Episode 037 -- Meet Whitney Morean

 

World Stroke Day

World Stroke day is October 29th. Are you planning to do something for it? Make sure everyone talk with knows how important it is to BE FAST.

 

Meet Whitney Morean

Whitney Morean was a healthy, athletic 28 year-old in the summer of 2016. She voluntarily ran 5 miles a day. A bright student, she was excited to start graduate school that fall in clinical psychology.

Then on August 23, 2016, she had a mysterious, hemorrhagic stroke in her right, parietal lobe that would stump neurologists. Grad school would have to wait.

I met Whitney through the Seattle Young Adult Stroke Survivors group.

Now, Whitney is back in grad school, pursuing a Masters in Rehab Psychology, to help other survivors get even more comprehensive care. We met up a few week's ago in Seattle's Wayward Coffeehouse.

You can reach Whitney here.

We covered quite a bit in this episode including some new-ish vocabulary.

Whitney spent time in both acute and sub-acute facilities. Acute is an inpatient hospital setting. A sub-acute facility is somewhere in between a skilled nursing facility and a hospital. 

She also talks about getting to point of being "community ambulatory." That basically means being able to walk around the neighborhood.

I learned that the brain has ventricles. 

We also touch on something not often talked about. The insurance system and medical care system are focused on getting you back to a minimum standard -- not to where you were before the stroke. If you were well above the average or age appropriate criteria before stroke, you have to get back there on your own.

Whitney also discusses experiencing disability accommodations for education for the first time in her life later in life. Many folks who need accommodations in grad school have already had to go through the process much earlier in their schooling.

I could go on about the topics, but why spoil the fun of the episode? 

Hack of the Week

Practice patience.

It's a muscle and it takes work to get good at it. After a stroke, it's more important than ever to be more patient with yourself, especially if your previous life was a fast-paced, intense one. 

Doing "ordinary" things will simply take more time and getting annoyed at that won't make it any better. So be kind to yourself.

And practice patience.

Like most thing with stroke and life, it gets easier with time and practice.

Where do we go from here?

• What aspect of this discussion did you find most interesting? Let us know in the comments below.
• Share this episode with a friend caregiver or grad student, by sending them to http://strokecast.com/whitney.
• If you're feeling depressed, or having challenges dealing with grief and emotions, after a stroke, let your caregiver or medical team know. There is help available.
• Be patient with yourself.
• Don't get best...get better.

Here is the latest episode of The Strokecast