What would you do if your family was told you wouldn’t recover, and you lay unconscious for four months?
That was the reality for Mark Bragg, a Canadian musician whose life changed when an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) caused a devastating brain bleed. At just 48 years old, Mark’s love of music was replaced by survival, and the one thing that kept him alive was something most of us know little about: a brain shunt.
What Is a Brain Shunt?
A brain shunt is a small medical device designed to redirect cerebrospinal fluid away from the brain into another part of the body, usually the abdomen. This prevents dangerous fluid build-up known as hydrocephalus, which can cause swelling, pressure, and further brain damage.
Brain shunts aren’t perfect — they can fail, get blocked, or even become infected. But for people like Mark, they’re often the only option to stay alive after a severe stroke or bleed.
Mark’s case shows just how fragile and life-saving a brain shunt operation can be. His first two shunts became infected. The third one finally worked, and it gave him a chance at recovery.
Four Months Unconscious
When Mark’s brain bleed struck, he collapsed at home with his child nearby. He was rushed to the hospital, and doctors placed an external ventricular (EV) drain to relieve pressure. His family was told not to expect a recovery.
He remained unconscious for four months.
During that time, his wife and parents became his advocates. They could tell when something wasn’t right, even when he couldn’t speak for himself. Twice, they noticed signs of infection in his brain shunt before doctors did. Those observations may well have saved his life.
It’s a reminder to every stroke survivor and caregiver: advocacy matters. Having someone by your side who speaks up when you can’t is critical.
Living With a Shunt
When Mark finally woke up, the road ahead wasn’t easy. He had to relearn how to walk, how to use his left side, and how to speak clearly again. His brain with hydrocephalus was now supported by a shunt that kept fluid flowing.
But living with a shunt comes with its own challenges. Fatigue, the risk of infection, and constant monitoring are part of everyday life. For Mark, the shunt isn’t just a medical device; it’s a reminder of survival.
Yet, as he often jokes, it’s also part of his “sexy bald head.” That humor and the ability to see his scar as a badge of resilience help him keep going.
Music, Loss, and Adaptation
Before the stroke, Mark lived and breathed music. He wrote songs, performed live, and even scored films. After the stroke, he faced the painful reality that his voice and hands didn’t work the same way.
He mourned that loss, but he didn’t stop. With the help of speech therapy, he learned creative hacks like picturing words “on a string” to get them flowing again. With his father a hobby musician, he found new ways to play and create, forming a unique bond through music they never had before.
Even when you lose something you love, recovery offers the chance to discover something new.
The Power of Support
One thing that stands out in Mark’s story is his support network. His parents, both in their 70s, stepped up daily to help with his rehab. His wife became his strongest advocate and found her own therapy in daily ocean swims — even in freezing Atlantic waters.
His local music community also rallied, hosting three sold-out fundraisers where fellow musicians performed his songs while he watched from his hospital bed.
Stroke recovery is never a solo effort. Family, friends, and community form the foundation for progress.
Lessons From Mark’s Brain Shunt Story
Mark’s journey is more than a survival story. It’s a roadmap for others facing the uncertainty of a brain shunt for hydrocephalus or recovery after stroke:
- Advocacy saves lives. When shunts failed, his wife noticed before doctors. Caregivers are vital.
- Recovery is emotional as well as physical. Mourning what’s lost is part of the process — but so is finding new ways to live.
- Community matters. From fundraisers to family routines, support systems carry survivors through the hardest times.
- Resilience takes many forms. Humor, creativity, and acceptance turn fear into strength.
Could a Brain Shunt Help You Understand Stroke Recovery?
If you’ve ever wondered “what is a brain shunt?” or what it’s like to live with one, Mark’s story shows the reality: it’s both a medical miracle and a daily challenge.
“I wasn’t supposed to wake up. But I did. And now, every day, I keep moving forward.” – Mark Bragg
Brain Shunt Recovery: 4 Months Unconscious and a Family’s Fight for Hope
Unconscious 4 months after stroke, Mark’s brain shunt recovery shows how family, music, and resilience defy the odds.
Highlights:
00:00 Mark Bragg’s Life Before the Stroke
04:50 First Seizure and Diagnosis
13:10 Experiencing Dissociation
19:30 The Day of The Stroke
29:15 Affected Speech Recovery
34:51 Inspiring Other People
44:35 Challenges and Support Systems
57:29 Psychological Counseling and Coping Mechanisms
1:08:38 Positive Impacts of The Stroke
Transcript:
Unconscious 4 Months – Mark Bragg’s Life Before the Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 0:00
Bill. Hey, there. It’s Bill Gasiamis, welcome to another episode of the Recovery After Stroke Podcast. Stroke Recovery is never easy, but sometimes the challenges are bigger than anyone can imagine. Imagine being unconscious for four months after a stroke while your family is told not to expect recovery.
Bill Gasiamis 0:19
That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest, Mark Bragg, a musician, a husband and a father. Mark’s life was saved by a brain shunt, and his story is about resilience, creativity and the power of family and community.
Bill Gasiamis 0:35
But before we dive in, I want to share something that could help in your own recovery. One of the biggest struggles after stroke is getting the hand working again, and stiffness and the loss of movement and the frustration of not being able to do simple things like holding a cup or writing.
Bill Gasiamis 0:53
That’s where the Hanson Rehab Glove by Syrebo comes in. It’s a smart glove that helps retrain your brain and hand together right from your home, whether you’re early in recovery or years down the track. It supports Neuroplasticity and hand function in a way that’s practical and motivating.
Bill Gasiamis 1:11
The glove is available to order right here in Australia and can be shipped internationally too. I love being able to bring solutions like this to my listeners, because having the right tools can make a huge difference. You’ll hear more about it later in the episode. Now let’s get into my conversation with Mark.
Bill Gasiamis 1:30
Mark Bragg, welcome to the podcast.
Mark Bragg 1:33
Happy to be here.
Bill Gasiamis 1:34
Happy to have you here, sir. Tell me what was life like before stroke, what did you do? How did you occupy time?
Mark Bragg 1:43
I’m a musician, and to occupy my time, I barely did anything, because as a musician, your time is very flexible. That’s not entirely true. I would write songs, and record, and tour as well. But since the stroke, currently I’m not cable and performing was my favorite thing, generally, performing like locally or outside town.
Bill Gasiamis 2:19
Was that your full time gig you performed. You were a musician full time?
Mark Bragg 2:25
Yeah, often writing like film scores and stuff like that for like that paid better than writing your own music and selling your own music. But that was the latter, was kind of my passion.
Bill Gasiamis 2:42
So you are fully embedded in all things lyrical, music, notes.
Mark Bragg 2:49
Yeah, well, not notes like, not dots.
Bill Gasiamis 2:53
No, but, but the whole thing, you know, from somebody who doesn’t understand music, you were into the whole entire thing, beginning to end, composing, getting it all finished. I would imagine editing it and then working out all the.
Mark Bragg 3:11
And being a band leader, that was a huge part of my gig as well, which was great. I had a lovely band.
Bill Gasiamis 3:24
Something wrong with your eye?
Mark Bragg 3:26
Yeah, just sometimes the eyes, like, I get watery eyes, but that’s about it.
Bill Gasiamis 3:37
Okay, so then, how old were you when the stroke happened?
Mark Bragg 3:46
48.
Bill Gasiamis 3:50
And would you say there was anything in your awareness that may have enabled you to see that things were not right, that there was something wrong.
Mark Bragg 4:03
Oh, yeah, I from all my seizures for the past few years. I was aware for all of them, and I was aware of what was happening in the stroke itself. I was certainly aware that was happening. I would lose consciousness at some point. But generally I always knew something was going on when either of these events took place.
Bill Gasiamis 4:35
Were seizures, something that happened to you, generally speaking, on a regular basis?
First Seizure and Diagnosis
Mark Bragg 4:41
The seizures were somewhat monthly at one point, but not really on a regular basis. But the stroke clearly was not on a regular basis. That was something that happened after my brain bleed.
Bill Gasiamis 5:03
When was the first time you had a seizure that you know about?
Mark Bragg 5:08
It was June 2019, and that’s when they discovered my AVM, because I was playing with my dog, and then I felt myself, you know, something not right. And then I collapsed and woke up in a hospital, and that was when I got my first scan.
Mark Bragg 5:32
And that’s when they discovered the AVM. And so at this point, that was my first seizure. So we did some consulting with my neurologist, and we decided, I decided I wanted this AVM out any way possible. So what we decided to do was go to Sony Brook that’s the hospital in Canada. So we went up there for a Gamma Knife radiation treatment.
Bill Gasiamis 6:10
And was that successful?
Mark Bragg 6:14
Yes and no. It seemed like, it seemed, at the time, that the that, after a year or so away, that it was looking like that, the AVM was stable, but hadn’t shrunk very much, so the next course of action would have been steroids, but that didn’t show any decline in the AVM.
Mark Bragg 6:46
So after that, I went into it for hyperbaric treatments, which is that is used to treat, you know, divers with the bands, for example. And I think it speeds up recovery from small tissue damage. So that’s as far as I know about it. And when we were deciding to do that, there was always a risk of radiation necrosis, which would be kind of scar tissue from the radiation.
Mark Bragg 7:30
But things were looking good, until about a year later, I was seizure free for about a year. But then another seizure happened, which was the result of that scar tissue, and from then on, there had been, like, various, you know, seizures and like, maybe around monthly and then now it’s always at risk for a brain bleed at that point because of the AVM. So not too long ago, I had my last CV release party, and two days after that, it’s when I had my stroke. And it’s been recovery since then.
Bill Gasiamis 8:21
What year was that?
Mark Bragg 8:25
That was in 23.
Bill Gasiamis 8:38
So approximately two years ago. Did you know the seizures were coming on? Did you have a feeling that the seizure was about to happen, or did they just catch you unawares?
Mark Bragg 8:56
They catch me unawares. But since I was so conscious through the whole business, it would just start happening, and I had no control, and I could still I can see myself doing the kind of shaking and that would be, even be conscious throughout the seizure itself.
Mark Bragg 9:19
I’d be on the ground, like shaking. I feel my legs start to shake, look down, and I’ll be like, when I start I’m having a seizure, like I might be trying to call out for some help, but the like, the words wouldn’t come out, the ones that I’d hoped for. So by after that point, it was kind of game on, and then I was deep into it, and it was terrifying.
Bill Gasiamis 9:50
Uh huh, terrifying, painful as well?
Mark Bragg 9:52
No, no pain. Just fear because you didn’t, you couldn’t control. Anything, and you didn’t know when or if you were going to come out of it, because you didn’t have control of your body, and so how could you know you can’t feel yourself like you got no sense of whether or not it’s going to come out, all you can do is try to convince yourself of the last time was I came out of it after a while. But that doesn’t mean that this time was going to be the same. So you had no way of knowing whether it would be the same.
Bill Gasiamis 10:38
Do they have a rough duration?
Mark Bragg 10:42
Yeah, I believe it was between three minutes and five minutes, but my first one, that was the one that took me into the hospital. I believe was certainly longer than that.
Bill Gasiamis 10:58
We’ll be back in just a moment with more of Mark’s remarkable story, from mourning the loss of his singing voice to rebuilding music and meaning in new ways. But first, I want to tell you more about the Hanson Rehab Glove by Syrebo. One of the toughest parts of recovery is when your hand just won’t cooperate.
Bill Gasiamis 11:17
The glove is designed to solve that problem, gently assisting your hand to open and close, helping your brain reconnect with those movements over time. It supports Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewrite itself after stroke, if you’re being stuck in your recovery and waiting for something to help at home, this might be it. The glove is available here in Australia, and can also be shipped internationally.
Bill Gasiamis 11:42
Check out the links in the episode description, or head to Banksiatech.com.au, for more details. Now, back to Mark. Okay, and then after the seizure passes, is, do you bounce back? Is there a recovery? How does that work?
Mark Bragg 12:01
Yeah, no, I bounced back, but I’m quite fatigued after the seizure and the following day, mostly just fatigue.
Bill Gasiamis 12:13
And in 2019 that’s taken quite a chunk up of your well, of your time, I imagine, and it’s interfering with the passion and the work that you do, which is your band and your daily life. Did it start to impact daily life? Regularly?
Mark Bragg 12:41
Not so much. My daily life kind of went down because the seizures wouldn’t take. It was like I said. It was only it would take. They would only last about three minutes. There would be around a day of recovery. I’ve never had a seizure on stage or anything like that.
Experiencing Dissociation After Being Unconscious 4 Months
Mark Bragg 13:10
But yes, it just occurred to me that the severe anxiety would certainly take a lot of like it made like everything almost next to impossible. I had a what was called dissociation from the severe anxiety, which, as far as I understand it, to be a protective mechanism, if for severe Have you heard of that before yourself?
Bill Gasiamis 13:44
Dissociation? Yeah, in my understanding of it is in extreme cases, people are not sort of attached to reality.
Mark Bragg 13:56
That’s right. So in terms of my understanding of it based on talking to my psychologist, it’s almost like protective mechanism from bygone days when we were a caveman, for example, and we were being eaten by a lion for example, not like not being chased by a lion, but, you know, being fucking eaten by a lion and and then you can’t be present for that, that’s not possible.
Mark Bragg 14:31
So that’s the way I understood it to be. And also, I suspect, shell shock if you’re in like, ran bombs and stuff and that kind of culture. I certainly know that for me, the dissociation would come on. Like every morning I wake up and think that, and feeling feeling okay, and then I tell myself, hmm. Maybe it’s not going to come on today, because it’s just a mental thing.
Mark Bragg 15:04
And then I go downstairs to put my shoes on, and then I realized that, oh, here we go. The shoes are on, and I’m going to open the door and then going to be this again. So I opened the door and I had that exact same feeling that you described, and but I’ve had to force myself to get through it, like to keep walking outdoors. And by this point, I came back to when I came back home, it’s still it was still happening.
Mark Bragg 15:39
And the funny thing about it is that it would continue up until myself and my wife picked out a touching movie to watch, like one that makes her cry, but not from sadness. It had to be touching. So for some reason that connected me back to myself, and then when I got back to bed. Things were things were fine by then.
Bill Gasiamis 16:05
Wow, man, that is such a cool hack that you even worked it out. How did you work out that the best medicine here is a soppy rom com?
Mark Bragg 16:15
It was bizarre. Yes, it was like a lot of Tom Hanks during those couple of months.
Bill Gasiamis 16:22
That’s enough to make anyone cry. I like it. Okay, so you didn’t watch Saving Private Ryan, for example?
Mark Bragg 16:32
No, I probably wouldn’t watch that anyway.
Bill Gasiamis 16:36
Yeah. Okay, good. I understand. So, what? Forrest Gump then?
Mark Bragg 16:45
Yeah, yes, that’s what we’re talking about.
Bill Gasiamis 16:48
I love it. Okay, I can manage Forrest Gump type of movies, that’d be awesome. Wow, man. So there’s a lot going on there. You’re having a physical experience, say, back then you could feel the actual the seizure. Then when you’re in the seizure, you have an awareness that you’re in a seizure and it’s happening, and you’re out of control of your body, but you’re in control of your mind, your thoughts.
Bill Gasiamis 17:23
And they’re kind of going, This could last forever. We don’t know how long we’re going to be here for panic. Be afraid, be all these things very normal, yeah. And then also after that, then you have to wake up in the morning, and then you have to go to your day, and then you have to overcome the thoughts of this might happen again in my day.
Mark Bragg 17:47
Not the seizure.
Bill Gasiamis 17:51
Yeah, not the seizure? You weren’t concerned about the seizure. You’re concerned about what is going to happen again?
Mark Bragg 17:58
The association. Like, I’d be walking out the door concerned that that would happen. It would happen because I made it happen myself based on it being a mental disorder.
Bill Gasiamis 18:18
But it’s sort of like instinctive at the same time, because you want to protect yourself from the lion.
Mark Bragg 18:26
Yeah, pretty much, because I was afraid that was, that it could happen at any point. So you’re trying to protect yourself from that.
Bill Gasiamis 18:37
Okay, so you’re trying to protect yourself or your mind? Because it seems like you’re protecting the way you’re thinking about that. It feels like you’re protecting the way you’re, you’re observing that somehow.
Mark Bragg 18:55
Yeah, I really have no idea that it was like protecting while it was happening, until it was explained to me by my psychologist, and she recommended that, or she suggested that that would be kind of a defense mechanism for the kind of things I was talking about. But it felt like a war zone when I was outside, because I could be attacked by my body at any second.
The Day of The Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 19:30
Okay, understood. So on the day of the stroke, was it a normal day? You’re just going about businesses per normal. And then what happened?
Mark Bragg 19:42
Then, I believe I was home with my kid at the at that very time, and I started to feel a very strange feeling come over me, and it wasn’t. It felt like it was a seizure, but it wasn’t so. So this was something very different, and so I had enough wherewithal to call my wife when this was happening, and she came home to see the like what I was at, basically because I was afraid, but that was I kind of went out thing, because that was the brain bleed. That was when it happened. So I believe we call we called them ambulance at that point and went to the hospital, and then they discovered that that was the case, so then they had to operate.
Bill Gasiamis 20:48
Okay? So you went into operate? Did they go in to remove the blood vessel, the faulty blood vessels, the AVM, is that what they went to do?
Mark Bragg 20:58
Just give me one second, my wife is
Bill Gasiamis 21:02
Your assistant.
Mark Bragg 21:09
Yeah, so then it was an EV drain that was kind of installed in my brain to drain out the blood here’s the scar from my EV train, yeah, it’s part of my sexy bald head. So that’s, yeah, that’s one of my scars.
Bill Gasiamis 21:30
That’s a really well shaped head.
Mark Bragg 21:33
Oh, my God, that’s why, that’s why I get away with all this. Those scars are our best kind, but my shunt itself is magic.
Bill Gasiamis 21:44
Yeah, so you’re in hospital, they’re draining the blood, and are you other than the initial bleed that issues that obviously blood in your head causes and the drain that they put on there? How long is the hospital stay. What is the prognosis? What happens after the bleed in the brain?
Mark Bragg 22:06
My prognosis was not good. I was told my family was told not to expect a recovery, and that I was unconscious for about four months.
Bill Gasiamis 22:25
Wow, yeah, was that a medical induced coma, or was it a Mark Bragg induced coma?
Mark Bragg 22:34
It was a mark Bragg induced coma.
Bill Gasiamis 22:36
Wow, man. So then, how do you come out of that? What happens at the four month mark that makes you wake up?
Mark Bragg 22:46
The third shunt took like the first two, they could tell or sorry, they became infected. But I was added with it anyway. But somehow I was noticed that I still wasn’t myself. It was kind of magic, like I was completely fucked up. But even while unconscious, the she could tell that at that point that it wasn’t me. So this was the first time my shunt became infected. So then the second one also became infected, and the third one took I get work.
Bill Gasiamis 23:33
Okay, so the idea of the shunt is to do what? What Is it meant to do?
Mark Bragg 23:39
It keeps things flowing. It basically sends it down, as opposed to getting caught up there.
Bill Gasiamis 23:56
Okay, allows the cerebrospinal fluid to continue to flow and not stay in the head, therefore causing additional pressure, and putting your brain at risk. Okay, so after surgery, the solution is to install a shunt, and then that shunt doesn’t take it gets infected in that time, even though you’re out cold, your wife is so great. She’s so amazing that she noticed that even in your comatose state, you were not yourself.
Mark Bragg 24:33
Like having an advocate.
Bill Gasiamis 24:38
And you think you are good, like, Oh, my God.
Mark Bragg 24:42
I’m good, not as good as her.
Bill Gasiamis 24:46
No chance. And then, it happens a second time. She again, and the doctors and everybody notices that the second shunt that they put in is not taking and is also infected. And I imagine, during. Infection that’s really impacting you negatively, personally, your body, your brain, your whole system, is absolutely coping with all of the all of the trauma plus the infection.
Mark Bragg 25:12
Yeah, there’s a lot going on there.
Bill Gasiamis 25:14
And then the third shunt takes, wow, isn’t it amazing that we are even here talking?
Mark Bragg 25:25
It is I was not meant to be here talking. No way.
Bill Gasiamis 25:30
I would say you were meant to be here talking.
Mark Bragg 25:33
If you say so.
Bill Gasiamis 25:34
Yeah, because all of the stuff they had to go through to get you over the line, these people who you’ve never met before, and not even the doctors and the medical guys, like even the person who invented the shunt, even that person, what the hell is that? Who does that?
Mark Bragg 25:54
I know I never thought about that myself, but you’re right.
Bill Gasiamis 26:02
Let’s just put something in the guy’s head and make it help things flow. Why not just it is just fascinating to me. I love that idea. I love the fact that that is even possible, and all these things conspired to get you here.
Mark Bragg 26:22
Yeah, it’s amazing.
Bill Gasiamis 26:25
That’s a good thing. That’s great. It’s a great outcome. I really love it. So then when you wake up after four months, do you have first thoughts? Do you have any idea what’s going on, what happened, what you’ve been through.
Mark Bragg 26:42
It was, it’s, funnily enough, I was still nice there messed up, but I had, I’m there were people coming and going and but there was an old friend of mine who said something like, the first thing that I remember and feeling like I was going to be okay was this friend of mine saying something ridiculous about an old girlfriend of his that he used to harp on.
Mark Bragg 27:06
And then I used to always give him piss over it. And then he said, so again. And then I was like, well, you thought fucking talking about Jane Scott, for example, and and then we started laughing at it. And at that point, I kind of realized that I was going to be okay.
Bill Gasiamis 27:41
How long did it take for you to get back on your feet? Because I imagine if you’re lying still in a bed for four months, everything gets weak, the muscles stop working and rehab.
Mark Bragg 27:56
There’s a lot of you know, trying to get the brain’s connection back to your ligaments, like trying to get, like I noticed. The first thing I noticed, like as I was coming back, like his hands, like scratching on the couch, and then somehow I managed to have somewhat of control over that. So that was after, after rehab, when I was home.
Mark Bragg 28:35
Of course, there was a lot of gains made in rehab as well, which were great, like we did tons of work in rehab, about mostly work on my left side, which was impacted more so than my right. But there were the phase heroes. There were amazing. So you can add those to your list of incredible people that get me here, and the OTs and all that stuff that was also huge part of the rehab and the recovery.
Affected Speech Recovery
Bill Gasiamis 29:15
The team, the teams that get together To make somebody go back home is just unbelievable. So your speech was also affected?
Mark Bragg 29:32
Yes, it was that’s getting a lot better the more I use it. And funnily enough, it can almost sometimes get downright normal, unless I’m, you know, trying to talk loud or interject myself in a conversation, which I always had the skill to do with no problem at all. But now as I talk louder, it kind of comes back a little bit. And if I’m talking, you might even know it now that it becomes more halted, because I’m concentrating on it, which is a strange brain thing.
Bill Gasiamis 30:16
When you’re paying attention to it, it kind of gets a little more labored. But when you’re not aware of it flows better.
Mark Bragg 30:24
When I hear something hilarious that I learned in speech therapy. It was one of the things we were taught, was that if you’re having trouble with your words, picture them on a string and pretend there was make them one work. So one of the first things, one of the first videos I made when I got home was one of the things I stumbled over was some, for some reason, I was saying all this eggy shit when I was cooking something. And so what I did was I pictured it as one word, all this eggy shit.
Mark Bragg 31:04
So I practiced that as one word, all this hanky shit. And then that one came back to me. So anytime when I was going around chatting with people, and I’d get those halted things happening, I stopped trying to picture them as one word and be able to get, like, somewhat Get it together. Like, just say, I stumbled over that. For example, some might get it together, some might get it together, some might get it together. You might even hear that change as it goes, change as it goes. You might even hear that change as it goes. Change that’s cause. So I just picture them as one word, it’s fascinating.
Bill Gasiamis 31:50
It is fascinating. How do you who works, who worked that out? How do you work that out?
Mark Bragg 31:57
I kind of in some ways. It was a speech therapist who had the who demonstrated these kind of words on a string kind of thing. But it was when I got out of that therapy, I realized what she meant by that, and then when I started to interpret the meaning to be, create one word out of a bunch of ones that you stumbled over.
Mark Bragg 32:30
Create one word, create one word, over a bunch you stumbled over, over a bunch you stumbled over. So I practice them every time it would happen. And so I was able to interpret that words on a string and the kind of graphic she gave me, that that’s what she what she really meant, and to make it work for myself.
Bill Gasiamis 32:53
Profound, amazing. I love that. I love that that hack that way to solve that problem, right? Such a cool hack. You seem the really upbeat kind of guy, but this was really a tough time. It was there any moments where you thought, Oh, this is really terrible. I don’t want to be in this situation. I want my old life back. Did you have moments like that?
Mark Bragg 33:23
Yes and no, I was never, I kind of never lost my like, I didn’t change at all. But there would be, I’d certainly have hard moments where I felt like I didn’t like it was hard to be this way, but by and large, I was helped to, like I hit acceptance not didn’t take me as long as some some might, because I had had, I went through All of that stuff with the dissociation, and stuff had therapy through that, and I’ve learned all those skills prior to the brain bleed.
Mark Bragg 34:10
So I was able to use those skills after the brain bleed. And there was certainly a mourning process for the functionality that you have lost, but that after you mourn it, it’ll turn to acceptance, which I did, and I was able to kind of enjoy certain aspects of it, like the like putting out videos of my games and stuff like that and that, because I’m a little bit performative anyway, as was my career.
Inspiring Other People
Mark Bragg 34:51
So I did enjoy sharing videos about my rehab and people I think I. People would always share that it was helpful for them. Like, if I’ve taken a video of like me kind of trying to dance, for example, I get messages on Facebook about you just inspired this 90 year old woman to get up and dance for the first time in a long time, so I’d get a lot of that kind of feedback.
Bill Gasiamis 35:30
Wow, man, it’s interesting to to note what you just said about your crazy need, desire to perform in any way possible. But that’s very selfish, selfless. That’s about you more than anything. However, in that moment when you make it about you and you turn it into a performance, you involve the other person, but then what also happens is you inspire people you didn’t know you were going to inspire.
Bill Gasiamis 36:15
It is the classic musical experience. I go to a gig, you’re performing. You want to entertain your you want to perform. You want to be you want to do you. You want to express yourself in this way on stage. And then I get I somehow become part of the act. I couldn’t be part of the act on the stage. It wouldn’t work.
Bill Gasiamis 36:40
If I turned up to a gig and stood on the stage, I wouldn’t be able to create the loop that needs to occur for the entertainer and the audience to interact the way that we do. It’s huge, and you’re doing that somehow is seen by somebody who is 90 years old and thinks that I just needed to see Mark doing his stuff for me to feel inspired to do my own stuff like it’s very interesting that that happens.
Mark Bragg 37:13
I find it interesting. It’s it’s a bummer for me, only, mostly in the sense that it’s not a live audience, because you don’t get that same kind of energy, but in a way, saying that is kind of foolish, like I certainly wouldn’t want to go out and perform my recovery, because that’s not, that’s not what I do, but, but it’s, yeah, it’s kind of silly, but I do know what you’re saying, and I enjoy it.
Bill Gasiamis 37:47
Yeah, it’s not about performing your recovery. It’s just about performing in whatever way you can. And therefore, it’s all tied into your recovery just because you’re performing in your current with your current ability. Yeah, and then, because people know your story encourages another person to take a recovery of their own in some way, a little way, you know, even if it’s not a stroke recovery, but say it’s just an old person’s steady decline to get up, yeah, that and move at nine after whatever they’ve been through, that’s a huge step.
Mark Bragg 38:31
Yeah, I appreciated all the feedback I got with from that stuff. For sure, I didn’t set it to inspire by any means. It was just kind of a random, random thing that people seem to share with or want to share with me as an entertainer.
Bill Gasiamis 38:57
What do you set out to achieve, actually? So my son, I’ve noticed my son, I followed my son discover guitar and then go on to play in bands and perform and do all that kind of stuff. I’ve never asked him this question, but I think I will. He’s 29 I’m going to ask him next time I see him. But what do you set out to achieve when you pick up an instrument and then find yourself on a stage. What’s the purpose of it?
Mark Bragg 39:26
For me, mostly in terms of songs. I write fiction. It’s kind of narrative songwriting as opposed to confessional. So I want to get up on stage and kind of relay or evoke the feeling of the kind of characters from that song. Not it’s not like acting per se, but it’s like the energy that comes from that story is, I want to try to do it justice.
Mark Bragg 40:00
So it there’s a whole lot of bombing around stage, screaming and like, it’s generally a high impact show, and so it’s quite fun in that way. So a lot of this material, and I do intend to make another album. It’ll it won’t look like that, because that kind of show is kind of pre stroke show. I do write kind of softer material as well, well, and I’ll likely be focusing on that going forward.
Mark Bragg 40:42
Another strange thing that happened to break this stroke. I I always, I never, ever expected to lose my singing voice, because you can keep that up into your 80s. But, like I learned about both vocal tremor, so that kind of messed it up a lot. Let me just demonstrate, so it’s ease, and it’s a not weird, so I can’t see my E’s and my A’s anymore is totally weird, and I was very disappointed about that, not not even disappointed.
Mark Bragg 41:26
But I kind of had to mourn that, mourn the loss of my musicality. Wasn’t just singing, it was also being able to play piano and guitar. That, though that said, with the work I’ve been doing, that starting to come back to some degree, but I found it really strange that this step to lose that type my singing.
Bill Gasiamis 41:53
You have to recruit some other vowels into your notes so that you can can You do a track that excludes A’s and E’s.
Mark Bragg 42:03
Yeah, well, I thought about that, but I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. I think if I lower the pitch from some of these songs, I might be able to work around it.
Bill Gasiamis 42:16
You might be able to.
Mark Bragg 42:19
I might be able to present it in a way with the tools that I have, it’ll work.
Bill Gasiamis 42:26
Yeah, so it’s interesting that you say that you want to evoke a feeling in your audience, and what you’re doing is you’re using your voice, you’re using your body, you’re using movement, you’re using the whole lot and and then you get people like Adele, who just stands on the stage and just blows everyone, yeah, everyone’s mind, body and soul, by singing the way that she sings, without but now that I’m thinking about it, she is also using her body. She’s also, no doubt, taking doing almost exactly what you’re doing. It just looks different because, yeah, it seems like it’s more stable.
Mark Bragg 43:13
Yeah, different material. Her material likely calls for the kind of vibe that you just described.
Bill Gasiamis 43:30
Yeah, and it’s I imagine once you do that, once the first time in your life when you nail it, that first time in your life, you know what it feels like to have achieved that with your audience, and then that’s it.
Mark Bragg 43:49
I lost my mind. Yeah, there was no turning back. I lost it. It was so amazing, that little bar in Newfoundland,
Bill Gasiamis 43:59
You know where you were. You know when it was. You know what happened, yeah. So your wife is now your personal assistant helping you remember things that you need to know, to share in the interview. For example, that we’re having right now were there other people that came to your rescue, that helped you out, that supported you kind of overcome this, as well as your wife.
Unconscious 4 Months – Challenges and Support Systems
Mark Bragg 44:35
Let’s tell talk about my parents. They’re like in terms of the amount of support they gave. They’re both 70 plus, and now they’re taking care of their 40 plus year old son while raising his brother who has autism. So they are incredible.
Mark Bragg 44:59
My dad is here every evening doing the physical workouts, and my mother is here quite often to for sleepovers. So if, if my wife needs to get a night out, which she does quite often, because I’m up to piss about 20 times a night, so she doesn’t get any sleep. So once a week she’s able to get some sleep. And my mom comes down for that. She’s on hand, generally for most anything.
Bill Gasiamis 45:35
I love that you guys have worked that out that it’s really important for your wife to get out of the house.
Mark Bragg 45:40
Yeah, it certainly is she. She also swims in the ocean like every like, all throughout the year, so it’s ridiculous, like the freezing North Atlantic.
Bill Gasiamis 45:56
Yeah. How cold does it get?
Mark Bragg 46:01
Minus three.
Bill Gasiamis 46:02
Oh, my God. How long did she swim in the waterfall?
Mark Bragg 46:10
Five minutes. That’s when it’s that cold, but longer if it’s not.
Bill Gasiamis 46:16
Wow, that’s nuts. Congratulations.
Mark Bragg 46:20
Bill says congratulations, but yes, she comes back a different woman. So it’s something I encourage very greatly.
Bill Gasiamis 46:38
It’s therapeutic in many ways for a lot of people.
Mark Bragg 46:40
Yeah, that’s what they said. I won’t be doing it.
Bill Gasiamis 46:44
I won’t be doing anything. I couldn’t imagine anything worse. Ah, just forget about that. If I, if I get stuck in the wilderness, I want it to be hot and I want to die of dehydration, not the cold. I don’t want it to be in a I don’t want to get stuck in a an ice cap on some mountain that thaws out in 1000 years and they find my crinkly body. I don’t want to be that guy.
Mark Bragg 47:13
I want to be be floated out on an ice pan so that I go that way, either that or one of the other very fast ways and non magical, non romantic ways to die. I’ll take one of those.
Bill Gasiamis 47:30
Just switch the light off. I’m just thinking about that, and it really does evoke pain and suffering when I think about the cold and being in the cold. I just absolutely hate it. It’s cold here in Melbourne at the moment, and it gets down to about overnight, four minus, sorry, four or five degrees Celsius, so not quite freezing, but and some mornings, you know, might get down to zero, and I just can’t get going, like it just takes ages for me to warm up and get going, and my left side gets even colder, and I feel it at night.
Bill Gasiamis 48:05
The entire rest of my body is warm and normal and calm and relaxed, but my left side, which is my affected side, just feels colder, even though the heater is on, even though it’s set at a temperature that’s extremely comfortable inside the house. My left side still gets cold. So, no, it’s not purple or anything. It’s not a different color. It’s just colder.
Bill Gasiamis 48:37
I don’t know. I didn’t get it. Nobody’s been able to explain it. I’m not expecting them to, but it’s a bit, it’s a bit strange. So I, I take my hat off to people who do those cold plunges. You know that are becoming popular now, yeah, and Wim Hof how he’s made millions telling people to go into cold bathtubs and all that kind of stuff and whatever. Man, that’s not for me. I can’t do but I appreciate other people doing it. Take my hat off to them. So your dad comes every night to take you through your rehab.
Mark Bragg 49:15
He used to go to the Miller center. Watch what they were doing, take notes, and then it start. Once I got discharged, he started showing up every night to repeat or to interpret those notes. Funny, story about the first time we set up to do that is he set up when the first time I climbed the stairs in my house. He had rigged up a pulley system, much like the one that you have if.
Mark Bragg 49:59
You were painting on a roof, you picked up, hooked all that stuff up, and shot me in and had one spotter, and then I made it up through the top of the stairs on these pulleys for safety. And it was just way too hilarious, but it was also exhilarating at the same time, because I made it up those steps. But, you know, moving forward, we were able to repeat that, that stuff, without a need for all that stuff. But it was, it was pretty incredible.
Bill Gasiamis 50:38
Your mom and dad been looking after your autistic brother. Is your brother able to be independent in any way? No, okay, so they’ve been solving problems, difficult problems, for a long time. Anyway, they know all about it.
Mark Bragg 50:55
They’re not technically looking after him right now, because he has caregivers and but they’ll still like to ensure his quality of his life. They’ll still take him out on outings. Like to do things that he loves to do, like riding bikes and going to like, hit their out of town cabin and giving them meaningful tasks like moving rocks and stuff like that. That’s pretty, that’s pretty. Like, hats off to them. That’s amazing. So fortunately, we both basically had an amazing upbringing, and we’re lucky to have done so, and now we’re still two little kids being looked after by our parents as adults, and they’re way seniors.
Bill Gasiamis 51:53
Yeah, it’s just that’s so good that they’re able to be able to perform that function, you know, to be able to do it at their in the in their older age, there’ll come a time where they’ll need to step back more and more. But wow, what a job they’ve done so far.
Bill Gasiamis 52:15
I remember my parents as well. You know, I was 37 they were in their 70s, early 70s, when I went through my first, second and third bleed. And they Yeah, they were just all over, all over it. They were just rallying around and doing all the things to do. Luckily, we lived close to each other. Do you live close to your parents as
Mark Bragg 52:47
15 minute drive.
Bill Gasiamis 52:52
Okay, that is close. Okay. Should I believe anything you’ve said so far?
Mark Bragg 53:01
Mostly.
Bill Gasiamis 53:01
Yeah, because you’re very convincing. Even if they were all lies that you’ve said so far, it’s all convincing. So I’m good with that. Yeah. So what were some of the biggest challenges that you faced, some of the biggest things that tested Mark Bragg, you know that really kind of went after you.
Mark Bragg 53:25
I think I didn’t have a ton of anxiety, per se. I’m not quite sure if it’s because of the skills or if it’s because of the drugs, like, who knows, but hopefully it’s the skills I’m talking about post bleed now, but the like prior bleed, it certainly would have been that dissociation, which I’ve described already, but post bleed, there was occasional moments that were certainly emotional when when the healing would pause or when it would slow down.
Mark Bragg 54:13
And coming to the realization that your music career as it was, is gone, but you know, it might be back in some, some way, shape or form. Well, it certainly will be, but that was kind of an emotional thing to deal with. But I do believe that in a lot of ways, I’m luckier than most, because I’ve had a lot of support.
Mark Bragg 54:46
I don’t know. I’m quite sure there’s people out there who’ve experienced similar things, who don’t have the same level of support that I do the support network. Work which I think that that would be quite hard, but I’ve been really well taken care of by my family and the medical professionals. So I’ve gone, what was your question again?
Bill Gasiamis 55:18
That’s okay. It was, well, what were the things that tested you the most? You answered that and then, and then you kind of gave me a reason why you’ve been able to get through that. And the people who have been through something a little harder or had less support, etc, also report finding ways to get through, finding ways to overcome, and even though they may not have that type of support that you mentioned, with regards to the people that were around you.
Bill Gasiamis 55:50
They were still able to access somebody who stepped up for them, or they were still able to make meaningful relationships with people that turned up out of nowhere. That’s some of the really cool things you hear. Some stroke survivors who don’t have the type of family support that we might have experienced will say that out of nowhere came people that they never thought would or expected with food, you know, with can I help take you to one of your appointments or whatever.
Bill Gasiamis 56:23
So you do see these amazing things occur and people step up when you least expect them. Just it just says a lot about community, right? Being somewhere where you have embedded yourself, and you get to know people, and people get to know who you are and get to see you. And as a result of that, that that create, creates an opportunity for people to step up out of their usual routine and do something for somebody else. It inspires that.
Mark Bragg 57:00
Yes, I should also note that in my music community, they organized fundraiser for me with three sold out shows, and they were all people performing music from my catalog, and I was in the hospital, watching the live stream on my laptop, and that was pretty magical, too.
Psychological Counseling and Coping Mechanisms
Bill Gasiamis 57:27
Yeah, that would be amazing. That would be so inspiring, and also create a lot of hope. You’re in hospital, and the people are all these people around, rallying together for you. That would have been a real motivator. How has psychological counseling helped you? I’ve been to counseling from the age of about 2728 and I still go. How has it helped you?
Mark Bragg 57:56
Mostly skills, how to observe your thoughts and respond to them, as opposed to react. Those were the biggest takeaways, and they take it takes a lot of practice and learning that you have to practice that in order to use those skills, that was huge for me.
Bill Gasiamis 58:27
Yeah, how? How long have you been? Been going to counseling.
Mark Bragg 58:37
Four years, for roughly four years.
Bill Gasiamis 58:39
Okay, so the first time you started to encounter some of the challenges that you’ve been through, Exactly Okay, and they was that essential to help guide you through this difficult time.
Mark Bragg 58:55
It was essential.
Bill Gasiamis 58:59
What does the counselor offer that your spouse doesn’t?
Mark Bragg 59:04
Well, she’s professional, yeah, so that it’s nice to have a professional to talk to about your You know, what’s you know here? And funnily enough, this, this particular counselor that I had is specializes in medical trauma, so she really knows what she’s talking about when we’re talking about medical related, you know, trauma, traumatic events.
Bill Gasiamis 59:41
Yeah, I love that. And your wife is not it’s not her expertise, and that’s not your wife’s expertise. I’m trying to paint the picture as to why it’s necessary to see a counselor, as opposed to try and get all of that from a spouse. Because our spouses, my wife, she had no idea what stroke was. When I went through it, she had no idea how to care for somebody.
Bill Gasiamis 1:00:06
She had none of that stuff. We had never done that, um, caring for kids completely different to caring for your incapacitated adult husband and and and then if I had to lay on her all of the psychological stuff as well. It would have been a massive burden for her to have to shoulder and to try and navigate because she didn’t have the skills right.
Bill Gasiamis 1:00:35
And I found that the counselor, for me was able to do the same kind of thing, is give me tools and skills and help me have a perspective that I wasn’t able to have in the home. You know, while we’re all going through it, taken out of the home, in her office or in her practice, she’s able to allow me to observe our situation and have a greater, more broader perspective than one that was narrow.
Mark Bragg 1:01:06
Yeah, I like having my wife be my wife as much as I can, and caregivers and medical professionals to provide that kind of care, I’d sooner, I mean, because obviously this kind of injury impacts your marriage in a lot of ways, because you need, like, a lot of a different type of care and a lot more care, and Then you’re also not able to do a lot of things that you would have been able to that may have been your responsibility before, before just the medical event. So as much as I can, I mean, this can’t always be the case, but as much as I can, I try to separate the kind of professional care I got from anything going on at home, because I’d rather be a husband than a problem as much as possible.
Bill Gasiamis 1:02:17
Yeah, I totally relate to that you’d rather be in your normal interaction with your wife in the house, you know, for example, and then outsource the medical stuff to the medics, the psychological stuff to the psychology people and so on, so that everyone has the task that’s specific to their capabilities and skills.
Mark Bragg 1:02:42
Yeah, there’s certainly a lot of or crossover too, but by and large, exactly what you said.
Bill Gasiamis 1:02:52
Yeah, and the crossover is necessary. There’s no way you can navigate stroke at home with your wife without talking the medical stuff or without needing some kind of little support or intervention or whatever that’s medically related. There’s no way you can do that, but I totally get it so how, how mobile are you these days with your affected side is, are you up and about?
Mark Bragg 1:03:22
Yeah, somewhat, it’s getting better all the time. I very I haven’t touched a wheelchair in ages, which has been pretty great. I’ve I’ve somewhat graduated to a cane from the Walker, and then part of my exercise routine is hobbling around on my two feet with no devices, and that’s so fun.
Mark Bragg 1:03:49
It’s just like you’re like, you’re a little toddler again, and like, I used to call it like my little like dad’s little duckling, because the foolish rock you do while you’re learning how to walk again, there’s I was so surprised that, well, not surprised, actually, but I found it hilarious when I did an Instagram video of me and my Friend walking around to 500 miles by The Proclaimers, I would walk 500 miles like that, that song, and then, and that was great fun in and of itself.
Mark Bragg 1:04:31
But then, if you watch it, you get your algorithm gives you suggestions to search for more funny baby videos. I couldn’t believe it. I was way too good for dancing videos, because we were goofing around, dancing, in essence, and I looked like a toddler. So I found that one Hello. It is, but it was great.
Bill Gasiamis 1:05:02
So you’re learning how to walk all over again, yeah. And it’s improving.
Mark Bragg 1:05:09
It is, yeah.
Bill Gasiamis 1:05:13
Improving a lot. And you’ve been months out of a wheelchair, and you went, you started from the wheelchair onto the walker and now onto a cane.
Mark Bragg 1:05:24
Yeah, as much as I can sometimes, like, if I’m waking up in the morning, I’ll need the walker first, you know, until, well, actually, I’m using basically nothing, because I’m essentially in bed the first half of the day because of all the drugs I have to take. But that, by and large, that like drunk drugs aside, I’ve that is kind of a graduation, like the ones you mentioned, yeah, like Walker came, and then wheelchair Walker came, and then independently walking.
Bill Gasiamis 1:06:08
Yeah, very cool. Tell me about all the drugs that you take. How what for? How many of them are there? And why does it take so long to to have the whole to go through the routine?
Mark Bragg 1:06:19
I can’t remember the amount, but the cocktail is mostly anti seizure meds, and they seem to be working, because I haven’t had a seizure in little, little over a year, which is huge for me, but kind of at the expense of fatigue, like throughout the first half of my day. But that said, Where seizures beget seizures like no seizures also, the opposite is also true. So if I go a year without a seizure, it might my neuro might deem it safe to be to slowly start weaning me off some of the pills, and maybe some of the pills that create this kind of fatigue.
Bill Gasiamis 1:07:15
Okay, so the blood vessel, the IVM, has that been sorted now? Because when you were in hospital, they had the shunt in your head. Is the blood vessel after the radiotherapy gone? Or is it still there one second? Are you running out of battery?
Mark Bragg 1:07:36
Yeah, I’m just gonna get that sorted out here. Yeah. You go ahead and talk and I’ll get it sorted. Okay, yeah, she’s gonna throw it out behind the scenes. George, what was the question about the AVM?
Bill Gasiamis 1:07:53
Yeah, so the actual AVM is it still there? Has it been resolved? Is it being gotten rid of after the radiotherapy?
Mark Bragg 1:08:03
We haven’t looked out of it in a while, but it is still there. And after having one bleed, it actually puts you at more risk for a second. But that’s that’s all, that’s all you can do about it, not not safe to do anything further. So basically, it’s just, this is the way I’m living right now. It’s, you know, it’s a risk. There’s also a risk to cross the street. So there’s so many ways to look at that stuff.
Positive Impacts of The Stroke Despite Being Unconscious 4 Months
Bill Gasiamis 1:08:39
Absolutely, and it’s probably in a spot that’s too hard to get to or too hard to do anything about, so it’s better to leave it there and monitor it, rather than try and go in and take it out and potentially make things worse. Yeah, yeah. Understood. Do you see the stroke as something that has shaped you in a meaningful way?
Mark Bragg 1:09:10
It changed my relationships a lot with my loved ones, and that’s quite meaningful for sure. And of course, it taught me a lot of things. It also kind of puts you, makes you a part of another, another community that like those with epilepsy or stroke survivors or almost any kind of things like that. And especially meaningful have been that the fact that I never understood anxiety and panic attacks.
Mark Bragg 1:09:47
I basically thought anxiety was stress and panic attacks was not being able to handle stress, but I certainly learned that it’s way, way. A different thing than that. So part of these medical my medical events, like that kind of stuff, wouldn’t have happened without my current medical events for sure.
Bill Gasiamis 1:10:14
You’ve become more empathetic. That’s really cool. I mean, that happens habits a bit as well, and it’s interesting. I’ve seen people have panic attacks, and it is, yeah, so strange and bizarre, and they’re all consuming. And as an outsider, it’s just like, well, what’s going on? Calm, breathe. Try and get them through. Yeah, I still don’t understand it, because I’ve never had one. I can’t say a panic attack. Okay, so it has been meaningful in many ways, your relationships. How did they improve? What did Did you do something to improve that was there areas that were lacking and you needed to work on and it made you work on them. How did that happen?
Mark Bragg 1:11:01
It might be kind of funny and embarrassing at the same time. My relationship with the old man, my father, took a full 360 we all. We always had a good relationship, but I didn’t see much of them. But this like we hang out every night now, and in kind of a hilarious way, like, I’ve been a professional musician for over 20 years, and he’s, like, been a hobby musician for maybe little over five.
Mark Bragg 1:11:36
So I’m in a musical way, our paths didn’t quite pass, or sorry, paths didn’t quite cross, so but during baymon gym, oh yeah, I gotta point out that Jim does not mean J, I, M, it’s not a name is G, Y, M, as in gymnasium. I don’t want people to think I’m off calling my dad Jim, because I’m not. But so we can’t in certain avenues. We kind of met in the middle because I had the music knowledge.
Mark Bragg 1:12:15
But I couldn’t operate my left hand very well, so we wound up jamming on all these songs, whereas dad doesn’t have like he’s a hobby musician, so he doesn’t have the same kind of music acumen that I have, but my hand doesn’t move as well as it should. So we kind of learn from each other in that regard. I find that hilarious that I got, and a bit my it took a stroke for me to start a band with my old man.
Bill Gasiamis 1:12:48
That is a bit hilarious. So your dad has got the all the will and the enthusiasm, you’ve got the knowledge and the and the foundation and the fundamentals, your hand doesn’t quite do what it was doing beforehand, as far as you know, helping you deliver the notes, but your dad has got the ability to deliver the notes. So together, combine all your strengths, you get something pretty cool.
Mark Bragg 1:13:22
Yes, we get something. Let’s just say we get something.
Bill Gasiamis 1:13:26
I love it. I love it. So what? People who are listening, right? Do you have some words of wisdom, some, some philosophical genius that you can impart on our listeners, the people watching on YouTube about how to navigate this whole crazy thing that they might be experiencing?
Mark Bragg 1:14:01
God, no.
Bill Gasiamis 1:14:07
We should pause. That’s probably one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard. Honestly.
Mark Bragg 1:14:17
I mean the like, I think people figured out, like, who might tell somebody how to like, you know what to do. One of the things I hate the most is anything you need. I’m here for you. Like, that kind of puts the onus upon you to find out what you might need, and makes the person you’re trying to help.
Mark Bragg 1:14:47
Like, think about it which it puts them, it gives them a task in a way, like, if you want to do something for somebody, just do it. Yeah, that’s something I found really helpful. And also I was surprised at when I was, like, in my recovery, the like people reaching out, who to, you know, connect and to get offer their support.
Mark Bragg 1:15:25
And because there was so much of that going on at that time, I found it kind of hard to part like I was curious as to why, you know, people I didn’t see on the day to day would be reaching out to do so, because I wanted to hear from, you know, my friends and family so and I had, there was a lot of people reaching out because they thought it was the right thing to do, but it was annoying.
Mark Bragg 1:15:58
Like you only have so much time to to kind of like, healthy time, like, there’s, there’s a lot going on around that, like a lot, so to put somebody in the driver’s seat and make them think about what they might be able to do or help or even to acknowledge their messages when you’re in a mess and all you want to do is see your loved ones and your very close friends for their support, and then you get a deluge of people reaching out who want to connect with you at the same time. It was hugely annoying.
Bill Gasiamis 1:16:46
Yeah, the the guilt and the I better call because I feel guilty because I haven’t called people difficult, people to to navigate. For sure, I have a friend of mine who has probably done the most for me, as far as my friends goes, probably not, not, not that he’s done the most he doesn’t, but he did something really amazing and unexpected, and it was great now, but for three years, he’s been saying we should catch up.
Bill Gasiamis 1:17:26
And I’m like, dude, Christine and I, we have adult children. We are free all the time with half a day’s notice. We could drop everything. We could change all our plans, and we could go wherever you needed to go. We could catch up. But you’ve been telling me that for three years.
Mark Bragg 1:17:45
We don’t need to catch up ever like if you’re if you were good buddies, you can pick right up where you left off as soon as you see the person.
Bill Gasiamis 1:17:56
Which we tend to do. The thing is, I can’t get him. He can’t. He can’t move beyond the thought of, we should do something, go somewhere, spend some time together. He can’t get past that and do the next stage, which is commit to a day and a time, etc. However, I guess, no, he’s a he’s a great guy. I don’t know what his bloody problem is, but this is what shits me the most.
Mark Bragg 1:18:21
He’s done all this stuff for it. I forgot about that. It didn’t mean to call him a dick but he’s clearly such a.
Bill Gasiamis 1:18:29
He’s very compassionate, very supportive, very helpful, and in his own way, he stepped up majorly, right? And I wasn’t expecting it, and I didn’t, and I’m really grateful for it. However, when he interacts with me, it’s always lovely, except it’s always on the phone and yeah, we both have a desire to catch up in person with our spouses, with the kid, with all that kind of stuff, but he can’t just commit to the date and time ever, and it’s bizarre and strange.
Bill Gasiamis 1:19:01
However, what shits me the most about him is that he’s turned up to a funeral of somebody in my family, which is mental that I in three years i i caught up with him at a funeral which shouldn’t be the place where we’re catching up with people. And then the other thing was, because I’ve painting company, he got me to go over to his house and paint some walls. Yeah, that’s not how I don’t want to catch up with you like that, man, get another painter and don’t come to the funeral.
Mark Bragg 1:19:39
That makes perfect sense. The way, some people kind of see the world, little bit creepy sometimes.
Bill Gasiamis 1:19:53
I think it’s a bit strange. Anyhow, how have you sort of reshaped your purpose in life. What’s life about now?
Mark Bragg 1:20:10
I don’t think it’s really changed.
Bill Gasiamis 1:20:12
Okay, good.
Mark Bragg 1:20:16
My work has changed, and family life has changed only in kind of a practical sense, because because of mobility and stuff like that, and a few of the things I used to really enjoy will not quite it’s much harder to get to them, but that’s which is a bummer.
Mark Bragg 1:20:45
But, you know, I never had problems making friends, and I’ve had a lovely love, lovely caregivers come and go, which has been great, like they’ve all been best kind so, so it’s fun. Yeah, I don’t have hasn’t changed greatly. I don’t get to hang out in coffee shops as much as I used to. That’s kind of my coffee shops and bars. I haven’t been able to do that as much. So I guess that’s mostly how life’s changed.
Bill Gasiamis 1:21:22
Yeah, I love coffee shops and bars. Yeah, works for me. I hear you. Man, Mark, I really appreciate you reaching out. It is so nice to get to meet you and get to learn a little bit about your story. Thank you for joining me on the podcast Man.
Mark Bragg 1:21:37
Same, appreciate it.
Bill Gasiamis 1:21:40
Well, that was Mark Bragg, a stroke survivor, musician and proof that recovery is still possible, even when the odds are stuck against you, four months unconscious, multiple failed shunts, and yet, here he is walking, talking and creating again. If you found this conversation helpful, remember to subscribe on YouTube Spotify or Apple podcasts, leave a review, share it with somebody who needs to hear it. And if you’d like to go deeper, grab a copy of my book.
Bill Gasiamis 1:22:09
The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened. You can get it at recoveryafterstroke.com/book, and before we go, let me remind you about the Hanson rehab glove by Syrebo. It’s one of the most practical tools I’ve come across for stroke survivors, helping you practice movement at home, support Neuroplasticity and regain independence.
Bill Gasiamis 1:22:31
It’s available in Australia from Banksiatech.com.au, and can be shipped internationally. I love being able to bring you solutions like this, because your recovery is about more than surviving, it’s about finding the right tools and supporting you to keep moving forward until next time. I’m Bill Gasiamis, and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode.
Intro 1:22:53
Importantly, we present many podcasts designed to give you an insight and understanding into the experiences of other individuals, opinions and treatment protocols discussed during any podcast are the individual’s own experience, and we do not necessarily share the same opinion, nor do we recommend any treatment protocol discussed.
Intro 1:23:11
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Intro 1:23:34
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Intro 1:23:49
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Intro 1:24:13
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