I just finished reading Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's book My Stroke Of Insight... Dr. Taylor talks about how her neurologist treated her :

"This woman understood that I was not stupid, but that I was wounded"

We all can learn so much from Dr. Taylor's story....what helped her recover...how long it took for her to fully recover.... and most importantly...her two appendixes that will help us help those who suffer strokes...

Again...Bless you for doing this show...we need more humanity in our healthcare...you are teaching us HOW to acheive that...

I too suffered a stroke in June of 2007. It was brought on by a procedure to prepare to resect an avm in my brain. I am currently reading this book. I am fascinated by her experience and anxious to hear her and Dr. Oz speak of recovery. I have recovered well but still have a few troubling deficits that make daily life uncomfortable. I am 30 and pregnant with two children under 6 and have found it difficult to get my doctors to understand and help me find a way to recover rather than throw medication at the problem. My experience is similar but the situation was different. My focus now is on recovery and am looking forward to what is said on the show. This show is exactly what I need at this time if for nothing else than to say, "she knows how I feel".

mleejacobs....thank you for sharing your story...you give everyone hope...at such a young age...

I, too, had a stroke. At age 37. However, mine was a result of an aneurism (sub arachnoid hemmorage) in the frontal part of my left brain a week earlier. I am not at all surprised by Jill Bolte Taylors description. I don't know "scientifically" what happened to my brain, but I know what spiritually and emotionally happened. I changed. Big time.

My life is much different than it was B.S. (before stroke). I was told after my aneurism that I was a miracle. Only 10% of people who have aneurisms live. I have to say, however, the stroke was the most life altering. I had aphasia, (could not speak), paralysis on the right side of my body, and I remember people coming into my room and crying and I thought to myself, "Why are they crying?" Don't they know I am at peace?

With hours of PT (oh, how I HATED that), patience from my family and friends, and TIME, I did recover physically. But probably not in the way my family expected! (or wished!) I was a new and different person. It was definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me. Susan Richardson

Good Morning,

thank you for doing the show on strokes!

My name is Andrea, I am 32 years old, Dutch and live in Germany.

Three years ago, at age 29, I was at home alone with my kids(6, 5 and 3 years old at the time), when I had my stroke.

I lost the vision in my right eye, movement in the right part of my body and my speach. I managed to call a friend and since I used to work as a RN I knew immediately what was happening. I have had some tough moments in my life, but I can´t discribe the pain I felt when I had to say goodbye to my three kids. I still have dreams about the moment they carried me into the ambulance, while they were standing on the driveway with my friend. The moment was short, because we had to hurry, but my brain almost exploded with thoughts and emotions; would I see them again, would I be able to hug them again and ,the worst part, would I ever be able to tell them I loved them so dearly. They each have their own lullaby and I was wondering how they could go to sleep without it. I had so much to say to them in that moment, but I couldn´t. My friend felt my pain and with my eyes I asked her to take over, to hold them and to whipe their tears away. The pain was intense and deep and took my breath away. When they closed the doors of the ambulance I closed my eyes and started praying. Then I watched the trees in our street and looked at the clouds, as I felt God answering at the other end of the line; a strange sense of calm and peace came over me and I started to focuss on the doctor´s commands.

Since we live very rural, it took the ambulance long to get me to the nearest stroke unit, but I got there within the 3-hour range. I was wheeled into the CT room and could watch my own brain on the screen, with my one working eye. I was looking, hoping, praying to see nothing; to see no bleeding and to get the OK for further treatment. It worked, because I was a good candidate for trombolysis(a kind of turbo boost with anticoagulant medication). Because of my age and the three kids at my house, they were worried that I was pregnant. My husband just had a vasectomy and I really didn´t want the foley they were holding over my head, so I somehow wanted to tell them there was absolutely no possibility of any pregnancy. I couldn´t write(I´m righthanded), so my left hand did a scissor imitation. They thought I was crazy and held my hand down. I got angry. I was perfectly sane, I was hearing and understanding everything, but they were talking to me, like I was retarded. There was one nurse who saved my "butt" and put a bowl under me so I could urinate to prove there was no baby. Then they brought in the medication and informed me about the risks(I could die if my brain would start bleeding). I had to sign a form I couldn´t read and scribbled something with my left hand. They injected the medication and I closed my eyes. I told my brain not to bleed and promissed God to do anything he wanted, if he would be so kind to help me. I felt a strange rushing sensation and pressure inside my head. Since I have got kids and animals, I get lots of bruises. All the bruises and bumps I got the week before started growing. That morming I had bumped my wrist at the fireplace and that bruise got as big as an egg. The blood pressure collar blew itself up and left a purple bruise all around my arm. I got a pain in my abdomen and, as we found out later, my ovaries started bleeding.

But then the miracle happened; the treatment worked! I could move my arm again and looked at my moving fingers as in an ET-scene. They called in the speach therapist and she helped me to find my words back. My eye got it´s vision back and I was laughing, crying and hugging the nurse, who hadn´t left my side. Later she told me that the stoke unit had only been open for a few months and that I was their first "succes story". The doctors came and went as if I was a piece of art at a museum, but I didn´t care! They warned me about the risk of a second stroke, they told me about recorvery ad rehab, they were pushing my abdomen, which had gotten pretty swollen, but I wasn´t listening; I was floating. I had made it and I felt on top of the world. I just knew it was over. Whatever I would have to do next; I would manage with ease. The day after, my MRI would show no significant damage.

Then my dear, sweet husband came into the room. He saw my bruises and was shocked, but I could speak to him! We had had a quarrel the day before, because he thought that I was talking too much and he had wanted some peace and quiet.....I could only laugh about it and repeated how much I loved him. Looking back at the event, I was happy that he wasn´t there to see me during the stroke. Yes, I was alone, but I think it would have been very traumatic for him to see me like that. And I clearly felt that something or something(I hope it was God) was with me to pull me through.

I went home sooner than the doctors wanted me to, but I needed my kids around me. I had to work hard at my motor skills and was cutting 10 unions a day, since I found out that that really helped my tingling hand. That´s only a small example, but you have to take small steps to reach the bigger goal. I still have some right-left differences in my reflexes, but if you see me, you won´t notice. After getting home, I was happy to have 3 kids, since I couldn´t stop hugging and it would have been hard for one to handle all the hugs! There was some real post traumatic stress to work through with the kids. My husband was reluctant, since he was afraid to hurt me or to cause another stroke, since I was told to take it very, very easy. But I decided to catch him off-guard, because I really needed to be close to him. After putting the kids to bed one night, I drugged him with a glass of wine and jumped him. It was the best intimate night we had ever had, with lots of emotions and fireworks in my head(but good ones, this time...).

The hardest thing for me is to accept that there was no cause found for my stroke, which means that, besides taking some anticoagulant medication, there is nothing I can change or do; I was not on birth control, not overweight, not smoking, working out and they found no genetic defects. I had to swallow the ultrasound tube for a TEE and could see that my heart is perfectly fine. It is hard to define "normal" complaints and not to get worried when I have a headache or a tingling sensation here or there.

We live at a fantastic spot in the National Park over here and I spend a lot of time on my own, together with our animals. They always listen and answer me with a paw or a hug. I have stopped worrying over small things and I don´t care so much about what people think of me. I used to be a "people-pleaser", but I am really selective now about choosing friends. My dear sweet grandmother had been warning me before the stroke happened, that I was working too hard(I was working and attending lawschool). She said "God is warning you and he will tapp you on the shoulder a few times. Listen, or he will hit you on the head......". Well, I guess he did. I always believe that everything happens for a reason. I have now slowed down and stopped my university-studies. I miss it, but realize that there are more important things in life than degrees and careers.

I hope that someone can be inspired by my story, that the knowledge of stroke-symptoms can increase. Time is so important, just as in a heart attack.

I came out OK, but I know that not everyone does. Still........ keep working, fighting, trying and just decide to beat the odds!

If I can help someone out there, just let me know. I won´t put my mail-address up here, but I am sure the administrator can connect members somehow.

As for the show, Oprah is not aired here and in the Netherlands there is a 6-month delay, so I can´t watch. But I hope you will talk about positive stories and the signs and symptoms, so everyone can and will get the best treatment.

Best regards and greetings from Andrea

Prior to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor having a stroke, I met her as the "Singing Scientist". She was amazing and inspirational then. I hope she will talk about getting people to donate their brains to science. I'l be certain to get her book!

I wanted to explore the similarities between Dr. Taylor's experience and meditation.

I had similar experiences during meditation, or really walking meditation. Where I would go into a different state of thinking and would be thinking in a non verbal way. This was a peaceful content state, but not complacent actually, I was still curious about the world and would go on long walks around the Lake Front. Sometimes I would work on a personal project. In this state I would learn faster, with no frustration. I was learning how to use my new camera, an Olympus om-1 manual camera. I tried many things and was pleased that I now could rule out that thing, and went on to the next thing. My roommate came home and asked me a question that I tried to answer, but it took too long for me to figure out how to talk. She was mad at me. When I finally figured out how to talk again, I was not in that state any more. It felt like the two were mutually exclusive. I had some fear of never recovering my speech if I was in the stat too long, so I stopped. But I always wonder what that was?

Dr. Tayor,

My local cable access shows clips from TED, and I was first introduced to you when they started airing your talk at the conference this fall. I was mesmerized and moved by your talk there and moved immeasurably listening to the passion for your experience today on Oprah. When I heard that you lost all your "emotional baggage" I was immediately compelled to consider the depth to which those of us with highly functioning left brains are connected to our past. The path of our lives is born of relying on memory, emotional, informational, etc. And with that capability, for me, has come great anxiety, and a struggle to let go of the past. Now while I would no more want a stroke to experience nirvana or the have a valid excuse to sleep with abandon, I cannot help but wonder what further insights we will glean from your experience in the continuing endeavor many of us have in desiring to unload our past, to start anew, and to feel light, fresh and as pure energy. I think that there is a insight in this beyond the recovery. For me, I am intrigued with how we can learn from your emperience to remap our pathways, to "dump our past" emotional baggage and allow ourselves to start over. If not for the "gift" of a stoke of your variety, then what can we do to hasten the process of letting go in our own "healthy" brains. What's more, what can we learn in regards to the disrupted fight or flight mechanism in certian brains, such as those of my son, who has Aspergers. I'm constantly researching ways to rewire both our brains in a manner that can be permanent. I wonder if you will ever consider the possibility that your injury and subsequent recovery is deeper information that we are looking at. I cannot help but wonder if there will be a means of neurochemically replicating, in a nonthreatening manner, the process that lead to your release of all those emotional memories without loosing the actual memories themselve. Like, releasing the emotional reactions and ingrained nee Pavlovian or even hypervigilant responses without actually having to necessarily give up the experience itself. And even then, as I think about that, I wonder if there is truly any need in recalling the event itself unless it is there to serve as a touch point for our ability to connect with others and show empathy. I'm deeply intrigued by the implications of all of this. I wish many a day to release my own emotional baggage so passionately, but there seems to be something that is stronger than my desire. Buried emotions, they say, never die. And in your stroke, you're body buried them into an illness that allowed you to set them free. That is a miracle on the highest level. I hope that those you follow mind-body medicine recognize what a blessing you experienced. I can only hope that there is a means developed in a short time that will aid my in releasing that emotional body before it manifests as an illness. So much more to say, so many questions I have, and I just wanted to let you know that my left brain is constantly fighting to keep my right in check. I think that we've ushed in a society that is so left brained that we've lost teh balance. My son and his Aspergers is certainly indicative of that emotional and habituated experience becoming something more permament and less likely to disapear in his life.... Though I always try to keep hope alive that perhaps some sort of subtle electrode, biochemical or neurochemical therapy will be divised to reinvigorate those parts of the brain that are dormant.

I have to respond to this show from a nurses point of view. I work at a suburban hospital on a cardiac/stroke floor and I care for stroke patients frequently. I have read My Stroke of Insight and found it to be very helpful to better understanding my patients. I am on the stroke committee at my hospital and help with educating other staff on how to recognize stroke and to care for stroke patients, I have to say that I was bothered by the representation of nurses and medical staff on the show. I acknowledge that there are medical personnel that have lost their compassion and nurturing but there are those of us who take our jobs very seriously. Nurses do not get the recognition that they deserve. We have heard about teachers for years but we rarely hear about what we as nurses do. I have spent a good deal of time holding my patient's hands and listening to their fears and frustrations. I have hugged and comforted family members who are dealing with their loved ones stroke. I have patiently talked to patient's who may take several minutes to be able to tell me what they need. I work 12 and a half or longer days and it is all about giving care to my patients. The nurses I work with frequently complain that we are so busy with all of our patients that we can't spend as much time as we want with our patients. We have said many times that a good day is one where it is less hectic and we feel like we really got to know our paitents. I feel sympathy and compassion for every patient I care for. I try to give them time and I try to respond to their needs. It is normal of the nurses on my floor to work from 6:30am to 7:30pm or later with only a ten minute break for lunch. There are days we go for hours without even stopping for a drink or water. By the time I get home, I am physically exhausted but I still have a house to care for and kids to take care of. I went back for my nursing degree as a single mom after my divorce because helping people is what keeps me going. It ismy goal to treat every patient as I would want to be treated with diginity and respect. I make it a point to make eye contact with my patients and to let them know I am there to help them. My job isn't just passing meds but is bedpans, and holding a glass so someone can have a drink of water, to a blanket when they are cold. Please realize that there may be nurses who are burned out and have lost their purpose but there are those of us who truly care and are dedicated to our patients and their families. Nursing is not a profession that gets recognized or thanked except by some of the individual patients. Nothing warms my heart more than a frail 90 year old hand squeezing mine and hearing thank you sweetheart for all of your help today. The medical situation in this country has left nurses understaffed and overworked but we go back to the hospital every day because of our patients. As long as our patients need us, we will be there to care for them. Please remember to thank your nurse the next time you are in their care. We get tired, we get stressed, we get complaints, but we rarely get thanked. I will continue to care for my stroke patients with compassion and warmth. I will bring a healing energy into their room and help them on their road to recovery.

JNRN

I watched the stoke story with interest this morning and while it was interesting, I was disappointed that it did not cover the recovery aspects more. My mother had a stroke 2 months ago (blockage) and I have been searching for information on how to help her recover. The sad fact is with all the technology we have and organizations for strokes I am not finding much useful information online other than basic or very general stuff. As Dr. Oz stated the hemmoragic stroke represents only 15% of strokes, 85% of strokes are from blockages.

It would be really beneficial to users/people if you could provide more information on those like how to recover, therapies you can do, suggestions, research data even if it is just peoples personal experiences? I don't want to have to rely on the medical community only - especially since they are overworked, have little time to explain things not to mention the costs. I want to be able to help too.

When asking her Doctors about prognosis the most I get is "everyone's stroke is different" What can I do? "We just have to wait and see - it was a pretty big stroke" - I don't want to find out 2 months from now that I could have been doing something all along to help her.

Thanks for at least scratching the surface.

The discussion on today's show around Jill's knowledge of the energy brought to her by various caregivers, and Oprah's statement on the importance of being seen when you are ill rang so true. This was my experience after suffering a spinal infarct - essentially a spinal stroke, over 5 years ago.

My spinal cord injury left me unable to move from the shoulders down. Suddenly, without my own movement I was acutely aware of all movement around me, as if the energy of others were magnified. I could see how careless and disconnected most are with their energy. I craved the simplest honest connection, for people to not talk at or around me, and to really see me as just injured, fighting to recover - but most did not. In a different but very similar way, I too was still "in there". It was as if paralysis forced me to be still, illuminating the connections around me, much in the same way as Jill's injury.

I have worked very hard and continue to recover, even after 5 years! More importantly, I continue to reflect and learn from this life changing event. Like an onion - new layers are constantly being revealed, and interestingly with new insight renewed and improved movement. seems to follow. Indeed our central nervous system, comprised of the both the brain and spinal cord is an amazing body and can teach us a lot if we pay attention.

Perhaps Dr. Oz could do a segment on what really happens to your spinal cord (body) during an injury?

JNRN....BLESS YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING SUCH A CARING....AND WONDERFUL NURSE....BLESS YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!!

I live in California, and am anxiously awaiting your program
today, having been a neuroscience nurse for 30 years, I strongly
agree with the fact that all patients with neuro trauma be it a stroke, illness or injury
to the central nervous system, that the interaction between the
patient, family and staff can make a difference in the outcome of the
patient.

Neuro nursing is extremely difficult, and we (the nurses who worked on the Neuro
Unit) always said, that we measured success for our patients by the
inch not by the mile. People (friends, families and often our
co-workers )would ask, "how do you keep doing this?", the answer is
simple, here are two examples.

The young 30 year old mother who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage
during delivery of her twins, and became comatose. Over the days
that followed, we knew she was " in there" and tried everything
to get a response from her, nothing seemed to work until we did the
obvious, we had her husband bring in the babies, we tucked one into
each of her arms, and waited, one of the babies started to cry, and the
mom opened her eyes and turned her head towards her child, that was the
begining of a long struggle that led to almost a complete recovery.

Another example is a young 16 year old, who suffered a bleed from an
aneurysm, and arrived comatose on the unit, after a week, he was
stabilized but still unresponsive in spite of everything
the family and staff tried,his eyes were open, but no response, then
one night the Mom called to check on her son, and the nurse caring for
him transfered the call to his room, it rang, she picked it up, put it
against his ear and said " your Mom is calling, he said "hello", again
the young man was treated as an individual, and he responded.

After 30 years of Neuro nursing, there are hundreds of sad stories,
but the ones you always remember and the ones that kept you coming back
are these moments.

We always encouraged the friends, family and of course the
staff to interact consistently with the patient, we talked to
them, played their favorite music, touched them, snuck their pets into
the unit to visit, hugged,laughed and cried with the family and patient. We (the nurses on the Neuro
Unit) always treated the patient as if they were still aware, could
hear, feel and understand what we were doing, it's nice to know that we
were correct after all.

Donna, retired Neuroscience Nurse

Modesto, California

I would just like to thank you for you insights, Dr. Bolte Taylor. I am currently a first year nursing student in Canada and right now we are studying effective communication in the health care field. We also just finished studying the general map of the human brain in psychology. As soon as I started watching the show, I went directly online and starting posting on the course discussion boards about what you had to say.

I think I will try and keep the philosophy of "I am in here, come get me," as Oprah mentioned. I will attempt to keep this in the forefront of my mind when dealing with ANY patient in my future practice. I want to thank you for that, as I think it will make me a better, more compassionate nurse and person.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Every stroke story is different as is its recovery. What works for one person, does not work for the other. The experience though does transform one's life and how they experience the world and their relationship to it. Being a mother of a young stroke survivor and my experiences with other stroke victors, their lives are changed (as well as their families) in an instant, and from that moment on, there is a new normal. As for what happens to the brain, I have seen pictures and read the reports.
Very happy that Dr. Taylor's recovery is a source of inspiration to others, understanding that it has taken a long time to get to this place. Most people are not able to re-establish themselves back into society prior to their stroke, especially when there is a speech deficit. Hope, understanding and support though is essential to recovery. Healthcare professionals in all disciplines do need to be trained to care for stroke survivors on the outside, many do have the tendency to avoid dealing with these patients.
There is so much yet to be learned! May everyone's recovery be miraculous. May stroke be a thing of the past.
Sophia