A person gazing up a starry night sky in the forest at the top of a hill

My BEST Story: Support, Opportunity and Hope

It wasn’t until I had been discharged from a month-long hospital stay in 2016 after experiencing a major stroke that I had even heard of the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST). For some reason I don’t really know or understand, I decided to get into a support group. The social worker at the hospital gave (more…)

Stars in the sky and a quote from the author: of course I will recover. I still have amazing things to do.

Five Years

I have an anniversary coming up, one I’m more than happy to celebrate.  November 8th marks five years since I lived through a major stroke. I’ve written here before that that’s a day I should never be able to forget, but instead it’s a day I’ll never remember. But I’m not worried about that—the fact (more…)

Person looking to the stars

Now I’m Here

I keep getting comments and questions about how I survived a huge stroke, and continue to not just recover, but to thrive since then. The other day it came up again, and my friend quipped that if surviving a stroke was an Olympic event, I’d take the gold.  That quip stayed in the back of (more…)

Road to Recovery: Occupational Therapy

The latest stop on my road to recovery: occupational therapy. I went in for a routine doctor visit a few weeks ago. The doctor said there was only one thing he was concerned about–my short term memory. Sure, I have some issues with it, like forgetting to put the lid on the popcorn popper, but (more…)

Stroke Facts: Unusual Causes Of Stroke

A few days ago I was web surfing and ran across an item about a man named Josh Hader that got my attention. Josh had a bit of a kink in his neck, so he did that thing some people do, where they put their hands on their head and twist, trying to get rid (more…)

4 Years Later: Stroke Survivor and Writer Isaac Peterson Shares Journey

(Editor’s Note: Writer, longtime BEST blog contributor, and stroke survivor, Isaac Peterson, looks back at his major stroke four years ago, and how he’s progressed on his journey forward to live his best life possible. Thank you, Isaac, for sharing your story, along with your wisdom, inspiration and hope. KT)  We’re at four years now (more…)