8 Year Strokeaversary

Transcription:

Bill Gasiamis 0:00
Bill from recoveryafterstroke.com. Well, today is the eighth year anniversary, since I was first diagnosed with a bleed on the brain, and which was caused by an arteriovenous malformation.

An AVM, a faulty blood vessel, which bled again about six weeks later, and then bled a third time, almost three years later, which required me to have surgery to remove the blood vessel that was leaking.

Bill Gasiamis 0:28
So on the side here, you might be able to see the remains of the scar. And in that time, I’ve had to overcome a lot of things I’ve had to overcome all the challenges relating to learning how to walk again, getting my speech back, getting my memory back, getting active and back to work, being able to regain the function of my left arm, and the coordination of that and it’s been a rather interesting and dramatic journey.

Bill Gasiamis 0:59
I’m sure if you’re a stroke survivor, you can relate to what it is that I’ve gone through. Whether you’re a stroke survivor or a TBI survivor or brain surgery survivor, whether you’ve had your brain messed around with for any other reason you will be able to relate to what it is that I went through and I can truly relate to what you go through.

Bill Gasiamis 1:21
But there’s been a lot of hard times, but there’s been a lot of things that I’ve overcome. And that’s really the main point of this video is that I know you might be doing it hard. I know it might be difficult at the moment. But with some help and some support, you too can overcome a lot of the things that you’re experiencing, whether you are experiencing fatigue, or whether you’re experiencing challenges with your mood.

Bill Gasiamis 1:45
There are definitely things that you can work towards making better or work towards overcoming. And you know, I’ve had a really interesting, last two weeks or so maybe it was because it was leading up to this anniversary but I felt flat, I felt low. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough.

Bill Gasiamis 2:04
And I had a really good chat with my wife last night. And just to clear some of the ideas that I had in my head about how I wasn’t going the right way about things, and I wasn’t doing enough. And, look, she just reminded me that we’ve come a long way and that I have done a lot. And that I am continuing to do a lot.

Bill Gasiamis 2:26
And one of the things that I really got a lot out of our conversation has she just reminded me about the amazing things that I’ve done and how that’s impacted other people. So, you know, the recovery after stroke podcast is now at around about 85 episodes. And that is an amazing thing that’s been able to grow from this journey, this eight-year journey so far.

Bill Gasiamis 2:41
And with that, comes the feedback that I get from a lot of people that have suffered or struggled through stroke recovery and all of the issues that stroke brings. So, on this eight-year anniversary for me, I’m grateful for the things that I’ve overcome. And I would love to know, what are the things that you’ve overcome? And how long has it been since your stroke?

Bill Gasiamis 3:21
If you’ve just started your stroke journey, believe you me, it’s still early days, your brain is still healing, and you will overcome a lot of things and you will grow because of this. And it’ll make you a better version of yourself. And I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m just saying that there’s an opportunity for post-traumatic growth here. So wish me a happy anniversary in the comments below. Let me know how long it’s been since you started your stroke journey and most importantly, let me know what you have overcome. Bill from recoveryafterstroke.com thank you so much.