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Terry Streetman (Host): Welcome back to Well Within Reach, presented by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Terry Streetman. And I'm here today with Jennifer Younker, who's going to tell us about her experience with stroke and with Riverside's Brain & Spine Institute and Rehabilitation Services. Thanks for joining us.

Jennifer Younker: Thank you.

Host: So to start off, your story starts with having a stroke. Can you tell us about that experience and how that brought you into the Riverside system?

Jennifer Younker: Yeah. I was at home, working from home that day. And all of a sudden, I would like to say it felt like fireworks going off in my brain all of a sudden. It was like in the middle of a meeting, because I was working from home. So, I was just like, "That's not right," right? So, I get out of my meeting and I call 911. And I get them in my house, because of course it's a day, my front door was locked, my dog... I had to talk them in coming through my garage. Got them in my house, and they get me on the stretcher, and they're like, "Jennifer, we think you're having a stroke." And I'm like, "I think so. That's why I called you."

Host: Yeah.

Jennifer Younker: And they're like, "Where do you want to go?" And I'm like, "Riverside." That was the first place to go. So, they got me down there. I don't remember too much till I had to have a craniectomy. And then, your social workers worked with me to get to a full-time facility at Shirley Ryan in Chicago so I could have a full-time experience there. And then they have a day program that I could go to after. So, I could get intense working all day so my husband, he could be with me, but he could still go to work. So, we could go do all of that. So, I did that for six months. And then, I took a break, because obviously six months of PT and OT and speech is a lot. And then, when I decided I needed to come back, I first started with your Riverside Healthcare Center. They had a stroke exercise program.

So, I joined in that group. I was one of the first people in that group that started it. So, I started with that to build my endurance back up and do all of that. And once I felt comfortable there, then I came back to physical therapy, and I came to the Mantino location, and I started to do a little bit of OT at your Meadowview location. I did another couple months of that.

Host: Okay. Well, thank you for demonstrating the example of if you notice stroke symptoms, call 911 immediately and say, "Take me to Riverside." That's what we always want to see. And so, you went through these different stages of treatment, Shirley Ryan, and then back to Riverside. Can you talk about what your experience was like with Riverside Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation?

Jennifer Younker: It's been a good experience of that. Like, what happened is, as I was going through the gym class, we'll talk about what was working there, what are we working on so that we could build on it here, and what my goals were.

What I really like about the experience, too, is that I was like, "I've seen this in, like, a stroke group that worked for this. Do you think this would work, and can we try it to see how that will go?" So, through experimenting and listening, I've been able now to do step-ups, like, on curbs, which I couldn't do before. I can now do that, and do boxes and all that work. So, like, they just really worked in partnership with what I was already doing and what my goals were to get where I wanted to go.

Host: Okay. And so, through that process, then, I imagine that you did not just PT, but some of the other occupational and speech therapy. Can you talk about what some of those exercises and processes were like? Yeah.

Jennifer Younker: I did do occupational therapy when I was there too. And what we did is we worked a lot on stretching my arm because I have very bad spasticity in my arm. So, I do get Botox shots in my arm through Shirley Ryan, but we would take advantage of those to work on stretching and making sure the muscles get very loose, and working on holding things.I can't hold things with my left hand. I can't grasp things. I can get it in there and hold it.

Host: Okay.

Jennifer Younker: So, we worked on that kind of process.

Host: Nice. Are there things now, activities that you have had to be away from that you've been able to start doing again that you missed?

Jennifer Younker: So, I loved being in the kitchen, but that was actually very hard for me because I had to learn how to balance everything with a cane.

Host: Okay.

Jennifer Younker: But through here and through some things we've learned at occupational therapy and other places, I've learned that there's things to help. Like, I have a one-handed cutting board. And so, I learned how to do that. We've practiced folding laundry so that I can get back in the kitchen and washing dishes and things like that.

So, I've been able to bring back some of the joy that I had before in doing things. I actually am able now, we learned things to read. I used to be an avid reader. I'd read two or three books a week. I'm not there yet, but my eyes would skip, and it would be very hard to read. And, like, they taught me how to use these, like, little yellow things that will hold line by line. They use them for kids to teach them how to read, and I didn't even know those existed. But now I can read and keep my eyes in focus where it's supposed to go.

Host: Well, that's great.

Jennifer Younker: So, all these little things that, like, I've picked up I didn't know existed.

Host: Yeah. Well, and I think that's a good reminder, too. People hear occupational therapy, and sometimes they think that has to do with jobs.

Jennifer Younker: Exactly.

Host: But really, those daily things you might not think about, that's awesome that we're able to help.

Jennifer Younker: It helps with their daily tasks, yeah.

Host: Okay. So, a little more then about your recovery as you've been going through these therapies, as you're coming through that recovery process and how your life has changed.

Jennifer Younker: So, it's gotten better. Like, when I first left from the inpatient and outpatient, I was in a wheelchair. I could barely sit up on my own. I actually had one of those wheelchairs, the ones that have to tilt back, because I couldn't even sit up on my own when I started.

Host: Okay.

Jennifer Younker: So now, I'm walking with my cane. I walk around the house without my cane.

I can do that. I had, what was it, like, a drop foot. Mm. So we've worked on those muscles to get my foot so I don't have to wear a brace anymore, because I used to have the big plastic brace that went all the way up to my knee, and I've gotten rid of all that. So, I'm able to do a lot more things. I can walk. I used to be an avid walker. I'd walk, like, five miles a day. I'm back up to—not five miles. I'm up to, like, a mile. I can get a mile at a time. And it's not the fastest, but it's working on getting there. Like, I couldn't even walk out of my house before, barely.

Host: Yeah. So with your experience in mind and coming through the Brain and Spine Institute, coming to rehabilitation and therapy, would you recommend Riverside to somebody else who's going through this kind of journey?

Jennifer Younker: Oh, I would completely recommend coming to Riverside. It's a great partnership. Everything was good. And when they weren't able to give me some of the services that possibly could be the social worker was great in recommending, "Oh, well, let's think about this instead" or "We can try this." And then, I come back, and everyone's been great partnering with me on my goals and where I want to be going and continue going, because a stroke's not a finite recovery. It goes on for the rest of your life. And so, they've been really good about let's work staged goals so that we can hit them and work on your strength and get better where you're at.

Host: Well, that's great. And I'm glad you were able to get all of those things together through Riverside. I imagine being in one system and myChart probably helped a lot with coordinating that.

Jennifer Younker: MyChart is—actually, I love it, because then I get reminders, because my memory's not always the greatest too, so I can ask questions if I'm confused on medication or any things like that, as well as set up my appointments that way, and get the reminders of my appointments.

Host: Yeah. Well, I'm really glad that's been helpful. Thank you so much for joining us today, Jennifer. We really appreciate you sharing your story and letting our audience know about that experience and what kind of services that Riverside offers.

Jennifer Younker: Thank you for having me.

Host: Absolutely. If you'd like to learn more about Riverside's Brain & Spine Institute, you can visit myrhc.net/brainandspine. Or if you'd like to learn more about Riverside Outpatient Rehabilitation & Therapy, you can visit myrhc.net/rehabilitation. Thanks for joining us for the Well Within Reach podcast, presented by Riverside Healthcare. Please remember to like and subscribe and rate our podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about Riverside Healthcare, visit riversidehealthcare.org.