Stroke Strong with Erin Troklus

Erin Troklus is a writer, advocate, and caregiver whose work is rooted in resilience, faith, and the power of community. Through Stroke Strong, she hopes to provide comfort and practical support to others navigating life after stroke, while raising awareness about the realities of recovery. 

You can find her on IG @StrokeStrongBook or at her author website https://erintroklusauthor.com

I’m Samantha Perkins and this is Why You Write That?!?!?  This podcast is for anyone who wonders what authors were thinking when they shared that really detailed secret or their most embarrassing moment.  For writers, future writers, readers, and those who love words Join me as I interview authors and writers to uncover the truth behind why they share all the of those cringey details and what it feels like to air it all! So press play and get ready to hear the story behind the words

Thank  you so much for listening! Please support the author by buying their books, attending their events, and liking and following them on social media.  If you liked this episode help please share with a friend and leave a review! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hey Erin. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today. Hello. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to share about your book. This is something that I've really been excited about since you started this project. And so I can't wait for our listeners to hear all about it and to learn more about you. So I'm going to read your bio to introduce you. Erin Trocholis is a writer, advocate, and caregiver whose work is rooted in resilience, faith, and the power of community. Through Stroke Strong, she hopes to provide comfort and practical support to others navigating life after stroke while raising awareness about the realities of recovery. Erin, why don't you tell us a little bit about your book?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

My husband had a massive hemorrhagic stroke, January of 2025. And a hemorrhagic stroke means that there was a blank brain bleed in his brain. And he's 44 years old at the time. So luckily, I had just gotten home from work and he was in the midst of having the stroke. We got him to the hospital, and then everything was turned upside down from that moment on. So I kind of, as a caregiver and a wife, and someone who was extremely worried about his situation because it was very rocky at the beginning. I started to journal and started to take notes of every single thing that was going on with him during the whole stroke process. And I decided to put it into a book. There was a lot of things that I found along the way that I really, really struggled with. And I felt very lost and very lonely. And there was nothing out there book-wise to either validate my feelings or help me in the process of all the things that needs to be done after a loved one has been hospitalized for such a big disability like a stroke. So I decided I was going to make that change and write a book to kind of let people know that if they find themselves in this situation, that they're not alone, but then also provide a guidebook to help them in all the steps that are required because it doesn't stop once they come home from the hospital. In fact, that's almost only the beginning stages of it. So I just transferred all of my notes and feelings and everything into a book format.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Yeah, this is such an incredible story. And I'll tell our listeners that I was lucky enough to get to help you from the beginning. When you started writing, or after you'd already written a lot, I helped you by offering some coaching so that you could wrap your head around the whole book writing process. But I think what people are most fascinated by is that you had this kind of life-altering tragedy. And it wasn't that far out from it that you were like, you know what? I'm going to start pouring into start pouring myself into this project to turn this tragedy into something more meaningful. And so how did you muster up the energy or what was writing? How did writing become the thing that you used to the tool that you you use to get through this?

SPEAKER_00 3:16

So I never was a writer. I never thought of myself as a writer, but I needed another outlet to just cry all the time because that's what I felt like I was doing. So I needed, so I started writing and realized how healing that actually was for me. It was something that I had never experienced before with writing, but I found that it really was helping me keep my thoughts together, but then also just kind of figure out what I needed to do and kind of just realize everything that was going on at the moment, a little more of a realization. Because it's like until you speak it, sometimes you don't realize, oh gosh, I actually feel this way. And it was kind of the same way with the writing. So I started the writing actually it was almost a year ago. So about five months after Sean's stroke. And then I just realized there could be something more to this than just tilling, which was in itself a great accomplishment for me because I was able to release a lot of those emotions through paper versus pen and paper versus the just the tear method. So yeah, I just decided, okay, let's transform this into a book because I'm already writing down everything that I'm feeling and everything that I'm going through as a process of my own therapy and healing. So why not maybe be able to help others in the future um save them a few tears too?

SPEAKER_02 4:51

Yeah, that's so great. And it's funny because there is so much research about writing being a form of a healing method, a healing modality. So many therapists recommend journaling and writing to examine your feelings. And there's a lot of stuff about how when you put things down on the page, then you're it's not stuck in your head. You're not ruminating on it as much. You can gain some clarity from something. Like you said, it's really validating. And so I love it that you came to this without really maybe even knowing all of that research that you just really you just needed so desperately an outlet. And I'm just as a writer and an author and a writing coach, I'm thrilled that this was the outlet that worked for you because there's so many different ways that you could have healed from this. Well, you can also heal in a very unhealthy way.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

You know, there's people that may turn to other things that are more of an unhealthy way to cope with depression, anxiety, tragedy, and all that kind of stuff. So I'm fortunate that I didn't, you know, never thought of going that route, but just but writing was like I said, very different for me. So it was kind of almost an aha, like, okay, I'm kind of actually getting something out of this, you know, like of this whole writing thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

So I love it. I love that it worked. So I know that you had kind of a mission from the start with this, and part of it was just kind of your own overwhelm in that you really didn't know what to do. And even though you were surrounded by all of this community and people, you still weren't surrounded by people or community whose spouse had a stroke at the age of 44. And I'm so inspired by your vision because you knew right away that this I need to tell the people. If this ever happens to someone else, I want to be the one to tell them. So tell us about that a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Oh gosh, yeah. It was, it was just kind of that, like again, and like another aha moment that as I was writing, that was like, why don't I just morph this into a book? And then once I kind of decided I'm gonna do this, you know, I reached out to family, my close family and friends and was like, what would you all think if I wrote a book? For the most part, I got an overwhelmingly positive response about doing that. And so once I decided that that's what I was gonna do, I kind of started just, you know, opening up the computer and just writing it out. And like I said, there's just so many things, not only in the process of while Sean was in the hospital, because he was in ICU uh at the University of Louisville for two weeks and then transferred to an inpatient rehab facility and was there for almost a month. And then he came home. And even though that's a month and a half, I was not even close to feeling ready to have him home. I wanted him home, but everything that went along with having him home, he needed 24-7 assistance uh with everything that he did. It was transforming my life around and what we had been not just his life, but my life too. I had to get people to relieve me about once I started going back to work and once I started doing all those things. Um, so it was very difficult. And then in the meantime, you know, I'm going to work, I'm taking care of him when I'm not at work, but I'm also having to handle a lot of the business side of things. So all of the um hellish things that you deal with with insurance and billing and applying for disability and applying for Medicaid, which is a route that we went through, applying the positive side, but there's like waivers and trust that are available for people with brain injuries. So I was in the process of applying for those, but everything was just so time consuming. And I I very much had to learn as I as I went, and I'm still learning. So I just again just took notes because I was I had already started writing the book at that time. I was like, this is very valuable information that someone else could find because I kind of came in luck with a lot of people that just had connections with, oh, or I or I know about this, or my my friend's a social worker or or whatever. And so I could I kind of have these little outlets, but not everybody has that and has the fortunate pathways to get to those people. So um I just put it all in the book. Here's the the company to contact, here's this to contact, if this comes up with insurance, just know X, Y, and Z. Because those were things that I learned as I as I went on that if someone else can have that information prior to going through all those things, hopefully it will save them. They'll be miles ahead of where I was in that moment and maybe take away a little bit of that frustration that comes along with it of doing all those kind of things. I and then I had a very clear vision once too, once I knew I was gonna write the book, I had a clear vision of how I wanted it laid out. Uh oh, us like like you said, we work together for a little bit and I'm not a big reader. I'm getting there, I'm getting there. But because I hadn't read a whole lot, I almost was like, I don't know, is this a thing? Can you do this in books? And um, but I wanted to kind of have a part that that would tell the readers that I've been there and I've done that and I've felt these feelings and I know exactly what you're going through. So just telling my story of how I became a stroke survivor's wife. And then the second part of the book is more of that guidebook sense of giving those tips and tricks and from the trial and error of when you bring your loved one home. And for me, I planned all this stuff out and organized all this stuff out, and I'd say 90% of that stuff did not go as planned. So I learned very quickly that stroke life was in charge and it was not me in charge. And I had to learn to be very flexible with that. So if you have a personality like me, that can be very difficult to accept that because there's a lot of acceptance in this situation, but it's just kind of covering like, you know, things aren't gonna go as planned, and you got to learn to adapt and be flexible along the way. And then also, you know, like I said, dealing with the insurance and applying for all the things. But then the other things of just like taking care of yourself as a caregiver, which I don't like using the term, make sure you take care of yourself because that's what everybody says. I just I like to say, how am I gonna show myself self-love for the day? And it doesn't have to be anything crazy or extravagant because you may not have the time to do crazy or extravagant, but maybe you like to indulge in an expensive cup of coffee that you wouldn't usually do because it's 10 bucks and that's ridiculous to pay 10 bucks for a cup of coffee. But if that's what's gonna like reset your patience or just make you feel a little bit of joy, which sometimes an expensive cup of coffee can do that for you, then go get that expensive cup of coffee. So just different ways that you can show yourself love in the midst of giving so much of yourself away with taking care of someone else. So I I like want to cover the whole gamut of topics uh not just being a caregiver. That's just a small portion of all the things that you deal with. And that's what I found when I was looking for books and self-guide books, is that's pretty much what it was. It was being a caregiver, which is important, but there's just so much more things involved um in it than just being a caregiver. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Well, I want to say a couple of things about what you just talked about. First, I I think that the book is laid out beautifully because for me, when I'm reading, the first thing I want to do is connect with the person I'm reading, with the author. I want to know, is this person like me? Do I like this person? You know, I I really just love stories. I mean, I love nothing more than a memoir so that I can get inside someone else's life and get the story. And so when this happened, everybody wants to know like what happened. And so there is an interesting side of the story that you do tell about you and Sean and his life leading up to it and his health and all the things that happened, which I think is is such a great way to connect with the reader. But then again, you don't just leave us with that because it is great. You could have ended the book there and we would have been like, Oh, Erin and Sean, they've been through something. But then you did give like all of these tips and tools. And that's I think the most important thing for connecting for with people who have been there. You're saying to them, Hey, I've been here too, and here's the mistakes that I made, and here's what you can do to avoid those mistakes. Even when it comes to like the self-care, because I know that you mentioned this in the book, but everyone's oh, be sure you're taking care of yourself. And you're like, how can I possibly take care of myself right now when my husband's just had a stroke and our lives are turned upside down? And so I love how you acknowledge that. And to me, just anybody who has been through something like this, it doesn't have to be an a stroke necessarily, but an accident or anything that has changed the outcome of your life. You're there as like this friend. So first you're like, let me let me introduce you to me and my family. But then you're like, and now come with me and I'll show you how to do it. And that to me is just such a beautiful thing. Well, thank you. Yeah. And I think the other thing, and this is for any writers listening to this right now, because there is something that you had when you wrote this book that I'm jealous of because I don't have it anymore. And it's kind of that I'm doing this, I don't know what I'm doing. And therefore, I'm not gonna question everything. I'm not gonna ponder. You just jumped into this headfirst, not knowing a lot about it. Crazy. Yeah. Exactly. But that is why it's successful. To me, I think that's why you're just kind of learning as you go. And you were willing to A, do the work, which is the hardest part. You didn't just say, I'm gonna do this. You took the time every day, whenever you could, to write amid something really hard. We're working, caregiving, you still had a your home. You know, not only are you doing your set of the chores and all the things that you do at the house, but now Sean's too. You know, you know, so you and so, but you've still created the consistency to get this done. And I think it's again, like as a someone who's already written a book, I kind of wrote mine in the same way. I just was like, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm feeling so excited by this. But now it's hard for me to write my next book because I know a little bit more about the writing process. I've and so I get stuck with these like rules I think I'm supposed to follow. And so it's such a beautiful thing to be a first-time writer. And I'm just so proud of you.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Thank you. Yeah, it was a it was a scary but fun process. And I think I think you may have even told me the fact that I wasn't a big avid reader probably worked to my advantage in writing the book because I I wasn't comparing myself to other writers because I wasn't reading. I was just kind of like, I want to be as real and authentic as as I can. And one of the things that I've been told by people that know me that have read the book is that they've said, I could literally hear you saying these things. And I that was that's honestly such a huge compliment because that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted my voice to and just know I am just a regular woman who has a regular job, who has kids that they take care of, a home to take care of, a dog that drives you crazy. I'm I'm not I'm not on this pedestal or anything like that. So I just wanted my voice to come across to be relatable in the sense of okay, this isn't a famous movie star that that wrote this. This is just my neighbor that wrote it or whatever. And I loved that people could hear my voice coming across in in in the book and the words on the pages, and that they said, I could hear you saying these things. I mean, even my son said that at one point, like, I think I even heard you say that because it was just so I just loved that Becky, the publisher, did not strip that my voice away from me. Because I thought, oh, because I've never wrote before, they're gonna come in and just edit the heck out of this and go, this doesn't sound right, and blah, blah, blah. But a lot of things were kept the same because they were like, because this is you and this is this is you say. So I I've taken that as a big compliment when people say I could hear you saying these things. So it's I don't hold much back because I figured if people are reading a book like this, they don't want to be lied to or sugarcoated. I definitely talk about the celebrations and the triumphs and the things that we went through. Um, but I'm also very real about the, you know, not fantastic parts about this something like this happening. I wanted it to be relatable and everything.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

So yeah, absolutely. And it it very much is. And I do love it. I can hear your voice. And if it were anything different, it just wouldn't be the same. And so I'm so glad that you're proud of that because you should be. Okay, so my next thing, because this is something I think that is a little tricky for writers, and it's about kind of the vulnerability of this. And you weren't just telling your story, you were sharing a lot of Sean's story as well. How did you, you know, what kind of conversations did you have with your family, I guess, to be like, hey, I'm putting out some sensitive information about us? How does everybody feel about that? What was that part like?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Obviously, my main concern was Sean, uh, because I do talk a lot about obviously his medical information and wouldn't at times go into details about everything that was going on with him and the details because I had taken so many notes in the moment when everything was going on. So I did have a talk with him, and obviously, because of the stroke, there's a little bit of that cognitive overlapping. So it was kind of like it was a tricky thing to kind of navigate. So I just kind of started mentioning to him, hey, I'm thinking about writing a book. And then it would be, I think I'm going to write a book, and then it was, I'm gonna meet with an editor. And then it so I kind of gradually talked to him about that, and then just was like, are you okay with this? Because obviously, if Sean would not have been okay with it, then I wouldn't really have a much of a book because there's so much details about his deficits and hit and everything that he went through from a medical standpoint, and then obviously in his recovery as well. So I needed to really make sure that he understood what I wanted to write and that he was okay with it. We would have casual conversations in the car and I would be like, so is there anything off limits? You know, when I would start thinking of things that I wanted to include, because again, uh I'm pretty honest with the not so great parts about it. I'm like, is there anything that you don't? And he'd go, no, I'm fine with whatever. And I'm like, I'm gonna really need you to think about this and make sure that you're good. And then maybe I'd throw in an example, like, I'm thinking about this and how do you feel about it? And he was very actually open and receptive to it. I think he he understood and knew my my mission and my purpose for wanting to write this book, and it also gave him an insight of really a lot of the stuff that I was going through that he may have not fully realized, and even his medical condition before he remembered what happened. So he was obviously the main one. And then, of course, I my I have two boys. Um, and of course, I wanted to run it by them. My youngest, who was 15 at the time, was like, yeah, mom, I think that would be great, and was very on board and gun-ho about it. And but my oldest was definitely he was the only one that gave me a little pushback. And he's also a very private person. I think he was kind of like, Why are you wanting to share this horrible thing that happened to our family, to the world? Like, I don't get like he couldn't wrap his head around that, I think. And he was also thinking with a 19-year-old brain, and oh, you just must want to people that do that only want to try and get famous overnight. And I'm like, no, no, no, that's not, I mean, a lot of people want to find a book. But no, but I was like, but he was like, Well, mom, don't take offense to this. A lot of people, a lot of people have strokes. And I was like, Yes, exactly. I said so why you're saying that for your to argue your point of view, that's exactly why I want to do this. Is a lot of people do go through this. You may not know them personally, but a lot of people do, and they don't have the resources or the support or anything like that to guide them through this tragedy. In a sense, you know, your life was going one way, and within minutes I was like, nope, it's not gonna go that way anymore. And I think I had to kind of ease uh my oldest into it. And then I think once he realized really what my purpose was with this, then he he didn't. Get on board. So he's okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

But those were, and then obviously I mentioned it to like Sean's parents because they were going to play a part in it. They were a big part in helping me care for Sean once I went back to work and stuff. There were people that I knew I wanted to put in the book that I wanted to make sure we're going to be okay with it. So I got everybody else's blessing.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Yeah, because it is something that I'm glad that you went and talked to people because like a fine line, because you don't want to ask for people's permission necessarily. And a lot of times if someone says something just even slightly controversial, it can really paralyze someone's project. They'll stop right then and there. But at the same time, if you don't have the conversations, then and you and you put something out and maybe somebody doesn't like it, then you you can't feel as good about it and you can't feel confident about it. And so it is it's such a tricky thing. But I will say because we you just had your book launch party a couple of weeks ago, or last week, I guess. And Sean was front and center with you.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

And I could tell I was very surprised about actually. I even told him, I was like, I was not expecting you to just join me up there at the front.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

I could just tell how proud he was of you. And he was, I thought he was beaming that day at just being able to see you do good. And and I think, like you said, he knows what your mission is with this, and it's to help others. And your son, who was a little bit skeptical, was there also supporting you. And so it's like full circle, which is so great for to see and to just witness because it's the story is so beautiful.

unknown 23:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Why don't you just give us a quick update on how Sean is doing now? Because the readers are probably like, What who's Sean and what's going on? Or the listeners who haven't read the book yet.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

So yeah, he's doing well. So we're let's see, what are we almost a year and uh four months, I guess, post-stroke. So he still continues therapy. He has never fully stopped therapy. I think maybe two weeks he didn't have any therapy, but um, he's still in PT. He is also in the middle of getting evaluated for a new device for stroke patients called Vivistem. And it is a device that's actually implanted underneath the chest wall, and it helps with movement of the affected arm, which is his right arm, and he's right-handed. So that has been a very difficult transition and stuff as well. But he is in the process of getting evaluated for that. It's a pretty in-depth prof process process. He's done the initial evaluation and now we're waiting for like a surgical team to give us a call to get evaluated as well. But that can be a huge game changer. Having some more movement, he has very little movement still in his right hand. So having that movement back could make just a huge difference on a lot of things. He is walking with a cane majority of the time now. We don't have to use a wheelchair except for long distances. So that's been huge. He was able to get his license back in March, also another huge thing. So he had to go through several uh driving lessons and then also a physical evaluation, a vision evaluation. Um, and then he was able to get his truck modified to where he has a left accelerator pedal. So he's been able to start driving. So getting his independence back has been huge, huge. It's been huge mentally for him, I think, because he can he's not necessarily stuck, you know, at home. He can be left. He does not need 24-7 assistance. So we do still have a companion that comes and hangs out with him a couple of times a week. And that's just again, I think that's kind of good for the mental side of things, just to have somebody there to hang out with. But they go run errands now. They go get his truck washed and uh go to his therapies, and they've even started going out to lunch and stuff. So, you know, that's kind of I think good for the social and mental aspect for him. So we're, you know, we're moving right along. There's still, I think, progression happening. The doctors always said that the biggest recovery is going to be in that first year. But I've learned being a part of other stroke groups and stuff like that, that recovery can happen years after. I've seen people that are like, you know, my husband moved his hand for the first time and it's been five years since his stroke. I think your recovery's done when you, as the patient, decides that your recovery is done. So if you're willing to keep fighting and to keep working hard, I think you're always going to see some type of improvement. In fact, I had on my phone today a video that I took last year, this day, last year of Shine. And he was trying to lift his arm up. And in the video, you hear us, he's grinning. I'm ecstatic. And I'm talking the arm lift was two inches. I mean, just something very minuscule. And in that moment, it was so exciting to see him do that. And now, you know, he can get his arm up to his chin and move it across his body. And you don't think of that until you go back and look at some of those videos and pictures of this is where you were last year. And then you're like, oh man, he's really made some crazy recovery in this time. So we're constantly still seeing little baby steps of stuff. He also receives Botox treatments quarterly in the right leg and the right arm. And that helps a lot with the spasticity. With stroke patients, you'll see him like their hands will curl up or their toes will curl up. And that's that affects obviously the any movement that they can get back. So that Botox actually helps relax those muscles and helps with the spasticity to allow more ease in the in walking or whatever it is that they're trying to do. So he also gets that. So we're, you know, we're moving along. They always they told us from the beginning it's a marathon, not a sprint. And that is very, very true. It's a very long forever road, I think, to recovery. I know in the green scheme of things, we're only a year and a half through. I can see where it's just, you know, it's a long road, a new level of patience.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Well, he's lucky to have you as his person to be cheering him on and celebrating his wins through all of this and encouraging him. I've watched you throughout this last year, and I know how I might have behaved, which is to get frustrated or to get down on myself. And you just stayed so positive. And I'm just I can't I'm getting teared up, just seeing just how much care you've given him and just your mission to not let this bring you all down has just been so inspiring.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

And it's hard, it's a lot of pep talks to myself too. Um, but I feel like you can choose two pathways when stuff like this happens. You can figure out, okay, there's nothing I can do about this. This is now what our life is. So I can either choose to make the best of it and and make those changes to figure out how to make the best of it, or I can wallow and get in a really dark place. And it's very, very easy to choose that. That's a much easier path to choose, to be honest. I mean, that's the easy. So the hard path is to choose, okay, we gotta make, we gotta make the most of this. And I think too, because we're still young in our 40s, we could potentially be only halfway through our lives. So that's a a lot of life that we could still be living. And so I'm on this mission of like, okay, no, we we cannot give up right now. Like we've got to keep going. We can have bad days and we can, I mean, I'm pretty sure I didn't get out of pajamas the other day just because it was just like, nah, I was tired, I was worn out. I think overall in the grand scheme of things, if I don't want to stop having fun just because things are harder.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

And that's something that I told him, like, we're trying to maybe plan a vacation and for us to go. And I'm very nervous and I'm very anxious about it. But I'm like, because I know it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be, we are gonna have to pull the wheelchair out. We are gonna have to do all these things. And so it's gonna be a very different kind of vacation for us, but I don't want to just stop doing those things because it's a little bit harder, because I don't feel like that's a way to live either. I would rather get through the hard part and let's just do it together. Like I have to put in as much effort as he has to put in and vice versa. Because if and the good thing is is if one of us is having a bad day, then maybe the other one's having the good day and can bring us up. But it it's still a team, it's still a team thing. Like I can only be excited and ecstatic and cheer him on if he's not gonna get out of the chair to do anything. Then it it kind of starts bringing you down. It's still very much that we're working together to keep each other motivated and uh cheer each other on because he has to cheer me on just as much. Obviously, I'm gonna do it a little bit more for him, uh, because he's the one that has the more of the the physical deficits, obviously. Uh, but we're both mentally, you know, going through the trenches. So I think just trying to just keep that positivity as much as possible and it and taking care, doing the things to appropriately take care of yourself, not just the expensive cup of coffee, but go into your doctor's appointments and making sure that you're healthy. Because if I'm not healthy, I'm not going to be able to help take care of him. So it's kind of all those things that intertwine into one big ball of stuff that help you like uh get actually get through get through the process and everything. We're managing, we're still learning as we go. I'm by no means a full-on expert in this, but I have learned a hell of a lot over the last year and a half and and learned the do's and do's and don'ts of a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

So yeah, so to our listeners, you should already be on Amazon trying to buy the book because I know you've just been so inspired by everything that Aaron said. And Aaron, I know you have big goals for this book. It's not just for our listeners to buy the book, but also I know that you're one of your goals, and I'll say it for you, is to get this book into the hands of people as soon as this something like this happens to them. So you want them to be handed this book when they're in the hospital waiting room. And maybe they flip to the guide part section, maybe they flip to the section where you say, Hey, I'm here, I've been here too. You know, maybe they don't have the capacity to read the whole book all at once, but they can they probably wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

If they're really like they are going through this and they get this book early on, they probably wouldn't be able to. It's it because they're in the height, height of their emotional state of even just trying to comprehend and accept what's even happening. There you feel just very numb early on and very like out of body almost because the comprehension of like how is this happening to us? How is this happening to him? How is this happening to me and my family and my boys? It takes a lot. So to to no, you're probably not gonna read through the whole book at the very beginning, but yeah, it might be just flipping to the guidebook. But I do think, yes, that's what I would love to see is hospitals giving this book out to patients where whether it's a stroke or something very relatable, they can give this to them to just to to help and and at least to be there when they are ready to open it up and look at it. And I do think too, as I've gone on, I've felt that I've learned that there is a lack of caregiver education. He was in rehab, he gets all these hours of therapy and just excellent care. I mean, they have perfected seriously the patient care aspect. But while he's in all these therapies, I'm either I can go along with him and I could I could watch what was going on and what they were doing. Otherwise, I was just sitting in his room. And I think if there are optional classes that caregivers could go to that could kind of touch base on either what they're presently going through or a heads up, this is coming. These are things that you're going to have, you are going to have to take care of. I feel like that would be very helpful. And it's almost mind-boggling that to my knowledge, anyways, that there isn't anything out there like that. Because I really think it could make a difference in one for the caregiver, but also in how the caregivers deals with everything and how they ultimately end up helping to take care of their loved one.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Like if they have the tools to say this is coming up, or hey, don't put this to the side. You don't need to deal with this now. This is what you need to deal with because you don't know. Not many people have been through something like this. And so I I think that that's a market or whatever you want to call it that could really be tapped into of providing more better caregiver education when it's a life-changing event that happens. I don't really so I've I've kind of shifted as I yes, I want the book to be to be given to people at the hospital. I think I would absolutely love that. But it's it's kind of shifted too in the realization of wait a minute, why wasn't there anything out there to tell me this is what I needed to do? You have social workers and you have you get assigned these people and they're they say, I'm here for you, I'm at your beck and call. Let me know if you have any questions, but you don't know the questions to ask. That's what's so frustrating. And by the time you get to the point where you're like, oh, I have a question, that person's really no longer your social worker. And so you're back to like, okay, so what do I do now? Who do I call? What do I there should be a better instead of let me know if you have any questions, let me give you all of the information. And then once you soak that in and you take that in and process it, then let me know if you have any questions. But here's all the information. And there isn't any of that. And they're so great on the on the care on the patient side. I don't know why that can't be matched for the caregiver or the or the family and friends that are going to be in charge of helping out their loved one. So I think that that's a big that's a big miss in the healthcare and hospitals.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

I I can I completely agree. And I know that you're gonna be the person to change that. So it's just a matter of getting in front of the right. You're you're perfect for this for helping people that have been through this. And the book is the avenue to help you get there, hopefully, and to show people that you are the one that we want to talk to if and when this ever happens to us. Hopefully it doesn't, but if and when it does, we want to talk to you. So congratulations on everything you've they you are on Instagram. Can you tell us what your Instagram and Facebook if people Instagram is Stroke Strong Book as well as Facebook, Stroke Strong Book.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

And then I also have an author website that kind of will keep things up to date on anything that I'm gonna be attending, and it's aarontroklasauthor.com. Those are all the ways that you can keep in touch with me. All of my contact information is also at the back of the book. So, you know, you'll have it readily available if you have the book in your yeah, and I've had people reach out that are like, I just got your book and I started reading this. I had a lady reach out to me yesterday and she was like, I can't find the wives group on Facebook because I'm part of a Facebook group of wives of stroke survivors. And she was like, I'm trying to find this group that you talk and I can't find it. And I'm like, well, I had to kind of use some because they're very protective. They're very protective of their members. So um, but it was just great that she was able to recognize, like, maybe I need this. So I was able to message her. So I do have people that are reaching out and kind of like asking some questions, and I will be as readily available as possible if there's questions that you still have um after reading the book. Um, like I said, I'm still kind of learning as I go because I'm by no means through the through everything. I'm I'm here to help in any way that I can for anybody that is going through this unfortunate circumstance as well.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

So well, thank you so much for talking to me. And I can't wait to share about this. And if you're listening, just get off of the podcast and go straight over to Amazon and buy the book right now and support Erin by following her on Facebook and Instagram. And if you know anyone that is in the medical world who it would be interested in helping Erin advance this peer support kind of part of the patient care, let her know because she is amazing and you will love working with her.

SPEAKER_00 39:35

Thank you.