Vertebral Artery Occlusion Nearly Took Him Down – How Joel Fought Back Recovery After Stroke podcast

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Vertebral Artery Occlusion Nearly Took Him Down – How Joel Fought Back

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Overcoming Vertebral Artery Occlusion: Joel’s Story of Strength and Recovery

When Joel Case suffered a vertebral artery occlusion, everything changed in an instant. A man who once skied marathons and ran daily suddenly found himself unable to walk, his balance gone, and his life turned upside down. What followed was a journey marked by resilience, adaptation, and hope, a journey that offers insight to anyone facing similar challenges.

What Is Vertebral Artery Occlusion?

A vertebral artery occlusion occurs when blood flow through one of the arteries that supply the brainstem and cerebellum is blocked. In Joel’s case, the occlusion was initially suspected to be from a dissection, but further investigation revealed it was caused by vertebral artery stenosis, a narrowing of the artery due to plaque buildup.

This condition can lead to life-threatening complications, including strokes that affect balance, coordination, and even basic mobility. Understanding the causes of vertebral artery occlusion and stenosis, and knowing when to seek treatment is critical.

Joel’s Diagnosis and Recovery

Joel’s left vertebral artery became completely blocked, and he lost about 25% of his cerebellum function. His stroke left him unable to walk without assistance. His medical team considered various approaches, including left vertebral artery occlusion treatment and ongoing monitoring to prevent further clots.

Further testing, including a vertebral artery occlusion test and annual MRIs, confirmed that his occlusion was due to arteriosclerosis rather than a dissection. His team also looked at vertebral artery stenosis causes to better manage his risk and protect his remaining arteries.

Treatment and Life After Stroke

Joel’s doctors initially suspected the need for interventions based on vertebral artery stenosis guidelines, but he responded well to medical management. He was prescribed high-dose statins to stabilize his plaque, baby aspirin, and lifestyle modifications to reduce future risk.

In terms of left vertebral artery stenosis treatment, his care focused on keeping his cholesterol levels in check and closely monitoring his heart health, as the same condition that blocked his artery could affect his heart.

For many survivors, questions about vertebral artery stenosis life expectancy naturally arise. Joel’s story reminds us that while the condition is serious, proactive care, regular follow-ups, and healthy habits can dramatically improve quality of life and longevity.

Invisible Struggles and Inner Strength

Beyond the medical facts and tests, Joel’s journey shines a light on the emotional weight of recovery. The fatigue, fear of another stroke, and feeling unseen by colleagues and friends were some of the hardest parts. Yet, Joel chose to keep moving, reconnect with family, and even volunteer with cancer and stroke support groups, turning pain into purpose.

What You Can Learn From Joel’s Experience

Ask questions: Joel’s persistence in seeking answers led to accurate diagnosis and better care.
Keep moving: Staying active was key to rebuilding his strength and balance.
Find your support system: Whether it’s family, a coach, or a community, connection matters.

Final Thoughts

Joel’s story is a powerful reminder that life after a vertebral artery occlusion is challenging, but recovery and renewed purpose are possible. If you or a loved one are facing right vertebral artery occlusion treatment, vertebral artery stenosis guidelines, or wondering about your life expectancy with vertebral artery stenosis, know that you’re not alone.

Overcoming Vertebral Artery Occlusion: A Stroke Survivor’s Journey of Strength and Renewal

Vertebral artery occlusion survivor Joel shares how recovery reshaped his life, inspired empathy, and renewed his purpose.

Support The Recovery After Stroke Podcast on Patreon

Highlights:

00:00 Joel Case’s Background and Initial Health Challenges
09:26 Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Surgery
19:14 Vertebral Artery Occlusion Diagnosis and Initial Recovery
29:03 Challenges of Returning to Work and Emotional Struggles
38:08 Moose Attack and Its Impact
48:03 Volunteer Work and Personal Growth
57:45 Reflections on Life and Future Plans

Transcript:

Joel Case’s Background and Initial Vertebral Artery Occlusion Challenges

Bill Gasiamis 0:00
Hello everyone. Before we begin, I want to say thank you to everyone who’s left a comment, written a review, supported the show on Patreon, click the YouTube super thanks button, bought a copy of my book, or even just chose not to skip the ads. You’re helping more than you know you’re helping this podcast reach someone who, like Joel, once did feel overwhelmed facing the challenges they never saw coming. You’re helping them feel seen, and you’re keeping this work going. Today’s conversation is one of those that stays with you.

Bill Gasiamis 0:35
Joel case was 65 when, out of nowhere, a vertebral artery occlusion caused a cerebellar stroke, a man who ran marathons and skied 50k races suddenly couldn’t stand or walk, and if that wasn’t enough, cancer a moose attack and the emotional toll of recovery followed. But Joel’s story isn’t about what happened to him. It’s about what he chose to do next. If you’ve ever felt like recovery keeps throwing curve balls or wondered how to keep moving when it all feels like it’s too much, this one is for you. Let’s dive in. Joel case, welcome to the podcast.

Joel Case 1:19
Welcome Bill. Thank you for having me and tell my story, I guess, and listen to your podcasts, not religiously, but once, about a year and a half ago, I was looking at things on the internet for stroke recovery since I suffered my stroke back in January 2022, and it was quite a life changing event. Give you some background names. Joel case, 68 years old. Now live in Idaho, Falls, Idaho and the states always career and basically radioactive waste cleanup. I started out with the University of Florida, met my wife in Gainesville, Florida, and we kind of came out here on the lark.

Joel Case 2:10
Didn’t know where Idaho was, but Job Interview Westinghouse started with and from came out. We thought we’d stay here in Idaho. Was quite a culture shock. Moving from Florida with winter and fairly conservative place of the world, and Mormon country, as we call it so, very heavily north of Salt Lake. And neither, good or bad. It’s just a interesting shock culture change from Gainesville, but we’ve lived in Idaho 44 years. I’ve worked both in the commercial sector for nuclear industry, and then I ended my career with Department of Energy and nuclear weapons cleanup.

Joel Case 2:46
A lot of people think Department of Energy deals with energy, and that can’t be furthest from the truth. We we manage the nuclear waste and nuclear weapons stockpile for the military. That’s a major function. That’s what people don’t realize. So Idaho has a big Department of Energy site. So, but start my journey. I’ve been fairly active. I used to travel a lot. I worked at International Atomic Energy Agency. Fairly active, athletically, ran marathons, etc, bike racing, mountain biking, skiing.

Bill Gasiamis 3:17
So, you know, even even up to the age of 65.

Joel Case 3:23
Yeah, I was doing not marathons. I did ski marathons. I did 50k marathons. About three or four a year I would go up to Anchorage, Alaska. They had tour of Anchorage, so, wow. Wasn’t fast, but it was.

Bill Gasiamis 3:35
How long? How long did it take? How long did it take to complete.

Joel Case 3:39
My fastest time was about two hours and 55 minutes. So that’s 31 months. Yeah, so, so, like I said, it was fairly athletic camp, ski ran and bike just and, you know, fairly healthy. I never had surgery. You know, my first surgery was only surgery was that tonsillectomy when I was, like, six years old. So, you know, it kind of had a, did have cases of skin cancer. Now, you’re from Australia, so you guys are probably familiar with, I was raised in Florida, and, you know, years as a kid through, you know, we go and get our first tan and burn.

Joel Case 4:16
So, you know, I’ve had, probably, you know, that was the only really health condition was I get either squamous or basal cell. Did have a melanoma, but I was pretty religious going in so up until the time my stroke, you know, I don’t say life was good, but you know, barely no concerns. I you know, biggest health scare came in in June of 2021, when, you know, I saw your podcast, you reached out that people would have cancer, sexual stroke. Well, I had the high PSA on my prostate, you know, from my prostate so, you know, as you men get older.

Joel Case 4:56
Always help check your PSA level on your blood. And that’s that antigen for. Prostate Cancer. So went through all the tests, and it was high PSA, went and did a MRI, and looked like there might be something down in my prostate. So one of the things to talk about is learning the medical journey and dealing with the medical community in a fairly count of 50,000 Yeah, I know you guys have more of a universal health care, but on the states, it’s not quite that. So that was quite a lessons learned for me, all the events that happened to me, starting with the prostate cancer.

Joel Case 5:34
So, you know, I had the biopsy and turned out it was prostate cancer, and gave me some options. And so this was in the middle of COVID too. So that was always a challenge. So got diagnosed prostate cancer went down the University of Utah, which is they have a good cancer center there, and was scheduled to have surgery to remove my prostate let’s just get rid of it. And then they called a week for my surgery was scheduled. That basically said, Well, it’s COVID. This is considered non essential surgery.

Joel Case 6:10
So they said, We can’t tell you. We can have it scheduled. So I was fortunate enough, I kind of was looking around, well, talk to University of Washington. They also have a good cancer, and that’s in Seattle. So long story short, they could get me in within two weeks. Ended up having the surgery there, and during COVID, flew up from Idaho Falls, it’s about 500 miles away. So had my prostate removed and got scared to death.

Joel Case 6:36
Never had, you know, I had serious since I was six years and it was robotic, fascinating technology. I’m an engineer, so just, it’s robotic, where they go through your front, pump you up, and then they go, he’s behind the couch console and using the robotic arms to basically room your prostate. So I got through that.

Bill Gasiamis 6:56
The same is in the same room, at least the surgeon, or then a different.

Joel Case 7:00
Yeah, yeah. It’s funny, because, you know, my wife couldn’t come back with me because it’s COVID. Everybody’s mask up. So the anesthesia all, he comes in, and they pump you full of happy juice, you know, they get you kind of relax. And she tells you, you know, you could die. You know, they always tell the anesthesiologist and all those wonderful things. Now, you know, side effects. But so they wheel me in. It’s like the Star Trek control room, because this is a teaching hospital, you know, and the doctor, he’d done five or 6000 of these.

Joel Case 7:30
I mean, really good surgeon, but you have residents. So it’s like 20 people in this room with all the equipment. Like I said, it looked like a star room, Star Wars chamber, and he’s behind a council next to you on the operating table. So he’s looking at a console. And they got people around. And the interesting thing I had not known is, you know, I asked, well, your prostate is back there, and you go through the front. So how do you get through all that stuff down there? And he said, they said, Well, we put six holes there, pump you full of CO two.

Joel Case 8:03
And then they tilt your down to 45 degrees to slide all that out. And it’s kind of relevant, because I had my stroke a month later, and I wonder if that caused that. We can talk about that. So, long story short, woke up four and a half hours later. I’m cancer free. So you know, I still get my blood work checked every three months. That’s always kind of a scary time, you know, is it coming back? But so far, it’s been three years removed, three and a half.

Joel Case 8:30
So that’s good, but so we flew home after about a week, and so about a month later, I was supposed to have cataract surgery. Now it’s hell to get old, you know, I had to get cat.

Joel Case 8:42
I’m 65 when this all happened. So, you know, I scheduled a cat surgery. It was late January. So had the, you know, couldn’t drink anything. So I went to bed, woke up to go to the bathroom. About four in the morning, felt fine, and went back to sleep, get and then I woke up. The room is spinning. I’m throwing up, etc, and so I didn’t know what I had. Thought I had COVID, but, you know, this went on all morning. The spinning stopped, but I couldn’t walk. I was throwing up about every hour. And finally, went in, my wife took me into we have walk in clinics here.

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Surgery

Joel Case 9:23
I don’t know if they have those in Australia, but, you know, not the emergency room. So they have either what they call physicians assistants or doctors. So there they said, Oh, you’ve got vertigo, inner ear infection. It’s like, okay. So I went home, but you know, I couldn’t get out of bed. I next morning, I, you know, wasn’t bombing, couldn’t keep anything down. But next morning, told my wife, I I got a brain tumor or something. So we she took me to the emergency room where, you know, they did an MRI, etc. And doctor came in and said, you have.

Joel Case 9:59
Stroke. It’s like, Oh, really. And so I had a cerebellum stroke on my left side, and so I was hospitalized, and that evening, he came up, and, you know, I never had any problems with my heart or anything. So it’s like kind of a shock for everybody, because I’m a I’m five nine, about 150 pounds, and like I said, I was active every day. I ran or bike, you know, I’d run six miles or so going to that where I couldn’t walk.

Joel Case 10:35
And so he came up that evening, he said, Well, it looks like I know why you have a stroke, you had a left vertebral artery, tear, dissection, nope, but it just didn’t make sense. So okay, and he said, you know it, but the good news is, and through a clot and it, you know, damage, he said you lost about 25% your cerebellum. So that was kind of shocking to me.

Bill Gasiamis 11:02
Wow, we’re about 10 minutes in by now. You’ve heard Joel share how life changed overnight, one day skiing marathons and the next unable to walk, and how recovery, even when you’re strong and fit, can knock the wind out of you. If his story reminds you of your own. Please know you’re not alone. The Invisible struggles, the quiet fears at night, the exhaustion that no one else sees. They’re real and they’re hard. If this part of Joel’s journey hits home, leave a comment on YouTube.

Bill Gasiamis 11:35
What’s been the hardest part of recovery for you that others don’t understand? And a big thanks to everyone that keeps this work alive. Your super thanks on YouTube, your support of the book and my amazing Patreon supporters. Alright, let’s get back to Joel as he opens up about what helped him push forward and the surprising moments of connection he found along the way.

Joel Case 11:59
Yeah, and you know that the only effect is I had no balance, or I couldn’t walk, because, you know, now I don’t know what you experienced with yours, but so this was a clot that went blocked up in my cerebellum. So he said, you know, the good news is it’s completely occluded. So I go, Well, that sounds horrible, but he said, No, you you keep throwing clots if you didn’t.

Bill Gasiamis 12:24
So the blood vessel that had had the dissection is occluded. It’s blocked, completely, totally blocked, which means that even though there’s blood flow not going through there, it cannot throw more clots, which right, correct the benefit of it being occluded, and you have another two vertebral arteries and another carotid artery, so there is plenty of blood flow to the brain. And that’s engineering for you.

Joel Case 12:54
It is. And I actually have and we can talk, because some of the lessons learned that pass on the folks is keep asking questions, keep moving. But because it turns out it wasn’t a vertebral artery dissection, it was arteriosclerosis, but we didn’t know that. But, you know, the results are the same thing. So I was there about two weeks. They put me on, you know, I must have seen, you know, I had to touch my nose a million times. And they had nutritious come up and say, can eat. But for fortunate for me, I, you know, had some distorted vision, but that’s fine now.

Joel Case 13:31
But, you know, luckily for me, I could eat swallow. And so they got me in to, you know, put me down and monitor me for over the weekend, this was a Friday, and I tell you, it’s a lonely feeling being in the hospital, and as you probably know, and thinking, Gosh, my life has ended. I couldn’t walk. You know, you had the ring to go to the bathroom. They’d have to help you so, but long story short.

Joel Case 13:59
So they started after about stabilized five days into physical rehab at the hospital there for two weeks, so where I gradually do exercises twice a day, and then they sent me. I just wanted to go home. So that journey. There’s the dog. Sorry, that’s okay. So, you know, it was very shocked to me coming, you know, it made me forget about my prostate cancer.

Bill Gasiamis 14:31
So the occlusion wasn’t, then it was discovered the occlusion wasn’t part of the vertebral artery dissection. It was sclerosis.

Joel Case 14:43
It was due to stenosis. Sclerosis, okay, and you know, here’s the thing, you know, because Idaho Falls very limited neurology. Luckily, the doctor at the hospital was a neurologist, but she. Didn’t specialize in, really heart issues or But long story short, so I’m an engineer in questioning, questioning, questioning. So mainly, I was not happy, you know, sent home. I did, can’t say enough about the physical therapist learning to walk again. I started out with, you know, with hiking poles, etcetera, and, and I can’t say enough, the dogs and my wife and the kids they, they were very supportive.

Joel Case 15:31
But the two of dogs I have just walking them every day got back to where I could start jogging after about I look like lurch now, but I am back being physically active. But you know, that’s one of the lessons. You got to keep moving, or else you’ll just, you know, I think that’s the biggest thing, being fit to get me through all of this. Because, yeah, at the same time, I didn’t, you know, there was a US senator had the same type of stroke I had, and while I was in the hospital. They was Senator from New Mexico, same symptoms, etc, but they had to do a brain decompression.

Joel Case 16:07
I asked the neurologist in the hospital, what’s that? Well, that’s when your head’s your brain swells from the stroke, and they decompress, they draw a hole to relieve the pressure. So luckily, I didn’t have that. I did have terrible headaches, but so rehab went fine, but, you know, I asked because at the point in time, it’s like, well, I had a dissection. That’s we didn’t know it was stenosis. I went and got a second opinion, and this will get to that about six months later. But I asked the surgeon.

Joel Case 16:39
I said, well, because they asked me in the hospital, do you go to a chiropractor? No, you go to a hairdresser. They do neck, you know, move your neck because I guess there’s a high instance of dissections with neck manipulation. And I wondered, because when I had my surgery for the cancer, they strap your head down and you’re inverted, and they have to keep you still during the surgery.

Joel Case 17:03
And I wondered if that could cause something, but they said no. But you know, I as a follow up, I just wanted I started to see a neurologist. I go down once a year. I went to see her, and they did an MRI, and they concluded between some of my cholesterol levels, etcetera, that it was due to stenosis and arteriosclerosis disease.

Bill Gasiamis 17:28
So that is probably fair the now, of course, I don’t I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know any of this stuff, but I know that with stenosis and and and the thickening of the inside of the artery wall, that, in itself, can be enough to change the blood flow and, yes, the highs and low pressures of that part of the blood of the vessel, and therefore create a clot, and then throw a clot off. Yes, it can.

Joel Case 17:54
And that’s kind of where we’re at. So, you know, I go down and so I’m three years out, but you know that year was tough. I learned how to walk and run again, and then, as I mentioned you and I sent the email about this is that October. So I had my stroke in January. Recovery took about five to six months and and this time, I was working full time too, and that’s where you learn. I don’t know what you did is for your career, but, you know, I worked for Department of Energy, and again, as more of a master of job field work.

Joel Case 18:34
I learned a lot about people that have strokes, especially if they don’t see any outward signs when you go back to work because I had brain fatigue and needed rest take a nap. And so it was interesting that in my career and dealing with people at work, they just didn’t seem to understand the effects was having the brain fog and things like that. And, yeah, that was kind of disappointing. You could just see you learn who your friends are. You know, I guess situations like that.

Vertebral Artery Occlusion Diagnosis and Initial Recovery

Bill Gasiamis 19:05
Interesting. So comment that one, you learn who your friends are. I’m not sure what happens, but people, some freak out, and some can not understand, and then still be sympathetic or empathetic. And I suppose the the ones that kind of disconnect. Are the ones that don’t know how to be empathetic.

Joel Case 19:25
Yeah, and again, I think you’re right, because there are certain people at work that were just so kind and understood, but they had gone through things too, I think, you know, and but yeah, it was just, I just remember it, just especially people that always talked about caring, and I guess, you know, in the country, you know Dei, you know, being inclusive, all that stuff.

Joel Case 19:51
But I’m telling you people I got treated like I was mentally disabled, when you know they didn’t. See the outward help I was suffering inside and tired, and just because I came back to work after six weeks, and that probably was a big mistake, I probably should have, and some of that was pride.

Bill Gasiamis 20:18
Let me ask you a question so I have my dad is 82 years old right now, today, as we speak, he’s in he’s waiting for surgery to have his gallbladder removed. And I’d like to say that in 82 years, he’s had a dream run. I mean, he’s had very minor, incidents for his health, etc. And one of the things that he’s had was knee surgery, which was just an arthritic knee that was injured when he was younger, that needed to have a knee replacement. And pretty much, I think, when he was a child, when he was still living in Greece, he had a he had his appendix removed, that that’s all.

Bill Gasiamis 20:58
That all the things have gone wrong with him. So when he’s when he gets to 82 and he’s realizing, you know his age, and he knows roughly the average age that people live at, and he starts to get a little bit what’s the word? I don’t know if it’s concerned, depressed or something, because now he’s in hospital, and he’s been there for seven days, and they won’t let him go until his blood stabilize and they remove his gallbladder, and he’s no longer at risk of having all the complications that are that a gallbladder that’s blocked with stones can cause.

Bill Gasiamis 21:33
So he’s really struggling with the idea that he’s unwell. What about like, you know, which is kind of understandable, but also, like, you’re 82, years old. How can you expect you’re not going to be unwell at some point? So, like, how do you is are you did you find yourself in a similar situation? What was the challenging part?

Joel Case 22:01
Yeah, because I just it felt, you know, I couldn’t, couldn’t run, I couldn’t walk, you know, it’s sort of like, and then getting up, you know, you want to fall over, and am I going to and then reading about stroke victims, you know, there’s a high incident of another stroke within three months, and I’m sitting there going counting the days get past that 90 day window, you know? But yeah, it was. And, you know, this is kind of sounds silly, but having, you know, good situation, good job. Even though they were interesting, how non empathetic some people were.

Joel Case 22:48
I was raised, I’m not very religious now, but I was raised Catholic, and sort of like going to a Catholic school for eight years ago, and nuns beating the heck out of you and all that. It’s sort of like the glass is always half full. So, you know, I’ve had a great life, but, you know, shit happens. So that part, but so I was just focused to get back and do what I could try to do, and feel, I felt lucky that I could talk I didn’t have the weaknesses, the droopy legs, things like that, when you read about but yeah, it has been, well, here’s where it gets to, you know, in October of that year.

Joel Case 23:31
So we have a cabin over in the Tetons, over about 60 miles from my house. And we get Dolores fall days. So my wife and I, we said, let’s go up one last time. Harvest Moon coming up. So it’s right on the national forest boundary over in Idaho, side of the Teton so and I have a route I run up on the floor. So we went back and I go, Well, let’s see if I can, you know, kind of test myself and see balance wise go up with the dog. So I’m up there about three miles in on the forest boundary, high up, and the dogs are barking. I thought there was, there’s cows grazing up there.

Joel Case 24:13
And I thought they were chasing cows. And I look up and it’s like, oh, biggest bull moose I’ve seen in my life. We have grizzly bear with bear, mountain lion, but moose, they’re not so I’m about 10 feet away from this damn thing, and because he was under a tree, didn’t notice it. And so long story, I’m going, Oh God, this isn’t good. It’s running season. So I try and back off, and he charges.

Joel Case 24:40
And boom, he gets me, and I’m and so I’m on the ground. Blood dropped and down my face, because I guess my head went back and cut under my eye. But and I’m thinking, first thing I’m thinking, Well, God is like, did I get another artery tear or something?

Bill Gasiamis 25:00
Wow.

Joel Case 25:00
But so I got attacked by Moose, and why he didn’t stay, they usually stay and stomp the heck out of you, but when I got up and I’m sitting there going, I gotta get to the hospital. So, long story short, called my wife. I stumbled down broken ribs and collapsed lung, and that’s when I said, God’s telling me some i I’ve had it. I can’t take this anymore. The religion cancer, stroke and now damn moose attack and but, you know, in the hospital, their little hospital and Dregs, they they did full body scan, the doctor came in, nurse, they’re all excited.

Joel Case 25:40
We haven’t had a moose attack in a long time. Wow. But I said, you know, because we’re near Yellowstone National Park, and I don’t know if you get the same thing with some of your tourists, but we call them tour ons. People, they think it’s Disney World, where Disneyland, where they go up and pet the bison, you always have stories about Taurus getting attacked. So that’s why I told the doctor. I says, you know, I feel so stupid this, you know, because we always make fun of Taurus. And here I go, get attacked by a moose. Wow, but that kind of was the luckily recovered five from that.

Bill Gasiamis 26:16
So, what period of time was all this? So from the fur, from the prostate cancer to the moose attack. What period of time?

Joel Case 26:24
9 months. It all happened within nine months. Wow. That’s too much. December 2021 and I had my stroke in January, February 2022 and then early October of 2022 the moose attack. Wow, so that was but I said, Well, things come in three so, you know, I’ll get on an airplane again now. So, so, but then that’s when I decide, you know, life is too short. I I decided to retire between some of the pressures of work and things like that. I said, it’s just I’m 60 I was 65 then I said it’s, you know, still, quote, healthy, still can do things, so it’s time to move on from.

Bill Gasiamis 27:08
Yeah, were you going through all of these things on your own? Because it is genuine, genuinely a lot to deal with. Was this somebody that you were able to talk to reach out to get support from.

Joel Case 27:23
Well, you know, my wife and I’ve been married for 44 years, and so that was, she was kind of key the dogs again, I don’t know if you’re a dog person, animal person, but they kind of got me through and forced me to exercise and walk and run, and the moral support was my wife. You know, we, we have two children. They’re my son at home. He works, but he’s still in the area. My daughter’s in Boise. But a lot of you know, people don’t really understand what you’re going through, though they really don’t, especially with the stroke.

Joel Case 27:59
Because outwardly, you look at me, I don’t seem, quote, disabled now, but I’m probably 90% of my balance. I’ll have good days, bad days, but you know, so and kind of the brain, I won’t say brain fog, but there is a little bit of, what’s interesting is, like my spatial awareness on the sides, I’m on about a half inch or so with that. But back to your question, is there anybody my wife was probably the most, you know, she’s, she’s always there for me, and we’ve been married 44 years last month, so it’s, but other than that, you know, couple close friends that that we stay in.

Joel Case 28:47
They that’s good over the last nine, three years. But you know what really hit home with me? I didn’t get one visit or card or call from any when I was in the hospital from two weeks. That’s where the work thing that that’s what really That one hurt. That was kind of one that was very, I don’t understand, still don’t understand.

Challenges of Returning to Work and Emotional Struggles

Bill Gasiamis 29:07
People that you would have been colleagues with for many years.

Joel Case 29:12
Well, yeah, I mean, and I so yeah, that that’s that part really hurt.

Bill Gasiamis 29:17
Do you think COVID might have had something to do with that, all of the trouble around access to hospitals.

Joel Case 29:23
Some of it, yeah, because you know that back then, you had to have a mask to come in and things like that. And we’re, most everybody was working remotely then. I mean, we’re going in the office once or twice a week, but it was still in the pandemic area, but a phone call could have helped, I guess, either, and maybe they didn’t want to deal with it. But that, that part, I think, was probably the thing that hurt the most during the whole period.

Joel Case 29:51
But again, having, you know, having somebody at home, because, I tell you, for the first 6 to 9 months, I was afraid to go to sleep, because this happened when I woke up. And am I going to have a stroke again in the first six months after sometimes I’d get a little bit of dizziness, sometimes at night, you know, just kind of After Effects. And that was a little, I won’t call PTSD, but I told you know the doctor I see my neurologist, I said, you know, it took a while to get through that.

Bill Gasiamis 30:26
Little bit triggering and reminiscing of the the time when it happened, and wondering, Am I having another stroke?

Joel Case 30:34
Yeah, so that type of thing. So, but I won’t say I’m over it, but I don’t like to travel by myself anymore, so you’ll be in hotel room, because I think that’d be awful to have passed away in a hotel room, but, but so my wife, my son, we he, we ended up doing quite a few things together over the last three years. Has helped a lot too. He’s we went to Scotland and did a I wanted to test myself nine months after we went and walked the West Highland way. It’s 100 miles in five days. We went from end to end up in the West, up in the Scottish Highlands.

Joel Case 31:19
And so we do a trip every year. We went to Amsterdam last. Last year, I just wanted to, because I used to work in Vienna, and always flew through Amsterdam. I always wanted to stay and see the city and go the Anne Frank House, so things like that, taking joy and living through the moment. But so he, he’s helped quite a bit by doing things, getting to know him a lot better, too.

Bill Gasiamis 31:40
And you’re testing yourself. How did you pass your test? Did you pass with flying colors? What was it like to do that 100 mile?

Joel Case 31:52
We did five days, so about 20 miles each day, yeah, I was surprisingly. It was pleasant surprise how well we did. I did during that now, there were sections where, you know, where I could just hop up on things I I’m not going to be a mountain climber anymore, you know, because it’s my balance is not good, but it’s so but, yeah, that was a great trip with him. And then we went to Amsterdam was a good trip too, because, like, you live in Australia, when you come to the stage, those are long journeys.

Bill Gasiamis 32:28
Yeah. But so from Melbourne, from Melbourne to LA, I think it’s about feel like it’s about 14 hours, or something.

Joel Case 32:38
11 hours to Amsterdam from Salt Lake because we fly either there or Seattle, so about 11 hours, but, but, you know, I’m just happy, you know, I want to do those things. I keep moving, you know, like some of the lessons learned is, you know, I, you know, always inquisitive. So I interesting about, you know, since, because I go down every year now and get an MRI. They and I meet with my neurologist. They want to make sure the stenosis, you know, on my other arteries are okay.

Bill Gasiamis 33:11
I was just wondering about that. I was just wondering about the incident with the moose.

Joel Case 33:17
Yeah, go.

Bill Gasiamis 33:21
Do you know? Did that make it harder for you to kind of get through your stroke recovery? Because that was pretty early on in the yeah recovery during nine months, yeah, because you lost over it just now, like nothing. I had some broken ribs. I had this. I had that. But how long did it take to recover from a moose attack?

Joel Case 33:45
Well, fortunately, the first week was pretty painful, because it was but I didn’t. My lungs didn’t fully collapse, which was lucky, because at the hospital, I would say the ribs healing up took about two to three months where I could feel like I was moving. Okay. You know, it was funny, because funny the hospital in little place called Driggs, probably 20 beds. So they the doctor there when they said, Well, you gotta collapse long. And they basically said, you know, we could keep you here, but if that one fully collapses, we can’t handle it, because they have to intubate.

Joel Case 34:29
You have to cut a hole, you know, and pump up. So I got a really fun ride with an ambulance over the Idaho Falls, about two hour drive with them and talking. But you know, fentanyl is a wonderful thing. I you know what they use in the hospital, because that’s what they do to make you feel a little bit better, like but yeah, the most attack, I mean, one of the things was recovering from the stroke, you know, going back up to our cabin the summer after it. Because, you know, when. Are up there. We don’t go up. It’s a lot of snow.

Joel Case 35:02
But so the first time going back up to where I got attacked, because that’s where I like to run and walk. And so that was a little bit like, yeah, I got back. I got to get back on the saddle, so I go back up again. But I’m a little more careful about looking my surroundings and all. But, and you’ve been going, like I said.

Bill Gasiamis 35:22
Years, and then you’d never come across that type of situation before.

Joel Case 35:26
We have, yeah, because that area, it’s about 800 feet up on a ridge, and I can send you a picture of me, my my wife took, I took a picture on the way of the hospital with my face. You can see it’s kind of dramatic, but, yeah, it’s that’s not where. I’ve never, we’ve lived here 40 years, and we’ve been going up there for 30 and I’ve never, I’ve seen moose in the, you know, long creeks, etc, but not up high like that. So it’s funny, this last summer up there, I was riding my bike, and if, gosh darn, there’s a moose 100 yards.

Bill Gasiamis 36:01
There’s changed in their in their habits, in their travel habits, seems like they.

Joel Case 36:06
I don’t know, it’s, you know, I’ve seen a lot of moose in my life here, and you always give them fair, you know, because they’re nuts. And I always worried what I do if I see a grizzly bear, because this is grizzly bear contrary as well. That’s always and, but so but, you know, it just kind of was the nail in the coffin for me to say, This is it. I’m retiring when I got through that.

Bill Gasiamis 36:31
Was it a bit of a rock bottom moment? Was it a little bit.

Joel Case 36:35
That was kind of, I think that, because I said on the way of the hospital, I kind of broke down and told my wife, I just can’t take this anymore. What else is going to happen? So that’s when I decided I’m just going to retire and just move on. So but, you know, I these arterials grows, you know, I’ve got my you know, dealing with doctors is an interesting journey too, because a lot of doctors. Where we live is kind of a rural area. It’s a town of 60,000 but we are fortunate. Salt Lake is about three hours away.

Joel Case 37:08
And I’m fortunate enough where I have medical insurance, it basically lets me to go anywhere. So that’s why I go anything serious for the stroke. I see a neurologist there, and she’s very good. I get an MRI every day to check on my neck. But an interesting thing is, I ask her about, well, what about heart disease? If I had arteriosclerosis and this caused that? What about my heart? Because, again, being an engineer, thing will put two to two together. Is like, Well, what about there? And she says, Well, you’re short of breath. You this, etc? I said, No, no chest pain.

Moose Attack and Its Impact

Joel Case 37:45
But so this last visit was last November, and she said she had been talking to a cardiologist. And she said, Well, why you ever had a calcium test? I go, No, what is that? So longer they basically can measure plaque build up in your arteries, your heart. So I did get one done when I had my MRI for my neck, they also did for my heart, so that actually came back. Gee, I’ve got plaque in my heart, so I don’t know what that means. I did a stress test. Passed that with flying colors, but see, I think what I found doctors.

Joel Case 38:22
I’m fairly fit after I was athletic, and so we’re on the extreme. There’s no me, you know, there’s a medium, what they’re used to deal with. And so we’re kind of on this other end. So I always kind of want to push to make sure everything’s good, because who would have thought I’d have a stroke? Yeah? Yeah, prostate cancer. Everybody gets out eventually. They live old enough. Supposedly, yeah, moose, Moose attack. Well, that’s out of left field.

Bill Gasiamis 38:50
That’s a bit out of nowhere for sure, like so what are they dealing doing with doing now, to help you with the perhaps the stenosis in the heart. Are you on blood thinners? Are you on medications?

Joel Case 39:04
Well, luckily, so with the stroke, you know, after my stroke, they put me on statins. So I’m on very high, was a high dose of statins. And also, luckily, I didn’t have to go on the blood there, except for baby aspirin. So I’m on 81 milligrams of baby Astrum, and then I’m on the stat. But they wanted to get my cholesterol down, and especially my LDL. So those are the bad cholesterol, because it was so they’ve been working hard to get below 70, and we finally did achieve that. I had to get another medication.

Joel Case 39:41
I forget what it’s called. It’s so you know, the statins work different. This is a medicine, and they added that takes it goes to your gut, where it basically takes it out of your gut, the cholesterol, so between the stat and keeping that LDL level low and then having it. Absorb more in the gut. We finally got this last blood test I had were below 70, so my cholesterol looks good. Everything so far looks good. But you know, I’m a little you know, the I guess the statins, what they do to plaque on your arteries.

Joel Case 40:16
They put fibers around it so it stabilizes those. If you have plaque build up, it helps stabilize that, so it helped prevent clot so, so, you know, I’m on a journey, and just keep been blessed. I don’t know, I know you had a stroke, and I don’t know how you dealt with the medical profession. It’s because it can be frustrating.

Bill Gasiamis 40:38
They can be I sucked. My first medical team. I was in hospital for the first two bleeds. I wasn’t happy with their approach, so I left and went to another hospital and went through that. So that was that was okay. We found the right people later, and they were the ones that supported me from the second bleed through to the third bleed, and then brain surgery. So and then I had, like you, in a short period of time, I had a couple of things that came up. So the the brain bleed was at the age of 37 so it was so was the second one.

Bill Gasiamis 41:17
By the age of 40 I needed cataract surgery. So I had that done at 40, at about, at about, yeah, that was just in my early 40s, and then at around my late 40s, somewhere, there some in the short amount of time between the cataract, sorry, mid for mid 40s, yeah. So within a few months, after my 40th birthday, I had my eye surgery, then I had brain surgery, then I recovered from that, and then by 2016 my 42nd birthday, I had to have thyroid surgery and had to have heart of my thyroid removed taken.

Bill Gasiamis 42:06
So I went through exactly the same kind of ups and downs. And it was like, Okay, well, this is, this is a lot to deal with. The cataract surgery was the most mild and simple version of it all. But the but the Yeah, the other stuff was quite traumatic, and the thyroid surgery created the same type of fatigue that neurological fatigue creates. And then trying to work out which one I was going through and what was happening was really difficult, and getting all the specialists and the neurologist and the endocrinologist all speaking the same, working together, yeah, was really impossible.

Bill Gasiamis 42:46
So it does take it out of me at that time. You know, you’re dealing with a lot. So I experienced, you know, some some emotional issues, some mental health issues, but I was seeing a counselor the whole time. How did you go emotionally and mentally? Did that impact your mental health.

Joel Case 43:07
It did in and I did see a counselor for a while because, like, I mentioned, just, I mentioned my neurologist says, you know, I kind of, I don’t like going to sleep at night because my brain, I have to sleep with listening some not music. I listen to podcasts at night. Now it just helps me, because my brain is always in chaos, I guess, overthinking, so this quiets the brain and and I did have, I did talk to a counselor for a while, and that helped a lot in the sense that I won’t. I don’t know if it was called depression, but I guess it is, you know, because, but just getting through the grief.

Joel Case 43:52
Grieving for the Joel that used to be, in some sense, but now trying to celebrate the Joel that is now, because it has. I found my wife and I are emotionally closer in a lot of ways, because we went through a lot with our daughter. She had an area for like, age 12 through 18. It was a long journey. So there’s and then trying to reconnect with our son now, so I wouldn’t miss mental illness on anyone dealing with that, but so again, and since something like the paraphrase your book is.

Joel Case 44:31
I look back, I tell my family, I said, Well, you know, this is the best thing that ever happened to me in a lot of ways, it’s because I have a lot more empathy. I won’t say I’m not depressed. I you know, good run, good walk with the dogs being retired, sure helps a lot. And but, you know, you think about your mortality too. What have I done? What have I done? And try so that part. But you know, it’s like trying. Of each day, but yeah, there was some depression there.

Joel Case 45:02
Especially after the low point with the moose attack, and that’s why I made a decision to retire to help talk with somebody about things that happened at work, things like that. But you know, another thing that it’s kind of funny when I was in rehab, one of the things they did to help you on rehabilitation and the brain, get the brain working again. They use a we counsel to do play tennis and golf like that, because I took up golf again after my kids went away, my wife and I, she said, let’s start golf again.

Joel Case 45:38
And so one of the things I was thinking up there in the hospital. I was looking out the window. It’s like, gosh, you know, I can’t die yet, because one of the dogs going to do. What am I wife going to do? And then I’m thinking, Am I ever going to play golf again? But I have, it helps.

Bill Gasiamis 45:59
It seems, it seems bizarre, but it’s not. I mean, it’s just the brain trying to work things out, you know, just trying to navigate it and go, like, what do I do? You know, your overthinking brain? Was that something that you always were that made you ideal for engineering? Or did the engineering create the overthinking brain?

Joel Case 46:22
I think it was more Gosh, that’s a good question. I’ve always been a little anxious, and maybe because being raised, I won’t say, a dysfunctional family, but probably a lot of that was being the youngest I have two older sisters now. They’re both both in Florida, so but I think part of the brain, and then my childhood, my dad was an alcoholic, and so some of the dysfunction with the family and just led the anxiety and then overthinking so that probably contribute to it. And and I mentioned I did travel a lot in my job, mostly in the States, but so I wasn’t there.

Joel Case 47:06
And being half Irish, you know, before the stroke, and traveling like I did, I think Delta Airlines turned me into an alcoholic with all the upgrades. So that’s one thing that was lessons learned, a good thing benefited the stroke. I learned I wasn’t an alcoholic, because after the stroke, I like beer, you know, I like a good beer and some wine too. But after the stroke, I I’m a lightweight. Now I just can’t handle more than one or two beers and just and I asked.

Bill Gasiamis 47:40
I would say, I would, I would encourage you not to drink at all.

Volunteer Work and Personal Growth

Joel Case 47:45
Well, that’s I basically don’t Yeah, because I here, so, because I talked to my neurologist, because I had a terror, this almost embarrassed to talk about it. But so about nine months after my wife’s roommate from college, we used to go back. They live outside New York City. We’d go back and visit we hadn’t seen them since COVID, so we dropped the dogs off here in Boise and daughter, and we flew back to see them, and flew, you know, through New York City. But we I got upgraded, so I had a couple glasses of wine on the plane and hadn’t eaten long day flight, I blacked out totally.

Joel Case 48:26
And it’s like, my my wife, I was having another stroke. So that’s when I basically cut off. I talked to neurology says, Well, you know, cerebellum, that’s where alcohol goes. So another good thing, you know, that basically, you know, cut out drinking. So, but it was interesting.

Bill Gasiamis 48:40
I’m curious about the drinking. Was it at the level? Was it at the at the level where an Irish person might say, I’ve just had a couple, which is a lot for every other normal person. And therefore, what I’m trying to say is, what I’m trying to say is like, would that be potentially part of the cause of the atherosclerosis? Because that’s what a lot of alcohol can do?

Joel Case 49:02
Yeah, I asked the doctor, and she says, Well, you don’t seem to have your liver function. Everything looks good. You should have liver disease. And and again, I I didn’t drink, you know, like some people I knew in college, drinking case of beer, things like that. It’s just so maybe episodical Drink, maybe binge drinking, when I was on travel, binge drinking, yeah, okay, yeah. So that type of thing. So, but you know, again, what came out of this was, can’t do that anymore, which is a good thing, so, but you know, I’m on, you know, gotten through a lot three years out.

Joel Case 49:44
So still, you know, a little anxiety, but I live each day as a time, and I can’t I think some of the biggest lessons learned is from all of this is you got to keep moving. Keep moving. Because all the doctors I’ve seen. And if I wasn’t fit, because, you know, when I go to my doctor appointments, urologist, for, you know, I still get my blood checked and for my neurologist, and then you go in the cardiologist, you you look in the waiting room, and it’s, it’s, you look around and, my gosh, we’re a pretty obese nation in this country.

Joel Case 50:22
I don’t know what is in Australia, but I look around and people in wheelchairs on oxygen, and it’s like, gosh, so I just feel blessed and fortunate that I was able to get through this, and who knows where we’ll end up. But I feel like I’m in a good place. I’m 68 I don’t know how much longer I have in this world. And again, I think you know the stroke, with the medicine, everything, I feel pretty good. There’s no guarantees, no guarantees with the cancer. But I have done some volunteer work. I think that’s been very fortunate.

Bill Gasiamis 50:58
Well, Cohen, tell me about that.

Joel Case 51:00
Yeah, my wife always wanted to learn how to fly fish. So after I got out of the hospital, idle falls, fly fishing is big out here, and so the volunteer work is with a group that cancer survivors, men with cancer. It’s they basically through fly fishing. They take them out on retreats. But it’s more. I mean, the fly fishing is incidental. It’s basically get men talk about their cancer, because men don’t like to talk about things.

Bill Gasiamis 51:31
It’s a scam. The Fly Fishing is the scam.

Joel Case 51:35
Yeah, that’s basically it. It’s just to get and so I help volunteer as I and again, I I went as a guest being a cancer survivor because a friend of mine with this organization after the weekend, it’s very emotional, because you learn about because this volunteer work is you sit with a group of men cancers and you help facilitate them to talk about you don’t have them focus, but Just tell them about themselves, get their mind off of it, but also that you’re not alone, because men are not, I won’t say not like women.

Joel Case 52:09
But you know, it’s trying to get people talking and that you’re not on this journey by yourself. Yeah. So it was very emotional when I went through it, just to hear a talk with other men about it. And now my story was kind of interesting, because prostate cancer, stroke and then the moose attack when I first went to this thing. So they wanted to bring me back as help, be a facilitator.

Joel Case 52:34
So I do that about three times in the summer with they, they go out to a lodge up in the mountains, and we basically three day weekend where we teach them how to fly fish or but it’s mainly about the group chat and just talking about things. So yeah, as you say, the fly fishing.

Bill Gasiamis 52:57
It’s the lure, the fly fishing is the lure. And then these guys come in, and they take the bait, and then, okay, now let’s talk.

Joel Case 53:05
Yeah, and it’s very, very powerful, actually.

Bill Gasiamis 53:09
So, yeah, absolutely. So it sounds like it’s been part of what’s shaped your life in a meaningful way after all of these incidents, was your life lacking that type of meaning or that type of that part of it before stroke, was it just business all the time, like, what was it like?

Joel Case 53:31
Yeah, it was, you know, I look back on my career and yeah, it I focused, I I had a lot of self centeredness, I guess, and hubris and self importance, and so didn’t have much empathy. Probably, you know, raised as I was, you know, just do your job. Stupid type of attitude, you know, that terrible to say, but I don’t want to hear about your problems. So, you know, so And an interesting thing too, is there, there is karma in the world, because my wife has had MS multiple sclerosis for about 35 years now.

Joel Case 54:13
You never know she’s it’s very, very mild case, but you know, she has balance problems. But I never understood, and so I didn’t have the empathy, probably with her. So that’s where the, you know, before the stroke, yeah, it just because, you know, it’s very you have to ring somebody to get you out of bed. You have the bathroom, you know, take a shower and all that kind of stuff, because I could not walk, I couldn’t do anything. So that part just made me introspective also, but looking back on things, and it’s like, Gee, not that I have regrets, but yeah, I could have done things different.

Joel Case 54:54
But it is what it is. And you just try and build upon lessons learned on that. So again. And as you’ve said, a stroke was probably the best thing that happened to me.

Bill Gasiamis 55:04
Seems like it’s been a line in the sand moment for you, where it’s enabled you to reevaluate things, look at things differently. The new experiences have made you see other people’s lives differently.

Joel Case 55:19
The whole I was very judgmental before.

Bill Gasiamis 55:21
Yeah.

Joel Case 55:23
In my mind. And so that’s probably not a good thing. So, yeah, no, it is not a good thing.

Bill Gasiamis 55:30
It’s definitely not. So you’re kind of like, like, I was ignorant, and as a result, you know, I say it often in the podcast episodes. You may have missed it in but I say when I used to see people sitting in a wheelchair, I used to think they were just sitting down. Now I knew that deeper down, you know, their leg didn’t work, or their spine was injured, or something like, I knew that logically, but I just thought that there wasn’t, it was not that much of a big deal that somebody’s in a wheelchair, and I didn’t actually ever have a proper moment where I contemplated somebody’s life or situation.

Bill Gasiamis 56:17
But then after my episodes, I realized, well, then there’s emotional challenges, there’s physical challenges, there’s probably financial challenges, there’s probably like, I mean, how could you be so naive and so ignorant? But when your life hasn’t had that level of when you haven’t had that kind of experience in your life? Well, it’s not it’s not that bad that you are that ignorant. It’s just you cannot sometimes appreciate something unless you actually know somebody who went through it or has been through it, and you’re able to have the deep and meaningful conversations.

Bill Gasiamis 57:02
And you’re able to see more of the struggle. Because, of course, if I don’t know that person in a wheelchair, I don’t see the struggle. I just see somebody sitting in a wheelchair getting pushed around, and I’m thinking, well, at least he’s got a wheelchair and he can push himself around, and he can get from A to B, but gosh, man, like it is just and it is not. It’s not something to really feel bad about. I don’t think if you stay that ignorant after you’ve been through something like that, and you’re still terrible to people who are struggling, and you’re still not empathetic.

Vertebral Artery Occlusion: Reflections on Life and Future Plans After

Bill Gasiamis 57:37
Well then, yeah, then you’re a bit of a thick head, and you know, you don’t deserve empathy, either, but this is what I think. One of the reasons why we go through difficult things is, I think it’s so that we can become more more aware, more educated, more understanding, and we can gain wisdom, and then we could hopefully put that into practice and make a difference to people. Not just go to work and put money in your bank account, but also volunteer, connect with people in a different way, which helps to heal them, but it also helps to heal us, because we’re all traumatized.

Bill Gasiamis 58:19
Everyone’s living with some kind of a trauma. And we, we’re not, you know, we don’t have the gift of being full time philosophers who can just gather somewhere and just talk everything through and work it out and get to the bottom of it and then, you know, and then move on from it. We’re just, we’re not, we’re not being trained that way.

Bill Gasiamis 58:44
We live in a industrial type of society, you know, schooling has been, let’s prepare these people for working in a factory or a line or somewhere, you know, so we are still doing what we’ve been trained to do, and we need to give ourselves a little bit of, you know, leeway, a little bit of grace as well.

Joel Case 59:06
Yeah, compassion and yeah. So, you know, it’s interesting, because since my stroke, people I worked with, know, over the years here in Idaho, couple people have actually had strokes, heart attack or blood clots. And they actually reached out to me, which has been very well I share with them, and which has been very Gosh, what’s the word? I won’t say self satisfaction, but it’s just been okay. This is anything I can impart to help them has been very, very helpful to me and hopefully to them.

Bill Gasiamis 59:45
Full Circle, sounds like it’s come full circle.

Joel Case 59:49
Yeah, because one was when I was at the cardiologist guy worked with he’s there, and he just said, have the stroke. And he was in, looked pretty bad shape, so I he followed up with me. And he’s doing really, really well. So that’s, that’s, so, you know, it’s, there’s no coincidence in the world, I guess, in some sense. But that’s been also, like I said, it’s been a interesting three years for me, and interesting journey. You mentioned financial I mean, one, I don’t know what you you have beautiful health care.

Joel Case 1:00:22
But you know what I learned about the hospital systems here is, what a mess, because my two week stay, I had to deal with like five different companies that because hospitals here are contracting out, they’re being bought by hedge funds, and the emergency room was based out of St Louis. I got a separate bill. The physical therapy was based out of Salt Lake. And this is one hospital, so I mean that, I won’t say it adds stress, but then you’re dealing they’re calling you up.

Joel Case 1:00:53
We’re going to send you the collections. Well, wait a second, what are you talking about? This is a hospital on my insurance provider. But long story short, that’s just another stress factor that I don’t know if you guys have to deal with that over there.

Bill Gasiamis 1:01:06
Not yet, not yet, thankfully. So we have some private hospitals, but most of the public, most of the hospitals are public, and that’s what you just said. Is more scary, the scariest thing I’ve ever heard hospitals are owned by hedge funds. My gosh, a lot of them are those two things should never come together.

Joel Case 1:01:28
Well, because what happens is, it’s all about profit and in and out, in and out.

Bill Gasiamis 1:01:35
So yeah, I mean, it’s simple, similar with us, there’s never enough beds for everybody to be in there at the right at the same amount of time, which is cool, right? I get that. Get people healthy well enough to go home and deal with it themselves. I kind of like that. That’s perfectly fine, but owned by a hedge fund which is relying on profit, my gosh, a hospital should not be a for profit organization. It shouldn’t make a loss, but it should not be a for profit organization.

Joel Case 1:02:05
I don’t know if that’s interesting, comparing the hospital Go ahead, comparing the hospitals here, because I was hospitalized here with my stroke, but the surgery was at a university hospital. I see my doctors down for my follow ups at University of Utah, just totally night and day. And the difference in how they bill and the service you get, because they’re not for profit, they’re university teaching hospital here, like I said, we have one major hospital, and it’s owned through a hedge fund investor out of Nashville, Tennessee.

Joel Case 1:02:44
But like I said, it that just it took me three months to get through all the stuff on, dealing with, getting all the and I have good insurance. Yeah, so that’s stress factor, which you guys don’t have to deal with. I hope you never have to, because in my mind, it’s a shame the richest country in the world we have people that don’t have insurance.

Bill Gasiamis 1:03:04
Yeah, it’s crazy. Doesn’t matter which side of politics you’re on. That is something that both sides of politics have let the public down with, like that. They’ve definitely dropped the ball with that one. And I don’t like, I don’t like the fact that you hear that stroke survivors just got $150,000 bill, and they’re not working, and they’re going to be sent to collections. I mean, how? There can’t be anything more ridiculous. But I understand we got through it.

Bill Gasiamis 1:03:52
Know, can you hear our connection is struggling right now, for some reason, our connection is really struggling. Hear me. I can barely hear you, but let’s see if it settles down.

Joel Case 1:04:09
Gosh, hope we don’t lose.

Bill Gasiamis 1:04:11
I think that might be our sign to wrap it up. But let me just ask you one last question, so if you could share one lesson from your journey with somebody newly diagnosed, what would it be?

Joel Case 1:04:28
Keep moving. Don’t give up. Reach out to people. That’s three things, isn’t it?

Bill Gasiamis 1:04:36
That’s plenty you can keep going.

Joel Case 1:04:43
Yeah, but those three things keep moving. Never give up and reach out to people, because deep down, most people are sympathetic once they know your story. But yeah, I’ve in. So if you go through life with one good friend, that’s all you need in life.

Bill Gasiamis 1:05:05
Joel’s journey isn’t a tidy story of recovery. It’s a story of endurance, to finding strength in small steps, of learning to see with new eyes. I’d love to hear what stayed with you from today’s episode, what part of Joel’s story spoke to you and your experience. Let’s keep this space one where stroke survivors feel seen, heard and supported. If you’re ready to go deeper, The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened. My Book shares stories tools and circuit breakers to help you shift toward growth.

Bill Gasiamis 1:05:39
Check it out at recoveryafterstroke.com/book, and if you’d like to keep this work going, hit the super thanks on YouTube. Join us on Patreon. And if Joel story moved you, please share this episode. Someone else might need it today, and remember one small win at a time. That’s how recovery happens. See you next time.

Intro 1:06:02
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 all content on this website and any linked blog, podcast or video material controlled this website or content is created and produced for informational purposes only, and is largely based on the personal experience of Bill Gasiamis.

Intro 1:06:32
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Intro 1:06:57
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Intro 1:07:24
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The post Vertebral Artery Occlusion Nearly Took Him Down – How Joel Fought Back appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

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Vertebral Artery Occlusion Nearly Took Him Down – How Joel Fought Back

Recovery After Stroke

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