blossom, your awesome podcast, episode number 73 today on the show. Marcia Moran is here with us. Marsha has an incredible comeback story. She suffered a massive stroke and was given a grave prognosis but was determined to never give up. This is her mantra. And she looked for alternative means of healing until she returned and recovered to wholeness. She learned to eat, walk and talk again. I cannot wait to get into this with Marsha and get her insights on her healing and recovery journey. Marsha thank you so much for being here. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. So, it's a pleasure to be here. Oh, I'm so excited to get into your story. So, you know, let's talk. Give us a little bit of your background leading up to this point and the work you're doing now.

So I was working for myself actually as a marketing specialist and I was going working at home. So, um, you know, it's a lot like being in Covid. Um, I was just, I had a normal life, you know, um, I had a husband, I still have them cats, I still have them. So, um just a normal life, Right? And so you have been working for years as a strategist and business planner. And I know you applied some of this too. Then what happened to you in 2014? Yeah, so it was a sunday morning and I woke up and I knew that I felt off. So I texted my friend and tell her I wasn't going to meet her for breakfast and here's the first clue that you might be having a stroke.

I couldn't read the text but I didn't know it at the time. I was just going, huh? This is weird. So I put the phone down. I rolled over and got the most amazing headache that I've ever had. It was so powerful and despite the pain, I fell asleep the next time I woke up I knew I was in real trouble because the right side of my body was paralyzed and so I knew that I either had to go up and try to find help or possibly fall asleep and die. So I rolled out of bed and I dragged myself across the carpet until I made the door, which was unfortunately shut and I had to reach up to open it and I don't know how many times I reached open to open the door but I finally snuck it open. I took a break, I crawled down the hall and as I was calling down the hall, I totally ran out of gas.

I had nothing left in me and I thought, well that's okay. My husband's gonna come up for soda sometime. Mhm. Something like crash. He came upstairs, he saw me said Marsha, are you okay? Can you talk to me? And that's the point. I realized I couldn't talk. So he dialed 911 went around the upstairs to see if he could find what happened to me. He couldn't find anything. So he came back and he sat by me until the paramedics came. Mhm. And then I'm sorry. Okay continue. Oh so the first words out of the paramedics mouth was when did she have her stroke? And that was the first time my husband or I thought of the word stroke um and we were devastated. Mhm. Oh now tell me Marsha. So you then are you go to the hospital? So you have this kind of very debilitating stroke.

One side of your body is completely paralyzed. But you've kind of uh you know you've made a really amazing comeback. So talk to us, how long were you in the hospital? I was in the hospital for five days. I was in a rehab hospital for two weeks. I had home health care for six weeks and I had outpatient care for eight weeks. And at that time the insurance company decided I was done. So I hired a physical therapist and she worked with me for a year before walking down the street. Unless you were a physical therapist or someone else who worked with the disabled, you wouldn't know I was had a stroke, wow. And now it sounds like the prognosis from the doctors was grim. Right as far as you gaining back a lot of dysfunction and talking and all of that. No, I wouldn't say it was grim. They wouldn't say either way.

But what they did tell me and what you can see online is that 40% of stroke survivors have aphasia. If you're not cured within three months you probably have it for life. Although it can get better over time. And I didn't like that statistic. Mm hmm. So I looked for a way to overcome aphasia and I actually found my own way. I don't have. Mhm. And now aphasia for people who don't know what that is, can you tell us what that is? That is a communication disorder. So for me I could hear what people were saying. I knew exactly what I wanted to say back to them and I couldn't speak or if I could speak it was very small words that kind of meant what I was thinking. But not really. Yeah.

Mhm. And now when you say you found you figured out a way, what was that? What exactly did you do to work on this? So I started looking for things to make me better. And part of it was I went to a um it's a beat up group in northern Virginia and they meet once a week or at least they did before the stroke. Alright, I'm sorry. Before covid. And part of it was you had to stand up and give your elevator pitch every day and so I went and sometimes I could say it sometimes I couldn't, sometimes it was in between. But the interesting thing was I met somebody who had tried laser therapy on his head and he said it worked for him now. He had a car accident. I was thinking huh? It works for him, Maybe it'll work for me.

So I made a an appointment with the doctor and when I talked to him he said it's been two years. You have no idea whether it will work for you or not but let's give it a try and if it works you'll know within 3 to 5 sessions. I said okay. So I went in for my first session and part of getting therapy from him is you doing the cross crow while this thing is on your head. And the cross call is where you lift your right arm and left leg at the same time and then you drop them and then you lift your left arm and right leg at the same time and you do it over and over. I felt really stupid but I did it and I could speak a little better that first day and I'm going okay, this is good. So the next session was put on hold because I fell down and dislocated my elbow.

And this is the interesting thing when I was in the hospital getting my elbow re attached I guess they put me on morphine and the morphine took my facial away completely wow. Right. So I was sitting there going, huh? Well first of all I was on morphine because I had a really good time I guess. And my husband says I'm sorry but you're not going to go on morphine for the rest of your life. It's like but it told me that there is some way that there was something out there that could take care of my aphasia. Right? So I went back for laser treatment And I would say it got me 40-50% better. So I still had aphasia I could talk at the conversational level but if I was scared or nervous or really tired I couldn't really speak at all.

So my um I see a chiropractor and this chiropractor got this device is called racist micro kurono feedback. He said I think you should really try this, go home and see whether or not you want to. And he gave me this you're ill. And I went home and I looked at the U. R. L. I went this is interesting. It treats a whole bunch of I'm going to say diseases, one of them a stroke. And the thing that caught my attention is 85% of people who had mild to moderate brain injuries, traumatic brain injuries got better, 85%. Yeah. Okay. So it also said that there's nothing harmful about this. So if it doesn't work it doesn't work but it doesn't make you worse off than you are. Alright. Okay I have to try this after 16 sessions.

The two sides of me that were trying to talk to people came together. So when a person talks to me, I can respond what I'm thinking, wow, now tell us the name of this again, What is this called? It's I ASIS micro current narrow feed dark. Okay, I'll be sure to link that. Um I assist micro current feedback. Um wow, that sounds amazing. So let me ask you Marsha now, you know, um you started looking for these kind of alternative treatments. Is this something you had always been into? Because I know some people are really into holistic ayurvedic, different, you know, alternative wellness. Was this something you were always drawn to? Always curious about into? Or was this just like, hey, I'm gonna, I gotta look for something, I gotta find something and I'm open to whatever.

Yeah. So I was not into holistic medicine at all. Um I would have probably told you it was a crock, but when you're in pain and I was in a lot of pain and I wasn't talking and I wasn't walking very well. I had to start looking. And so I started looking outside the box if you will. And so I looked outside of traditional Western medicine and looked at anything. So I would look at the first thing I had was acupuncture and the acupuncture went to um a diet. So the person who looked at my diet, Said that I needed to take this test a blood test and see what I was allergic to and I got okay, my blood test came back and said that I was allergic or sensitive to 50 things.

Anyway, that's a crock. I'm not allergic to those or sensitive those. So he said, just try taking these out of your diet and see what happens. I will tell you that taking the 50 things that I was allergic to or sensitive to cleared up my nasal passages. So before when I went to bed I would get a stuffy nose and not breathe through my nose. I went away completely. So I thought it was worth it. So all these things um just made me think of you need both kinds of medicine. Mhm. And now let me ask you Marsha. So, you know, I love the fact that um it sounds like you were so determined to talk and get back to normal. And do you find I believe, you know, and I've I've done a lot of my own personal research.

I worked closely or um you know, and in communication with an M. D. Who incorporates energy healing into his works with post op traumatic injury. Um He does post op with people, right? And he found there now incorporating this at the hospital where he is for all post traumatic injury patients. And he's found, yeah. You know, and it's so amazing because he's an M. D. You know, trained here in the States and now incorporating this energy healing, that showing remarkable results, Right? And it's so much of it is in the attitude having people who are recovering from traumatic injury saying positive affirmations and believing they're going to get better and then seeing versus those who do not believe it or are pessimistic. The recovery is not as progressive, right?

They don't quickly, they don't heal as well, they're not back on their feet in the same way. Some just deteriorate altogether. So, how much of this is your attitude? I think it's all my attitude, because I worked out every single day whether it was speech or physical therapy or occupational therapy, and I do admit that I didn't want to work out every day, but I still did because I know that neural plasticity requires you to use these motions every day, whether whether you want to or not. And if you miss a day, well, okay, but if you miss two days, you're on the wrong path, right? So I just decided it's every day for years, you know, I admit that I don't do it anymore.

But, you know, 8.5 years after the stroke, I don't feel like I need it, right? And now let me ask you. So, you know, I can't imagine what this was like for you and how scary, and um, just, you know, the uncertainty of it all and this whole life changing thing where you're no longer speaking as a result of this? Was there ever a time where you know, what was that like? Was there fear there like I'm never gonna talk again or was it just this determination of I'm going to get better, I'm going to speak again. I think you'd have to say it was determination because if I gave up even a little bit, I wouldn't have searched for the answers. So 3.5 years after my stroke, I was still looking, that's quite a time, right?

Um And I guess that's where I think people hearing this should note that they should look it up and if it's in their area they should try to, you know, there's nothing to lose, right? And now. So did it was the recovery time. I mean did it really take you, did it take 3.5 years or so to kind of get back to normal? Um I would say emotionally and mentally, probably yes, physically, I think I've gotten back to normal at about a year and a half to two years. Mhm. I think the real actually, so when you have a stroke, at least for when I had my stroke I had these long sleeps every now and then That could last, I don't know, up to 20 hours and when I got up after a long sleep there was something that had clicked and I knew that it was something that made me more like my old self at 3.5 years, I had my last long sleep and I feel like I was pulled together And then I had this neurofeedback treatment and I got my speech back so I feel like I'm 95% full if you will.

Which is a lot better than when I started. I that is amazing. Well you know I mean Marcia, I have to commend you because I just you know you're just um body um just this idea of how powerful we are and what we're capable of how we do have the ability to heal ourselves and recover. No. So had you prior to this, had you kind of been to any into any of that stuff like this? You know kind of this other the placebo effect or any of that? No I don't think so wow. And now tell us, I mean what you have to do, you still suffer from some form of PTSD as a result of this or uh no I don't think so. So micro current, no feedback actually trains the source of the problem, not the actual symptoms and one of the sources of the problems for me was P.

T. S. D. And when I saw the my doctor did uh heart variable heart variability test and you can see um where I scored the first time I took the test which was it was low and he was saying oh you've got PTSD I'm going PTSD well that I had a stroke that makes sense the next time he did this test on me. I was in the normal range and I'm going okay that makes sense. So I think I'm out of P. T. S. D. And I think I'm out of it because I did the I ASIS microcode feet doc. Mhm wow I love that. That's so um inspiring and encouraging for other people who may be in this situation now. You know I know one of your kind of sayings is never give up and I just I love that because you embody that and you really um you know lived by that and brought yourself back to wholeness essentially.

So and then you started stroke forward tell us about stroke forward. Well it started out I wrote a book and it took me 4.5 years to write and publish and it took that long because I was so bad at learning how to actually spell the words and type the words. It took just forever. And then I um decided to do podcasts and then I started podcasting under that name and I went to um school and became a coach. So I know coach brain injuries and survivors and I also got my first ss microcode neurofeedback machine. So if you're in Virginia called me and I can help you. Oh my God I love that and I'm gonna have links to all of your stuff okay continue.

Um So it's it's like a puzzle that is growing bigger. I don't know where it's gonna end up. But I think that you have to be aware that there's something out there. And the only people that can tell you are people who have done it. So, I am out telling people all about this because they have to get better if they've had a stroke or T. B. I. Or any other kind of brain injury. Mm hmm. And now do you find Marcia that there is a lot of misinformation out there or people just aren't getting access that kind of they have these injuries and there's the potential through these certain alternative methods to heal and recover. But they're either not being given those resources. They're not finding them. They're not necessarily being directed by medical personnel to go explore other options.

Right? They just is that the case? I think that is the case. So, I think it's out there. I think there are a few people that are talking about it. But I don't think it's become mainstream yet and it won't become mainstream until people stand up and say I'm sorry. But I have to do this. I have to find a solution to whatever your problem is and enough people find it. And after we have that boiling point, maybe it'll become mainstream finally. Mm hmm. Um Well, I just think it's so amazing the work you're doing Marsha and putting yourself out there. Yeah. And kind of showing people to not ever give up looking for, you know, treatment, alternative methods of treatment, whatever it is and that the potential to recover back to wholeness is really there, irrespective, what their doctor may say, wow.

And now, what has this been like for you? Tell us a little more about stroke forward. So this is an online space where people can access resources, have access to you too, for the coaching and all of that. And the the treatment with the machine. So it's W W. W dot stroke forward dot com. And it really tells people kind of about my story and gives them hope more than anything. I mean, if you don't have hope, you really don't have anything. Mhm. Yeah. And now let's talk about some of the details here. So what is give us some of these stats, what are some of the symptoms of a stroke? What are some that people should be looking out for? So they can listen to the word be fast. So b is for balance. Yes, for eyes. So if you have one or both eyes that are feeling wonky, maybe you're having a stroke F is for face.

It's for arms or legs. S is for speech and tears for time. So if you're having any of those symptoms, it's time to call 911 and get treated because you lose 1.9 million brain cells for every minute you're having a stroke, wow. Um and then, and what is the average age. Um so people always think that it's the older people that are having strokes and you can have an age at any, or you can have a stroke at any age and I'm saying pre mu to the time that you're in your seventies, eighties, nineties or hundreds. Um and although the The number of people are at the higher end, so 65 or older again, you can have it at any age. So um a lot of people that I've been speaking to have had it in their uh Teens to mid 40s.

Mhm. And now let me ask you Marsha, you know this, this determination within from you personally. Where were you always like that? Where does that come from? Yes, I was always like this and what do you attribute that to you? Was that your upbringing, your parents? I think it was a little bit of everything. Um my parents were hardworking. Um people around me were hardworking, they were business owners, so I guess it was everyone around me. Um I don't know, hmm that's a hard question for me to answer. Right? Um Well I love that, I think it's remarkable. Um you know, just your level of determination and to come out of this and not give up to just keep, you know, looking for answers, searching, seeking, finding resources, trying different things, I think I commend you for that because I think so many people are so just closed off and not open.

Yeah things, wow, that's amazing. Yeah. And now um so first of all marshal I just want to thank you so much for your time today. I'm so just I think there's gonna be a lot of insights and wisdom here for people, some you know takeaways. I'm gonna have resources and links to all of your stuff for people. But in closing my question, last question for you is if there were one message, some words of wisdom, your hope for the world, what would you like to leave us with? I think that you need to strive to do better every single day. Whether you're a stroke survivor or a caretaker or a ceo of a company, you have to look at what it is that you're not liking and you have to go, okay, I don't like that.

So I'm going to do this instead. Mm I love that Marsha, that's such a great advice and um you have been so awesome and I just commend you for your determination to keep fighting, keep going and um heal yourself back to wholeness. That's amazing. And I just thank you for your time today. You're quite welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Mhm. Yeah