Jo Ann Glim and her husband were enjoying the semi-retired lifestyle in their new, Florida home. They enjoyed day trips, volunteer activities, and other adventures. Jo Ann was starting a new temp gig at the Tropicana offices, and they were making all sorts of plans for the coming years
.A blood vessel deep in Jo Ann's brain had other plans. It ruptured and damaged her Thalamus on her first day at a new temp job.
Jo Ann would spend two weeks basically unconscious. With lots of work, determination, a a great team, she dove into her recovery.
Twenty four years later, she joins us to talk about her journey, her writing, the risks of being a problem solver, and the things that helped along the way.
Her book, Trapped Within: A True Story of Survival, Recovery, Love, and Hope* is available on Amazon.
About Jo Ann Glim
Jo Ann Glim was born in Chicago, Illinois to a military family and raised in Anacortes, Washington in the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest in a three-generational household. Even though the family was poor, she never knew it. Poverty taught her life skills: self-sufficiency, creativity, and saving for a rainy day. Her childhood home was filled with love. Tragedy struck when she was fourteen and her mother passed away. Within three weeks, her grandparents were relocated to a nursing home in Illinois and she was taken in by her mother's sister. Everything she had known to be home was gone.
After she finished school, Glim's career followed three paths: MEDIA - (as a disc jockey/copywriter) WSDM-FM Chicago, KMPX-FM San Francisco, and KIKI-AM Hawaii; and continued in COMMUNICATIONS - a forty-year freelance portfolio with credits including an award-winning column in fourteen northern Illinois newspapers; one-liners for nationally known comedians; monthly articles for Manatee County Florida's Chamber of Commerce Current magazine, to name a few. She took courses in BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - at a local college and after moving to the suburbs, began working for Kelly Services. Sixteen years later, she retired as an on-site Human Resources Manager responsible for the temporary needs of a Fortune 500 company.
She now lives in Florida with her husband, Bill, and their Scottish Terrier, Lucy. Her passions are writing, photography, and travel. She loves Chicago pizza, and is happiest travelling with her hubby, playing handbells, or on hiking trails with her camera and dog.
Book
Jo Ann sent me a copy of her book before we talked. The book, Trapped Within: A True Story of Survival, Recovery, Love, and Hope*, chronicles her stroke and rehab experience. She gets deeper into her relationships with doctors, therapists, and her therapy roommate and shares fears, frustrations, and lessons learned along the way.
Jo Ann writes with a crisp style that's easy to read. Her chapters are short. If you can read only a few pages without a nap, it's a nice choice. Or you can just read chunks of it at one go.
You can find Trapped Within on Amazon in paper or eBook versions.
Check it out at http://Strokecast.com/TrapedWithin*
"Trapped Within": Book Trailer
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and the 5 Stages of Grief
Kubler-Ross wrote about grieving and death. Recovering from stroke is similar, except instead of grieving over the loss of another person, we are grieving for the loss of our prior selves. Getting through that process takes time, but it also helps us adapt to the new life we have after stroke.
The 5 stages of grief are:
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance.
If you're struggling with moving on with your life a neuropsychologist or other counselor can help you navigate this path.
Hack of the Week
Lainie Ishbia from Trend-Able, who I spoke with in Episode 136 suggests that if you struggle with fastening buttons on a shirt, you can get around that.
Just sew (or have someone else sew) the shirt closed at the buttons and turn it into a pull over. That way, you can still wear those stylish button down shirts without spending hours dealing with fussy closures single-handedly.
Another option for those shirts, if you're not ready to get them sewn up, is to get a button puller*. This is an inexpensive device that makes it easier to fasten buttons with one hand. I use mine most when I'm trying to put my dress shirts on a hanger.
Either way, you now have 2 fewer reasons to not wear that nice shirt.
Links
Where do we go from here?
- Check out Jo Ann's website at JoAnnGlim.com. And read more about her book at Strokecast.com/TrappedWithIn*
- Share this conversation with a friend by giving them the link Strokecast.com/JoAnn
- Subscribe to the free monthly Strokecast Newsletter to stay up to date on episodes and community news
- Don't get best…get better
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