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A stroke doesn’t always arrive like a movie scene. Sometimes it shows up as a dragging leg, blurry vision, a face that won’t smile straight, or speech or language that suddenly changes. And the scariest part is that you may still feel “fine.”

That’s why Angie sits down with Nurse Karrima Owens, clinical nurse specialist and stroke program coordinator at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, known around West Philly as the Stroke Lady. Her message is simple and urgent: you don’t know what you don’t know, and when stroke symptoms appear, time matters.

The conversation explores how stroke and brain injury can affect awareness, attention, memory, language, speech, judgment, and other cognitive functions, sometimes making it harder for a person to recognize what has changed. Nurse Karrima shares what she hears from patients and families every day, including the common misconception that a stroke must be painful or dramatic. They also talk about why stroke is often called a “brain attack,” why “time is brain,” and how recognizing symptoms quickly can change what happens next.

You’ll leave with practical tools, including B.E. F.A.S.T. stroke warning signs: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arms, Speech, and Time. Nurse Karrima explains why even one sudden symptom is enough to call 911 and breaks down major stroke risk factors, including high blood pressure, smoking and vaping, diabetes, high cholesterol, irregular heart rhythms, sleep apnea, physical inactivity, and more.

The episode also gets into what happens after the emergency, including Angie’s “discharge cliff,” stroke recovery resources, support groups, preparing questions for medical appointments, and simple ways to stay organized when reading or writing is difficult.

If this episode helps you understand stroke a little better, subscribe to Brain Friends, share it with someone you love, and leave a review so more people can learn the signs before they need them.

https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles

https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/

Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. We are committed to honoring her memory by continuing to push our field forward and fight for equitable services for all people with aphasia.

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What does it actually mean to recover language after a stroke? Not just pass a test, but tell a story, hold a conversation, explain what happened to you at the airport.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Brielle Stark, a neuroscientist and aphasia researcher at Indiana University Bloomington, to talk about discourse: the kind of language we use every day to describe our lives, our memories, and what matters to us. We dig into why standard aphasia tests miss so much of the real picture, what good home practice actually looks like (hint: easy is not the same as useful), and why the myth that recovery stops at six months needs to be retired for good.

We also talk about primary progressive aphasia, what fatigue really means for a post-stroke brain, and why you have seen one person with aphasia, you have seen exactly one person with aphasia.

Plus, Angie brings some receipts from her own story, including a pre-kindergarten math book, a crowded support group, and a very patient friend named Tay.

This is a real conversation between a researcher and a survivor, and that is exactly the point.

WHAT WE COVER

• What discourse is and why it matters more than any test you have been given
• Why aphasia is not just about language and why that framing has kept survivors from getting real help
• What good home practice actually looks like, and why easy is not the same as useful
• Brain fatigue: what it is, what triggers it, and why it is so underestimated
• The six-month recovery myth, and what the research actually shows
• Why you have seen one person with aphasia, you have seen one person with aphasia

Topics covered:

• What discourse is and why it matters for real-world recovery
• Primary progressive aphasia versus stroke aphasia: different paths, different goals
• Why standard tests do not capture how people actually communicate
• What makes home practice worth your time
• The six-month recovery myth, and what the research actually shows
• Brain fatigue, what it is, what triggers it, and why it is so underestimated
• Why "aphasia doesn't affect intelligence" is incomplete and sometimes harmful
• Neuroplasticity: what it means for stroke survivors and what it means for everyone

https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles

https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/

Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. We are committed to honoring her memory by continuing to push our field forward and fight for equitable services for all people with aphasia.

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Dr. Rachel Forman is a stroke neurologist at Yale School of Medicine. She treats stroke, researches it, and takes that knowledge into communities through Stamp Out Stroke -- sixty-plus events and counting. She recommends this podcast to her patients.

In this conversation: blood pressure and why most people do not know they have a problem until something goes wrong. Why only one in five stroke survivors check their blood pressure correctly. The discharge cliff. Secondary stroke prevention and why finding the cause of your first stroke changes everything. Post-stroke depression as a clinical condition that worsens outcomes. The mental health gap for survivors with aphasia. Equity in stroke research and care. And the Smart Cookie: the one thing Dr. Forman would change about stroke care right now.

Brain Friends: the podcast Every episode delivers stroke and aphasia science you can actually use. Hosted by Angie Cauthorn -- stroke survivor, aphasia advocate, and founder of ROSA, Resource Orientation for Stroke and Aphasia.

Health education only. Not personal medical advice. Mental health crisis support: call or text 988.

Stamp Out Stroke -- Yale Stroke and Vascular Neurology https://medicine.yale.edu/neurology/excellence/stampoutstroke/

AHA Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Guidelines https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/understanding-blood-pressure-readings/monitoring-your-blood-pressure-at-home

Find a Validated Blood Pressure Monitor https://www.validatebp.org

SEQUINS -- Society for Equity Neuroscience https://www.s-equi-ns.org/

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 https://988lifeline.org

National Aphasia Synergy -- Peer Befriending Program Founded and led by people with aphasia. Trish Hambridge, info@nationalaphasiasynergy.org

https://www.cognitiverecoverylab.com/seles

https://aphasia.org/stories/announcing-the-davetrina-seles-gadson-health-equity-grant-program/

Our beloved colleague, Dr. Davetrina Seles Gadson, passed away January 11, 2025. Dr. Gadson was an extraordinary speech-language pathologist and neuroscience researcher who devoted her energy to studying health disparities in aphasia recovery. She was a fierce advocate for improving services for individuals with aphasia, particularly Black Americans. Her research transformed our understanding of these health disparities and shed light on how we can address them. We were privileged to have Dr. Gadson as a cherished member of our lab community for four years, first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was still a close collaborator and friend to many of us at the time of her passing. Dr. Gadson was an incredible person—compassionate, inspiring, and full of life. Her dedication to advancing equity in aphasia recovery and her profound impact on our community will never be forgotten. We are committed to honoring her memory by continuing to push our field forward and fight for equitable services for all people with aphasia.