She Had a Hemorrhagic Stroke and Became a Super Survivor | #207

Judy Cage had a massive hemorrhagic stroke at 39. She walked out of the rehab hospital two months later. Her colleagues thought she'd been on a leave of absence.

What was actually happening: she was working four hours a week, on doctor's orders. She was doing Wordle and Sudoku every day to keep her attention and processing sharp. She was sitting down in airport skylinks because she needed to preserve her energy and stay upright — and getting looks from strangers who saw a healthy-looking woman taking a seat she didn't "need."

That is ableism. And it follows stroke survivors everywhere.

In this episode, Judy shares what it actually took to rebuild her life — cognitively, professionally, and emotionally. How she went back to a demanding, high-visibility career when her doctor told her not to. The specific strategies her speech therapist gave her. And the moment she realized she couldn't keep her story to herself anymore. She became a peer mentor. She wrote a book. She's been walking into hospital rooms ever since, showing newly diagnosed patients what's possible.

0:00 Introduction 1:26 Meet Judy Cage 1:40 Judy's Stroke Story 3:45 Hiding the Diagnosis at Work 5:29 Rebuilding Cognitive Skills 8:15 Understanding Ableism 11:24 No Single Goal Defines Recovery 13:59 Mentoring Other Survivors 18:10 Writing Super Survivor 19:11 Closing Thoughts

If you're in that gap between where rehab ended and where you know you can still get to, this episode is for you.

Take the Aphasia Strength Compass: https://findaphasiasupport.com/

Grab Judy's book, Super Survivor: https://a.co/d/04j1a5Nu

LIFE Beyond Aphasia is for stroke survivors and the families who love them. New episodes every week.

#strokerecovery #lifeafterstroke #strokesurvivor #aphasia #strokerehabilitation #invisibleillness