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Steve and I just returned from 3 days in Washington DC with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.  About every two years they “storm the hill”, bringing advocates with a passion for heart health to meet with house and senate members who can help drive...

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Life has been busy. Lots of good stuff. Also some down times. I talk in Identity Theft about how much it helps to “look forward not back”, but also how it’s really hard NOT to look back from time to time. Right now, I’m on a...

What can I say – it’s a very exciting day!!! The official release date of Identity Theft -Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke. It was very cool when I first got to hold the physical book in my hands about two weeks ago (advance author copies), but today feels...

Less than a week to go until Identity Theft hits the shelves next Tuesday, May 14th. I’m nervous! I’m flying today to Seattle for a gathering of the May Meaning Meeting – a group of academics that have been meeting for more than 10 years – people who want...

It's official, nine years post-stroke, Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke has been launched (the official release date is May 14th). I loved thanking friends and supporters while signing hardcovers last night at the launch event at Stanford PACS, Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. During...

I am honored to be guest speaker @Amazon HQ with their Worldwide Ops Inclusion and Diversity team. I discussed Tempered Radicals & my new book, "Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke." http://bit.ly/2D7AaoJ This was the perfect place to be on #InternationalWomansDay2019. Thank you Amazon for the opportunity to...

I'm excited to be working with Jonathan Stutz and Solomon Wilkins with Amazon's Inclusion & Diversity Worldwide team. This week, we attended the workshop, "Addressing Sexual Harassment with Institutional Courage"  be led by Dr. Jennifer Freyd hosted by Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research and VMware Women's Leadership...

The manuscript is almost in final form and we have locked in the book cover! A special thank you to Diane Marsh at Andrews McMeel Publishing for the design. Stay tuned for more information as we move toward our “on the shelf” date of May 14,...

I just got back from a great vacation with my family. With my three kids spread across the country in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York, it is always a treat to get everybody in one place. This year we decided to explore Mexico City together. We...

Four and a half years after I got the idea to write a book, we “hit send” on the manuscript this week – sending it to our publisher for “their process” – copy editing, layout, proof reading, etc.  We currently expect it – Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves...

Last week I received an email that really made me smile. It was from the Senior Manager of Inclusion and Diversity in a major U.S. retailer. He is organizing book groups for those interested within a 3,000 member work-group -- to read about and discuss books...

I fed my soul last weekend in Janesville, Wisconsin. For four days I bonded yet again with an incredible group of women who have been my friends for 34 years.  The eight of us have met at least six times a year, sharing our lives and our...

I just got back from something called the “May Meaning Meeting”.  Held near Houston, Texas this year, this annual gathering started in 2003.   It grew up organically around a group of organizational scholars anxious to keep real meaning in their work—and in their lives—in the...

Today is National Write Your Story Day. Telling my story has been an integral part of my recovery. Not my physical recovery—for that I thank the many therapists who have helped me.  But I have come to define “recovery” not just as getting my capabilities...

Needless to say, one of the most frustrating parts of my stroke experience has been being “the patient”.  I was so fortunate to have incredible support from my family and friends when I needed it most.  For months I needed help with so much.  I still...

Thank you to Michelle from Jumbled Brain for tagging me. I was excited to see this tag inviting chronic illness bloggers to share more about themselves. As we strive to raise awareness about a certain topic (stroke, in my case) through our blogs, sometimes that one...

Today is National Thank You Note Day. A nice sentiment right after and during the gift giving of Hanukah, Christmas, and Kwanza for sure.  But more than seven years after my stroke, I have so much more to thank people for.  I’m not even going...

Good news – I just had brain surgery! Sounds funny, I know, but I got admitted to a clinical trial for an experimental treatment at Stanford Hospital.  I was lucky to be the last person admitted into the Stanford study with 11 other people. There are...

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Cam and Daniel, who help run the Strokefocus Podcast. The podcast is run by survivors, for survivors. Cam is actually one of the stroke survivors that I interviewed for my book, so it was fun being the interviewee this time...

Well, it's World Stroke Day (http://www.worldstrokecampaign.org/) so a great day to post.  As they say on their site—"Stroke affects everyone - we all have a reason to prevent it." Personally, I want to help raise awareness about and prevent stroke so fewer people have to...

Well, Labor Day was yesterday and it’s now exactly 7 years since my stroke on 9/5/2010.  Recovery has been a long and challenging road. Progress can be slow, and it can be difficult to accept the changes that have occurred.  I’m back at lake Tahoe...

In April, I spoke at Harvard Business School's Gender Conference. I was really nervous. It's a conference run by my close colleague Robin Ely. I've gone several years in a row. This was my first time speaking. I talked about how my identity as a tenure...

Six and a half years later, I am writing another chapter in my book Identity Theft, while I’m also writing another chapter in my story of stroke recovery.  I spent the month of May in Chicago doing another four weeks of intensive speech therapy at...

March was a tough month for me.  Partly because I really wanted to do more than I got done -- like improve this site, post blog entries regularly, etc.  I need more help than I want, and progress has been slow.  It’s frustrating. But also because...

The working title -- Identity Theft -- was the brainchild of friends of ours Steve Goodman and Ruth Levine.  Over dinner we were talking about the book, and I was describing my frustration with not being able to do all that I used to do.  That I no longer...

Thanks for visiting this new blog. We're excited to launch this online community, where I hope to create conversations that can help stroke survivors (and others who suffered different debilitating events) succeed in their journeys back to health.  Specifically, on my own journey, I found lots of resources about...