64. Survivor Science Soundbites: Gratitude, Growth, and Lessons from Athletes in Stroke Recovery

In this pre-Thanksgiving episode, I reflect on the ups and downs of the recovery journey and why gratitude plays such an important role. From sharing personal updates about life as a stroke survivor and the relentless pursuit of progress to exploring inspiration from athletes and the lessons they teach about resilience, this episode dives into what fuels recovery—even when it’s hard.

I also talk about balancing safety with pushing boundaries, share insights from a recent group call with fellow survivors, and highlight the importance of finding a community that truly supports you. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this episode serves as a reminder to appreciate the small wins, connect with those who matter, and stay focused on moving forward.

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Medical Disclaimer: All content found on this channel is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information provided, while based on personal experiences, should not replace professional medical counsel. Always consult with your physician or another qualified health provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition or treatment. Always seek professional advice before starting a new exercise or therapy...

Transcript

0:04

Good afternoon. Good evening. By the time I release this. It is Wednesday, November 27th, 2024. This is survivor sound science soundbite number six, and we are talking the day before Thanksgiving. Lots to be thankful and grateful for as a stroke survivor. I'm sure you all feel this out there as well? I know the holidays can be tough, especially if you're on your own. If you don't have a lot of family, I feel for you. Just remember those of us that do have family may not even want. May not want to be around family as much. I know that's easier. This. Just trying to be funny, just trying to make a little joke. My kids have been home all week from school. They, I guess, grew our growing up in the era where we're giving the whole week off of Thanksgiving week, uh, which is exciting and fun and awful, and all the feelings and emotions. So I'm back in the middle of this week. I was going to release a full episode, but being that it's the day before Thanksgiving, I think I'll just do another quick mini episode. Another server side soundbite today and the Memorial on Friday and the next week. Hopefully everything will be set to fully transition. The name, the website, everything from the lovable survivor podcast, over to survivor size, the podcast. I mean. We could take out the, the, but, uh, Yeah, let's see, I've run a ton today. So I apologize if I sound out of breath, it's just been a week. Had a issue with one of my kids on Monday that just was unexpected, not serious, but annoying. None. The less. Yesterday got away from me. I am overwhelmed with school work, trying to get everything ready for black Friday for. The center and survivor science, the center. Which is the online community portion of survivor science. Definitely more details on that, but I am going to release in the next couple of hours, a, a coupon code to get half off either the 50. Uh, 50% off for a year annual membership. Or 50% off of the quarterly for your first, uh, quarter. Obviously that the better deal there is annual. And again, it's a full 50%. I'm really committed to building this community and I want everybody to be a part of it. I wanted it to be affordable. Not only for each and every survivor, but also for myself, I want to be able to run a business. I want to be able to invest in people that may not be able to afford. I think that's part of community, right? It's it's giving back. It's. You know, It's timely. It's that time of year. I don't know how often, if I will ever actually run. Regular deals. I think a pretty committed to doing it within this window. Not necessarily BARR buck Friday. I it's already good to be. When I release it, it will be, you know, starting later today or tomorrow on Thanksgiving. And then the deal will run through next week. I'm not sure how much longer I will extend it. But I am, uh, very grateful, honestly, to be a stroke survivor, to be a part of this community, to have you be a part of my life. You know, I hope it's helpful. I hope, uh, you know, these conversations will continue to grow and change and challenge us and, and, uh, yeah, I'm really looking forward. To developing the podcast, even more, taking it further. And growing it. There are some that have been out there doing this awhile. I've been doing it for a while, just not this particular podcast. So this is. You know, we're about a year and a half in and, uh, you know, going into next year, it will be. Sort of that first transition to being much more regular, much more Got a lot of systems in place over the last couple of years. And no, I really want to grow this podcast. Not only for stroke survivors, but I feel like caregivers, family members, friends, helping everybody understand. Because as we're I was reminded yesterday on a group call with a bunch of servers, is that. The thing about being a stroke survivor is that we don't really. Have a great solid community. There are a bunch of us on TechTalk. There's tons of us on Instagram. Survivor's all over Facebook. Every social media platform, but it's, it's really lacking a cohesive. Group. There are some, there are definitely some organizations like Sao. Oh, that do group zoom calls. That's a great thing. Really happy to be a part of that. You should check it out. If you have an APR stroke survivor looking for some support. But I feel like we can grow and get better together beyond that. That is kind of the why I built the center. Which is again, is the online community for survivors science. And I'm really looking forward to. Growing and sharing more about that over the next couple of. Weeks and hopefully years So I got off track already. And this supposed to be a pretty quick episode because it is the evening before Thanksgiving. And again, I kinda went back and forth. Uh, I talked about Kelly and Casey means or Casey and Kelly means and good energy on Monday. I am continuing to read that on continuing to learn. Listen. I'm all over the place this week, to be honest, I'm listening to a lot of things from. Various podcasts, you know, finishing that book. I'm also kind of. You know, got back into Marcus Aurelius. Uh, meditation. So I'm reading that manual. Like actual reading the book. Versus listening versus a podcast. And I have a F you know, I tweeted something the other night I was talking about Athletes that have kind of helped shape my mindset and stroke recovery. And again, next week will be the release of the episode with. Jason Lopes, who is also a. He trains MMA, martial arts. Also a younger ish survivor. He's a little bit older than me, but we're both well under 50 which is nothing other than say that stroke affects everybody. Right. You. Both of us were in our thirties when we had our Shokes. Now we're in our forties. I'm not saying it's better. Diff I mean, is. It's a different we're different. And we. We seem to relate and bond over. Well stroke, but also sports and, and different sports. You know, we both done martial arts. We both. I played various sports throughout our lives. So I thought, you know, the other day it was tweeting. And I think for me, you know, people always ask, how do you get better? Why do you want to get better? Like, how are you doing it? And honestly, it's just. Kind of a relentless pursuit. You know, do I think it helps that I'm younger? Sure. Does it easier? No. You know, people yesterday, I was, again on that call. We was talking about somebody asked how many miles am I up to? And I'm over 13,000 miles. And over a little over two years now, and that sounds insane. Until you realize I've been running at least, you know, 15 you all in the early days, it was five. And the early, early days, it was only like one. And I never thought I'd get to 13,000, but I just kept running. Uh, just keep being relentless. And a couple of things. You know, I want to kind of go over the top 10 athletes that I think mindsets really shaped my stroke recovery. If you're into athletes or into athletics or into sports, or just really looking. For other people who. Sort of have that pursuit of excellence that, that relentless is that it takes to overcome stroke. If you need some motivation. No biographies always great. A lot of people around the world. I've had different challenges, whether it be stroke or some other issues. Whether it's sports and coming back from major injuries, a lot of athletes generally. Yeah. Obviously. I mean, exception of like Teddy boots. Nobody's ever really come back from stroke. Although Michael Johnson, who, you know, famously famous runner in the nineties, for those that don't know. Very great athlete. Uh, definitely a big feature in the 96 Olympics for me as a kid. You know, there are several athletes who have had strokes, but I think Teddy, Brewskies kind of, one of the few that I'm aware of that has actually had a stroke. And then gone back to play. And again, his stroke was probably different than many of ours. And he's also, was it, you know, I think there is something to being in. Every stroke is different, but I think. In my experience. From the people that I spoke to. And now mind you, there's millions of strokes to efforts globally. But it does seem that people that are in pretty good physical shape. Prior to the stroke, may. Well may airmen up, but I think more often than not, they might be able to overcome things more easily, at least physically. You know, emotionally and, and, and sort of cognitively, it might be different. But anyways, you know, I just want to kind of touch on each of the 10 athletes that I was thinking about. I made a list, I tweeted it out. You know, I don't even know if it's the list that I necessarily agree with, but it was kind of the top 10 that came to mind. Which is wild to think. Cause I'm a fan of the nineties. Dicks. I grew up on the Knicks. I will always be a Knicks fan through and through. But the first on my list is Coby Brian and that mama mentality. But similar to, to Kobe there's Michael, right? Michael. I didn't have that killer instinct. Both have documentaries, thousands of books, you know, many YouTube videos. David Goggins is another one. Kind of similar story to me, although I was a little bit bigger and did not go into the military. I just really love Goggins and I know some people, he rubs the wrong way, but I think. If you're really serious about stroke recovery. And again, you don't have to love sports, but you have to appreciate the mentality. That athletes have, and I'm sure I'm absolutely sure there are similar people that are in some of their spaces. Which, you know, It could be another, another episode sometime, but I'm just really thinking about athletes in particular this week, because this weekend is, you know, Thursday, tomorrow is Thanksgiving football. College football, Watson sports, kind of that time of year baseball just ended soccer just ended. College basketball's kicking off. Uh, MBA has kicked off NFL. Just a big sport's time a year. All right. Especially around the holidays of basketball and football. Okay, so we've gone over Kobe and Michael, I think those are obvious choices. David Goggins, another one, Tom Brady. Right? Less discipline. Uh, David Goggins always stay hard. Uh, another one that's kind of. He's always been a beast, but, uh, I think he doesn't get talked a lot about yet because he's still active an active player, which is Derrick Henry. I just. You know, him Marshawn Lynch, when you think of beast mode, I think of those two immediately. I think of probably a lot of running backs, honestly. But those are obviously Derrick Henry is on a. A whole other level. He's just kind of, one of the biggest running backs, uh, both physically and height was. You think about Serena Williams when it comes to it? Uh, female athletes in that, that warrior spirit, that relentlessness. You know, it's probably not fair, but she's definitely reminds me of Jordan with that killer instinct always had, and you know, it's. Yeah. She she's all great athletes. They're great. Careers come to an end, but you know, And then another one, another female that's Alex Morgan that comes to mind. Just a fearless fighter. You know, and I think what's amazing about both of these women. I believe they were both. You know, athletes in their peak had children came back. I personally, as a male have never had a child. Physically, obviously I do not know. It looks painful, honestly. My wife and I have three kids. It's never looked particularly a gyro ball. In fact, Every time. I've been surprised by wife wants to have another child. Thankfully, I think we've wrapped that in a bow. As far as kids go. You know, and it's, it's maybe not the same as a stroke, but it's certainly a major life event, right? It's it's no easy feat to be pregnant for nine months, then give birth to a child, then repair your body, recover, get back to where you were. It's pretty wild. When you think about it. Honestly. And, uh, so shout out to all the female athletes who have done that and come back. You know, whether you're just a female, who's had a child and gone back to walking and working out in the gym. Like it's, it's, it's all kind of amazing when you think about it. The three last three that come to mind for me in particular, are Alex Smith. Who, if you're not aware of what's the former, I don't know if I'll play or now commentator. On NFL Sunday on ESPN. I believe he. Had a gruesome leg break and head like fixed 17 or 18, some insane amount of surgeries. And it took a long time to come back. And to be fair, he never was quite the same as before. But again, he never gave up. I mean, that, that. You know, you figured out these athletes that never give up and it's, I mean, It's a, it's a blessing and a curse to have that drive, right? Like, you know, we think about so many athletes who. Sacrificed. You know, oftentimes. Just due to the nature of being an athlete leads for relationship issues and family issues. And. Sometimes they're able to repair that. And sometimes they're not, unfortunately, You know, and that's a whole other thing, but, you know, Speaking of that, you know, tiger woods. For so long was so great. And it's, it's so tough to watch them these days. Cause. I don't know if he'll ever come back the way he wants. Did. But yeah, I mean, he's still. A phenomenal athlete. It's just. You know, I think to it. To the credit of a loop. All of these athletes and many athletes who. Go through injury out throughout their career and base challenges and difficulties. Similar to stroke survivors. You know, we, we. It's a couple things, right. You may have like, you know, when I was in my thirties and had my stroke, that gave me a small window before 40. Now I'm over 40, you know, everybody sort of father time is. Batting a thousand. They O father time always wins. Yeah. What sets. It's kind of funny as joke, but like, Sometimes I really do wonder, like, is it just, am I just getting a little bit older? I think of doing a lot of things, right. From my diet to my exercise, to my workouts, to everything I do to the discipline. But sometimes it must just be age and that's kind of a hard reality as a stroke survivor. You know, It's interesting. It's difficult. The last one I have for, uh, the top 10 was very Lewis. That Savage mentality. I think that he resonates with me deeply. Obviously, cause we. We're both, uh, Miami alum. And so. Who I couldn't think of anybody better that represents both the you and that Savage. Mentality that you, you know, All of these athletes, yam. There's so many great ones. It's and also honestly, Not sports related. I think having there, there is something that rings true for me. At least having that Jersey mentality is that. You know, if you know somebody from Jersey, you probably know. They have a fighting spirit, you know, we've always been sorta new York's little brother. You know, sometimes Pennsylvania ties jump in or Connecticut. You got to push him aside and fight back. And everybody says, oh, Jersey's. The ARPANET of America. But I gotta tell ya. You know, I met a stroke survivor yesterday from Jersey and he had that same attitude, uh, that all my friends back home. From my younger days. And family and friends, they're like, there's just, there's a spirit in a. In a enough fighting mentality. And not that. No, I don't mean fighting like fist fighting, although I was in plenty of those as a kid, but like, they're just. Something about Jersey. You can knock us down. You could hit as hard as you want, but we're going to get back up. Uh, I always laugh about it. I laugh every single day. Kind of like I laugh about that. Will Smith. Quote about. You know when I'm running. I think about that quote every single day. And no matter what you think about will Smith, he's definitely a Philly guy. And east coast guy. And there is something to that I believe. And that, you know, you get, I suppose, on her treadmill, two things she had going to happen either. I'm going to die. Or you're going to get off. I mean. Or I forget the exact quote. I should actually look it up. Uh, While I'm talking. Let me see if I could find it while we're recording an episode. So I get it right, because it is a great quote. Well Smith. Treadmill. Okay, so let's get it right. Cause I know. Okay. So the quote is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out work period. You might have more talent than me. Uh, I think it goes on. But it's true. I mean, it's, it's how I feel as a stroke survivors that. You know, honestly, you may be, you may be able to outwork me. That's that's fair, but I'm going to work until I can't work anymore. I'm going to push harder until I can't push anymore. Sometimes some days that's great. And some days I realize, Hey. I survived a stroke. I push it. 99% of the time. If I need a day off, take a day off. You know, which kind of leads me back to one more thing. Before we wrap up this episode, obviously, where I'm talking a lot about athletes, we talked, I talked a lot about gratitude as a survivor. I am thankful for a lot of stuff. I am thankful to meet other great stroke survivors. I'm thankful for fall stroke survivors and caregivers that lists this podcast. And I, you know, so many things to be grateful and thankful for, but Yeah, kind of in this athletic pursuit and thinking about this topic using athletes to fuel. You know, to help push you through your recovery. Cause it's not easy. Especially if you're doing it alone. Especially, you want to be safe. And I think everybody has to take this with a grain of salt. I do. I think it is of the utmost importance to be safe. However. I do want to point out one thing that a friend of mine I have to share with a friend of mine in the community. Because he was talking about being safe and he wants to do things smart and he wants to do things the right way and slowly get back to things. And I think that's really. A great mindset to have. I think I had a similar mindset. I'm just going to put this out there and please do not take my advice as anything other than just a. A mere suggestion. Because I made this mistake. I wanted it to be. So prepared and so safe. When I got back to certain things, did I think there became a point at which I hesitated. I was a little indecisive. I wasn't shy. I didn't trust. My body and I didn't figure out how to put that trust in sometimes like, And like you have to balance. Am I pushing too much. I'm always aware of when I'm doing that. And I'm guilty of doing that on a regular basis. But sometimes you do have to work wonder. Ask yourself. Am I being safe? Is there a smart way? I could push a little harder. And what reminds you of that was something I was talking about in the group last night, but also. Uh, when I, my therapist, who I love. Who I still see, you know, pretty regularly. Yearly at this point So after I got out of the wheelchair, I got an AFO after the cane, after all the walking devices, we moved to the AFO and then I was wearing the AFO for. Probably a little too long. I was, I was very reliant on it. And I was kind of reluctant to let it go. And basically one day she just like, she's like, just take it out. Just try to go. Two hours just trying to go three hours, keep take, take it out and try to take, take it out for. Finally these one day she just ripped out. And honestly, I think I just kind of went with it and I just like, oh yeah, I don't really, I mean, I. Would it have helped probably. Would I have ever let it go? I don't know. So there is a happy medium, and just be cognizant of when you're trying to be safe, that you're not trying to be overly safe to the point where you're, you're not able to make a little bit more progress and challenge yourself. That's probably a smart way to do it. Take out the AFO for an hour, then go to two hours, then go to three hours. Very much like my running. You know, I started to warden as a joke. Right. And as. I look back and I think about that and it's funny. And it's also like, okay. And then I could write, and then I it's awkward. It was shitty. It's still not great. But I always try to push myself one more lap or. You know, now I'm doing a lot of work with kettlebells. So it was like, okay, do one more than I did yesterday or the day before. You know, I don't. All the exercises every time, but. Every time we using kettlebells, I try to push myself just a little bit more than the previous time, depending on the exercise, depending on a lot of factors, depending on how I'm feeling too. So anyways, uh, I'm going to wrap it up there. I know I'm kind of cutting this short, but it's a, it's our, we're already at 22 minutes, so it's a little bit long. Anyways, I am grateful and thankful to be a part of this community to have to, for you to allow me to be a part of the community for you to listen to this show. I hope you get something out of this. I hope you just. Hope you enjoy our family. Hope you enjoy your time off. Hopefully get a little time off here during Thanksgiving. I will be back on Friday with episode. Uh, To wrap up the week late, you know how tomorrow goes, because I'm sure there's something that's going to come out of something from my family. So anyways, uh, have a great night. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.