Episode 046 -- 2018 Top 10 Stroke Hacks

This is the last episode of the year, and it's a little different. I'm sharing my 10 favorite hacks of the weeks for the year.

Special thanks to Emilee Mason, Kristen Dingman, the folks from the Slow Road to Better, and Whitney Morean for their contributions. And thanks to all the guests who joined me and generously shared their stories in 2018

Before we get to the hacks, I want to share a story from Doctor Who. In the episode Heaven Sent, which is one of the best episodes the show has ever released, the lead character, The Doctor, a time-travelling super smart alien, finds himself stuck in some sort of prison. He has to gradually work his way out. Eventually, he figures out how, and he tells a story created by the Brothers Grimm about a bird:

The Brothers Grimm, lovely fellas. They're on my darts team. According to them, there's this emperor and he asks this shepherd's boy, how many seconds in eternity?

And the shepherd's boy says, there's this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it, and an hour to go around it!

Every hundred years, a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed!

You must think that's a hell of a long time.

Personally, I think that's a hell of a bird.

Stroke recovery is a long, slow process, and sometimes it feels like an eternity.

As a stroke survivor you are not the mountain. You are the bird. And you are a hell of a bird.

The Hacks

Episode	Hack	Title
1	Peel a Banana	My Stroke Story and Goals
2	Vegetable Draw	It’s All in my Head and tpA/Thrombectomy Updates
5	Mop Holders	Prevent Shoulder Subluxation
8	Mis en Place	Valsalva and the PFO
16	Handled Thermos	Microsoft Ability Summit and Neurofatigue after Stroke
20	Oven Mitt	Meet OT Emilee Mason
26	Adjust to CPAP/BiPAP	Meet Gen X Stroke Survivor Kristen Dingman
28	Dealing w/ Aphasia	The Slow Road to Better
33	Wear an Apron	Meet OT Lauren Sheehan
37	Practice Patience	Meet Whitney Morean

Program Notes

You may notice a slight echo in my intro and outro. I'm producing this episode from Currently Speaking Studios East (AKA my mother's guest bedroom) and experimenting with a different setup.

Also, for those who are curious, the sound clip between hacks is the sound of a Kodak slide projector changing slides -- the non-PowerPoint variety.

[caption id="attachment_524" align="alignnone" width="169"] Miles (http://traveling-penguin.blogspot.com/) considers starting his own podcast. He fell behind on his blog so he's also considering Instagram to chronicle his adventures, He's a busy bird[/caption]

Where do we go from here?

• What are your favorite tips for living with disabilities? Go ahead and tell us in the comments below.
• Do you know anyone who might find these tips helpful? Share this episode with them by giving them the link http://strokecast.com/2018hacks 
• Subscribe for free in your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode.
• Don't get best…get better

Here is the latest episode of The Strokecast