May 9, 2025 • 30 mins
Many of us likely know someone who has had a stroke. But, do you know what the experience or recovery is like? May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and Manny Munoz spoke with Jennifer Rose Goldman, author of "In the Face of Catastrophe: How a Traumatic Brain Injury Became a Blessing."
AND, severe bleeding from trauma is a leading cause of preventable death for people of all ages. Munoz spoke with Dr. Carlos Palacio of the American College of Surgeons about StopTheBleed.Org movement and that and the fact that May is National Stop the Bleed Month.
AND, severe bleeding from trauma is a leading cause of preventable death for people of all ages. Munoz spoke with Dr. Carlos Palacio of the American College of Surgeons about StopTheBleed.Org movement and that and the fact that May is National Stop the Bleed Month.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues in facting you this week.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's many Munios and welcome to another edition of Iheartradios Communities.
As you heard, I am Manny Munyo's. Many of us
likely know someone who's had a stroke, but do you
really know what it is, or what causes a stroke,
or what the recovery is like. Well, May is National
Stroke Awareness Month, and in hopes of getting some clarity
(00:31):
on all of that, we bring in Jennifer Rose Goldman.
She's written a book in the Face of Catastrophe, How
a traumatic brain injury became a blessing. Jen, I really
appreciate the time. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Of course, I'm glad you had me here.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So explain your story to me. You were a perfectly
healthy thirty one year old. Just days before you're thirty one,
your thirty first birthday, you had a stroke.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm a thirty one yet third your birthday. It was
clearly at the blue. It was from like what is
called a cavernous alformation, which is a blood vessel that's abnormal,
and it just bursted in my brain at the blue.
I had no idea what was going to happen. I
actually like, look out that morning in perfect health. Until
(01:18):
it happened. It was perfect. I was perfectly healthy. There
was not any case that would happened to me.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Do you do you remember how you felt while it
was happening, because I know I've read a story where
your mom got a phone call from I think it
was somebody at your work, and they said that you
weren't right, that it was almost like you were you
were on an acid trip.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, I don't remember that at all. Honestly, I don't
remember anything from a stroke, to be honest, because I
blacked out. I was not even aware of what was happening, so.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
None of it for for how long a period of time?
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
About three months? Yeah? Really, I was in out of
consciousness for three months. Like the first ten days or so,
I was out of it completely, and then I remember
like bits and pieces, like I have vague memories of people,
and I don't really remember anything other than people.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
That was because when you had the stroke, you went
into a coma.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Right, yes, uh huh. They think it was from a
genetic abnormality on my brain called a cavernous and anformation
which I was born with or I don't really know honestly,
because people that have that are born with them. They
had they have like a lot of them usually and
they have a rupture. It's very rare for this to rupture.
(02:43):
And because it ruptured, it was a bleed and it
was really devastating bleed and left fun blow of my brain.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Is that usually what strokes are. What exactly is a stroke?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
It could be a dry stroke, which is where it's
a clot, or a bleed which is a hemorrhage. So
there's dry strokes, which is a schamic stroke, and there's
a hamorrhagic stroke, which.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Is a bleed in the brain.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yes, uh huh exactly what is depending on where it
happened in your brain. It it effects different parts of
your body. So like my shoke has my left from
the lobe, which affects my speech and cognition and rights
out of motor function.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And four years later you're still feeling the effects and
you're still recovering.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Right, yeah, uh huh yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Explain what that has been like. When when did you
first come out of it? It was you said like
three months later that you finally were able to understand
what had happened to you.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yes, I was three months later where I was starting
to understand. And I wanted to read this book because
I realized how chomped as the whole family have been.
Because my mom had taken these really good notes when
I had the stroke, and I want her to share
with me, and she started to share, and then she
(04:00):
was like, word, it was me so upset by them
because they're really traumatizing. But I wasn't upset. I wanted
to hear everything that happened, and so I beg her
to read them to me and share them with me.
And so we turned those notes into this book in
the Face of Catastrophe.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And I saw you, I saw you saying what those
notes were like. It was it was kind of like
your brain being a jumbled file cabinet.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
That's exactly what it was like. I didn't know what
had happened. I thought that five years had passed. It
had been three months, and it was like it was
really difficult for me to understand how the piece that
fit together. I didn't know how to do. I didn't
really have any way to like understand how much time
(04:53):
had passed or how old I mean I didn't even
remember how old I was, or I didn't even remember
who my chance was.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
You were engaged at the time when you had your.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Stroke, yes, yeah, how long?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So obviously this this messes up your your brain, your
memory things like that. Did these things start coming back
to you or do you still not remember a lot
of things.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I mean, I don't remember the stroke, obviously, but I
remember other things. Like I've been working my memory every day.
It's really been a practice of like remembering and working
on it every day.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So I'm imagining that that is part of the title
of the book, right it's in the face of catastrophe,
how a traumatic brain injury become it became a blessing
is learning about those things the blessing.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
The blessing is that we got to spend time with
together as a family that I didn't even know I
was missing because before the stroke, I've been a regular
thirty year old. I was very elusive and aloof and
I was living my own life and I didn't even
care about anyone. It wasn't that I didn't care about anyone,
but like, I was very independent, and I would I
(06:11):
would rarely be home, and I was in my life
like I was living my boyfriend and I was living
my life. And this really that this stroke brought me
back to really matter and for that reason was a blessing.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
How have you How have you gone back and learned
about your previous life, things that maybe you didn't remember,
because not everybody gets a chance to think about their
life from almost looking at it as a third person.
And it seems like that's the opportunity you had.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I wouldn't say I was looking at as a third person.
I would say that hmm, I would say that right, you.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Were looking at them through fresh eyes.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
No, yes, yes, that's exactly what it was.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, And what have you learned?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I've learned, Like, I've learned so many things. I've learned.
The first thing that I've learned is that the chapter
is never fully written. The pen is always in your hands.
You can always choose how you want your story to end.
Your story depend is in your hand. It's so ridiculous.
Breath That's the first thing I've learned. Also learned the
power of positivity. Positivity is amazing. It's really by being
(07:37):
positive and having a positive attitude, you can change the
traectory of your healing. And I've learned that you can
that the power is in your hands to choose how
you want to perceive a situation. I've also been the
power of presence and the power of rising victim. It's
(07:58):
always a choice. You can eat choose be a victim,
or you can choose rise above and be a hero.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Her name is Jennifer Rose Goldman. The book is titled
in the Face of Catastrophe, How a traumatic brain injury
Became a Blessing. The website for the book is in
the Face of Catastrophe dot com. Jennifer, how are you
living your life differently this time around than you were
before the stroke.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Well, firstly, I'm living at home with my parents, which
is you know, it's challenging. I really reprioritize my life.
My fiance I broke up, which is whatever. So I
have this new boyfriend who's really good to me, and
(08:49):
and I'm walking with a walker, and I'm work on
my recovery every day. It's a NonStop process.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
What is what is heart? Which is a harder part
of your recovery, the physical or the mental?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Oh, that's such a challenging question.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Actually, let me rephrase it. Let's let's break those down
into what is the physical part of your recovery? Like
right now, what is it four years later?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I still have no perifle vision, I still can't balance.
I walk with a walker. I have braced on both legs.
I have braced on braces on both legs. And yeah,
that's pretty much it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
What about the mental aspect and how you view life
differently now than you might have beforehand?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
As I mentioned, I try to say positive because positivity
impacts your recovery, and so I believe being positive will
help me recover faster, and I really try to embodied
that's the best of my ability. I'll also try to
say a present, because all I can do is be
(10:02):
in and now there's there's no telling and what can
happen in the future, and the path already happened, So
the power of presence has kept me grounded.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
How has it changed your life with your family? You
said you're spending time together now that you work. Beforehand,
you wrote this book because of the notes that your
mom took. What was it in those notes that struck
you most about that time?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
You don't remember, Hm, it was so beautiful pouring through
those notes. It was such a touching experience and intimate
experience that I got shared with my mom in going
through that together, like going through the physical notes together
and actually reliving the memories of like what had happened
(10:47):
to me through her through her notes. It was very
intimate and we got to share a lot together through that.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Through that process, how anxiety has been has been part
of what you've had to deal with. Right, you don't
know what tomorrow holds, You don't remember a lot of
things exactly, how you don't How have you dealt with that?
Because it seems like in this day and age, especially
among young people, anxiety is as high as it's ever been.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah. Hm, that's a good question. I think the way
that I deal with that is again through being present.
And all I can do is be present. I mean,
I can be future oriented, and that would be that's
really unfortunate because even no control over what's going to happen,
(11:37):
and when you're in the past, you're just in the past.
And so I try to say as much in the
present as possible, And that's why it overcome anxiety. Is
like whenever I think of what if I bring myself
back to now, let.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Me ask you about this, people, I think. I think
I was reading about you did you did you get
a and philosophy? Yes, How do you think that's impacted
the way that you've addressed your recovery?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Oh my god, it's been so helpful because I was
a very spiritual person before this happened, and so I've
used my spiritual practice like affirmations, visualizations, meditations, et cetera,
to basically like root into the deeper into those practices
to get me through this time.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
What is like, go ahead?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
I was going to say, like the power of positivity
is how I get through it all every day, like
being positive and reciting these affirmations and visualizing myself in
perfect health even though it now the fact that I
see myself there means it's going to happen. I really
believe that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
How is that visual that that philosophy different now than
it was before the stroke? Though? Because you'd had your
age for I don't know, almost ten years, I guess
before the stroke.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Because I had never had to put into practice right,
this stroke was a big test. It's a really big
test and a life it's like a life alternate event obviously,
and it's really tested my ability to practice these things
that I it's like walking a walk and just talking
to talk. Yeah, I'm working the walk right now.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Let me ask you this, what advice do you have
for someone who's loved one is going through what you
are going through? Obviously everybody that has a stroke is
affected differently, their recovery is different. But what advice would
you have for a loved one of somebody dealing with
their recovery from a stroke.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
I would say, be patient with yourself and your loved one.
It's a process. It takes time. Growth is incremental, like
view the growth in incremental stages. It's not going to
happen all at once. It takes time to process and
be patient with yourself and be patient with the person
(14:07):
and just be loving. The more love you can show them,
the better their their recovery is going to be.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
What about for those who are recovering from a stroke
who might listen to this conversation or or read the book.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I would say, be gentle if yourself, be patient with yourself,
show yourself grace, be kind yourself, be loving to yourself.
It's a journey, not the process is the journey.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
What about those what about those times where during your
recovery you don't see a lot of progress. You feel
like you've hit a wall and this is as good
as it's going to get. How do you move past that?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
I let myself wallow. Oh, I don't wallow. Actually that's
not not true. I let myself cry for a bit,
and then I don't wallow. I get up and move
on the next day, the next couple of days. I mean,
because I feel hopeless sometimes. But I can just do
that for a moment, But if I do it for
too long, I wallow. And I thought, Okay, what would you.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Like somebody to take away from our conversation or the book.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
That you have the power within you to choose to
create your narrative and that you can create life on
your own terms, Like the power is in your hands
to create your reality. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I love what you said earlier, that you always have
the pen, you can always write the next chapter. I
think that's beautiful, exact.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah. Her name is Jennifer Rose Goldman. The book is
titled in the Face of Catastrophe, How a traumatic brain
injury Became a Blessing. The website for the book is
in the Face of Catastrophe dot com. Uh, Jen, thank
you so much for sharing your time, your story, and
best of luck and your continued recovery.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Severe bleeding from trauma is a leading cause of preventable
death for people of all ages in our country. Experts
estimate that thousands of lives could be saved every year
with just faster access to trauma care, including applying bleeding
control techniques at the scene of the injury. Let's discuss
it with doctor Carlos Plasio with the American College of
(16:21):
Surgeons and the Stop the Bleed Program. Doctor Polosio, I
appreciate the time, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Thank you, manie, thank you for having me. And yeah,
you're right. Thousands of lives on losses each year due
to severe bleeding, and people tend to think that this
is not going to happen to them, But the truth
of the matter is that it can happen to anyone,
and it can happen anywhere, from a simple kitchen injury
(16:48):
to something more devastating, so just crash injuries and perhaps
work place accidents. It can happen anywhere, and we need
to be ready to act whenever these situations happens with anyone.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, I want to ask you about the whole stop
the Bleed program and stop the bleed dot org in
a moment. But how how common is a bleeding emergency?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
It's very common. As I said, people tend to think
it's not absent. It several times in my during my career,
multiple multiple times I would say, and it can go anywhere,
it can. You know, people tend to think that they're
safe at home, but there are things in your home
that can harm you as well. And when this accident happens,
(17:38):
you need to be ready to act not only to you,
but it can also happen to any of your loved
ones as well.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
And people tend to think that that a you know,
if you cut yourself or you have some sort of
a bleeding event, it's only dangerous if it's your carotid
artery or somewhere in your chest. But really, you could
bleed out in a lot of areas of your body,
can't you.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Absolutely, And if it's of course, you know more than
sixty five year old people, they tend to okay, well
I'll be fine, but that little oozing, little by little,
it's gonna cause some damage. It could also happen to
a young one. Some people you know, young people and
I'll be fine, don't worry about it. They go to
bed and then they wake up in a pool of blood.
(18:20):
So it's very important to be knowledgeable on how to
prevent this kind of death.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, and we've seen too often in our country these events,
mass shootings for example, happened much more often than we
would realize or we would like to admit. And that's
really where the whole Stop the Bleed movement and Stop
the Bleed dot org started, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
That is correct? So it is started like that because
they realized in the studies after the mass shooting that
the people who died of exagmination, meaning a lot of
blood would leave their body and there was nowhere either
a kid or a way to help that person stop
(19:03):
the bleed. So it basically empowers the population to be
ready to stop the bleed because remember, the thing needs
to be clear by the police before EMS can get there,
and that can take up to thirty minutes to an
hour depending on the situation. Right, So with this course,
the college wanted to empower the community to act in
(19:26):
case they will face such situations. Now it has changed
a little bit throughout the years too, because we realized
that this was useful not only in the mass shooting
but also in our day to day to day lives.
As I said before, for instance, let's say that you
have a kitchen injury, a knife fail, or you got
(19:47):
hurt by a knife, then you can apply those principles
to stop the bleed and of course prevent death.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And so this is no different than for example, the
Red Cross learning how to do CPR or something like that,
and everybody can kind of take these basic training courses
to learn how to stop the bleed.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
That is actually correct. If we're going to do the parallel,
this would be that equivalent. That's skill that we need
to learn, that it's effective and that can save lives
as well.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
What is for example, in a stop the bleed kit,
what are the key components and how do they help
individually in a bleeding emergency.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Definitely, so the kid has gousses and that has there
is also an special gus that is going to be
able to coagulate your blood when you're when you're bleeding,
so meaning it's going to slow down even further that
that bleeding when it happened. It also has shears trauma
(20:51):
shears as we call them, so that you can remove
or cut those gems and access where the where the
bleeding is happening more expedadly. And then it also has
a tourniquet. So the tourniquet you place it above the
injury to avoid or to to avoid exagination or basically
(21:13):
to keep your blood within your body so that you
will be able to be taken to a hospital to
receive a professional hult.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Have a few more minutes here with doctor Carlos Palassio.
He's of the American College of Surgeons. We are talking
about stop the bleed, to stop the bleed movement and
stop the bleed dot org. What are what are for example,
the three main techniques that you teach in and stop
the bleed training.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah. So the first one is apply pressure, and we
tell you how to apply pressure. Some people tend to
think that it's just put in your hand and that's it.
Now you're going to use piece of gauz apply pressure.
The next one is we teach you how to open
that wound very delicate and pack it. You know, there
(22:01):
is a way that we teach them how to do that.
It's not just shove a piece of gauz or a
piece of cloth in it. There is a way, appropriate
way to do it. And finally, how to apply to tournique.
So as I said before, you'll you'll put that above
the level of the injury and then and what it
does is basically compressed the vessel so that you keep
(22:22):
as much blood as you can in your body, so
that you'll be able to have time to go to
the hospital and receive professional help, much.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Like learning CPR or the Heimlich maneuver. A lot of
this counts on somebody, you know, being somewhere seeing something
happen and then being a good samaritan. How does that
play into everything? Somebody doing the right thing.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
That is correct. It's just doing the right thing for
one another and help each other out whenever we're a
victim of one of these accidents.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Talk to me about the Stop the Bleed initiative and
what really what the primary goal of NASH Stop the
Bleed Month is all about.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, it's just preventable that making sure that people have
that knowledge necessary to act whenever it's necessary for your
loved one, for another person. We have all the information
and the stopd Bleed dot org slash Save the lives.
We not only have the information for the kids, but
also we have what are the classes available? That calendar
(23:26):
telling you, okay, well we have classes here and there.
Most importantly, you can also submit a request so that
we can take the classes to your community either churches, libraries,
community centers, so that more people will be educated on
how to save the lives and how to do that
when it's more critical for someone.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
What about schools? Is to stop the bleed program in
schools as well?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Definitely, yes, we the trauma centers have a duty and
we do go and teach the school especially the teachers,
how to apply these principles of pressure backing and turniquet
to the kids in case that something horrible where to happen?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I mentioned the website is stop the Bleed dot org
Stop the Bleed do o RG and that's where you
can find these training classes. What is one of these classes? Like,
what exactly do we learn?
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, we have mannequins, We have of course the kid
We explain you what are the key components, each one
by one a little bit more detailed to what I
give you here. We go through the steps of how
to stop the bleeding case something where to happen with
the mannequins, so you get familiar with what is going on.
(24:48):
A lot of people tend to freeze when they see blood,
but that's not the case. That's what we're teaching you.
So take your time, learn how to do it so
you don't freeze when you see the pull of blood
coming out. And then we show you some videos. There
is some nice illustrations or the new edition on how
to provide the care necessary.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
What do do you find that people have misconceptions about
bleeding out, how to control bleeding and stuff like that,
then maybe the Stop the Bleed Program addresses.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I think people sometimes tend to look to the other side.
People are concerns if they're going to get sued or
things like that for helping out, but I don't think
that's the case. There is always the good from Samaritan
law that prevents that from happening. You're trying to do
the right thing for the patient. I think that's one
(25:42):
of the main things that people tend to be more
scare of when we teach the courses. That's what they
ask the most.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Tell me a little bit about the Stop the Bleed
program itself, How did it originate? Why did it originate?
How has it grown?
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah? So it's worldwide right now and we have taught
thousand and of people. And you know, it started because
of the mass shootings. Some of the that they were
prevented it was it was an artery on the extremity
or a vein, and the help was not there. So
(26:16):
by developing the course, which included pressure backing and tourniquets, uh,
the college UH wanted to prevent that in those situations
and then it evolved uh into what we have today. UH.
And it also empowers the civilians. And as I said,
it's not only the mass shooting. It could happen in
(26:38):
your kitchen. It could happen in your work. We have
a lot of workers and factories that you know, they
they might get hurt by a flying object and then
it might hit them in the in the arm and
unfortunately in the artery and and this this course will
help to save that life.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Talk to me about how you hope that listeners are
maybe community leaders who might be listening get involved and
promote support the whole Stop the Bleed initiative.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah. I really think that by doing this campaign, it's
really get the words out some people don't know that
this technique exists, and some people they want to learn,
they just don't know where to go. So I really
think that by getting the word out and making sure
that we all know that the course exists, it's already developed,
(27:35):
I think it's going to attract the attention of the
leaders and also the regular people. If you go to
the website, then you might be able to skittle a case,
or you will be able to skittle a case of
course in your region or in your community, so that
you can get the word out even further.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
About how long do these courses take.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
It's usually less than an hour, but if I'm inn
used to an hour depending and it's free, there is
no charge for it. Uh. So sometimes you can also
go to your trauma centers. They have we have the
duty to teach uh stop the bleed and uh that
also that is also a possibility.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Can we close it out with one maybe an anecdote,
a success story, a real life example you're familiar with
where the stop the bleed training has saved the life.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, absolutely so. I had a case that was probably
a few years ago. It was actually somebody that was
cutting some tree branches and he accidentally got hurt on
the arm and then he failed, so that you can
imagine it was it was not only the stop the bleed,
(28:45):
but also it was the fall in the fallen injury,
and then the wife called nine one one. A PD
got there first before the paramedics. They had the police
officer applied this principles applied to Turniquet because he was
bleeding out that by the time the paramedics got there,
he was already he was already in good shape to
(29:07):
say the least, and we bought time for that patient
to come all the way to the hospital. He did
have an archerial injury, so it definitely it definitely helps
for sure.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yeah, first responders aren't going to be there always are
or at the moment's notice, so it takes a good
samaritan to save a life. Doctor Carlos Palassio with the
American College of Surgeons the website you could go to
to find out more information or where you could take
the class Stop the Bleed dot org. Stop the Bleed
dot o RG. Doctor Palasio, thanks so much for what
(29:39):
you're doing with this, Thank you for the information and
for your time. Best of luck.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Thank you so much money, and that'll do it. For
another edition of Iheartradios Communities. I'm Manny Muno's until next time.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on
the biggest issues in facting you this week.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Here's many Munios and welcome to another edition of Iheartradios Communities.
As you heard, I am Manny Munyo's. Many of us
likely know someone who's had a stroke, but do you
really know what it is, or what causes a stroke,
or what the recovery is like. Well, May is National
Stroke Awareness Month, and in hopes of getting some clarity
(00:31):
on all of that, we bring in Jennifer Rose Goldman.
She's written a book in the Face of Catastrophe, How
a traumatic brain injury became a blessing. Jen, I really
appreciate the time. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Of course, I'm glad you had me here.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So explain your story to me. You were a perfectly
healthy thirty one year old. Just days before you're thirty one,
your thirty first birthday, you had a stroke.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm a thirty one yet third your birthday. It was
clearly at the blue. It was from like what is
called a cavernous alformation, which is a blood vessel that's abnormal,
and it just bursted in my brain at the blue.
I had no idea what was going to happen. I
actually like, look out that morning in perfect health. Until
(01:18):
it happened. It was perfect. I was perfectly healthy. There
was not any case that would happened to me.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Do you do you remember how you felt while it
was happening, because I know I've read a story where
your mom got a phone call from I think it
was somebody at your work, and they said that you
weren't right, that it was almost like you were you
were on an acid trip.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, I don't remember that at all. Honestly, I don't
remember anything from a stroke, to be honest, because I
blacked out. I was not even aware of what was happening, so.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
None of it for for how long a period of time?
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
About three months? Yeah? Really, I was in out of
consciousness for three months. Like the first ten days or so,
I was out of it completely, and then I remember
like bits and pieces, like I have vague memories of people,
and I don't really remember anything other than people.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
That was because when you had the stroke, you went
into a coma.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Right, yes, uh huh. They think it was from a
genetic abnormality on my brain called a cavernous and anformation
which I was born with or I don't really know honestly,
because people that have that are born with them. They
had they have like a lot of them usually and
they have a rupture. It's very rare for this to rupture.
(02:43):
And because it ruptured, it was a bleed and it
was really devastating bleed and left fun blow of my brain.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Is that usually what strokes are. What exactly is a stroke?
Speaker 3 (02:54):
It could be a dry stroke, which is where it's
a clot, or a bleed which is a hemorrhage. So
there's dry strokes, which is a schamic stroke, and there's
a hamorrhagic stroke, which.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Is a bleed in the brain.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yes, uh huh exactly what is depending on where it
happened in your brain. It it effects different parts of
your body. So like my shoke has my left from
the lobe, which affects my speech and cognition and rights
out of motor function.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
And four years later you're still feeling the effects and
you're still recovering.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Right, yeah, uh huh yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Explain what that has been like. When when did you
first come out of it? It was you said like
three months later that you finally were able to understand
what had happened to you.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yes, I was three months later where I was starting
to understand. And I wanted to read this book because
I realized how chomped as the whole family have been.
Because my mom had taken these really good notes when
I had the stroke, and I want her to share
with me, and she started to share, and then she
(04:00):
was like, word, it was me so upset by them
because they're really traumatizing. But I wasn't upset. I wanted
to hear everything that happened, and so I beg her
to read them to me and share them with me.
And so we turned those notes into this book in
the Face of Catastrophe.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And I saw you, I saw you saying what those
notes were like. It was it was kind of like
your brain being a jumbled file cabinet.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
That's exactly what it was like. I didn't know what
had happened. I thought that five years had passed. It
had been three months, and it was like it was
really difficult for me to understand how the piece that
fit together. I didn't know how to do. I didn't
really have any way to like understand how much time
(04:53):
had passed or how old I mean I didn't even
remember how old I was, or I didn't even remember
who my chance was.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
You were engaged at the time when you had your.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Stroke, yes, yeah, how long?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So obviously this this messes up your your brain, your
memory things like that. Did these things start coming back
to you or do you still not remember a lot
of things.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I mean, I don't remember the stroke, obviously, but I
remember other things. Like I've been working my memory every day.
It's really been a practice of like remembering and working
on it every day.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So I'm imagining that that is part of the title
of the book, right it's in the face of catastrophe,
how a traumatic brain injury become it became a blessing
is learning about those things the blessing.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
The blessing is that we got to spend time with
together as a family that I didn't even know I
was missing because before the stroke, I've been a regular
thirty year old. I was very elusive and aloof and
I was living my own life and I didn't even
care about anyone. It wasn't that I didn't care about anyone,
but like, I was very independent, and I would I
(06:11):
would rarely be home, and I was in my life
like I was living my boyfriend and I was living
my life. And this really that this stroke brought me
back to really matter and for that reason was a blessing.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
How have you How have you gone back and learned
about your previous life, things that maybe you didn't remember,
because not everybody gets a chance to think about their
life from almost looking at it as a third person.
And it seems like that's the opportunity you had.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I wouldn't say I was looking at as a third person.
I would say that hmm, I would say that right, you.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Were looking at them through fresh eyes.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
No, yes, yes, that's exactly what it was.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, And what have you learned?
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I've learned, Like, I've learned so many things. I've learned.
The first thing that I've learned is that the chapter
is never fully written. The pen is always in your hands.
You can always choose how you want your story to end.
Your story depend is in your hand. It's so ridiculous.
Breath That's the first thing I've learned. Also learned the
power of positivity. Positivity is amazing. It's really by being
(07:37):
positive and having a positive attitude, you can change the
traectory of your healing. And I've learned that you can
that the power is in your hands to choose how
you want to perceive a situation. I've also been the
power of presence and the power of rising victim. It's
(07:58):
always a choice. You can eat choose be a victim,
or you can choose rise above and be a hero.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Her name is Jennifer Rose Goldman. The book is titled
in the Face of Catastrophe, How a traumatic brain injury
Became a Blessing. The website for the book is in
the Face of Catastrophe dot com. Jennifer, how are you
living your life differently this time around than you were
before the stroke.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Well, firstly, I'm living at home with my parents, which
is you know, it's challenging. I really reprioritize my life.
My fiance I broke up, which is whatever. So I
have this new boyfriend who's really good to me, and
(08:49):
and I'm walking with a walker, and I'm work on
my recovery every day. It's a NonStop process.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
What is what is heart? Which is a harder part
of your recovery, the physical or the mental?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Oh, that's such a challenging question.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Actually, let me rephrase it. Let's let's break those down
into what is the physical part of your recovery? Like
right now, what is it four years later?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
I still have no perifle vision, I still can't balance.
I walk with a walker. I have braced on both legs.
I have braced on braces on both legs. And yeah,
that's pretty much it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
What about the mental aspect and how you view life
differently now than you might have beforehand?
Speaker 3 (09:42):
As I mentioned, I try to say positive because positivity
impacts your recovery, and so I believe being positive will
help me recover faster, and I really try to embodied
that's the best of my ability. I'll also try to
say a present, because all I can do is be
(10:02):
in and now there's there's no telling and what can
happen in the future, and the path already happened, So
the power of presence has kept me grounded.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
How has it changed your life with your family? You
said you're spending time together now that you work. Beforehand,
you wrote this book because of the notes that your
mom took. What was it in those notes that struck
you most about that time?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
You don't remember, Hm, it was so beautiful pouring through
those notes. It was such a touching experience and intimate
experience that I got shared with my mom in going
through that together, like going through the physical notes together
and actually reliving the memories of like what had happened
(10:47):
to me through her through her notes. It was very
intimate and we got to share a lot together through that.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Through that process, how anxiety has been has been part
of what you've had to deal with. Right, you don't
know what tomorrow holds, You don't remember a lot of
things exactly, how you don't How have you dealt with that?
Because it seems like in this day and age, especially
among young people, anxiety is as high as it's ever been.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah. Hm, that's a good question. I think the way
that I deal with that is again through being present.
And all I can do is be present. I mean,
I can be future oriented, and that would be that's
really unfortunate because even no control over what's going to happen,
(11:37):
and when you're in the past, you're just in the past.
And so I try to say as much in the
present as possible, And that's why it overcome anxiety. Is
like whenever I think of what if I bring myself
back to now, let.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Me ask you about this, people, I think. I think
I was reading about you did you did you get
a and philosophy? Yes, How do you think that's impacted
the way that you've addressed your recovery?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Oh my god, it's been so helpful because I was
a very spiritual person before this happened, and so I've
used my spiritual practice like affirmations, visualizations, meditations, et cetera,
to basically like root into the deeper into those practices
to get me through this time.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
What is like, go ahead?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
I was going to say, like the power of positivity
is how I get through it all every day, like
being positive and reciting these affirmations and visualizing myself in
perfect health even though it now the fact that I
see myself there means it's going to happen. I really
believe that.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
How is that visual that that philosophy different now than
it was before the stroke? Though? Because you'd had your
age for I don't know, almost ten years, I guess
before the stroke.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Because I had never had to put into practice right,
this stroke was a big test. It's a really big
test and a life it's like a life alternate event obviously,
and it's really tested my ability to practice these things
that I it's like walking a walk and just talking
to talk. Yeah, I'm working the walk right now.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Let me ask you this, what advice do you have
for someone who's loved one is going through what you
are going through? Obviously everybody that has a stroke is
affected differently, their recovery is different. But what advice would
you have for a loved one of somebody dealing with
their recovery from a stroke.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
I would say, be patient with yourself and your loved one.
It's a process. It takes time. Growth is incremental, like
view the growth in incremental stages. It's not going to
happen all at once. It takes time to process and
be patient with yourself and be patient with the person
(14:07):
and just be loving. The more love you can show them,
the better their their recovery is going to be.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
What about for those who are recovering from a stroke
who might listen to this conversation or or read the book.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I would say, be gentle if yourself, be patient with yourself,
show yourself grace, be kind yourself, be loving to yourself.
It's a journey, not the process is the journey.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
What about those what about those times where during your
recovery you don't see a lot of progress. You feel
like you've hit a wall and this is as good
as it's going to get. How do you move past that?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
I let myself wallow. Oh, I don't wallow. Actually that's
not not true. I let myself cry for a bit,
and then I don't wallow. I get up and move
on the next day, the next couple of days. I mean,
because I feel hopeless sometimes. But I can just do
that for a moment, But if I do it for
too long, I wallow. And I thought, Okay, what would you.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Like somebody to take away from our conversation or the book.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
That you have the power within you to choose to
create your narrative and that you can create life on
your own terms, Like the power is in your hands
to create your reality. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I love what you said earlier, that you always have
the pen, you can always write the next chapter. I
think that's beautiful, exact.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah. Her name is Jennifer Rose Goldman. The book is
titled in the Face of Catastrophe, How a traumatic brain
injury Became a Blessing. The website for the book is
in the Face of Catastrophe dot com. Uh, Jen, thank
you so much for sharing your time, your story, and
best of luck and your continued recovery.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Severe bleeding from trauma is a leading cause of preventable
death for people of all ages in our country. Experts
estimate that thousands of lives could be saved every year
with just faster access to trauma care, including applying bleeding
control techniques at the scene of the injury. Let's discuss
it with doctor Carlos Plasio with the American College of
(16:21):
Surgeons and the Stop the Bleed Program. Doctor Polosio, I
appreciate the time, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Thank you, manie, thank you for having me. And yeah,
you're right. Thousands of lives on losses each year due
to severe bleeding, and people tend to think that this
is not going to happen to them, But the truth
of the matter is that it can happen to anyone,
and it can happen anywhere, from a simple kitchen injury
(16:48):
to something more devastating, so just crash injuries and perhaps
work place accidents. It can happen anywhere, and we need
to be ready to act whenever these situations happens with anyone.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, I want to ask you about the whole stop
the Bleed program and stop the bleed dot org in
a moment. But how how common is a bleeding emergency?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
It's very common. As I said, people tend to think
it's not absent. It several times in my during my career,
multiple multiple times I would say, and it can go anywhere,
it can. You know, people tend to think that they're
safe at home, but there are things in your home
that can harm you as well. And when this accident happens,
(17:38):
you need to be ready to act not only to you,
but it can also happen to any of your loved
ones as well.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
And people tend to think that that a you know,
if you cut yourself or you have some sort of
a bleeding event, it's only dangerous if it's your carotid
artery or somewhere in your chest. But really, you could
bleed out in a lot of areas of your body,
can't you.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Absolutely, And if it's of course, you know more than
sixty five year old people, they tend to okay, well
I'll be fine, but that little oozing, little by little,
it's gonna cause some damage. It could also happen to
a young one. Some people you know, young people and
I'll be fine, don't worry about it. They go to
bed and then they wake up in a pool of blood.
(18:20):
So it's very important to be knowledgeable on how to
prevent this kind of death.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, and we've seen too often in our country these events,
mass shootings for example, happened much more often than we
would realize or we would like to admit. And that's
really where the whole Stop the Bleed movement and Stop
the Bleed dot org started, isn't it?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
That is correct? So it is started like that because
they realized in the studies after the mass shooting that
the people who died of exagmination, meaning a lot of
blood would leave their body and there was nowhere either
a kid or a way to help that person stop
(19:03):
the bleed. So it basically empowers the population to be
ready to stop the bleed because remember, the thing needs
to be clear by the police before EMS can get there,
and that can take up to thirty minutes to an
hour depending on the situation. Right, So with this course,
the college wanted to empower the community to act in
(19:26):
case they will face such situations. Now it has changed
a little bit throughout the years too, because we realized
that this was useful not only in the mass shooting
but also in our day to day to day lives.
As I said before, for instance, let's say that you
have a kitchen injury, a knife fail, or you got
(19:47):
hurt by a knife, then you can apply those principles
to stop the bleed and of course prevent death.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And so this is no different than for example, the
Red Cross learning how to do CPR or something like that,
and everybody can kind of take these basic training courses
to learn how to stop the bleed.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
That is actually correct. If we're going to do the parallel,
this would be that equivalent. That's skill that we need
to learn, that it's effective and that can save lives
as well.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
What is for example, in a stop the bleed kit,
what are the key components and how do they help
individually in a bleeding emergency.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Definitely, so the kid has gousses and that has there
is also an special gus that is going to be
able to coagulate your blood when you're when you're bleeding,
so meaning it's going to slow down even further that
that bleeding when it happened. It also has shears trauma
(20:51):
shears as we call them, so that you can remove
or cut those gems and access where the where the
bleeding is happening more expedadly. And then it also has
a tourniquet. So the tourniquet you place it above the
injury to avoid or to to avoid exagination or basically
(21:13):
to keep your blood within your body so that you
will be able to be taken to a hospital to
receive a professional hult.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Have a few more minutes here with doctor Carlos Palassio.
He's of the American College of Surgeons. We are talking
about stop the bleed, to stop the bleed movement and
stop the bleed dot org. What are what are for example,
the three main techniques that you teach in and stop
the bleed training.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Yeah. So the first one is apply pressure, and we
tell you how to apply pressure. Some people tend to
think that it's just put in your hand and that's it.
Now you're going to use piece of gauz apply pressure.
The next one is we teach you how to open
that wound very delicate and pack it. You know, there
(22:01):
is a way that we teach them how to do that.
It's not just shove a piece of gauz or a
piece of cloth in it. There is a way, appropriate
way to do it. And finally, how to apply to tournique.
So as I said before, you'll you'll put that above
the level of the injury and then and what it
does is basically compressed the vessel so that you keep
(22:22):
as much blood as you can in your body, so
that you'll be able to have time to go to
the hospital and receive professional help, much.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Like learning CPR or the Heimlich maneuver. A lot of
this counts on somebody, you know, being somewhere seeing something
happen and then being a good samaritan. How does that
play into everything? Somebody doing the right thing.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
That is correct. It's just doing the right thing for
one another and help each other out whenever we're a
victim of one of these accidents.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Talk to me about the Stop the Bleed initiative and
what really what the primary goal of NASH Stop the
Bleed Month is all about.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, it's just preventable that making sure that people have
that knowledge necessary to act whenever it's necessary for your
loved one, for another person. We have all the information
and the stopd Bleed dot org slash Save the lives.
We not only have the information for the kids, but
also we have what are the classes available? That calendar
(23:26):
telling you, okay, well we have classes here and there.
Most importantly, you can also submit a request so that
we can take the classes to your community either churches, libraries,
community centers, so that more people will be educated on
how to save the lives and how to do that
when it's more critical for someone.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
What about schools? Is to stop the bleed program in
schools as well?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Definitely, yes, we the trauma centers have a duty and
we do go and teach the school especially the teachers,
how to apply these principles of pressure backing and turniquet
to the kids in case that something horrible where to happen?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
I mentioned the website is stop the Bleed dot org
Stop the Bleed do o RG and that's where you
can find these training classes. What is one of these classes? Like,
what exactly do we learn?
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, we have mannequins, We have of course the kid
We explain you what are the key components, each one
by one a little bit more detailed to what I
give you here. We go through the steps of how
to stop the bleeding case something where to happen with
the mannequins, so you get familiar with what is going on.
(24:48):
A lot of people tend to freeze when they see blood,
but that's not the case. That's what we're teaching you.
So take your time, learn how to do it so
you don't freeze when you see the pull of blood
coming out. And then we show you some videos. There
is some nice illustrations or the new edition on how
to provide the care necessary.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
What do do you find that people have misconceptions about
bleeding out, how to control bleeding and stuff like that,
then maybe the Stop the Bleed Program addresses.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I think people sometimes tend to look to the other side.
People are concerns if they're going to get sued or
things like that for helping out, but I don't think
that's the case. There is always the good from Samaritan
law that prevents that from happening. You're trying to do
the right thing for the patient. I think that's one
(25:42):
of the main things that people tend to be more
scare of when we teach the courses. That's what they
ask the most.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Tell me a little bit about the Stop the Bleed
program itself, How did it originate? Why did it originate?
How has it grown?
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah? So it's worldwide right now and we have taught
thousand and of people. And you know, it started because
of the mass shootings. Some of the that they were
prevented it was it was an artery on the extremity
or a vein, and the help was not there. So
(26:16):
by developing the course, which included pressure backing and tourniquets, uh,
the college UH wanted to prevent that in those situations
and then it evolved uh into what we have today. UH.
And it also empowers the civilians. And as I said,
it's not only the mass shooting. It could happen in
(26:38):
your kitchen. It could happen in your work. We have
a lot of workers and factories that you know, they
they might get hurt by a flying object and then
it might hit them in the in the arm and
unfortunately in the artery and and this this course will
help to save that life.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Talk to me about how you hope that listeners are
maybe community leaders who might be listening get involved and
promote support the whole Stop the Bleed initiative.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Yeah. I really think that by doing this campaign, it's
really get the words out some people don't know that
this technique exists, and some people they want to learn,
they just don't know where to go. So I really
think that by getting the word out and making sure
that we all know that the course exists, it's already developed,
(27:35):
I think it's going to attract the attention of the
leaders and also the regular people. If you go to
the website, then you might be able to skittle a case,
or you will be able to skittle a case of
course in your region or in your community, so that
you can get the word out even further.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
About how long do these courses take.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
It's usually less than an hour, but if I'm inn
used to an hour depending and it's free, there is
no charge for it. Uh. So sometimes you can also
go to your trauma centers. They have we have the
duty to teach uh stop the bleed and uh that
also that is also a possibility.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Can we close it out with one maybe an anecdote,
a success story, a real life example you're familiar with
where the stop the bleed training has saved the life.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, absolutely so. I had a case that was probably
a few years ago. It was actually somebody that was
cutting some tree branches and he accidentally got hurt on
the arm and then he failed, so that you can
imagine it was it was not only the stop the bleed,
(28:45):
but also it was the fall in the fallen injury,
and then the wife called nine one one. A PD
got there first before the paramedics. They had the police
officer applied this principles applied to Turniquet because he was
bleeding out that by the time the paramedics got there,
he was already he was already in good shape to
(29:07):
say the least, and we bought time for that patient
to come all the way to the hospital. He did
have an archerial injury, so it definitely it definitely helps
for sure.
Speaker 2 (29:17):
Yeah, first responders aren't going to be there always are
or at the moment's notice, so it takes a good
samaritan to save a life. Doctor Carlos Palassio with the
American College of Surgeons the website you could go to
to find out more information or where you could take
the class Stop the Bleed dot org. Stop the Bleed
dot o RG. Doctor Palasio, thanks so much for what
(29:39):
you're doing with this, Thank you for the information and
for your time. Best of luck.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Thank you so much money, and that'll do it. For
another edition of Iheartradios Communities. I'm Manny Muno's until next time.
Host
Manny Munoz
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