenges. And that’s the connection through a broken world that we live in. is because everything comes from sin. And sometimes it’s hard to say, why is this happening to me? Or why am I not getting better? Well, everything goes back to sin. And because until we kind of, until we accept Jesus Christ, but not only accept Jesus Christ, but at the same time, God allows certain things that we have to go through. We have to go through certain challenges or obstacles, right? But it’s really hard to say. I find it. Maybe to answer that question. Bill Gasiamis (56:47) Yeah. I actually don’t mind the word sin when you use the word sin, because I’ve recently discovered ⁓ some people’s meaning of the word sin is to take that an incorrect aim to aim in the wrong direction. And I really relate to that. So when I sin, I don’t kind of see it as a, ⁓ you good, me bad. Like, do you know, don’t, I don’t sort of see that type of thing. It’s just aiming in the wrong direction. For example, previously my life was led by my head. It was my head that was telling me this sounds like a good idea. Yeah, we should have three cars. We should have the biggest house possible. We should do all of that. My head was guiding my life, whereas now my head is supporting my heart to guide my life. That’s why the podcast exists, because the podcast is not about what my head thinks is a good idea. Because if my head thought it was a good idea, this podcast should be making a shitload of money and it’s not making a ton of money. That’s why I request support from Patreon. That’s why I wrote a book to make a little bit of money so that I can ⁓ cover the costs of recording, editing, uploading, hosting a podcast. Like that’s the reason why it needs to make money, but it doesn’t need to make hundreds of thousands or millions and millions of dollars. My head in the old days would be going, dude. Don’t ever do 400 episodes of stroke survivors podcast. I’m not interested in that. And I, and I would be going, okay, what do I need to do? And my head would be going, you need to 24 hours a day, seven days a week and make as much money as you can. So you can have all the things that we’re told by the marketing companies that you need to have. I see that as a sin. Do you understand? That is the wrong aim. I’ve taken aim. dude and I’m putting all my energy into the wrong things. Whereas now I’ve taken aim and adjusted and now I think I’m aiming in the right direction. It’s about purpose, meaning, connecting with other people, helping other people, supporting other people. I’m no longer sinning in that particular way. That’s the literal description of the word sin. So it’s really important that I learned that because if I didn’t learn that I would be taking when I hear the word sin as a me bad, everyone else good. And that’s definitely not what it is. And that’s what I think the, the bleeding in my brain helped me adjust the aim, redirect where I was heading in my life, who was important, why they were important to me. ⁓ and, and my community is not a church. but I’m creating my own community on this podcast, know, 400 interviews, people who reach out from you all around the world. It’s the same kind of community, giving community as a church community is. We support each other, we help each other, we give people information, we connect other people with ⁓ doctors and conditions and solutions. So it’s like, yeah, that’s what I was lacking. I was lacking community. Jonathan Arevalo (1:00:01) community. Bill Gasiamis (1:00:02) I was lacking people who understood me and who were similarly aligned to me. You know, I was connecting with people who were sinning in their own way because their direction was all wrong and we were finding each other and we were making life harder for ourselves by being all in our heads and not connected to our body and our heart, right? Jonathan Arevalo (1:00:23) Yeah, that’s right. Bill Gasiamis (1:00:25) That’s kind of my religious journey without connecting it to a religion or to a religious chapter or to a church in a particular location. But I still feel like it’s a religious journey, you know? Jonathan Arevalo (1:00:39) Yes, like the moment that you build fellowship as we’re doing right now, we’re sharing our stories and we’re sharing our journey as stroke survivors. And through this story is what shows which is what shows purpose and also can leave an impact to others, survivors. Because if we don’t show a difference and if we don’t help support other people, then what purpose do we have on this earth? Right? We’re here to help one another and to be different in a good way. Building Community and Fellowship Because every single time we’re always going to be going through different challenges. Whether it’s negative thoughts or everything that we see on TV. Because every single time that we’re looking at the news is always bad news, So all those negative thoughts are something that we are affected day by day. And the only way that we’re able to overcome those negative thoughts is by putting ourselves surrounded in other things. Other things that can help us strengthen our mind, our body, and emotions. But that’s something that takes day by day. Bill Gasiamis (1:02:14) Yeah, I love it. I love your journey. I love how similar we are in our path, even though we talk about it in a slightly different way. ⁓ Leading a good example is something that was very important to me. I want to be a good example for my kids. In my book, ⁓ the dedication says to all the stroke survivors who are dealing with the aftermath of stroke. and despite it all are seeking transformation and growth. And that’s the first part of the dedication. And the second part of the dedication says to my family, I hope that that I have set a good example. I mean, my only goal, my only goal is to set a good example, to show them when adversity comes, how you can respond. There’s a Jonathan Arevalo (1:02:59) Thank Bill Gasiamis (1:03:10) I think there’s a way to respond that’s wrong. And then there’s many ways to respond that are right. There’s a one, there’s unfortunately, you know, responding by going back to the way that you were before, think is the wrong way to respond. then finding a new path forward, taking aim and choosing the wrong direction, sinning, and then readjusting, and then going again in another direction, I believe. like is the example that we need to set for other people just so that my kids can see in the future when they go through a tough time, they go, I think I remember one way that my dad did it that might be supportive of my recovery down the path and see, okay, this is what dad did. I don’t need to do what dad did, but this is kind of how he thought about that and how he approached that. That’s really. what I was sitting out to achieve. And I think I’ve achieved that and I feel really good about that, you know. Jonathan Arevalo (1:04:17) Yeah, no, I think that’s excellent, Bill. I’m glad that you were able to create a podcast. And ⁓ thank you for this opportunity because I never thought I’d be able to share my story. And as well for the fact that your sharing was called, ⁓ that you created a book to tell about your stroke survival. And I think that that’s going to impact many, many, many other survivors. They’re going through difficult times and I think that’s amazing. Bill Gasiamis (1:04:52) Yeah, thank you. A lot of people have bought it. I think there’s at least 600 copies being sold at this stage. And that’s not a lot. It’s not a million copies, but ⁓ it was never about the number. It was just about having it available just so that people can come across it if they need to and ⁓ read it and just see a different perspective of how you can approach your recovery. ⁓ You can get the book at recoveryafterstroke.com/book for anyone that’s watching and listening. So as we kind of get to the end of this interview, tell me what’s next for you. What’s on the to-do list? What goals do you have that you want to achieve? Future Goals and New Beginnings Jonathan Arevalo (1:05:31) Yes, well, what I’ve been able to achieve ⁓ was that I ended up getting married this year. Thank you. It wasn’t something expected because I thought maybe it’s not going to be possible to meet someone based on my condition and everything, but… Everything changed. And so I got married on April 11th of this year. So I’m now married. And the other thing that I started this year was besides the volunteering, I also created ⁓ my own like small business when it comes to mentorship to help other people, which are people that are either stroke survivors. People with disability and also mental health. And I created my website on that to help a lot of people. And it’s ⁓ non-profit at the moment, which is donation-based. And I’m still helping in the community. I still volunteer. And I still ⁓ help out in the church and many other places. So those are the things that I’m still currently doing. Bill Gasiamis (1:07:02) Fantastic, man. So the website, we will have the links to all of the different social media and your website, et cetera, for people to follow if they want to connect with you. ⁓ The journey that you’re on, you’re calling it the 20, the project 21. Jonathan Arevalo (1:07:28) Yes. The reason I called it Project 21, because this journey that I’m going through is like a form of a project. And everything started in 2021. So that’s why I decided to pick something unique and different and call it Project 21. Bill Gasiamis (1:07:51) Yeah, fantastic, Jonathan. I really appreciate our conversation. Thank you for reaching out and joining me on the podcast. I love the work that you’re doing and will continue to do. There’s many, many years ahead of you of doing fantastic work and I look forward to keeping in touch and finding out how your journey unfolds. Jonathan Arevalo (1:08:14) Yes, thank you, Bill. I appreciate it. Bill Gasiamis (1:08:17) Well, thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Recovery After Stroke podcast. And thank you to Jonathan for sharing a story that takes a lot of courage to revisit. One thing I hope you take from this conversation is that recovery is never just physical. It’s emotional, it’s messy, it’s confusing, but it is also an opportunity to rediscover who you can become. Jonathan’s journey shows that healing doesn’t always look like we expect. And sometimes the smaller steps forward end up becoming the most meaningful ones. If this episode helped you feel understood or gave you something to think about on your recovery path, remember to visit patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Some people believe their support won’t make a difference, but that’s an assumption that simply isn’t true. Every contribution helps me continue producing these episodes, keep them online and moving toward my goal of recording a thousand conversations. So no stroke survivor ever has to feel like they’re going through this alone. And if you haven’t already, you can also order my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. Many listeners expect it to be just my personal story, but it’s actually something much more useful. It’s the guide I wish existed when I was confused, overwhelmed, and trying to figure out how to rebuild my life after stroke. Thank you again for being here, for listening, and for supporting the work in whatever way you can. You’re not alone in this. and I’ll see you on the next episode. 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. All content on this website and 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 Gassiamus. 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 subst

In this episode, editor in chief Joseph E. Safdieh, MD, FAAN, highlights articles about medical school acceptance rates after the ending of affirmative action, minimally invasive surgery for hemorrhagic stroke, and the increased risk of brain tumors after traumatic brain injury.

Fellow stroke survivor, Lori Vober, joins me again to chat about God's miracles. While she suffered a hemorrhagic stroke when she was twenty-nine years old, Lori believes surviving it is a miracle. She is grateful for all the miracles she experienced during her recovery and all the years since then.Being grateful is a huge part of Lori's mindset.Notable quotes from Lori Vober:·         “It's a mindset of when we lose control and we are in the depths of despair because of our challenges, but God is good, and our faith is strong.”·         “God's always there for us, but it's the seeking and the finding Him and being in His Word and surrounding ourselves with a good community of believers that remind us of Him and Ghis plans for us that create the whole package.”·         “If I had complete physical healing, my testimony to others would not be the same.” Bible verses:·         Jeremiah 29:11-13·         Jeremiah 1:5 Connect with Lori Vober at https://lorivober.com/On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lori.voberOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorilonghorn99/Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Have a comment about this episode? Click HERE and complete the form.

May is Stroke Awareness Month. Strokes can happen to anyone at any age. When I had a stroke in 1972 at age 2, that wasn't the case. Back then, strokes happened to people 65 years and older who were unhealthy: obese, smoker, drinker, and rarely exercised.My guest, Lori Vober, is also a stroke survivor. Her hemorrhagic stroke happened when she was twenty-nine years old. Thankfully, people were at the church at that day and got Lori help quickly. Lori shares her story in her book: Choices: When You Are Faced with a Challenge, What Choice Will You Make? When we face challenges that significantly impact our lives, Lori believes we must trust that God has a bigger and better plan.Notable quotes by Lori Vober:·         “We can get stuck in bitter, or we can grow better through our experiences.”·         “I am thankful I have the mindset and perseverance to be able to do all I can do.”·         “Although I can't control my circumstances, I can control my attitude and my faith.”Lori's fight verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which reads, “Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Connect with Lori Vober at https://lorivober.com/On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lori.voberOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorilonghorn99/ Stroke awareness facts: ·         Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the US and a leading cause of severe disability. ·         The two major types of strokes are hemorrhagic, which occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures, and ischemic, which occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel and cuts off blood flow. ·         Nearly two million brain cells die each minute a stroke is untreated. ·         About 55,000 more women than men have a stroke each year.·         In the US, 1 in 5 women will have a stroke.·         Stroke kills twice as many African Americans as Caucasians.·         80% of strokes are preventable. ·         Know the anacronym FAST: F = droopy face, A = arm or leg numb, S = slurred speech, T = time.  Call 9-1-1 fast! Time is of the essence if you are experiencing any of these symptoms. Send me a COMMENT or QUESTION!THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Have a comment about this episode? Click HERE and complete the form.

In this standout episode of Next Steps 4 Seniors: Conversations on Aging, we’re bringing back an audience favorite: our eye-opening interview with Nurse Practitioner Liz Jackson from Henry Ford Hospital. Liz breaks down the B.E.F.A.S.T. method for spotting stroke symptoms early, dives into the different types of strokes, and explains why timing is everything when it comes to treatment. We also tackle the red flags of heart attacks, the sneaky signs of vascular disease (yes, even leg cramping!), and how managing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes can be game-changers. Early detection = lives saved. This episode is packed with info that could protect you or someone you love. Listen now on your favorite podcast platform! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @ConversationsOnAging Visit nextsteps4seniors.com and our foundation at nextsteps4seniorsfoundation.org Questions or ideas? Call 248-651-5010 or email hello@nextsteps4seniors.com Sponsorship inquiries: marketing@nextsteps4seniors.com Sponsored by Aeroflow Urology: You could qualify to receive incontinence supplies at no cost through insurance—discreetly delivered to your door. Visit aeroflowurology.com/ns4s to check eligibility. (*Some exclusions apply.)Learn more : https://nextsteps4seniors.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Next Steps 4 Seniors: Conversations on Aging, we sit down with Nurse Practitioner Liz Jackson from Henry Ford Hospital to discuss life-saving information on strokes, heart attacks, and vascular health. We break down the B.E.F.A.S.T. method for identifying stroke symptoms early, explore the different types of strokes, and highlight the urgency of seeking immediate medical attention. Elizabeth also shares insights on recognizing heart attack warning signs, managing key risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes, and understanding how leg cramping may indicate vascular disease. Early detection and fast action can save lives—tune in to learn how you can protect yourself and your loved ones.

You can't change the past, but Mike Kent's hemorrhagic stroke recovery shows how to embrace growth and resilience to transform the future. The post You Can't Change the Past: How Mike Kent Turned a Hemorrhagic Stroke into Growth appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Sandra Narayanan, MD, Vascular Neurologist and Neurointerventional Surgeon at the Pacific Stroke and Neurovascular Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute, explains the difference between hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.The main difference between the two types of stroke is the underlying cause of the brain damage. In ischemic stroke, the damage is caused by a lack of blood supply, while in hemorrhagic stroke, it is caused by bleeding into the brain tissue. Both types of stroke are medical emergencies and require immediate medical attention to prevent further damage and improve outcomes.

Discover Rachel Paverman's inspiring journey from cavernoma to hemorrhagic stroke recovery. A story of resilience, hope, and determination. The post How Rachel Paverman Overcame a Cavernoma and Hemorrhagic Stroke: A Story of Resilience and Hope appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Episode Summary:  My guest today suffered a hemorrhagic stroke at the age of 29, and then subsequently developed epilepsy. I speak with Lori Vober about how God has taken her painful wounds and fashioned them into beautiful sacred scars, teaching her that every trial we face provides us with unique opportunities we might not have otherwise encountered. Quotables from the episode: With the right perspective, attitude, and perseverance, we can stay unstuck and keep moving forward even with our difficulties. Some of our greatest areas of ministry come out of our greatest areas of pain and woundedness. My journey took me through pain physically, mentally, and emotionally but God had me in the palm of his hand because he not only saved my life but he started me on my faith journey long before the stroke so I had a firm foundation to stand on and I learned more and more about how to depend on him. He gives us a choice regarding how we are going to look at our painful wounds, and I'm so grateful that allowed me to go through the fire but also to become closer to him. When we go through trials, we can either lean into God or we can run the other way. But he's not going to chase us. He wants us to willingly come to him. When things are going well, I have a tendency to think, “I've got this, God. I'll let you know when I need help!” But when I go through the trials that seem so dark, that's when I hold onto every nugget that the Lord has given me over my life. Trials offer opportunities. Too often, we begrudge the trials and don't dig in to look for opportunities and don't consider things outside our box. Perseverance ends up yielding the blessing of God's mercy and compassion.  Perseverance has definitely been required. No one clued me in that 21 years down the road I would still have a disability. Grief and loss have also been part of the equation but didn't hit me right away, but rather, has been a journey that I've had to go through over time. But it has helped me to recognize the importance of processing grief and loss in order to move forward. Sometimes we associate grief and loss with the death of a loved one, but grief and loss also occur when we lose our functioning or lose our dreams. God gives us so many mini-miracles, and when God doesn't give you the dream of your heart, we have to be okay with that and thank him for all the other mini-miracles He has provided. If He had granted me the full desires of my heart, I would not have had the blessing of the journey that has led me to where I am today. We need to let God be God and still trust him. I woke up paralyzed on one side. I can walk, but I do so with a limp. I have physical pain. I'm still actively engaged in therapy. But He keeps giving me amazing opportunities. God can handle our anger…He knows about it anyway. When I finally expressed my frustration and anger to God, it was as if He was saying, “now we can deal with it and get somewhere.” Vulnerability is so important, but we can do so honestly in a positive way. I've learned so much through my own need for emotional support, that was never really met, how to support others. When we are vulnerable in our suffering, it gives other people permission to be honest and vulnerable about their situation too. We're all going to go through something painful, embarrassing, shameful, but in the hands of a redemptive God, he can bring about a beautiful sacred scar. We have to give grace to ourselves as well as to our friends and family members who aren't sure how to help because they haven't gone through it themselves and truly don't understand. Every challenge, every trial that we go through is part of His master plan and purpose for us, it's just a matter of us getting out of the way of our plans and saying, “Yes, God, I understand that this doesn't fit into my plan, but it does fit into yours.” We have to be willing to look at how our situation fits into God's master plan. I have a tendency to make my plans and want God to fit in it, but we need to surrender to His perfect plan. God is the only thing that is going to get you through painful situations. Our true hope is in God. The One who created us and the One who is waiting for us at the end of this earthly life is the only One who truly matters. Scripture References: James 5:11 “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”   Recommended Resources:  Choices: When You Are Faced With a Challenge, What Choice Will You Make? By Lori Vober Sacred Scars: Resting in God's Promise That Your Past Is Not Wasted by Dr. Michelle Bengtson  The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out to God When Pain Overwhelms by Dr. Michelle Bengtson YouVersion 5-Day Devotional Reaching Out To God When Pain Overwhelms   Today is Going to be a Good Day: 90 Promises to Start Your Day Off Right by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the AWSA 2023 Inspirational Gift Book of the Year Award, the Christian Literary Awards Reader's Choice Award in four categories, and the Christian Literary Awards Henri Award for Devotionals YouVersion 7-Day Devotional, Today is Going to be a Good Day YouVersion 7-Day Devotional, Today is Going to be Another Good Day Breaking Anxiety's Grip: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises by Dr. Michelle Bengtson Breaking Anxiety's Grip Free Study Guide Free 7-Day YouVersion Bible Reading Plan for Breaking Anxiety's Grip Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor's Personal Journey Through Depression by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader's Choice Award Hope Prevails Bible Study by Dr. Michelle Bengtson, winner of the Christian Literary Award Reader's Choice Award Trusting God Through Cancer 1 Trusting God Through Cancer 2 Revive & Thrive Women's Conference Subdue Stress and Anxiety: Fifteen Experts Offer Comprehensive Tools in Ten Minutes a Day. Use my link plus discount code BENG99 to save $90 on course (course will be $99.) Free Download: How To Fight Fearful/Anxious Thoughts and Win   Social Media Links for Guest and Host: Connect with Lori Vober: Website / Facebook / LinkedIn / X For more hope, stay connected with Dr. Bengtson at: Order Book Breaking Anxiety's Grip / Order Book Hope Prevails  /  Website  /  Blog  /  Facebook / Twitter (@DrMBengtson)  /  LinkedIn  /  Instagram / Pinterest / YouTube Guest: Lori Vober suffered a hemorrhagic stroke at age twenty-nine, and then developed epilepsy from the stroke. She is a survivor, overcomer, connector, and passionate about sharing hope with others. With the right perspective, attitude, and perseverance, we can stay unstuck and keep moving forward. Even with her difficulties, Lori and her husband, Dainis, were able to become adoptive parents to a sibling group of three. Lori's journey and books can be found at www.lorivober.com.   Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson Audio Technical Support: Bryce Bengtson  

Braydon Dymm, MD, is a board-certified neurologist and accomplished physician who specializes in cerebrovascular disease and stroke care.After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Detroit Mercy and earning his medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine, he completed his neurology residency at Michigan Medicine. Dr. Dymm recently finished an advanced fellowship in cerebrovascular neurology at Duke University Hospital. He has made significant research contributions with publications in respected journals like Neurology and Stroke. Currently, Dr. Dymm serves as a neurohospitalist in the Department of Neurology at Charleston Area Medical Center.His passion for advancing stroke care and medical education has established him as an emerging leader in the field. In this episode, we cover:The differences between ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, including causes and symptoms.The critical of recognizing stroke symptoms quickly using the BFAST mnemonic.Gender disparities in stroke incidence, with a focus on why women are more affected and have worse outcomes.The role of high blood pressure and cholesterol in stroke risk and prevention strategies.The effectiveness of exercise, diet, and stress management in reducing stroke risk.Advances in stroke treatment, including the transition from TPA to tenecteplase for quicker administration.The potential for new technologies, like continuous blood pressure monitors, to improve stroke prevention.Sign up to The Neuro Athletics Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0Connect with BraydonTwitter: https://x.com/BraydonDymmMy Socials:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_Sponsors for today's episode:Momentous - Use code NEURO to get 20%  off your first subscription order - code NEURO:  https://www.livemomentous.com/Inside Tracker - Use code LOUISA20 for 20% off - https://insidetracker.com/louisaZocDoc- Use code NEURO - https://www.zocdoc.com/neuro(00:00) Preview and Intro(00:36) Introducing Dr. Braydon Dymm(01:08) Gender Disparities in Stroke?(02:28) Pathology of Ischemic Stroke(06:29) Small Vessel Strokes(09:56) Alzheimer's as Vascular Dementia(11:18) Managing Blood Pressure and Cholesterol(13:15) Role of Exercise in Stroke Prevention(14:22) Resistance Training and Dementia Prevention(18:13) Golden Hour in Stroke Treatment(20:07) Recognizing Stroke Symptoms with BFAST(24:47) Anticoagulants vs. Antiplatelets(25:56) Preventing Strokes with Blood Thinners(26:45) Hemorrhagic Strokes(29:36) Medication Differences for Stroke Types(32:58) Gender Differences in Stroke Outcomes(33:04) Challenges of DeThe Neuro Athletics Newsletter Instagram: @louisanicola_Twitter : @louisanicola_YouTube: @Louisa NicolaThe Neuro Experience Podcast is proud to have hosted: Dr Andrew Huberman, Dr Gabrielle Lyon, Dr Layne Norton, Thomas DeLauer, Shawn Stevenson, Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen, Saad Alam, Uma Naidoo, Dr. Lanna Cheuck, Angela Lee Pucci, Jillian Turecki, Dr. Jordan Feigenbaum, Dr. Darren Candow, Dr. Sue Varma, Evy Poumpouras, Dr Casey Means, Renee Deehan, Dr Chris Palmer, Dr Charles Brenner.

As clinicians working with patients who have sustained an acute brain injury, we are naturally focused on caring for the injury itself. Until recent years, the clinical severity of brain injury was regarded as the main driver of prognosis and outcomes. However, we are beginning to understand how non-clinical factors, including the social determinants of health (SDOH), contribute to differential risk for all brain injuries including hemorrhagic stroke, and continue to impact our patients' recovery even after injury. In this week's episode Dr Lauren Koffman is joined by Dr Nirupama Yechoor and Dr Rachel Forman to discuss how understanding the complex interplay between clinical and social determinants of health is crucial for clinicians caring for hemorrhagic stroke survivors, not only for recovery and secondary prevention, but also to effectively counsel families on primary prevention. Lauren is also joined by Mike Foster, a member of Yale's Stroke Patient Advisory Board who talks about his experience as a stroke survivor. You can read the Currents article at https://currents.neurocriticalcare.org/Leading-Insights/Article/innovation-for-health-disparities-research-in-hemorrhagic-stroke.  Stroke survivors or those who care for loved ones who have had a stroke can sign-up for Dr Yechoor's study at https://rally.massgeneralbrigham.org/study/strokewellbeing. 

To learn more about working with me and to get a free call and bonus digestion training, go to: www.bit.ly/gutcall Or, call us now at 586-685-2222 To try Dr. Christine's Smart Carb-45 for $19.99, go to: www.TrySmartCarb.com

To learn more about working with me and to get a free call and bonus digestion training, go to: www.bit.ly/gutcall Or, call us now at 586-685-2222 To try Dr. Christine's Smart Carb-45 for $19.99, go to: www.TrySmartCarb.com

CME credits: 1.50 Valid until: 27-02-2025 Claim your CME credit at https://reachmd.com/programs/cme/the-frontier-of-stroke-diagnosis-rapidai-how-can-artificial-intelligence-improve-acute-care-for-ischemic-and-hemorrhagic-stroke/18129/ Join experts and explore an exciting new frontier of care for patients on direct oral anticoagulants who present with an intracranial hemorrhage. Three factors can be used to optimize treatment: emerging data on anticoagulation reversal, artificial intelligence utilization, and evidence-based ABC care bundling. Learn how these developments transform clinical practice, deepen institutional expertise, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Luka Jelusic experienced a hemorrhagic stroke at age 46. Recovery has tested him in many ways and the experience has taught him a lot. The post 2 Years Of Hemorrhagic Stroke Recovery – Luka Jelusic appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Episode 330 - Jan Burl - Hemorrhagic Stroke Survivor - Beating the Odds and Telling Her StoryJan Burl is a hemorrhagic stroke survivor. At the age of 50 she collapsed, and her life as a busy farmer and author came to a halt. In today's episode, Jan shares her inspirational story of learning how to depend on others, self-love, and the importance of slowing down and enjoying life. My books are meant to entertain, teach, and take you away to different places, letting you escape the world around you for a bit. I hope you enjoy them. Life is a journey, day by day. Make every day extraordinary. For more information about Jan visit  https://www.thundercrestbooks.com LinkedIn:   / janet-burl-4476b416  Tags #stroke  #strokerecovery  #positivity  #hope  #faith  #believeinyourself  #strokethriver #physicalchallenges #TBI #braininjury  #traumaticbraininjury  #rewireyourbrain  #live  #thriver ___Finally a podcast app just for kids! KidsPod is founded on a simple idea:Every kid should have access to the power of audio.https://kidspod.app/Support the showhttps://livingthenextchapter.com/Want to support the show and get bonus content?https://www.buzzsprout.com/1927756/subscribe

Sandra Narayanan, MD, Vascular Neurologist and Neurointerventional Surgeon at the Pacific Stroke and Neurovascular Center at Pacific Neuroscience Institute, explains the difference between hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.The main difference between the two types of stroke is the underlying cause of the brain damage. In ischemic stroke, the damage is caused by a lack of blood supply, while in hemorrhagic stroke, it is caused by bleeding into the brain tissue. Both types of stroke are medical emergencies and require immediate medical attention to prevent further damage and improve outcomes.

You just graduated from nursing school, and now you're working as a nurse in the emergency department. The EMTs bring in a 26 year old female with generalized weakness of the left lower and upper extremities, and a sudden headache. What do you do? Can you complete all 5 critical actions, or will you carry out a dangerous action? Learn the most important things to do for stroke patients as a nurse.Check out TrueLearn for an NCLEX program that perfectly integrates with Picmonic!Get 30% off a Picmonic subscription, or just get one free Picmonic every day!

"...we will take a look at how Strokes are diagnosed and then how Strokes the treated and managed the diagnosis of a stroke is and with imaging techniques being used to Aid in that diagnosis a big part of stroke diagnosis and management is the early recognition and tools such as and Razia a used Fast involves facial drooping arm weakness and speech disturbances while T is for the time indicating the need for timely action the Razia score which stands for recognition of stroke in the emergency room is similar and involves looking for any loss of consciousness or seizure activity which counts against a stroke diagnosis as well as facial arm or leg weakness speech disturbances or visual disturbances it physical exam should also be done which will cover the NIH SS school including levels of consciousness motor function sensory function language and attention generally suspected stroke patients will undergo a CT of the head without contrast as coagulated blood will appear hyper-dense on these scans however ischemia may not be seen in the early stages there for a CT scan is done more commonly to rule out further investigations may involve an MRI of the head which is more sensitive for chronic hemorrhages and areas of ischemia usually appear hyper-intense on diffusion-weighted a Doppler ultrasound of the Carotid may be done and if the stroke was suspected to be caused by an aneurysm and angiogram may also be done as well as lab investigations including lipids and coagulation screens you may have heard the expression time is brain in the early stages ischemic stroke the aim is to restore cerebral blood flow as fast as possible as this results in fewer brain cells dying according to the nice guidelines patients with non disabling stroke or t.i. a should have early carotid Imaging and Urgent in data Rekha me as well as stenting if they have carotid stenosis in patients who have an acute ischemic stroke 150 to 300 milligrams of aspirin should be given orally or rectally if the patient is dysphasic this 150 to 300 milligram should be continued for two weeks following the stroke until long-term antithrombotic treatment has been prescribed in patients with an allergy to aspirin Clopidogrel may be used and a proton pump inhibitor should be added in patients with a history of dyspepsia in cases of venous sinus thrombosis anticoagulation..." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"...we will take a look at how Strokes are diagnosed and then how Strokes the treated and managed the diagnosis of a stroke is and with imaging techniques being used to Aid in that diagnosis a big part of stroke diagnosis and management is the early recognition and tools such as and Razia a used Fast involves facial drooping arm weakness and speech disturbances while T is for the time indicating the need for timely action the Razia score which stands for recognition of stroke in the emergency room is similar and involves looking for any loss of consciousness or seizure activity which counts against a stroke diagnosis as well as facial arm or leg weakness speech disturbances or visual disturbances it physical exam should also be done which will cover the NIH SS school including levels of consciousness motor function sensory function language and attention generally suspected stroke patients will undergo a CT of the head without contrast as coagulated blood will appear hyper-dense on these scans however ischemia may not be seen in the early stages there for a CT scan is done more commonly to rule out further investigations may involve an MRI of the head which is more sensitive for chronic hemorrhages and areas of ischemia usually appear hyper-intense on diffusion-weighted a Doppler ultrasound of the Carotid may be done and if the stroke was suspected to be caused by an aneurysm and angiogram may also be done as well as lab investigations including lipids and coagulation screens you may have heard the expression time is brain in the early stages ischemic stroke the aim is to restore cerebral blood flow as fast as possible as this results in fewer brain cells dying according to the nice guidelines patients with non disabling stroke or t.i. a should have early carotid Imaging and Urgent in data Rekha me as well as stenting if they have carotid stenosis in patients who have an acute ischemic stroke 150 to 300 milligrams of aspirin should be given orally or rectally if the patient is dysphasic this 150 to 300 milligram should be continued for two weeks following the stroke until long-term antithrombotic treatment has been prescribed in patients with an allergy to aspirin Clopidogrel may be used and a proton pump inhibitor should be added in patients with a history of dyspepsia in cases of venous sinus thrombosis anticoagulation..." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"...we will take a look at how Strokes are diagnosed and then how Strokes the treated and managed the diagnosis of a stroke is and with imaging techniques being used to Aid in that diagnosis a big part of stroke diagnosis and management is the early recognition and tools such as and Razia a used Fast involves facial drooping arm weakness and speech disturbances while T is for the time indicating the need for timely action the Razia score which stands for recognition of stroke in the emergency room is similar and involves looking for any loss of consciousness or seizure activity which counts against a stroke diagnosis as well as facial arm or leg weakness speech disturbances or visual disturbances it physical exam should also be done which will cover the NIH SS school including levels of consciousness motor function sensory function language and attention generally suspected stroke patients will undergo a CT of the head without contrast as coagulated blood will appear hyper-dense on these scans however ischemia may not be seen in the early stages there for a CT scan is done more commonly to rule out further investigations may involve an MRI of the head which is more sensitive for chronic hemorrhages and areas of ischemia usually appear hyper-intense on diffusion-weighted a Doppler ultrasound of the Carotid may be done and if the stroke was suspected to be caused by an aneurysm and angiogram may also be done as well as lab investigations including lipids and coagulation screens you may have heard the expression time is brain in the early stages ischemic stroke the aim is to restore cerebral blood flow as fast as possible as this results in fewer brain cells dying according to the nice guidelines patients with non disabling stroke or t.i. a should have early carotid Imaging and Urgent in data Rekha me as well as stenting if they have carotid stenosis in patients who have an acute ischemic stroke 150 to 300 milligrams of aspirin should be given orally or rectally if the patient is dysphasic this 150 to 300 milligram should be continued for two weeks following the stroke until long-term antithrombotic treatment has been prescribed in patients with an allergy to aspirin Clopidogrel may be used and a proton pump inhibitor should be added in patients with a history of dyspepsia in cases of venous sinus thrombosis anticoagulation..." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"...stroke is characterized by having poor blood flow to part of the brain leading to cell death they are grossly divided into ischemic and hemorrhagic with around 15 to 20 percent of Strokes being hemorrhagic a hemorrhagic stroke results from the rupture of a blood vessel leading to bleeding compared ischemic stroke that have a sudden occlusion of a blood vessel within hemorrhagic Strokes there are two main types intracerebral meaning bleeding within the brain itself which can be intraparenchymal Hemorrhage weather is bleeding within the brain tissue or an intraventricular Hemorrhage where there is bleeding within the ventricular system of the brain around one intracerebral hemorrhage into the ventricles intracerebral Hemorrhage is most commonly caused by hypertension and age-related cerebral amyloid angiopathy which is where deposition of Lloyd Peter peptide in the vessels leads to a weaker vessel structure which is then therefore more likely to bleed the other main type is a subarachnoid with the bleed occurs between the arachnoid Mater and the Pia Mater subarachnoid hemorrhages can be due to trauma or can be spontaneous in 85% of cases in taneous subarachnoid hemorrhage is caused by rupture of a cerebral aneurysm with the most common locations being the anterior communicating artery in 35 percent of cases internal carotid artery in 30% and middle cerebral artery in 22% in 30% of cases there are multiple aneurysms the remaining maybe caused by rupture of an arteriovenous malformation coagulopathy or extension of an intraparenchymal bleed note that both of these types of hemorrhagic I considered intracranial bleeds however other types of intracranial bleeds such as epidural and subdural hemorrhages are not considered hemorrhagic stroke we take this few seconds off to inform you are valued loyal listener about the best health and fitness podcast shows from the Nez pod Studios join us as we give you the best of the best health and wellness updates you can rely on for the treatment of chronic classic functional medicine Back to Basics health tips and special updates from the best doctors in the United States of America check out this health and wellness podcast shows explore Health talk healthy lifestyle matters excellent Health digest healthy and free daily and last but not least weekly health and fitness Corner also check out nasty Boise see the truest story never told Fiction podcast for that real life on the go experience with the 27 year old Golden boy..." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"...stroke is characterized by having poor blood flow to part of the brain leading to cell death they are grossly divided into ischemic and hemorrhagic with around 15 to 20 percent of Strokes being hemorrhagic a hemorrhagic stroke results from the rupture of a blood vessel leading to bleeding compared ischemic stroke that have a sudden occlusion of a blood vessel within hemorrhagic Strokes there are two main types intracerebral meaning bleeding within the brain itself which can be intraparenchymal Hemorrhage weather is bleeding within the brain tissue or an intraventricular Hemorrhage where there is bleeding within the ventricular system of the brain around one intracerebral hemorrhage into the ventricles intracerebral Hemorrhage is most commonly caused by hypertension and age-related cerebral amyloid angiopathy which is where deposition of Lloyd Peter peptide in the vessels leads to a weaker vessel structure which is then therefore more likely to bleed the other main type is a subarachnoid with the bleed occurs between the arachnoid Mater and the Pia Mater subarachnoid hemorrhages can be due to trauma or can be spontaneous in 85% of cases in taneous subarachnoid hemorrhage is caused by rupture of a cerebral aneurysm with the most common locations being the anterior communicating artery in 35 percent of cases internal carotid artery in 30% and middle cerebral artery in 22% in 30% of cases there are multiple aneurysms the remaining maybe caused by rupture of an arteriovenous malformation coagulopathy or extension of an intraparenchymal bleed note that both of these types of hemorrhagic I considered intracranial bleeds however other types of intracranial bleeds such as epidural and subdural hemorrhages are not considered hemorrhagic stroke we take this few seconds off to inform you are valued loyal listener about the best health and fitness podcast shows from the Nez pod Studios join us as we give you the best of the best health and wellness updates you can rely on for the treatment of chronic classic functional medicine Back to Basics health tips and special updates from the best doctors in the United States of America check out this health and wellness podcast shows explore Health talk healthy lifestyle matters excellent Health digest healthy and free daily and last but not least weekly health and fitness Corner also check out nasty Boise see the truest story never told Fiction podcast for that real life on the go experience with the 27 year old Golden boy..." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"...stroke is characterized by having poor blood flow to part of the brain leading to cell death they are grossly divided into ischemic and hemorrhagic with around 15 to 20 percent of Strokes being hemorrhagic a hemorrhagic stroke results from the rupture of a blood vessel leading to bleeding compared ischemic stroke that have a sudden occlusion of a blood vessel within hemorrhagic Strokes there are two main types intracerebral meaning bleeding within the brain itself which can be intraparenchymal Hemorrhage weather is bleeding within the brain tissue or an intraventricular Hemorrhage where there is bleeding within the ventricular system of the brain around one intracerebral hemorrhage into the ventricles intracerebral Hemorrhage is most commonly caused by hypertension and age-related cerebral amyloid angiopathy which is where deposition of Lloyd Peter peptide in the vessels leads to a weaker vessel structure which is then therefore more likely to bleed the other main type is a subarachnoid with the bleed occurs between the arachnoid Mater and the Pia Mater subarachnoid hemorrhages can be due to trauma or can be spontaneous in 85% of cases in taneous subarachnoid hemorrhage is caused by rupture of a cerebral aneurysm with the most common locations being the anterior communicating artery in 35 percent of cases internal carotid artery in 30% and middle cerebral artery in 22% in 30% of cases there are multiple aneurysms the remaining maybe caused by rupture of an arteriovenous malformation coagulopathy or extension of an intraparenchymal bleed note that both of these types of hemorrhagic I considered intracranial bleeds however other types of intracranial bleeds such as epidural and subdural hemorrhages are not considered hemorrhagic stroke we take this few seconds off to inform you are valued loyal listener about the best health and fitness podcast shows from the Nez pod Studios join us as we give you the best of the best health and wellness updates you can rely on for the treatment of chronic classic functional medicine Back to Basics health tips and special updates from the best doctors in the United States of America check out this health and wellness podcast shows explore Health talk healthy lifestyle matters excellent Health digest healthy and free daily and last but not least weekly health and fitness Corner also check out nasty Boise see the truest story never told Fiction podcast for that real life on the go experience with the 27 year old Golden boy..." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hemorrhagic stroke happens when an artery in the brain leaks blood or ruptures (breaks open). This can put pressure on the brain, leading to brain cell death. More about me: https://linktr.ee/Drbillakotamd

We are so excited to be joined by Nurse Alice Benjamin, cardiac clinical nurse specialist, family nurse practitioner, Chief Nursing Officer of Nurse.org, host of the Ask Nurse Alice podcast, and media health expert known as “America's favorite nurse.”Highlighting the power of nurses' intuition, Nurse Alice shares an interesting story of a patient found unresponsive and how her initial assessments led her to call a CODE STROKE. In discussing this case, we cover the difference between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, what a brain bleed looks like on a CT, and the importance of advocating for our patients.During her 23 years as a nurse and community educator, Nurse Alice has picked up a lot of knowledge that helped her treat this patient quickly and notice less common signs of stroke that other medical professionals missed.Tune in to hear how Nurse Alice cared for this patient, and take note of her best nursing advice!Topics discussed in this episode:Nurse Alice's nursing education and professional journeyHer journey to become a media health expertHow Nurse Alice's 80-year-old patient presented in the ERAssessment and diagnosis for hemorrhagic strokeWhat you'll see for an ischemic versus hemorrhagic strokeHow the Monro-Kellie doctrine informs intervention methodsWays to decrease ICP (increased cranial pressure)Why you need to pay attention to trends and Cushing's triadNurse Alice's tips for treating brain bleedsHer best nursing adviceLearn more about Nurse Alice on her website: https://asknursealice.com/Check out her podcast, Ask Nurse Alice: https://nurse.org/articles/ask-nurse-alice-podcast/Connect with Nurse Alice:https://www.instagram.com/asknursealice/https://www.facebook.com/AskNurseAlice/https://twitter.com/AskNurseAlicehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/asknursealice/If you would like to check out Sarah's 1hr, 1 CE course, go to: http://www.rapidresponseandrescue.comTo get the FREE Rapid Response RN Assessment Guide and the coupon code for $10 off the cost of the course, message Sarah on Instagram @TheRapidResponseRN and type the word PODCAST!This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique http://www.podcastboutique.comMentioned in this episode:AND If you are planning to sit for your CCRN and would like to take the Critical Care Academy CCRN prep course you can visit https://www.ccrnacademy.com and use coupon code RAPID10 to get 10% off the cost of the course!

Karanasan ng Kaligtasan

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Episode Notes Episode Notes Inspired by lamentations on Twitter, Drs. Bobbi Jo Stoner (@BobbiJo_Stoner), Jonathan Ryder (@JonathanRyderMD) and Sami El-Dalati join Dr. Jillian Hayes (@thejillianhayes) to hash out some of the controversies we encounter while managing infective endocarditis. Do we really need gentamicin and rifampin for all cases of staphylococcal prosthetic valve endocarditis? Where do oral antimicrobials fit into this disease state? Who should have a seat at the table to provide the most comprehensive care to these patients? Tune in for the answers to these questions and more! Learn more about the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists: https://sidp.org/About Twitter: @SIDPharm (https://twitter.com/SIDPharm) Instagram: @SIDPharm (https://www.instagram.com/sidpharm/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidprx LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sidp/ Listen to Breakpoints on iTunes, Overcast, Spotify, Listen Notes, Player FM, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, Blubrry, RadioPublic, or by using our RSS feed: https://sidp.pinecast.co/ References: IDSA/AHA Infective Endocarditis Guidelines: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000296 Deconstructing the Dogma: Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis of Adjunctive Gentamicin and Rifampin in Staphylococcal Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36408468/ Twitter Poll – Gabe Vilchez (March 2021): https://twitter.com/IdVilchez/status/1372148761112240131?s=20&t=fYuyNWGmzZACWrpUb7Fp3g Survey of ID Physicians on Gent and Rifampin Use: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32964063/ Bacteriological outcome of combination versus single-agent treatment for staphylococcal endocarditis: https://academic.oup.com/jac/article/52/5/820/760105 Treatment of experimental foreign body infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: https://journals.asm.org/doi/abs/10.1128/AAC.34.12.2312 Successful therapy of experimental chronic foreign-body infection due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by antimicrobial combinations: https://journals.asm.org/doi/abs/10.1128/aac.35.12.2611 Rifampin Combination Therapy for Nonmycobacterial Infections: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/CMR.00034-09 ARREST Trial: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32456-X/fulltext Is Rifampin Use Associated With Better Outcome in Staphylococcal Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis? A Multicenter Retrospective Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32706879/ Nephrotoxicity of vancomycin, alone and with an aminoglycoside: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2351627/ Clinical Data on Daptomycin plus Ceftaroline versus Standard of Care Monotherapy in the Treatment of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/AAC.02483-18 Multicenter Cohort of Patients With Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia Receiving Daptomycin Plus Ceftaroline Compared With Other MRSA Treatments: https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/7/1/ofz538/5691187 CERT Trial (in process): https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04886284 Rifampin for Surgically Treated Staphylococcal Infective Endocarditis: A Propensity Score-Adjusted Cohort Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26872729/ A step-by-step guide to implementing a multidisciplinary endocarditis team: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20499361211065596 Management of Infective Endocarditis in People Who Inject Drugs: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001090?cookieSet=1 Infectious Complications of Addiction: A Call for a New Subspecialty Within Infectious Diseases: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7319263/ A Cross-sectional Analysis of Linezolid in Combination with Methadone or Buprenorphine as a Cause of Serotonin Toxicity: https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/9/7/ofac331/6625822 POET Trial: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1808312 Risk of New Bloodstream Infections and Mortality Among People Who Inject Drugs With Infective Endocarditis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32785635/ Comparing right- and left sided injection-drug related infective endocarditis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33441950/ Evaluation of Partial Oral Antibiotic Treatment for Persons Who Inject Drugs and Are Hospitalized With Invasive Infections: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7745005/ Dalbavancin as Primary and Sequential Treatment for Gram-Positive Infective Endocarditis: 2-Year Experience at the General Hospital of Vienna: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29659732/ Impact of the duration of antibiotic therapy on relapse and survival following surgery for active infective endocarditis: https://academic.oup.com/ejcts/article/55/4/760/5126415 Bacteriological Outcome after Valve Surgery for Active Infective Endocarditis: Implications for Duration of Treatment after Surgery: https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/41/2/187/529954 Long-term Risk of Hemorrhagic Stroke in Patients With Infective Endocarditis: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study: https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/68/4/668/5039147 Sign of the Times: Updating Infective Endocarditis Diagnostic Criteria to Recognize Enterococcus faecalis as a Typical Endocarditis Bacterium: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35262664/ Prevalence of colorectal disease in Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis: results of an observational multicenter study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31444092/ Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-7e7a98 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Breakpoints.

On Episode 25 of the Stroke Alert Podcast, host Dr. Negar Asdaghi highlights two articles from the February 2023 issue of Stroke: “Early Antiplatelet Resumption and the Risks of Major Bleeding After Intracerebral Hemorrhage” and “Using Noncontrast Computed Tomography to Improve Prediction of Intracerebral Hemorrhage Expansion.” She also interviews Dr. Lauren H. Sansing about her article “Role of Inflammatory Processes in Hemorrhagic Stroke.” For the episode transcript, visit: https://www.ahajournals.org/do/10.1161/podcast.20230203.583057.

Dr. Bill Thorell, A Neurosurgeon at University of Nebraska Medical Center discusses the surgical management of the Intracerebral Hemorrhagic patient.Disclosure statement: The opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the presenter and may not necessarily reflect AHA/ASA's official positions. This podcast is intended for educational purposes and do not replace independent professional judgment. AHA/ASA does not endorse any product or device.A Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a digital media and commercial video production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network and learn more about our other services today on HurrdatMedia.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coordinating the necessary care for hemorrhagic patients is complicated- learn the ropes from experts on the UC Stroke Team. "Smoother, faster better" is the name of the game.

A discussion with Neurologists, the treatment options for medical management of the acute hemorrhagic stroke patient. Disclosure statement: The opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the presenter and may not necessarily reflect AHA/ASA's official positions. This podcast is intended for educational purposes and do not replace independent professional judgment. AHA/ASA does not endorse any product or device.A Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a digital media and commercial video production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network and learn more about our other services today on HurrdatMedia.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mali Torres was anxious about everything until one day she had a Sub-thalamic hemorrhagic stroke which had a positive side effect of curing her Anxiety for good. The post How A Sub-thalamic Hemorrhagic Stroke Cured My Anxiety – Mali Torres appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Bill Hrncir is the 1 in 6 people that will have adverse reactions to TPA (Tissue Plasminogen Activator) which was used to bust a clot that caused an ischemic stroke but also caused a hemorrhagic stroke The post TPA Caused A Hemorrhagic Stroke As Well – Bill Hrncir appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Bill Hrncir is the 1 in 6 people that will have adverse reactions to TPA (Tissue Plasminogen Activator) which was used to bust a clot that caused an ischemic stroke but also caused a hemorrhagic stroke The post TPA Caused A Hemorrhagic Stroke As Well – Bill Hrncir appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

KFLS - Talkshow From Home Non-Nakes Tanggal 08 September 2021 at Zoom, 20:00 - 22:00 WIB Tema : Ask Me Anything N-24 Guest Star : Tatag Basuki - Warrior KF 4,5 Tahun

Kung gusto mong maligtas lumapit ka lang ka Hesus, dahil sya ang kaligtasan

Ang karanasan ng kaligtasan ay sa pamamagitan ng biyaya na kaloob ng Diyos, sa ating pagtugon na may pananampalataya.

Not quite a return from the dead, but close, too damn close. Our guest today, Kevin Carey, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in December of 2017. He’s had a long road of recovery, but the future is bright. Kevin shares his history of wheeling, the Rubicon, and military life with us on this episode of Conversations with Big Rich. 5:20 – part of the BMX craze7:59 – Protecting the big names, Schwarzkopf, Martin10:34 –Understanding vehicle dynamics started from investigating accidents14:00 – the start of private security consulting15:52 – he makes me uncomfortable driving17:34 –notorious Pirates19:51 – world champions23:46 – wheeling with Veterans 27:51 –the Rubicon Trail is well cared for32:09 –the Powertank connection36:20 –I went to sleep and I never woke up52:56 – What do I get for doing this?58:53 – It’s not about mud flying, it’s about emotional interactionWe want to thank our sponsors Maxxis Tires and 4Low Magazine.www.maxxis.comwww.4lowmagazine.com Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app. Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BigRich)

He

Dr. Rae Bacharach discusses an article from Neurology Today entitled, "Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Exposure Is Associated with Greater Risk of Recurrent Hemorrhagic Stroke". Show references: https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/fulltext/2020/10080/selective_serotonin_reuptake_inhibitor_exposure_is.1.aspx

In this episode from the ACEP-EQUAL series, Dr. Adam Oostema discusses the diagnosis of hemorrhagic stroke in the ED, the current state of the evidence, and some common pitfalls that can lead to diagnosis error. Guests: Dr. Adam Oostema, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of Neurological Emergency Medicine Research, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Host: Jason Woods, MD Podcast editing assistance: Kellen Vu www.acep.org/equal

In this episode from the ACEP-EQUAL series, Dr. Goldstein discusses anticoagulant reversal in the setting of hemorrhagic stroke. He reviews common anticoagulants, their specific and non-specific reversal agents, and reviews the literature base. Guests: Dr. Joshua Goldstein, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of Center for Neurologic Emergencies, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School Host: Jason Woods, MD Podcast editing assistance: Kellen Vu www.acep.org/equal

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

Clare Coffield had a Hemorrhagic stroke back in 2015, and while she was in recovery, she suffered a massive set back due to a leg injury. Now 5 years later, having faced so many challenges and adversities, Clare has come a long way in her recovery journey. The post 92. Hemorrhagic Stroke Recovery – Clare Coffield appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Clare Coffield had a Hemorrhagic stroke back in 2015, and while she was in recovery, she suffered a massive set back due to a leg injury. Now 5 years later, having faced so many challenges and adversities, Clare has come a long way in her recovery journey. The post 92. Hemorrhagic Stroke Recovery – Clare Coffield appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Michelle Nguyen is a Business Entrepreneur, Professional Model, Social Media Star, Keynote Public Speaker and Brain Injury Advocate who presents her bittersweet story of overcoming medical obstacles after suffering from a massive Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke at the age of 17 years old.  She promotes disability awareness globally with her genuine enthusiastic personality but she’s not holding anything back after her traumatic injury. By educating, inspiring, and creating about this cause, she has made so many connections and have established herself well in disability (Brain Health) community.  About to launch a non profit, businesses and a book that means a lot to her, she’s thriving into spotlight despite her challenges meeting new beautiful people everyday. Shoot her an e-Mail: michelle.nguyen01@yahoo.com

Show notes at pharmacyjoe.com/episode388. In this episode, I ll discuss an article about enhanced renal clearance in patients with hemorrhagic stroke.   The post 388: Enhanced Renal Clearance in Patients With Hemorrhagic Stroke appeared first on Pharmacy Joe.

Maggie Whittum, actress, stroke survivor, activist Show Notes: Maggie Whittum's (www.thegreatnowwhat.com) entire (charmed) life changed after she suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke at age 33, leaving her with many disabilities and challenges, including extreme visual impairments, intense chronic nerve pain, a paralyzed face, and a weak and uncoordinated left side. She is in the process of creating  "The Great Now What", a documentary film about her story, which she hopes will be a beautiful and life-affirming film for stroke survivors, people with chronic pain and chronic illness, and people with disabilities.  Join us in this episode as we discuss the complex layers of Maggie's hemorrhagic stroke recovery. Discussed in this Episode: Maggie's life before her hemorrhagic stroke Hemorrhagic stroke symptoms Maggie's story Brain surgery Cavernous Angioma What happens to your brain during a stroke Stroke facts and stats How to prevent stroke Hemorrhagic stroke recovery How to recover from a shattered identity Depression/ shame/ self-worth Creativity as a healing tool—Maggie's photo project and doc film Documentary film inspiration Self-love Box breathing Weekly Challenge: This one is simple and can be done anywhere/ anytime! Maggie challenges us to practice Box Breathing: Inhale four counts, hold four counts, exhale four counts, hold four counts, repeat as many times as you'd like. This is an awesome way to introduce slowing down and meditation into your daily routine.  No need to jump right to a silent meditation retreat... just start breathing. This practice was instrumental in keeping Maggie calm through her hemorrhagic stroke recovery process. Remember to stay accountable on Instagram by using the #healingoutloud hashtag or tagging me @sheajackie Resources Listed in this Episode: Phamaly Theatre company The Crash Reel The Great Now What crowdfunding and trailer Support This Podcast: Become a patron Follow me on IG @sheajackie subscribe/rate/review on itunes or any other platform Follow me at www.jackieshea.com Join the Healing Out Loud with Jackie Shea Facebook group  Other Episodes Like This: Life After Paralysis Self-love and dating after a double Mastectomy Happy Listening, friends! With fun and love, Jackie

Download free study guides from Aureus Medical Staffing here: https://www.aureusmedical.com/nptestudycast.aspx

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP Guest: Annalisa Scimemi Hemorrhagic strokes account for about 200,000 strokes per year. Of those who survive, about 66 percent suffer some permanent brain damage. Our guest, biophysicist Dr. Annalisa Scimemi, has been studying the receptors in the brain that may contribute to brain damage immediately after hemorrhagic stroke. Alongside host Dr. Brian McDonough, she will discuss how to lessen the effects of brain damage following a stroke.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP Guest: Annalisa Scimemi Hemorrhagic strokes account for about 200,000 strokes per year. Of those who survive, about 66 percent suffer some permanent brain damage. Our guest, biophysicist Dr. Annalisa Scimemi, has been studying the receptors in the brain that may contribute to brain damage immediately after hemorrhagic stroke. Alongside host Dr. Brian McDonough, she will discuss how to lessen the effects of brain damage following a stroke.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP Guest: Annalisa Scimemi Hemorrhagic strokes account for about 200,000 strokes per year. Of those who survive, about 66 percent suffer some permanent brain damage. Our guest, biophysicist Dr. Annalisa Scimemi, has been studying the receptors in the brain that may contribute to brain damage immediately after hemorrhagic stroke. Alongside host Dr. Brian McDonough, she will discuss how to lessen the effects of brain damage following a stroke.

People who are born with congenital heart defects (CHDs) are at greater risk for having a TIA (mini-stroke or transient ishcemic attack) or stroke. A stroke occurs when there is bleeding into the brain (hemorrhagic stroke) or a blood clot blocking blood going into (or through) the brain -- which is called an ischemic stroke. Many people who have CHDs have rhythm problems and these electrical problems with the heart can lead to TIAs or strokes. Additionally, some people with CHDs have valve problems, holes in their hearts or heart failure. All of these conditions create an environment that is conducive to the formation of blood clots or blockages which could lead to a stroke. This is why it's extremely important for people with CHDs to be aware of the warning signs of strokes or TIAs. Carol Raimondi, a CHD and Stroke Survivor, is today's Guest Host. She interviews TIA survivor, Frank Lynn, and Stroke Survivor, Terese Quarino, about what happened to them when they suffered their neurological event, what warning signs presented themselves, how the Survivors reacted to those warning signs and what advice they have for other Heart Warriors. This is a very important topic for all Heart Warriors and their families. For more information about CHDs and strokes, check out this webpage: https://www.verywell.com/heart-disease-that-leads-to-stroke-4083060.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/HearttoHeart)

This podcast covers Ischemic vs Hemorrhagic Stroke and discusses some of the current treatments and difference between these two types of stroke. PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: Welcome to the NRSNG Podcast number two, Stroke 101. As always, this podcast is meant for educational… The post Stroke 101 (Ischemic vs Hemorrhagic Stroke) appeared first on NURSING.com.