MEET REBEKAH
Rebekah has taught her buddies in the Young, Enthusiastic Stroke Survivors (YESS) support group at the Rocky Mountain Stroke Center to knit with one hand. This tells you a few things about Rebekah. She is determined, having learned how to do this herself as a means of channeling her artistic talents post-stroke. She is also a leader, seeing a void and filling it. The YESS group was formed in large measure at Rebekah’s suggestion and help. She researched what was going on around the country for young people living with stroke and found that very few programs focused on that demographic. She learned from the ones that did and with the help of leadership at RMSC, YESS came to be. It continues to be one of the most popular programs at the Center and the only one of its kind in Colorado.
But that is not all. Rebekah chronicles her challenges of living with stroke as a writer. This is no easy task since one of the effects of stroke for Rebekah is aphasia, which leaves a person often unable to express thoughts accurately and clearly. Nonetheless, she marries her talents as a creative writer with those of someone for whom stroke is personal, describing with humor, empathy and sometimes anger, this journey that no one ever signs up to take willingly. She cultivates her wide interest in the arts and sports, and volunteers at several nonprofit organizations, including RMSC. And, she also contributes to the occasional potluck dinners the YESS members host as a way to socialize and integrate so many of the lessons they learn from each other during support and education sessions. Among her favorite dishes is broccoli salad that she creates in her own kitchen.
She says that RMSC has been “a source of life” for her in the years since having the stroke. Her friends and therapists there “give me purpose” and help focus her thoughts and ambitions. “No one is immune to stroke,” she warns. But, oddly, she says, she has become more sociable since her stroke. “I am more of a leader for my peers now than I ever was previously.”
|
|
