FREE - Falling in Love with the Process: A Stroke Survivor's Story - SDSU

Patricia Geist-Martin, Ph.D., Co-Author of  "Falling in Love With the Process: A Stroke Survivor's Story"  will give a presentation at the Templor Manor in the Conrad Prebys Student Union at San Diego State University on Monday, March 23 from 5 pm - 6:30 pm.

“WHY ME?” These were the first words that Bill Torres spoke after waking up from his stroke. Like many survivors, Bill lived his first days and weeks after stroke in a dark, heavy cloud of depression. Depression creates feelings of hopelessness, guilt, helplessness, and decreased energy—all symptoms that stand in the way of a survivor’s efforts to regain mobility and speech. Yet, rather than dwelling on asking “WHY ME?” Bill’s second words were, “WHAT NOW?” He set his mind to getting better, little by little, every day. As researcher and author, Peter Levine (2013) suggests, stroke survivors must “fall in love with the process ... [and] see the process of recovery as an opportunity for growth”.

"Falling in Love with the Process: Cultivating Resilience in Health Crises" tells Bill Torres’ story of recovery and advocacy. The book is structured along two different timelines—chapters alternate between Bill’s stories of growing up in San Diego and chapters that provide accounts of Bill’s journey of stroke recovery. These two separate storylines come together near the close of the book as we explore Bill’s approach to advocating for other stroke survivors.

IMPORTANTLY, this is a book for everyone, not just stroke survivors.  Each chapter offers insights about what it means to become resilient no matter what challenge you face--an accident, an illness, the loss of someone you love.  Creating your own resilience means falling in love with the process of recovery, step-by-step, little-by-little, with the help of a supportive network of friends.  It is not something you can do alone. We all need the support of others as we walk the path of recovering our strength.