A FULL LIFE AFTER STROKE
The Importance of Finding a Source of Support
STROKE SUPPORT GROUPS
Support groups are a vital part of recovery, and are something to look forward to as you progress. They create a network of people who can actually relate to what you are going through, because despite family and friends' best intentions, it is not the same. You get to share progress and setbacks with those who have had their own or are experiencing them with you.
My grandmother was fortunate enough to have been introduced to a stroke support group while at UCLA's inpatient rehabilitation center and to have met Dana Rivera, the leader of the group. My grandmother has been a member of her stroke support group for over 10 years and will be the first to tell you how beneficial support groups can be.
"Dana has been an inspiration to me from the moment I met her and has been a constant source of support during my recovery. I first met her when I was at one of the lowest points of my recovery. Dana gave me hope for the future and I am so grateful to her for all she has done for me and for others who have faced the challenges of stroke. Dana is that person who makes the world a better place. Thank you Dana."
~Anne (my grandmother)
Dana Rivera- From Stroke to Leading Support Group
Dana Rivera -
"June 2009 changed my life as I saw it. At the young age of 44 years old I suffered an Ischemic Stroke from a genetic condition unbeknownst to me. My identity at that time of my life was a wife and a mother of four teenagers. The stroke left me with left side paralysis. Questioning what was going to become of me with uncertainty. Being a gym rat my whole I knew this was my strategy. I applied motivation and determination, and this is what I was certain of. UCLA One West a Neurological Acute Center made it possible for me to begin my recovery. However the outcome would end up that was my starting line, my beginning to an ongoing recovery. Insurance allowed me to spend 3 weeks there and I dove into daily routines and therapies.
After leaving the acute center still having my work cut out for me. Applying everything I learned from UCLA and hiring outside therapy to continue my daily activities. Within a four month period of time I was able to make a pretty full physical recovery. At a year's end I was able to feel like the old me again. I was ready to share my story.
This led me full circle to UCLA again. One West was starting a support group. I jumped at an opportunity to share my story, hopeful of helping 1 person. Over time I began to feel as if this was my purpose. Sharing every week I met a number of survivors. One day I met a woman named Anne. Anne is so beautiful. Anne shared with group she was an artist. Having a somewhat large family they would spend summers in Vermont. One of her goals at that time was painting again and sitting on a bar stool. Not only was she a beauty but she also shared her humor. I would see Anne until she was released. Always exchanging information with patients and sharing if they needed to talk was something I always made known to them.
After many years of facilitating a group at One West, they were shutting their doors.
My purpose was still burning inside me to continue my own journey with helping others. Asking myself what did that look like, I decided to start my own groups, having personal experience and a drive to help others. I put an advertisement in my local paper in Pacific Palisades
and I believed Anne's daughter Paula saw it and called. I had adopted many of the patients from my time at the acute center and guided them to come to my groups, sometimes encouraging them to try my multiple groups. Groups became a social outing for all of us. We were a little family of sorts, learning not only about the struggles, frustrations, sometimes
setbacks, but also about our family members that drive us to be our best version and our beautiful accomplishments along the way. Holding each one of my members close to my heart has lead me to being an enriched individual."