I'm sure your neurologist has explained that the typical healing timetable for a VAD is 3-6 months. Yeah. It’s not gonna happen again. I’ve got to do this on my own. You know, that’s just because there’s beauty in relating with other people. 80% of those who do survive, however, achieve a full recovery. Spontaneous dissections have been reported. But I can’t do that. These are the main blood vessels that provide blood flow to the back of the brain. Bill 1:43 So I went and saw a psychologist and a coach. And if you do come across as mean or nasty. And, you know, trying to get that back. Bill 1:17:57 Then you’re going to start to feel freer to explore more things. But we’re going to need to stay here for a little bit. So I know you were in hospital and then you were dealing with the immediate issues a TPA, by the way, which is an amazing drug. And I thought, I’m just going to reach out in this way. So they knew everything that they were doing, they did a phenomenal job. But I have to be more aware of my reactions where before I would be, yeah, it’s fine. It was fantastic. VAD & Stroke Personal stories, recovery, symptoms, and friends. Forums Topics Posts Last post; Personal Stories And it just seems to come from nowhere. And then the something like that, that completely takes the control away. So I felt like I was in this bubble of okay. And your husband and your friends are now in the stand watching your game and how you’re playing it. And again, this was maybe an hour and a half, two hours after the very first onset of the symptom. But at the same time, you know, it’s almost like a weird euphoric feeling afterwards, because it’s like, wow, okay, here’s someone I’ve never met before, you were just honest about a traumatic situation, you gained incredible wisdom. Stephanie 21:18 Here’s what’s important here is, you know, here’s where you need to generate your energy and just be a lot more simple and positive and it was still difficult, though, because. Bill 1:57 You know, is this a new change? Bill 49:31 In asking the most incredible nurses, I live in Arizona, and so the hospital I had gone to was a tier one stroke hospital, ironically. “Every time you need less assistance with a task, that is a milestone for the patient.”. This is Episode 127. Stephanie 1:10:53 You know, my husband’s been with me through this whole entire thing. And I wanted to meet people that were like me, so I didn’t feel weird, and strange and alone. Try to put more positivity inside me, I realized that the problem is I was, you know, really not filling myself with a lot of positivity, because what I had known to be my love and positivity and, you know, high emotion with other people and being with other people being social, and that’s gone, I had to rethink, you know. So I very much appreciate this. So of course, I did what he had said to do, but the anxieties after that. And what I didn’t know was that I was discovering my purpose. And that’s what. Stephanie 1:09:56 Bill 26:08 And if I do want to get more that What do I have to do? Look out for these signs. And Nick is a guy who looks at this Japanese way of finding purpose, they call it Ikigai. So this timing could not have been more perfect. Spontaneous vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is a rare condition that can potentially cause a stroke without any preceding trauma or other causes of dissection. Stephanie 8:21 And to do that, will make my life better at the same time. I had the amount of problems and more than other people. And, that’s something that we have learned to really cherish and hone in and to be more intentional about is we have always been so others focus that inside our own bubble, it’s so fulfilling. And then when I started to realize that, Oh, my gosh, I’m having a hard time, you know, feeling love for someone, which I never had a hard time doing before. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health advice. You know, if there was something bad, it’s okay, but the reality is, it’s okay to be good. All right. It’s a very simple decision to make you don’t interact and you save that energy. Even though my processing at that point had already started to slow down, I started to realize not only that I was scared of the physical effects that I could start to be aware of the mental effects. And she was in her 30s. And I know, there, it’s on so many different spectrums. So I focused on that stuff. Maybe just going alright, well, if it turns into that, it turns into that, let’s see what happens. I had an enormous headache. So I went and use my other hand to call him and just said hey, something feels weird. Stephanie 1:22:40 It wasn’t honestly physical fatigue, it was truly mental. And every day that goes by, I feel like it should be a lot further along. Bill 53:14 Introduction. And here, he’s more aware more evolved, his emerging out of his shell into this different version of himself that people don’t recognize, but they love. I too am a three times stroke survivor and a brain surgery survivor. In that part, I appreciated but at the same time, I wish that I would have been more aware, or at least had the guidance afterwards. Because I didn’t seek out the right help. But in the end, it’s just amazing to be talking to you. I was begging to go home, because I felt fine. Many patients presen… And it was almost a hamster wheel of negativity that I have really never had an immense amount of before, my self awareness, honestly came more from being aware of other people’s needs. I really appreciate it. You can have a conversation and say, Hey, I know that might have sounded a bit mean and nasty, but actually I’m just playing tennis at the moment. But the people that have asked him how he’s doing has actually helped me more because he has needed someone to talk to, and someone to be honest with because, you know, not only did have I changed, but it’s a daily kind of like, explaining your wife, like it’s a daily thing. Because I am the type of person where, you know, mind over matter, just be strong. But isn’t it funny that acceptance has made me stuck? Bill 50:17 Bill 37:15 This is something that’s completely different. And once you get into the habit Bit of having hard conversations and loving the other side of that, and going, Wow, that’s really relieving, or that’s freeing or that’s whatever it is, once you get good at that, then it’s easy to go and have more more and more harder conversations. If you’re not happy after 30 days. And then a few years later, I realized that this podcast that started off selfishly, for me was actually more for other people. You know, I’ve studied and know a lot of stuff. Because, you know, you can read that you can recover this time or this time, and my husband even said, We’re about to hit your one year, like, you know, what, there’s not a number dial above our heads of how many more days left, we have until we’re recovered, quote unquote, you know, or maybe this is the recovery is it’s just somebody that is, you know, I’m in the same body but a lot more. Where can I get it from? But realizing that, okay, now that there are anxieties there, now I need to be aware of, you know, how to, how to understand them, but also how to, try to be better. So the emotional side really put me in a position where I had, I remember being in the hospital, I remember them saying, hey, there’s a high chance you’re gonna deal with a little bit of depression. I wanted, I was not kidding when I posted and I said, I want to figure out a way to make her Yeah, I mean, because it, it was incredible. Bill 54:00 And I don’t know why. Read all COVID-19 Vaccine Information. Because I think, you know, in speaking from a therapists mindset, you know, I know the word is escaping me. Please understand that our phone lines must be clear for urgent medical care needs. In the morning, I still have that headache, but again, it was nothing different. Two days earlier, she had sustained a head injury in the occipital region. The typical patient with VAD is a young person who experiences severe occipital headache and posterior nuchal pain following a head or neck injury and subsequently develops focal neurologic signs attributable to ischemia of the brainstem or cerebellum. Stephanie 1:13:57 I will never forget, at my six month appointment, the doctor had said, Hey, we’re gonna take you off blood thinners because everything looks great. But in doing that, the mental exhaustion, and then so I was very aware of the physical side than the cognitive side and the fatigue. Vertebral artery dissection is a flap-like tear of the inner lining of the vertebral artery, which is located in the neck and supplies blood to the brain. That’s why it’s called relationships. And then seeing where it evolves from and how it goes, and what it ends up becoming. And when you face them, they’re going to relieve you of something that has been blocking you and being getting in your way. And then once my family we came home still had a headache. Bill 1:06:15 I really appreciate it. And I have still, yeah, we’re at over month 10, I’m still extremely limited in my public gatherings, especially with what’s going on world. Bill 25:43 I know how much I appreciate people’s honesty of the good and the bad. And so I would say about a month two to three, I definitely went in to about a depression. That it’s going to be okay, and or what she says, You know, I guess this is what true love is when you know, and you make the commitment, for better or for worse, I mean, this is the worst we had not anticipated. I had it here. Part of my purpose is to be able to leave my day job and come home and record a podcast where I never used to be able to do that before. And it was a very trapped feeling, you know, realizing, hey, I can write down the reality as best as I can. Was unbelievable and at least for me, and everybody has their own thing that, you know, they feel most comfortable with. Stephanie 43:13 Whether a full recovery is possible depends on a variety of factors, including severity of the stroke, how fast the initial treatment was provided, and the type and intensity of rehabilitation. 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