All  right.  Let's  know  how  we  get  started. Are  we  recording? Yes.  Welcome.  What  a  wonderful  room  we have  today  on  screen.  My  name  is  Jennifer. I'm  an  associate  professor  of the  School  of  History  and  Sociology. And  this  event  is  sponsored  by the  Neuro  Next  Initiative and  the  School  of  History  and  Sociology, where  we're  really  trying  to  think  about  the  intersection of  neuroscience,  Neurotechnology,  and  society. And  so  this  is  one  of  two  panels  that  I  organized  for a  course  I  teach  in  Sociology  of  Medicine  and  Health. And  we  have  doctor  Wekins  Klaus  also  joining  us. So  welcome  it  just cemitously  your  classes  at  the  same  time. So  this  is  a  really  treat  to learn  from  experts  about  the  live  experience  of  stroke. And  so  without  further  ado, I'd  like  to  welcome  to  Shar, who  is  my  student  who  will  be  moderating  the  paddle. And  let's  get  started. All  right.  And  everybody  will  introduce  themselves. I  don't  want  to  waste  time.  Yeah. So  first  of  all,  I  just  want  to  say thank  you  to  our  panelists  for  being  here  today. We're  really  excited  to  hear  you  guys'  experiences. So  I  just  to  start, if  you  could  give  a  short  introduction. If  you  can  just  introduce  your  name, your  occupation,  and  maybe how  old  you  were  when  you  had  your  stroke. Hi  everybody.  Can  you  use the  microphone  so  we  can I  can  while  I  can  speak  very  loudly. Nobody  has  ever  called  me  a  mousy  voice. I  am  I  used to  execute  merchandising  programs  for  Home  Depot. I  had  a  stroke  when  I  was  47, and  it  was  a  right  brain  hemorrhagic  stroke. And,  I  already  said  that. Okay. I  got  early  retirement  out  of  the  deal, but  the  effects  on me  were  supposed  to  give  the  effects  now. I  think  we're  going  to  get  to  that  in  the  next  question. Okay.  You  know  what?  Miss.  You're  you're  also  at Georgia  Atlanta  Native  and Georgia  Tech  alumnus  Class  of  1985. Yes,  I  said  1985. I'm  glad  to  be  here.  Should  I  pass  this  down? Hello.  My  name  is  Robin  Parks. I'm  a  native  of  Atlanta,  Georgia. I  had  a  stroke  in  2022. I  was  46-years-old. I  had  it  one  night. Go  to  bed,  woke  up, and  started  feeling  tingling  and  numbness, and  I  kind  of  know  what's  happening. I  guess  it's  a  hemotic  stroke. It  was  on  my  it  was  on  my  right  on  my  left  side, which  affected  my  right  side.  So  Okay. Just  be  sure  to  speak  up  so  we  can  all hear  you.  Thank  you. Thank  you  so  much.  Thank  you. My  name  is  Ella  Ferguson. Is  that  loud  enough? Louder.  Okay.  Will,  hey.  Is  that  good? That's  too  loud.  That's  too  loud. Okay.  I  wrote  a  bunch  of  really  good  notes, so  I  might  just  speak  for  the  heart. Question.  Okay.  I'm  30  now. I  was  26  when  my  shirt  happened. It  was  a  left  so  right  side  tragic  stroke, it  affected  my  left  side.  Sucked. My  name  is  Diana. I'm  a  sewing  instructor  for  Fabricate  Studios, and  I  had  my  stroke  two  years  ago  when  I  was  40, and  it  was  a  left  side  ischemic  stroke which  affected  my  right  side. Great.  Thank  you  for  that. So  we'll  dive  into  our  first  question, and  if  we  can  keep  our  responses  to  give  or take  around  3  minutes,  that  would  be  perfect. So,  Diana,  do  you  want  to  start  us  off and  kind  of  talk  about  your experience  having  your  stroke? What  were  some  of  your  symptoms? When  did  it  happen,  and just  anything  else  that  you  remember  about  that  day? Um,  yeah,  I  was  working, and  I  actually  didn't  know  I  was having  a  stroke  when  my  stroke  started. I  just  felt  very  tired. So  I  was  teaching. I  finished  my  class.  I  went  home. I  took  a  little  nap  because  I  thought, you  know,  better  after  that, and  that  didn't  help. And  I  canceled  my  evening  class, took  another  nap,  woke  up  the  next  day, and  had  a  right  side. My  face  was  drooping  a  little  bit, and  then  my  arm  and  leg weren't  working  as  well  as  they  had  been. I  do  remember  Being, I  don't  know,  it  was  very  sort  of  a  practical  moment. Not  panic  or  anything  for  me. I  just  called  911.  They  came  and  got  me. I  sent  a  text  to  my  mother  and  was  like, Hey,  I'm  having  a  stroke. They're  taking  me  to  Grady. I  think  she  had  a  worse  experience  than  I  did. And  those  first  few  days  in  Grady were  long  and  exhausting. A  lot  of  sleeping.  But  yeah. What  happened.  Okay,  Hale  I  was  26, and  I  had  been  with  I  was  a  student  and  a  teacher  and, like,  on  sum  break,  as I  was  traveling  and  having  a  great  time. And  the  next  thing  I  know,  I  got  a  call from  my  aunt  telling  me  that my  sweet  sweet  cousin  had  just  passed  away, and  we  were  really  close,  and  it  came  as such  a  surprise  that  I  just was  very  freaking  stressed  out  and  overwhelmed. Okay,  I'm  speaking  microphone. Thanks,  Mom.  And  seriously, it  was  really,  really  stressful. So  be  careful  with  stress  because it  can  mess  you  really,  really  up. I  was  at  a  funeral  and  didn't  know  I  had a  AVM  didn't  know  that. And  so  the  stress  of  the  day,  the  heat, I'd  been  traveling  and  just  worn  myself  out, I  think,  and  just  too  stressed. The  next  thing  I  know  I  was  having  a  stroke  at the  funeral  and  it  was  really  painful. And  I  was  because  I  was  with  all  my  family, I  got  help  immediately,  which  saved  my  life. And,  Mom,  you  can  hear  me  if  I  talk  like  this. Okay.  I  get. Yeah.  I'm  here  because  of  time.  Okay. Okay.  Like  I  said, I  had  my  stroke  that  day. I  went  to  work.  Everything  seemed  fine. We  home,  got  ready  for  the  next  day,  went  to  bed. 30  minutes  later,  I  woke  up  because  I  felt tingling  and  my  hand  was feeling  numb,  and  it  wouldn't  stop. So  I  woke  up  and  I  was  like,  pacing. I  was  like,  I  got  too  much  to  do, and  I  was  like,  I  know. And  then  it  kept  it  kept  going  up,  my  arm, I  kind  of  figured  that's  what  was  going  on because  my  mom  had  a  stroke  in  2009. So  I  called  my  brother  who's  here  with  me  today. I  called  my  brother.  I  told  him, I  don't  know  what's  going  on.  Come  home. Then  I  called  911  and  I  went  locked  the  door, put  on  some  shoes, gave  them  as  much  information  as  I  could. And  I  just  was  basically  I just  kept  walking  back  and  forth, telling  myself  my  name, my  birthday,  my  family's  name. Like,  I  went  through  everything,  like, what's  my  name,  my  full  name,  my  brother's  full  name, my  birthday  his  birthday,  my  moms  birthday, like  I  kept  so  I  could  remind myself  of  things  so  I  wouldn't  forget  nothing. And  by  the  time  my  brother  got  home, I  thought  it  was  the  EMTs, but  he  be  in  there. And  by  the  time  he  got  in, I  just  remember  I  was  walking. I  just  kept  walking  and  then  I  couldn't  walk  and  sit. Then  I  remember  just  like slumping  to  the  ground  and  then  he  came  in. And  after  that,  I  was  kind  of  I  thought  they  asked  me to  walk  to  the  thing  with  the  ETs. I  thought  that  they  got  me in  the  EV  Tth  got  me  and  I  was  like, okay,  I'm  going  to  be  all  right. But  I  just  kept  telling myself  that  because  I  was  like,  I  got  things  to  do. I  don't  have  shows.  Because  I  had  things  good, it's  probably  because  I  made  that  personality. But  what  you  said, stress  is  a  big  factor because  I  was  stressed  and  I  was  not  sleeping, maybe  going  off  maybe  2  hours  to  sleep. And  where  I  worked  was  like  an  hour  from  where  I  lived. And  I  would  drive  to  Lawrenceville  and  pick  up  my  nephew, and  I  was  dancing  and  just doing  everything  for  everyone and  not  taking  care  of  themself. And  my  blood  pressure  got  high. It  was  like  too  simple  when  it  got  me  to  the  hospital. So  yeah. My  actual  stroke  actually  started  on  October  23,  2010. I  was  47,  and  a  few  days  before  that,  I  was  in  Albany, New  York  on  a  business  trip, and  I  won  a  drinking  contest the  night  before  with  some  executives  there. So  I  well,  you  know, I  had  to  have  some  skills. That's  what  I  was  good  at. And  I  woke  up  in  the  hotel  and  I  thought  it  was  hungover. And  so,  you  know, when  you're  in  a  hotel  on  a  business  trip, you  can't  really  call  in  sick  because you  got  to  get  in  the  plane  and  go  back  home. When  the  hotel  says  you  have  to  check  out at  11,  you  can't  stay  there. So  I  went  I  decided  to  go  ahead  and  start  my  routine, and  I  sat  down  and  I  did  some  yoga, which  is  my  routine  then. And  we  think  that  maybe this  constant  part  of  when you're  doing  yoga  is  a  warm  up. Where  you  start  to warm  up  and  you  start  pulling  your  neck  to  stretch  here. And  we  think  S,  I  don't  have  to  have  the  microphone. We  think  I  tugged  too, and  I  tugged  my  carotid  artery, which  caused  a  stroke  in  my  basal  ganglia. And  so  I  went  home, called  in  sick  with  the  flu  the  next  day. And  the  following  Saturday,  which  was  the  23rd, I  was  in  the  kitchen  putting  a  bowl  in  the  dishwasher, and  my  left  hand  just  stopped  working. And  I  was  like,  This  is  odd. This  is  damn  peculiar. So  I  took  my  right  hand  and  I  started  a  dishwasher, and  I'm  standing  there  in  the  kitchen, and  I'm  a  guy,  right? So  I  figured  I  can  sleep  it  off. So  I'm  making  my  way  into  the  bedroom  and my  left  leg  gives  out  and  I  trip  and  fall. I  clambered  onto  the  bed. While  I  was  in  bed, I  felt  my  left  side  of  my  face  just  struck. It  was  like  a  Starship  Enterprise  dropped  out  of  water. Yeah.  The  word  stroke  didn't  come  to  my  mind, but  I  did  know  it  was  something  that  could  kill  me. It  just  so  happened  that something  told  my  wife  to  call  me. She  was  a  center  guy,  man. And  so  she  called  me. So  there's  a  spiritual  lesson  there,  right? And  she  goes,  are  you  okay?  Are  you  okay? And  I  said,  No,  what's  wrong? I  don't  know,  but  I  need  to  go  to  the  hospital. So  she  comes  home,  they  call  an  ambulance. And  the  first  few  days, I  was  kind  of  coming  in  and  out  of  consciousness. And  the  last  thing  I  remember  is  at  one  point, I  emerged  from  consciousness, and  I  was  in  an  ACU  room, and  the  doctor  was  typing something  in  the  computer,  and  I  said  to  my  wife. I  said,  Can  you  all  bring  me  my  laptop? I  got  to  get  ready  to  go  to  Dallas  next  week. For  the  first  time,  the  doctor  actually spoke  to  me  directly  to  seven, he  goes,  you're  not  going  to  Dallas. You're  not  going  anywhere. Second  spiritual  lesson,  I  was  like,  Wow. Cool.  I'm  not  in  control  here. And  I  didn't  want  to  go  to  Dallas,  so  I  just  let  it  go. And  I  just,  you  know, I  think  I'm  kind  of  tired  now. And  I  remember  I  turned my  head  to  the  left  and  I  went  to  sleep. Now,  you  know,  you hear  people  talking  about  being  in  a  coma. I  think,  maybe  you  can  hear  people  talking? No,  I  was  like,  I  just  faded  black  like the  Titanic  going  to  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic. And  I  didn't  think.  I  didn't  dream. But  eventually,  I  felt  fingers  on  my  scalp. You  know  that  unique  sensation  you  have  when you  have  a  big  scab  on  your  arm  and  you  touch  it, it's  just  this  weird  kind  of  numb  feeling. Well,  I  felt  the  doctor  pulled  back  the  sock  off  my  head, and  he  says,  All  right. Now,  yesterday  was  your  surgery. And  I'm  thinking  to  myself,  starting  to put  things  together  with  what  was  left  of  my  brain. And  I  said,  Wow,  I've  got  stitches  in  my  head. I  just  had  surgery,  and  I'm  like,  Wow. I  think  I  just  had  brain  surgery. And  we're  all  pretty  sure we're  never  going  to  hear  that,  right. So  I  was  in  the  hospital  for  about  three  months and  creepy  thing  I  didn't  say  this, but  the  clot  basal anglia  ruptured  went  into  my  right  frontal  lobe. B  blood  kills  a  neuron. It  doesn't  stun  it  like  an  ischemic  cell sometimes  does,  an  ischemic  stroke. And,  So  the  blood was  in  my  brain  and  it  started  swelling. My  brain  moved  15  millimeters  to  this  side  of  my  head. I  should  have  checked  out. And  somehow  survived. That's  why  they  did  the  brain  surgery. They  did  a  cranio  took  that  piece of  skull  out  to  let  the  pressure  off. And  later  they  went  back and  put  that  piece  of  skull  back  in. So  I  had  two  brain  surgeries. Isn't  that  cool.  And  that's  it. All  right.  So  thank  you,  everyone. It  seems  like  you  have  a  very  vivid  description, and  you're  fortunate  enough  to  have  someone  close  by to  you  to  help  you  contact  the  ambulance  EMTs. So  I  guess  the  next  question  that  we  have  are, what  are  some  of  the  aspects  of your  life  that  have  shifted  since  having  your  stroke? Or  are  there  certain  things  that  you've  adapted to  like  daily  chores,  doing  your  hobbies? How  has  that  kind  of  been  affected? Um,  I  I've  slowed  down. Like,  everything  is  slower  now. I  used  to  be  really  fast  at  sewing. I  mean,  it's  my  work. It's  everything  for  me, but  it  just  crawls  now. That  said,  my  creativity  went  away  for  a  little  while, and  that  took  a  long  time  to  come  back  to  me, and  it's  still,  like,  slowly  creeping  in. Um  But  in  that  space  that  I've  slowed  down, I've  been  able  to  take  care  of myself  better  than  I  did  before. I  also  with  my  stroke, I  lost  all  anxiety  that  I've  had  before  and  depression. So  it's  kind  of  like  waking  up  with a  new  brain  a  little  bit,  which  wasn't  terrible. And,  you  know,  I've  grieved,  like, little  things  I  didn't  think  I  would  be  upset  by, but,  like,  I  can't  write. And  ways  to  anymore  with  my  hand. Like,  my  handwriting's  gone. And  I  didn't  know  I  would  miss  that. But  because  I'm  a  teacher, I've  always  known  that,  you  know, there  are  ten  different  paths  to  get  to  any  one  result. So  the  adaptive  part, I  think  I've  been  doing  since  the  beginning. So  you  just  have  to  be  willing  to  try everything  ten  different  times,  ten  different  ways. Eventually,  you'll  probably  figure  it  out. It's  really  beautiful. I  like  to  think  that  I  have  a  really  positive  attitude. I'm  strook  to  be  here,  you  know? But  it's  hearing  all  of  us  individually  our  experiences, you  know,  it's  very  hard  and life  is  not  the  same  after  my  stroke. You  know,  I'm  not  cycling or  playing  my  instruments  like  I  used  to, but  like  you  said, with  adapting,  I  found  a  way  to make  custo  and  still  cook  and  you  know, that's  cool  and  garden  and  do  things. So  I'm  still  trying  to  live  a  full  life  out  here, you  know,  with  injury  and  people  do  it  all  the  time. There's  all  kinds  of  tragedy  and  chaostic  can  happen. So  just  finding  a  way  to  be  grateful  and, you  know,  make  the  best  of  everything.  It's  problem. So  I  guess  my  life  did  change,  it  changed. But  I  guess  because  I'm  a  brat. I'm  just  going  to  admit.  I'm  a  brat. And  most  people  are,  I  want  my  way. I  wanted  things  to  be  the  same. I  didn't  want  anything  to  change,  although  it  did. However,  I  adapted. And  if  it  wasn't  for, like,  I  have  a  really  strong  friend  community and  dance  cleaning  because  I'm  a  dancer. I've  been  dancing  all  my  life. I'm  still  dancing,  and  I've been  belly  dancing  for  29  years. And  I  had  a  stroke  that  year  in  February. I  was  back  on  the  stage  in  September. Because  I  don't  know,  no,  I  don't. But  I  just  I  just  have this  need  need  even  before  the  stroke  to  keep  living. And  I  think  even  now,  since  the  stroke, I'm  like,  of  course, I  knew  their  life  is  short, but  I  feel  like  anything  can  happen  to  anybody. And  a  friend  of  mine  says  to  S  or  it's  a  win, it's  like  it  could  happen  to  anybody. Like,  when  is  it  going  to  and  it  may  not  be  a  stroke. It  could  be  anything  else.  But  I  tell  people  and people  younger  younger  people  live  your  life, you  know,  because  you  only  got  one. I'd  like  to  think  I  have  a  couple  of  them. I'm  on  one  of  my  other  ones. But  like  I  said, because  I  kept  doing  it,  I  kept  moving, and  I  have  friends  and  family. And  it  is  hard.  I  mean, a  lot  of  us  are  up  here. We're,  you  know,  we're  kind  of  self,  you  know,  wasn't. Yeah,  we  try  to  make  light  of  it, but  it's  really  when,  you  know, one  day  I  was  at  graded  for 17  days  without  the  shower,  so  gross. But,  uh  There  was  one  day  I  was  just  crying  and, like,  why  me  and  why  is  this  happening? And  am  I  ever  going  to  be  able  to  walk? I,  I  was  just  freaking  and  I  was  just  in  the  room. They  had  closed  the  door.  I  was  in  the  dark, and  I'm  just  crying  and  just  crying  to  God in  vague  I  don't  want  to  go  through  this. I  can't  handle  this.  No,  I  don't  want  this. And  the  nurse  came  in  and  she  prayed  for  me. And  they  helped  me  because  it's  really  hard, like  we  always  say,  it's  hard because  we  want  to  get  back. Like,  it's  like  yourself  like  you  almost  split  for  me. It  affected  my  right  side  but  the  left  in  there so  I  can  still  so  it  didn't  affect  my  dominant  side, but  I  feel  like  split  completely  in  two. So  I  got  one  side  of  me that's  supposedly  the  normal  side, and  the  other  side  is  like, you  know,  who  and, you  know,  slapping  people in  the  head  by  mistake  when  I  walk  past. Or  maybe  not  by  mistake. Sure.  That's  what  happened. But,  you  know,  it's  you  just kind  of  start  seeing  things  almost  like  a  duality. Like,  you  become  another  person. And  sometimes  maybe  Maybe  it's  a  good  thing,  I  guess. But  so  they  say, but  yeah,  I'm  still, I  guess,  getting  used  to  it. I  guess  it  makes  you  like  sometimes  you  forget  things  or, like,  you'll  have  words  and  you  want  to  say  something. The  other  one  is  sitting  there  and  it  looks like  and  then  you  have  to  tell  people,  Oh,  stroke  brain. So  you  like  Google  it.  What  was  I  trying  to  say? So  those  are  the  type  of  things. But  yeah,  it  has  changed  me  in  a  lot  of  ways. I  can't  I  haven't  been  I  haven't  driven  in  three  years. I  used  to  get  tired  of  driving, but  I  miss  driving. And  I've  been  working  on  trying  to drive  it  because  I  want  to  drive. It's  the  freedom,  you  know, having  to  ride  more  mobility. It's  a  whole  no  panel. Dealing  with  people  not respecting  your  space  and  not  understanding  why  you're walking  slower  or  why  your  foot  is  dragging  or  people looking  at  you  like  when  they  realize,  I  had  a  stroke. Oh,  you  so  I'm  so  sorry. Oh,  you  poor  thing,  or  talking  to  you  like  a  baby, and  I'm  like,  you  know,  but,  you  know, those  are  some  of  the  things,  so I  like  what  you  were  talking  about  motor  mobility. Actually,  I'll  tell  you  what. My  stroke  was  on  my  right  side, and  so  my  left  side  is  largely  paralyzed. But  I  did  get my  left  leg  back  when  I  was  in  the  hospital, so  I  was  actually  able  to walk  when  I  got  out  of  the  hospital. We  talk  about  things  that  changed. Paralysis  is  one  thing, but  I'm  right  handed,  and  I  was blessed  I  was  able  to  keep  my  right  side. I  never  got  the  right  to  start  slapping  people. And  I  am  negotiating. Negotiation  comes  in  terms  of  a  threat. Okay. But  I  mean,  I'm  going  to  graduate  from  here, so  you  would  assume  that  I  had some  basis  of  mathematic  mathematics. But  now  I've  used  a  calculator  to  do  tips. And  so  we  do  learn  to  be  humble  as  survivors. And  so  to  me  it's  been  kind  of  a  spirital  lesson. I've  touched  that  before. I've  had  to  learn  generally, I'm  pretty  positive  about  it.  I'll  tell  you  what. And  all  this  time,  I  never, ever  said  why  me. But  when  I  saw  other  people  with  similar  strokes, right  brain  strokes  with  left  paralysis, I  saw  them  get  everything  bad  back. Say,  and  I  said  it  to  my  doctor. I  went  to  the  Shepherd  Center. I  said  to  my  doctor  at  the  Shepherd  Center, and  said,  I'm  not  saying  why  me. What  I  am  saying  is,  why  is  mine  so  bad? Because  I  saw  other  people  getting better  and  I  was  still  not  able  to  drive. I  go  for  five  years.  Let  me  tell  you  something. I'll  see  if  I  can  bring  this  back, but  it  sucks  to  not  have  a  left  hand. It  sucks  to  have  to  use  a  cane. It  sucks  to  not  be  able  to  work. But  the  worst  disability  you can  have  in  the  Atlanta  area  is  not  be  able  to  drive. Because  there's  a  word  for  you. If  you  can't  drive  in  Atlanta, the  word,  what's  that  word? No,  that's  it.  You're  screwed. And  so  you  lose  your  independence. And  so  Getting  to  drive  was,  like, the  big  thing  because  I  thought  about, Man,  if  I  can't  learn  to  drive, waiting  4  hours  for  a  motor  mobility  bus, I  will  never  have  ice  cream  in  my  house  again. So  I  stayed  with  it, and  I  kept  practicing, and  it  took  five  years,  but  I  am  driving  now. I  found  that  recovery  is  a  series  of  small  miracles. And  I  drove  here.  That's  a  big  deal. And  so  I've  gotten  a  lot  of  my  independence  back, which  is  a  big  that's  a  BFD. And  I  will  say  that,  you  know, a  lot  of  times  we  lose  our  hobbies, and,  I'm  not  able  to  kayak  anymore. I  wish  I  could  get  back  to  it. I  used  to  be  a  wine  collector. Remember  I  spoke  about  his  talent  for  drinking. I  had  to  give  that  up  so  that  maybe  I  could drive  again  because  I  have  a  seizure  disorder. And  I've  taken  up  coffee, and  I  had  to  convert  my  wine  bar  into  a  barista  bar. My  wife  says  to  me,  you  drink  too  much  coffee. Not  too  much.  You're  addicted,  yes. You  need  to  stop  being  addicted  to  caffeine. And  I  say,  Honey,  tell  you  what? I  can  be  addicted  to  caffeine  or  crack  cocaine. I'm  happy  either  way.  Which  one  do  you  want? All  right.  So  thank  you. So  I  think  it's  pretty  clear  that optimism  and  perseverance  were a  really  big  part  of  your  journey. I  think  it's  really  great  how you  mentioned  having  the  support. So  I  guess  to  pivot  to  our  next  question, if  you  all  would  like  to  talk  a  little  bit  about your  support  networks  and some  of  the  access  to  health  care  that  you  had. How  did  that  kind  of  affect  your  recovery  process? Were  there  some  sort  of  challenges, and  what  sorts  of  benefits  did  you  seek? Yeah. Thanks. Hello. I  went  to  Grady, and  Grady  was  phenomenal. So,  like,  all  of  the  jokes  people crack  in  Atlanta  about  Grady  cut  it  out. Gray  Grady  really  has been  incredible  and  continues  to  be  great. I  spent  a  week  and  a  half  at  Grady, and  they  got  me  into  a  rehab  at  Emory, which  was  life  changing  also. And  then  I've  had  the  support  of  my  friends  and  family. They've  been  unbeatable  every  step  of  the  way. A  four  years,  so  thank  you. And  I  work  with  all  my  friends. So  that  has  made  returning  to  work  really  easy  for  me. I  got  to,  like,  slowly  roll  back  into  that  as  well. So  I've  been  very,  very  lucky. I  think  community  is  what  we  all  need  and  depend  on. I  And  I  also  found  rehab  really  interesting. So  it  scratched  that  curious  part  of  my  brain, and  I  was  able  to  really  dive  in and  have  fun  and  get  a  lot  out  of  it. So  the  support  network,  yes,  my  family. I  live  next  door  behind  my  grandmother, and  then  my  parents  live  across  from  her, so  I  can  just  yell  and  someone  will  hear  me. Hey  y'all  come  over  something. So  it's  been  good. My  partner  here.  Thank  you all  and  my  mom  Thank  you  y'all. You  want  to  talk  about  the  time at  Shepherd  Center  or  something? Well,  I  was  taken  rushed  to, I  believe  it  was  Emory  or  Exchanges, and  helicopter  to  Emory. And  I  wound  up  being  in a  coma  for  the  rest  of  the  summer. That  was  it.  I  was  in  a  coma  and  then  went  to  rehab. And  like  I  still  remember  trying  to figure  out  how  to  walk  again  and  being  in  the  wheelchair, those  were  just  the hardest  I  couldn't  get  through  anything  because  I got  through  those  weeks of  trying  to  figure  out  how  to  walk  and  use  my  leg  again. And  I  was  really  disappointed  because  in  the  wheelchair, I  could  only  go  in  circles  because  I  could  lose  one  here. Using  my  And  I've  made a  lot  of  friends  and  they  pushed me,  which  was  really  great. But  you  just  take  everything  for  granted  and, you  know,  then  you  have  this  month, and  then  you  got  to  push  forward.  We're  all. Amazing.  Please  reach  out  to  folks. We  need  to  strengthen our  communities  because  that's  what  we  have, you  know,  to  really  focus  on  and  be  here  for  each  other. That's  how  we're  all  here,  I  think, is  just  blessed  I guess  I  don't  know  if  we  but  I also  from  Grady  went  to  Emory  Rehab, and  I  was  there  about  three  weeks, and  they  were  really  good. I  was  just  Team  get  better. If  I  was  telling  a  hash  tag  team  get  better. I  was  very  I  was  very  happy  to  have  the  therapy. And  I  was  like,  Okay. I  was  like,  again,  I  have  stuff  to  do. I  got  stuff  to  do. I  want  to  keep  dancing. And  I'm  like,  I  think  it  was  because  of  my  dancing, a  lot  of  the  PTs  notes you  said  because  I've  been  dancing  all  my  life. In  tune  with  my  body  and  kind  of  understand  how to  move  and  what  they're  looking  for,  how  to  stretch. So  that  was  helpful  for me  and  just  me  just  persevering  through  that. Like  I  said  before,  I  have  friends  and  family. My  brother  is  actually  here  sitting  in  the  back  then. He  is  my  younger  brother.  I  love  him  dearly. He  actually  also  had  a  stroke a  year  after  I  did  a  year  today  as  I  did, and  it  affected  his  right  side  as  well,  and  he  f. But  he  was  going  to  go  on  for  almost  a  month  and  a  half. And  but  he  just  now  he  can  he  could  drive. He  he  did  lose  any  sensation  because  I  lost  sensation and  yeah,  so  Yeah. You're  a  country  western  sound. We  just  dad  and  ran  away  and Julie  didn't  take  my  man.  That's  what  I  tell  everybody. But  yeah,  the  support  was  really  there  with  therapy, even  therapy  after  inpatient  was  really  really  good. I  wish  it  was  more.  I  wish  that  they  would  continue  it. You  know,  I  know  insurance  companies, which  it  sucks  they  give  you  only  so  many  days  and so  much  time  for  therapy  and  it's  like,  Okay,  yeah, they  get  you  to,  I  guess,  baseline  or  whatever, but  you  still  need  it  and  You  need  not just  physical  but  mental  and  spiritual. You  need  the  whole  thing.  You  know, like  everybody  was  talking  about  the  community. I  mean,  talking  to other  people  or  some  people  don't  have  anybody. You  know,  there  were  people  there  that  had  no  one. There  are  people  there  that  were  older  than me  that  had  been  doing  things  all  their  life, and  now  they  couldn't, and  they  didn't  have  support  or  money. Having  to  give  up  driving and  having  to  depend  on  people  is  very  hard, especially  when  you  don't  want  to, especially  when  you're  so used  to  doing  everything  yourself. It  is  humbling  because  you  have  to  start allowing  the  help  and stuff  because  some  people  will  give  it, and  then,  like,  doing  things  like  mom, really,  you  have  to,  like,  fight  for  it. You  know,  you  have  to  fight  for  everything. You  get  like,  you  know,  they  say,  Oh, you  can  just  get  mobility,  and  then  you  can  do  this. It's  like  they  make  it  like,  Oh, it'll  be  fine,  you'll  be  fine. And,  you  have  to  fight  for  everything  you  get, and  it's  unfair,  and  it  makes  it  even  more challenging  because  you're  already dealing  with  this,  you  know? And  then  you  have  to  deal  with bureaucracy  and  hit  people. And  it's  just  that's  why  we  have  to  have,  you  know, and  that's  why  we  have  to  have  community  and  things  to keep  us  from  giving  up  because  it's  easy  to  do  things. It's  easy  to  give  up.  It's  easy  to  because  it's  hard, especially  when  you're  first going  through  recovery,  you  know, but  you  have  to,  you  know, in  my  opinion,  you've  got  to  be  strong. But  those  are  the  things  that  I  went  through. When  we  talk  about  social  networks. I  guess  my  wife  isn't  here, but  I  have  to  say  first,  I  have  a  wife. I  can't  imagine  what  it  would  have been  more  like  if  I  hadn't  have  a  wife. I  heard  some  of  the  most  horrible  stories. I  know  I  met  one  guy who  had  a  stroke  and  when  he  came  out  of  his  coma, the  divorce  papers  were  on  his  chest. I  mean,  my  wife  was  there and  she  talk  about  picking  up  a  fight. I  mean,  I  was  a  typical  I  was  I  was  the  one. I  mean,  since  I  like  to  argue, I  was  the  one  that  was  good  at  fighting. But  my  wife  poned  up. She  she  started  fighting  for  my  rights, fighting  for  my  medical  insurance. And  she  was  pretty  happy  when I  started  getting  my  fight  back  on. But  So  anyway,  the  medical  insurance, I  had  pretty  good  insurance  when  I  went  into  this. And  when  I  went  on  disability, when  you  go  on  Social  Security  disability, you  get  Medicare  with  it. And  I'll  tell  you, people  complain  about  Medicare  like it's  just  a  horrible  government  program. It's  not  bad.  They  cover everything.  They're  actually  easier. But  I'm  going  to  say  this. I  was  in  the  best  shape  of  my  life  when  this  happened. It  turned  out  to  be  really fortunate  that  I  checked that  box  and  I  had  disability  insurance. Might  have  lost  the  house, but  we've  been  okay. So  get  disability  insurance. As  far  as  that,  also, I  have  a  network  of  friends at  the  place  where  we  worship. It's  like  a  big  family,  and they  were  always  there.  They  would  drive  me  around. They  would  come  and  sit  with  me when  I  couldn't  be  left  alone. And  I  went  to  Shepherd  Center  to  do  my  rehab. I  actually  went  to  Pathways, which  is  their  local  facility  in  Decatur. And  they're  the  ones. The  main  I  mean,  they  don't  work  on cure  so  much  as  making  it  functional. Showing  you  how  to  use  what  you  have. And  that's  where  I  got  a  lot  of  my  ability  back, and  that's  where  I  started  getting  my  independence. It  was  a  long  time  before  I  could  be  left alone  from  my  wife  to  trust  that  I  wouldn't  start  a  fire. But  that's  so  Shepherd was  a  real  blessing  to  be  able  to  be  there. Great.  Thank  you,  everyone. I  think  I  really  liked  how  Robin  and  Ken, you  talked  about  really  fighting for  yourself  and  being  an  advocate. And  I  think  definitely  having  a  spouse or  family  support  has  been  a  huge  part  of  that  story. So  now  I  want  to  ask  you, many  of  our  audience  today  are  college  students  who may  want  to  pursue  careers  as  neuroscientists  or  doctors. So  just  from  your  experience,  your  lived  experiences, What  sort  of  advice  do  you  have  about  kind  of  living with  a  disability  or interacting  with  someone  that  has  a  disability? What  kind  of  assumptions  should  they  avoid? What  kind  of  questions  should  they  ask? Being  disabled  is  both  a  big  deal  and  not  a  big  deal. So  many  people  are  disabled, and  they're  doing  a  lot  of  things. It  changes  your  day  to  day  life. But,  you  know,  the  key  is  accessibility,  right? And  the  more  you  learn  how  to  adapt  to your  own  life  and  what  you  are  able  to  do, the  better  you  get  through  the  world,  I  guess. And  I  would  say  to  y'all,  you  know, have  an  open  mind,  surround yourself  with  all  different  types  of  people. It  really  will  broaden  your  space and  give  you  a  better  perspective on  the  world  as  a  whole. So  beautifully  set. I  actually  wrote  a  lot  about this  specific  question,  okay? So  y'all  are  going  to  be  working  with  people  who have  just  gone  through  the  scariest  moment  of  their  life, and  it'd  be  great  if  you  had  a  little  levity because  I  was  greeted  with  some  despicable  stuff. Can  I  talk  about  it?  I  woke  up  and  I  was just  really  out  of  it  and  scared. And  I  just  raise  this. But  always  treat  your  patients  as  human  beings, not  just  cases  that  are  diagnosis. Every  single  day  we  spend  in  treatment, particularly  in  the  back. Okay.  I  mean,  getting  a  lot  of  cues  from different  people  speak  from  the  heart, I  just  want  to  come  back  to,  like,  it's  okay. But  the  question  is  what  to say  the  room  full  of  people  that  are  going  to  this. I  Okay. The  first  thing  you  should tell  a  patient  when  they  wake  up, it  shouldn't  be  you'll  never  move  your  arm  again. What  I  really  need  to  hear  was  you've  survived  your  lie. Great.  Okay?  Now's  the,  you  know, and  then  all  the  years  that  we haven't  been  doing  have  come. There's  still,  you  know,  we're  not  just  lost  causes  here. We  have  some  Okay,  soap  box  time. I  think  it's  great  that  you  all  are  going  into  this. There's  a  need.  And  it's  once  you get  all  your  schooling  and  you  get  all  the  knowledge, and  you're  like,  Okay, I  got  these  letters  behind  my  name,  and  that's  awesome. But  remember,  when  you're  going  to  talk to  these  people  and  there's other  people  that  have  gone  through  that, you  just  that's  just  your  armor to  help  them.  You're  there  for  them. This  is  not  for  your  glory. It's  for  them  to  help  them  get  better  and  to hopefully  learn  what  could help  make  somebody  else  better. Because,  you  know,  the  brain,  as  I'm  finding, it  is  a  wonderful  thing that's  like  a  computer  but  better. And  it's  so  many  different  things, and  everybody's  stroke  is  different. Like  I  said,  with  my  brother, we're  both  left  handed, you  know,  I'm  4-years-old  and  we're, you  know,  the  same  parents. Happened  a  year  apart  on  the  same  side  of  our  bodies, but  he  doesn't  have  the  same  defects  that  I  have, but  we're  still  you  know, we  still  had  it  there,  you  know, so  make  sure  that  when  you  meet  these  people, you're  like,  she  said,  Hey,  you  survived. Now,  you  know,  who  is  this  person? What  was  going  on  there?  What's  going  to  help  them? And  if  there's  anything  that  they  need, not  just  right  there  in  the  moment, but  if  you  foresee  that this  person  doesn't  have  this  type  of  insurance or  there's  something  you  can  fight  for  for  them,  do  that. Because  like  I  said,  again, it's  not  a  if  this  may happen  or  it  could  be  a  witness  happens  to  you. How  do  you  want  to  be  treated? You  have  to  think  about  that  just  throughout  life. How  do  you  want  to  be  treated? You  also  said,  make  sure  you  surround yourself  with  different  types  You  know, you  may  not  have  to  agree  with  what  everybody feels  or  how  everybody  votes  or  whatever, but  when  you're  helping  somebody, just  help  them  because that's  what  you're  supposed  to  be  doing. Just  help  them.  Lou,  know  different  people, understand  different  people, understand  that  people  are  going to  speak  different  languages  and they  come  from  different  backgrounds. Understand  this,  learn  this,  you  know, be  a  good  steward  in  what  you're  doing, because  it  helps  when  you're  going  through  this. You're  already  going  through  your  own  inner  turmoil. But  when  the  outside  world  is swirling  all  around  you  in chaos  and  they're  bringing  chaos  to  you. You  already  got  chaos  within  yourself. You're  already  thinking  that  you don't  know  if  you're  going  to  get  swirled  up, you  know,  like  Tanymania  Devil,  if  you're  going  to  die, you're  going  to  live  Somebody coming  in  and  just  reading  off a  chart  and  being  whatever  and  they're on  their  phone  or  they  don't  care  or, you  know,  or  they  just  looking at  you  like  whatever  they  are, you  can  see  that they're  looking  at  you  like  you're  nothing. Nobody  needs  that.  Nobody  needs  that.  So  don't  do  it. Learn  all  you,  learn  all  you  can, expand  your  horizons,  and just  really  be  open to  not  just  everybody  but  you  yourself. Because  like  I  said, we  all  need  to  be  together  in  community, and  it's  very  cool.  But  it's  the  truth. We  all  really  need  for  this because  if  things  are  getting  taken  away, people  aren't  going  to  be  able to  afford  things  they  need. Like  all  these  insurances  and  things  we  need  is  like, what  if  you  didn't  have  insurance  so  you  can have  you  had  the  surgeries  that  you  needed. If  somebody  could  say,  well,  you can't  get  it  because  of  this  and  that,  I  mean, then  your  life  matters just  like  everybody  else's  life,  you  know? So  hooking  up  for. Thanks.  Ellie,  you  said  something  really  important. And  for  those  who  are getting  into  the  medical  profession, this  is  something  you  will  eventually  pick  up, and  it's  really  important  that  doctors find  the  right  amount  of  encouragement  level. As  a  rule,  your  physical  therapist doesn't  want  to  tell  you you  are  going  to  get  your  hand  back, or  they  don't  want  to  tell you  you're  not  going  to  get  your  leg back  because  If  you  know  you're  not  going  to  get  it  back, then  you  risk  the  patient  won't  even  try. But  if  you  tell  them  it  is going  to  come  back  and  it  doesn't, then  you  have  a  very  angry  patient. And  so  my  physiatrist, you  all  know  what  a  physiatrist, that's  a  big  word.  That's  your  stroke  doctor. She  said  that  when  she  saw  me,  I  mean, it  took  her  about  two  years  before  she  finally  told  me, you're  not  going  to  get  your  hand  back. But  they  didn't  want  to  tell  me that  because  they  wanted  me  to  keep  trying, but  that's  the  balance  you  have  to  keep  going  with. But  we're  talking  about  patients. I've  met  a  lot  of  people  who  have  aphasia, and  I've  seen  people trying  to  talk  to  people  with  aphasia, and  people  get  really impatient  with  people  trying  to  speak. And  I've  sat  with  a  lot  of  people. One  of  my  favorite  things  to  do now  is  to  visit  with  survivors and  I  carry  a  message  and  I say  to  them,  it's  really  scary. Your  brain  isn't  doing  what  it  used  to  do. But  if  you  keep  working  at  it, you're  going  to  get  it  all  back  or you'll  get  enough  back  that  you  can  work  with  it. And  so  I  talk  to  people  with  aphasia, and  I've  seen  where  people  are  like, struggling  to  say  something. And  people  have  this  tendency  to, like,  hurt,  try  to  hurry  them  on. It's  like,  Come  on,  come  on,  get  it  out. And  then  you  watch  them  they're  trying  to  find words  and  start  trying  to  finish  the  words  for  them. You  can  see  them  starting  to  get  emotional. And  so  I  learned  is  If  you  just  listen, sometimes  you'll  listen  to  them  trying  to  speak. And  it  may  take  them  a  moment  to  find  the  word. And  after  you  think  you  know  what  the  word  is, repeat  the  word  back  to  them, and  then  they  start  thinking  you're  hearing  them. And  after  a  while,  you  kind  of  forget  what the  sentence  is  if  you're  being  patient  and  listening. After  that,  I  would  repeat  the  sentence  back  to  them. And  then  this  was  really rewarding  when  you  see  them  going, like,  finally,  somebody  can  hear  me. And  that's  like  that's  something  right  there. But  the  big  thing  that I've  had  to  learn,  I'll  try  to  keep. I'm  not  going  to  ramble  like  I  normally  do, but  I  had  a  moment  last  week where  I  sit  at  the  welcome  desk  at  Shepherd  Center, and  I  greet  people,  and  I  tell  people I'm  the  minister  of  stupid  grins. But  somebody  came  by  and  he  didn't  know  how  to  get  to a  room  in  one  of the  adjacent  buildings  at  the  Shepherd  Center. I  thought  I  knew  where  it  was, and  the  man  was  a  bleeding  stroke  survivor,  too. And  he  walked  like  I  do  with a  great  deal  of  difficulty  and  slowly. So  I'm  taking  him  all  over  the  place. And  I  got  lost. He's  with  me,  and,  you  know, the  loss  were  leading  to  the  loss. Eventually,  got  there,  and  I  was  just  really  embarrassed. And  finally,  he  helped  me and  the  two  of  us  figured  out  and  I  got  him  there. And  then  I  got  back  to  my  desk, and  I  was  just  like,  Crap. I  thought  I  was  getting  better.  And  now I  just  regressed  again. It  was  really  depressing. And  I  sent  a  text. One  of  the  things  I  play  there  is I  come  up  with  a  different  word  to  say, I'm  good  or  I'm  great. I  used  to  say,  I'm  swell. And  that  day,  I  sent  a  text to  my  wife  and  I  said,  pray  for  me. I  just  downgraded  from  swell  to  hanging  in  there. And  so  she  told  me, you  know,  you  have  to  be  kind  to  yourself. Remember,  you  are  a  brain  injury  survivor. You  are  going  to  have  fallbacks. You're  going  to  have  those  days,  and  just  don't beat  yourself  up  too  much  and  accept  it. And  for  those  who  lose  their  hobbies, I  used  to  be  a  fanatical  kayaker, when  I  wasn't  drinking,  I  was  kayaking. And  I  had  to  give  that  up because  you  need  two  hands  to  do  that. But  you  can  grieve  over  what  you  lose. That's  going  to  be  normal.  But  you  can  find  new  hobbies. And  I've  been  able  to  find  others. Great.  Thank  you,  everyone. So  that  concludes  the  questions  that  I  have. So  I  guess  we'll  open  it now  to  the  audience  for  their  question. But  before  we  do  that, if  we  could  all  give  everyone  a  round  of  applause, So  we  want  about  20  minutes  for  questions, and  I  would  love  for  students  or  those  who  are visiting  to  ask  some  questions  of  our  panelists, something  that  sparked  your  interest or  that  you're  curious  about  and  you  want  to  learn  more. Hi,  my  name  is  Vicki. I  am  a  student  in  doctor Singh's  sociology  of  medicine  class. And  I  had  a  question  that  was  asked  in the  previous  panel  that  I  think  is applicable  here,  which  is, what  is  the  biggest  misconception  about  having a  stroke  that  you've witnessed  or  dealt  with  in  your  life. I  please. Um,  I  think  at  first, you  just  assume  that  you're  not  going  to  get better  or  you're  going  to  be,  like, twisted  up  or  everything's  going  to  be  drooping  and, you  know,  you  think  that. But  that's  not  everybody,  and  there's nothing  wrong  with  that  because  if that  happens,  it  happens. But,  yeah,  that's  what  I thought  the  first  thing  I  did  when  I had  my  when  I  woke  up  in  the  hospital, I  asked  for  a  mirror  I'm  so  I  told  them  to  dancer. I  asked  for  a  mirror,  and  they  brought  me  a  mirror, and  I  looked  and  I  was  like,  Oh,  my  face. And  then  because  I'm  a  belly  dancer, so  I  was  shimmy.  I  could  still  shimmy. I  was  like,  Okay.  The  the  moneymakers  is  still  there. The  moneymakers  are  still  there. But  yeah,  but,  yeah,  that's  the  misconception. You  think  that  like, you're  going  to  be  because,  you  know, when  you  see  it  on  TV,  when  somebody  has  a  stroke, they're  they're  twisted  and  everything, and  they  make  it  look  like  it's  so  bad, like  you're  so  haggard, and  it's  just  having  a  disability is  supposedly  supposed  to  have  a  stigma  and  shame  to  it. So  that's  what  Yeah. Any  other  questions?  Can  be  sure.  Yes. Okay. Hi,  I'm  Thomas,  and I'm  another  one  of  doctor  Singh's  students, and  this  would  be  a  little  bit  heavy, but  you  mentioned  that  some  people  don't have  unnecessary  support  structure, and  I'm  really  interested  to  see  how  they would  how  would  they  have  you  seen  I'm  sorry, I'm  a  little  bit  of  stutter. How  do  you  have  any  stories of  people  who  do  not  have  a  disturbed  support  structure, and  then  they  I'm  a  little  bit  I'm  a  little  bit  upset. I'm  sorry.  Can  you  remember? So  is  the  question,  how  do  people persevere  when  they  don't  have  a  support  structure? Is  that  kind  of  the  essence  of  your  question? Yeah.  Yeah,  that's  really  tough,  and  I  personally, am  fortunate  not  to  know, but  at  Grady,  I  go  to a  phenomenal  stroke  group  once  a  month. Anybody  can  come  third  Saturday,  10:00.  It's  great. And  everyone  is  really  willing  to  help  you  and  help  you figure  something  out  or find  a  resource  if  you  don't  have  one. And  the  people  who  lead  the  group  are  great  because they're  always  bringing  in  new  people  for  us  to  meet. I  found  out  about  a  few  research  studies  that  way. Also  a  bunch  of  different treatment  options  that  I  didn't  know  about. So  it's  been  really  cool. So,  you  know,  if  you  look  locally, there  are  support  networks. So  if  you  don't  have  family  or  friends,  there's  a  place. Can  you  tell  us  about  a  time  when  there  was a  person  on  your  care  team,  maybe, or  a  moment  in  your  progress  that,  like, you  pushed  through  a  plateau,  like, to  the  next  level  in  your  ability  to  regain  any  deficits? Yeah,  I've  got  a  short  answer. I  was  really  fortunate  to work  with  occupational  therapy  at  Grady  for  almost, like,  over  a  year,  I  think. And  while  I  didn't  hit  all  of my  very  lofty  goals  that  I  had  for  myself, I  keep  getting  closer  and  closer, and  the  work  is  still  happening. So  I'm  hopeful  that something  it'll  get  a little  closer  to  where  I  want  it  to  be. These  are  great  questions.  Thank  you. Do  you  know  how  to  respond  to? Well,  for  me,  again, like  I  said,  I'm  a  dancer, so  I  was  always  going  to the  gym  in  rehab  and  doing  my  20  minutes  on  the  bike. But  then  I'd  always  ask  for  more because  I  wanted  to  do  more. When  I  was  able  to  start  walking  a  little  bit, and  I  was  really  happy  They  were  like,  you  want  to  sit? I  was  tired  of  like,  no,  I  want  to  keep  going. So  I  think  when  I  was  able  to not  have  to  use  my  cane  or  walker  at  home, when  I  have  those  moments  when  I  don't  have  to, I  was  really  happy,  but  I  still  car  just  in  case. But  I  think  the  best  thing was  when  because  again,  I'm  a  dancer. I  belly  dance,  and  we  have  we  use  different  props and  There  was  a  piece  I  was  in  that  had  ices  wings, and  I  was  able  to  do  part  of  it  a  little  bit. They  modified  it,  so  I  would  hold  it  and  it  slip. But  we  had  a  piece  where  they were  sword  and  I  love  swore, and  I  was  able  to  balance the  sworn  on  my  hand  and  on  my  knee  with  one  leg. So  I  was  like,  I'm  a  badass. But  but  those  are  things  for  me  because  of  who  I  am, that  every  time  I  can  do  a  little bit  more  in  class  or  I  can  actually turn  because  I  couldn't turn  deliverer  was  off or  I  was  afraid  I  was  going  to  fall. I'm  working  in  zoos. I  can  only  zoo  with  one  hand, but  I'm  still  working,  you  know. The  one  time  I  tried  to practice  driving,  I  did  pretty  good. I  didn't  I  didn't  crash. I  I.  But  it  was  fun. My  nephew  was  like,  Please. Being  able  to  go  to  the  park  and  walk  a  little  bit further  than  I  did  the  time  before,  you  know, those  things,  being  able  to  read a  book  and  not  forget  where  I  was,  you  know. So  those  are  little  moments. I  keep  saying,  little  moments,  little  victories, so  but  yeah, I'm  hoping  I  don't  play  to.  I  want  to  keep  going. Have  you  tried  using  a  Kindle? It's  an  e  reader.  It's  the  biggest  one  out  there. Amazon  carries  it. When  a  Kendle  goes out  and  remembers  the  page  you  were  on, You  go  into  the  adaptable  technology  at  Shepherd  Center. They  have  a  wall  of  different  technologies. Some  of  them  are  driving. One  of  them  is  the  Kindle. I  was  like,  Well,  I  can  get  that I  figure  that  one  out.  That's  what  I  use. Just  to  understand  it, try  to  read  a  paperback  book  with  one  hand. You'll  understand  what  we're  talking  about. And  the  Kindle  is  very  one  hand  friendly. So  your  question  was  about how  people  are  when  you  regain  something. For  me,  it  was  driving. I  mean,  I  was  People were  just  really  excited  when  I  was  able  to  start driving  again  because  they  physiatrist said  that  I  would  never  drive  again. And  so  that  was  just  again  because  one  of my  issues  that  I  have  I  have  cognitive  disabilities,  too. Since  the  stroke  was  on  the  right  side, I  have  what's  called  left  inattention, which  is  I  can  see  on  the  left, but  I  might  not  notice  what's  on  the  left, which  is  a  real  big  deal  if you're  going  through  the  intersection on  a  car  and  you  don't  notice the  red  fire  truck  on  your  left. That  means  you  get  to  go  to  the  hospital  again. And  so  I  couldn't  drive  for  a  while. And  then  I  stayed  when  I  when  I  started  driving  again, that  was  a  huge  deal,  and everybody  was  really  happy  about  that. But  the  more  recent  thing  is, and  it  really  excites  a  lot  of people  because  it's  very  visible, so  I  stopped  using  a  cane  last  year. And  people  still  see  it  and  just  like  they're  like  crazy. Like,  Wow,  you're  still  without  the  cane. Okay.  Do  you  want  to  tell the  audience  that  process  that  you  shared with  me  in  the  parking  lot  and  how  you  were able  to  stop  using  can? Oh,  yeah.  I  yeah. It  was  kind  of  funny.  I  was  I  love  my  wife. I  say  things  about  her  that  might  make  you  think  I  don't. She's  not  here,  so  I  have  free  license  here. But  I  I  was  brushing my  teeth  one  night  and  not  that  story. Oh,  So  Kinsey  is  here. You  were  working  with  Kinsey. Oh,  yes.  Oh,  yeah,  Kinsey. I'm  sorry.  Thank  you for  having  the  filter  that's  failed  on  me. That's  also  one  of  the  issues  is  the  filter, like  telling  things  that  are  just  not  appropriate. Sometimes  people  have  to  be  that  for  me. I  don't  participated  in  Oh,  yeah,  yeah. Georgia  Tech  has  a  robotics  lab, and  they're  working  on  a  exoskeleton, and  they  use  me  as  a don't  I  won't  be  called a  guinea  pig  because  I  am  a  higher  mammal. Yeah. But  actually,  I  am  a  test  subject. They'll  call  me  in  every  few  months  or  so, and  they'll  put  the  exoskeleton  on  me. And  the  idea  of this  exoskeleton  is  to  help  people  with  their  gait, the  pace  of  their  walking  or  the  evenness  of  it. And  so  it  would  help  me  walk. It  would  help  me  have  a  more  persistent  stride. And  in  so  doing,  my  wall  got  better. So  really  being  in  this  program became  like  a  free  therapy  to  me. And  when  they  asked  me  to  give  a  review  on  it,  I  said, I  felt  that  this  would  be  a  good  therapy  device, and  that  has  a  lot  to  do  with  why I'm  walking  better  and  not  using  the  cane. Is  that  the  story  I  told  you? I'm  just  not  making  up  anything  here. Okay.  So  one  and  two. I  wanted  to  I  think  I  might  have  jumped  in  line. Sorry.  I  have  the  microphone. Diana,  you  mentioned  that  your  depression  and anxiety  that  you  had  before  the  stroke  went  away. I'm  very  curious  about other  emotional  or  psychological or  even  personality  changes that  you  may  have  experienced before  and  after  your  stroke. Like  you  just  mentioned,  filter. I  kind  of  put  that  in  the  same  category, but  I  would  love  to  hear  your  experiences about  those  things  changing  because  I  think the  physical  traits  that  we  can  all see  are  on  the  surface. But  really  understanding  how  you  as a  person  inside  may  have  changed  can  be  very  interesting. Well,  for  me,  unfortunately, I  didn't  my  anxiety  didn't  go  away. I  wish  it  did.  It  kind  of  got  worse. Depression  Zoloft  helps  with  depression.  Thank  God. But  yeah,  my  anxiety  and  the depression,  it  did  get  worse. And  like  I  said,  medication  does  help in  trying  to  the  more  I  be  around  family, the  more  I  do  things  that  bring  me joy  and  keep  me  focused  and not  worried  about  all  the  other  things  that  are  going on  in  my  life  because  it's  what  that  does  help. But  it  got  worse  in a  sense  because  I'm  such  a  Type  A  personality, and  I  want  everything  to  be  good  and  right, and  it  has  to  be,  you  know, I'm  still  learning  to  deal  with,  you  know, moving  out  of  my  way  and  letting  be  and letting  go,  that's  scary. It's  always  been  scary  for  me, and  it  is  really  scary  because, you  know,  we  all  want  to  be  in  control. You  know,  invasive,  that  is, you  know,  that's  been  a  thing. Not  my  story,  but  someone  I  met at  stroke  support  Group  at  Grady, his  OCD  went  away  with  his  stroke, which  I  thought  was  really  interesting. And  a  nice  silver  line. What's  wrong  with  having  order  in  your  life? Not  my  circus,  not  my  monkeys. I'm  one  of  the  organizers for  the  stroke  support  group  that  Diana  goes  to, and  I'm  a  nurse  by  trade. What  is  your  y'all's  perception  of the  nursing  care  that  you received  and  is  there  anything  that  we  could  do  better, especially  like  you  guys  were saying  after  the  comas  and  stuff  like  that. Great  question.  Can  we  just  have  some  fun? We've  just  been,  like,  through  so  much. And  we  wake  up,  like  premature, but  play  with  us  a  little  bit. 'Cause  I  found  that  my  sense  of  humor  got cranked  up  my  family  couldn't  handle  it. They  still  can't  really  handle. They're  like,  Ella,  freak  it  down, but  I  won't  get  even  crazier. It's  really  important  to  express  yourself,  you  know, and  to  have  your  sense  of humor.  That's  how  I  get  through. It's  truly  self  deregate  humor, sure,  but  also  just  good  humor,  you  know? Laughter  is  the  best  medicine. It's  true.  It's  true. It,  like,  makes  a  heart  feel  lighter, you  know,  and  our  hearts  are  heavy. So  let's  keep  it  light  and  playful  and  joyful. That's  how  I  found  joy.  Labor. I  can't  even  do  anything  about  it.  How  am  I  talk  to? I  don't  know  if  this  is good  advice  for  a  healthcare  provider, but  I  think  life  is  kind  of  absurd, and  going  through  a  stroke, you  are  in  situations  you'll never  be  in  again,  hopefully, and  just  find  a  little  joy in  all  the  silliness  that  comes  with  such  heavy  things. Hello,  I'm  a  postdoctoral  researcher from  the  lab  who  does  the  exoskeleton, and  I'm  curious  about your  experiences  with  assistive  device. Like,  what  do  you  think  of  it  when  it  does  great, but  say  very  obviously  there? Would  you  prefer  something  that  is  more  subtle? I  heard  about  some  story  of  a  stroke  survivor  who  got five  different  device  to  help her  tie  her  hair  and  then  nothing  worked. And  she  was  super  upset  about  it. So  anything  those  designers  or  engineers  should  be more  aware  of.  Thanks. I  suspect  you  were  actually  asking  me  to  talk  again. The  technology  is  really  neat, but  when  they  would  be  putting that  on  there,  there  was,  like,  a  team. They  would  sometimes  it  would  take it  would  be  most  of  an  hour  putting  everything  on  me. And  if  you're  going  with  this  type  of  device, it  needs  to  be  easy  to  put  on. And  it's  nice  to  have  it  compatible  with  your  clothing. I  had  to  use  what's  called  an  FES, a  functional  electronic  stimulating  device, commonly  known  as  a  Boness  or  a  walk  aid, and  it's  something  I  used  on my  left  leg  to  lift  my  toes  up  when  I'm  walking. And  I  needed  one  that  didn't  have  like 12  different  parts  to  it  and  programming  being  required. But  they  had  one  that  I  could  put  on  with  one  hand, and  I  have  more  shoes  than  any  heterosexual  man  you  know. And  it  just  really  bothered  me  that I  couldn't  wear  good  shoes. And  so  some  of  the  any  technology  that lets  you  dress  the  way  you  want  to  is  good. Did  I  answer  your  question? No.  Okay.  Hi,  my  name  is  Jean. I'm  a  student  in  doctor  Sins  class. And  my  question  is, what  are  some  daily  habits  or  adjustments  you've  had  to implement  into  your  lifestyle  to help  maintain  progress  in  your  recovery? Well,  for  me,  somebody mentioned  about  somebody  not  being  able  to  do  their  hair, and  I  did  it  with  one  hand, and  it  was  hard. That  was  one  of  the  major  things, not  being  able  to  hair  and ponytail,  like  I  would  like  to. As  far  as,  like,  my  daily  routine, I  always  thank  God,  like  I  said, I'm  left  hand  dominant, so  I  was  still  able  to  feed  myself and  clean  myself,  which  was  a  great  thing. Cooking,  my  brother  he  cooks  more  now  because  it's  hard for  me  to  hold  on  to  things  or  if  I was  one  time  I  was  trying  to  make  some  eggs, and  my  hand  got  too  close  to the  heat  because  I  can't  feel  it. I  burned  myself  because  I  felt  it  afterwards, you  know,  because  it's  delayed  reaction. So  cooking  and  cutting. I  wish  I  want  to  do  more  of  that, but  that's  kind  of  like  I  found  different  ways. I  try  to  hold  on  to  it  like  this and  and  pray  it  on  the  clip  of  my  finger  or  just, you  know,  you  adapt. It  may  not  be  the  best  way  of  adapting, but  you  just  kind  of  do  your  own  adapting. But  I  can  imagine  what  you  said? I  would  love  to  do  what you  are  doing  with  Enfield  Skeleton, and  it  does  need  to  be  something  that  people  can do  themselves  and  easier and  affordable  and  something that  is  given  to  people  because  they  need  it. To  answer  that  question,  daily  routine is  imperative  because  you  got  to,  like, stay  focused  and  be  you  know,  I'm  talking  loud  enough. Can  you  all  hear  me?  Can  you  hear  me?  Thank  you. But  I  do  the  PTPal  through the  Shepherd  Center  app,  which,  like, my  therapist  on  the  other  end on  their  computer  can  see  that I'm  logging  in  every  day  and doing  my  different  therapies. So  I  do  those  consistently  every  day. And  that  just  stretches and  just  things  that  are  on  an  app, and  I  log  it  when  I'm  finished. And  that  helps  keep  me,  like,  really. If  I  didn't  have  a  daily  routine, then  I'd  sleep  all  the  time,  probably.  Routine. Daily  routine  was  a  thing that  I  had  to  set  up  right  away  when  I  got  home. Like,  how  was  my  day  going  to  be  paced  out? It  wouldn't  just  be  I  could  actually  do. And  the  thing  that  I  keep  having  to  learn  is  that, you  know,  everything  works  for  you  right  now,  right? If  you  are  an  able  bodied  person, when  it  goes  away  for a  disabled  person  or  you're  a  stroke  survivor, um,  Those  gains  aren't  permanent. So,  you  know,  if  I take  a  month  off  of  doing  my  arm  exercises, I  can't  lift  my  arm  over  my  head. So  I  have  to  remind myself  to  do  that  and  stay  on  top  of  it. I  have  one  more  question, Mark.  Ken,  did  you  want  to  have? Actually  I  don't. Okay.  Let's  hear  for  one  more  question. Yeah.  Hi.  Thank  you  all  so  much. I  really  appreciate  all  of the  stories  and  personal  experiences  that  you  shared. I'm  in  the  visiting  neuroanatomy  class, and  so  my  thesis  work focuses  on  the  development  of neural  organoids  from  stem  cells. And  that's,  I  feel  like  about  as  far as  it  could  possibly  be  from  the  patient  experience. And  you're  all  incredible  people with  souls  and  stem  cells  are a  bob  on  a  table  and  they  can't  talk  to  me. So  what  in  your  experience  do you  hope  for  to  improve  for  future  patients? Like,  what  would  you  what  did  you  have  to go  through  that  you  hope that  no  patient  has  to  go  through  again? Excuse  me. One  day,  when  I  was  at  Grady, one  of  the  nurses  and  I  know  nurses have  a  it's  a  hard  job,  understandable. She  wasn't  really  paying  attention  to  me. She  came  in  to  dress  me  needed  to  help  me, and  I  was  trying  to  tell  her  I  needed  some  help, and  she  just  wasn't  listening.  She  was  on  the  phone. She  just  and  she  dropped  me  on  the  floor. I  was  livid  and  she kept  trying  to  apologize,  and  I  was,  you  know, plus  I'm  gratic  No,  I  need  to  see  your  manager. And  I  was  so  upset,  and, of  course,  they  apologized  and  she  apologized. And  I  just  told  her,  you  need  to  pay attention  to  what  you're  doing, you  know,  because  I  know  you probably  need  to  talk  to  somebody,  and  it's  great. Do  it  on  your  break.  I  know  you  have  a  hard  job, but  be  present  in  what  you're  doing. You  said  that  you  all  work  with  stem  cells, but  even  though  you're  not  work  with  a  person, that's  part  of  a  person. And  whatever  you  find  that  can  help  a  person, you  know,  be  your  futist, find  aha  moment  and  then  give  it  to  us, whether  it  heals  or  cures  us  or  not, at  least  it  will  help,  and  that  will  help  other  people. And  then  knowing  how  things,  you  know, how  this  thing  didn't,  you  know,  work  with  this. But  this,  you  know, so  now  as  you  tell  people,  hey, try  to  work  on  your  stress  or  try  to  drink more  water  or  try  to  do  more  of  this  or  don't  do  this, or  watch  these  things,  you  know, telling  your  kids  and  teenagers,  you  know, telling  everybody  to  how  to, you  know,  be  more  conscious than  their  health,  that  helps. And  that  will  help  the  next  people, you  know,  There's  one  thing  I  heard  about. You're  familiar  with  an  astrocyte? My  neurologist, I  haven't  actually  heard  a  lot  about  using  stem  cells, but  I  would  like  to  hear  if  any  work  has  been  done. As  I  recall,  an  astrocyte is  a  cell  that's  very  much  like  a  neuron, but  it  does  not  have  the  neuron  functions. And  they're  doing  research  on probably  ping  them  cells  and  triggering  them into  being  neurons  because that  gives  some  hope  to  a  regenerating  loss  of  neurons. Are  you  allowed  to  talk  about  that? Because  I'm  okay  with  not  talking  anymore. We're  actually  out  of  time  if our  students  are  busy,  I  know. But  I  just  want  to  thank  you  all  for such  a  wonderful  panel  and sharing  your  life  stories  with  us. Let's  give  them,  if you  can  sign  up  to  be  here,  please  do  so. I  don't  know  where  the  sign  up  is.