Transcription:
Bill Gasiamis 0:01
Bill from recoveryafterstroke.com. Warning this video is going to have swearing in it. So recently a family member of mine experienced a stroke.
And over the last few weeks of going through that process and experiencing not their direct concerns, but the concerns of their kids and of their children and the way that their children were describing to me what it was that their parent had been through.
Bill Gasiamis 0:37
One of the things that they told me was that the doctors said to this person’s daughter that possibly your dad may never walk again or never walk the same again or have difficulties in walking, etc. And it’s so early on in the stroke recovery journey, but I can’t believe that this fucking doctor said that to this person’s daughter.
Bill Gasiamis 1:03
And basically the challenge is that a doctor knows so many things, but the doctor doesn’t know whether a patient in the future is going to be able to get back what it is that they’ve lost after their stroke or what, temporarily not thereafter the stroke. And I wonder why in 2020 why the doctors are still fucking saying this shit to people and giving them an expectation that they may never walk again.
Bill Gasiamis 1:33
Isn’t it simple to just keep your mouth shut and don’t say anything to that stroke patients so that you don’t set up an environment that they may achieve what it is that you told them that they are going to have to expect will never happen again. And it’s really simple. If you’re going to say something to a stroke patient, wouldn’t it be better if they just said that you might not be able to walk right now. But with a lot of hard work, things can improve and you never know you may be able to experience getting back on your feet again after a stroke, all you’re going to do is put the hard work in.
Bill Gasiamis 2:13
So I just can’t understand why doctors would say that to people experiencing any challenge, any trauma, any physiological issue, any brain issue. I just hate it when doctors say that and I think it’s time that they stopped saying that and we need to call doctors out. We even need to get to the point where we’re naming and shaming these doctors. So they’re not doing this to people. And so they’re not setting up expectations of not getting better and expectations of people not recovering.
Bill Gasiamis 2:47
I hate this with a passion. It’s one of the worst things that you can do to a fellow human being and if you’re a doctor, what you’re supposed to be doing is first you’re supposed to be doing no harm. That’s what you swore an oath to. If that was the Hippocratic oath, you must do no harm. And by using words like that, you could be potentially doing more harm.
Bill Gasiamis 3:09
You’ve gone to all this trouble to operate on this person’s brain to remove the blood clot out of their head. You’ve got into all this trouble to rehabilitate them. You’ve spent money, time resources, all sorts of things. And now what you’re talking about is the possibility that they’re never going to walk again, what’s the point of getting all that work done to get them out of hospital and then tell them they’re not going to be independent or walk again.
Bill Gasiamis 3:34
So this is Bill from recovery after stroke. As a stroke survivor, I never let any doctors tell me that I wasn’t going to do something. Again, I never let any doctors use words like that’s your bad leg or your bad hand or your bad side. They needed to use words that were going to be supportive, and they needed to use words that were going to be motivating me to get off my ass, get on my feet and get back to healing, get back to home, get back to my family, get back to my work, get back to my friends, get back to my children.
Bill Gasiamis 4:10
If you have had a doctor say that you’re never going to walk again or never going to get the use of your arm again, I’ve got to tell you something is that there’s no such thing as never. I’ve spoken to lots of stroke survivors who have regained use of an arm a leg something else after 5, 10, 20, 30 years of their being limited or less movement or their ability to use that limb over time has increased and it’s got better and better something changed at the right time for them and they got it back.
Bill Gasiamis 4:46
So don’t take hope from people by saying that they’re not going to do something again after a stroke and also do not tell them. If you’re a doctor. Do not tell people what you don’t know because that’s your experience that is not their experience. You should not be telling people what they can and can’t achieve after stroke Bill from recoveryafterstroke.com please leave your comments below.
Bill Gasiamis 5:13
If you have something that you’d like to share about when a doctor said that to you, and when you show them that they were wrong, please do that. And let me know if you’ve actually been in and told the doctor that they’ve done the wrong thing. And let me know if you’ve let them know that they were wrong because doctors need to know that. I loved my doctors and trusted by doctors but never let him get away with being silly and saying stupid things like that Bill from recoveryafterstroke.com. Thanks for listening and leave your comments below. I look forward to hearing from you.
