Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Dr Jill Bolte Taylor

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Sunday, March 3, 2013

When I first came home from the hospital, I started researching stroke recovery. Not that the hospital staff didn't give me loads of information to read, but I had read or knew all of that stuff. I was a retired nurse. I understand medi-speak and layman terms. Aren't I lucky? When my brain got too tired from deciphering letters into words, I would watch youtube in an attempt to garner more knowledge of what was going on with me.

I kept running across videos of this one doctor, Jill Bolte Taylor. I couldn't figure out why her name kept popping up so I watched a clip. I really didn't want to watch another doctor explain what a stroke was. Was was greeted by this woman with gray flowing hair reminiscent of the '70s. She spoke with such humor about her stroke giving a blow by blow description that I was fascinated.

She explained how the various hemispheres of the brain worked and she was diagnosing herself as did I when I had my stroke. That's the problem with being medically trained before your body goes haywire. You take the time to diagnose what's wrong. You rattle off the symptoms one by one, and try to figure out what exactly is going on. It doesn't help when your family asked what is going on, because then you start doubling your effort.

The only problem is that it's your brain that is affected impairing your decision making function. My mind kept screaming at me that it was my diabetes and I was arguing with myself that it was something else. She related the same thing in the video I was watching. I ended up watching all of them and realized she'd even written a book.

So I clicked my way over to Amazon and ordered a copy. Now I've read a bunch of stroke written by stroke survivors and their caregivers over the past nine months trying to get a firm handle on recovery from a stroke. The cover told me it was on the New York Times Bestseller list, if that really means something. It doesn't to me, even as an author. There a lot of books to the Times' bestseller list that I wouldn't pay two cents for. They just don't have a point of interest for me.

Personally, I'm glad I did. The same sense of humor and hippie vagueness she exhibited in the videos came across the pages. She wasn't writing a poor pitiful me book. It was educational, but I could laugh too. She describes her inner peace like I feel when dealing with day-to-day issues. While I didn't doubt she felt that way, I realized that we saw the source differently. That's okay, really it is. It just gives me a different point of view to chew on. I love opposing points of views because I learn so much. I love her style of story telling.

I just learned that Ron Howard wants to direct a movie based on this book. I'm there! While I usually do not like movies based on good books, it should prove interesting. I've liked Ron Howard since he was Opie on The Andy Griffith Show and Dennis the Menace way back in 1960s. The quality of his films speak for themselves. On top of that he wants Jodie Foster in it. I'm doubly there! But that was posted back 2010. I'm not sure what the when it will be filmed and in theaters.

Nothing is totally impossible. You just have to figure out a new way of accomplishing your goal.

See the original article Sunday Stroke Survival ~ Dr Jill Bolte Taylor
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