My story

• In April 2016, I got my first stroke

  It was very early in the morning when I was at the office. I stepped out to grab something to drink, and upon returning, I experienced an unusual sensation in my left leg. Shortly thereafter, I collapsed into my chair, unable to move or speak. My employees eventually noticed that something was wrong and called for an ambulance.

  At the hospital, the neurologist mistakenly diagnosed me with a TIA instead of a stroke. As a result, I was left in a room for 5.5 hours before I finally had an MRI scan (see picture taken 5.5 hours later). Afterward, I was transferred to another hospital for a thrombectomy procedure, which took over an hour. By that point, 7.5 hours had passed, leading to the loss of even more neurons—about one-third of my right hemisphere. The doctors were skeptical about my chances of ever walking or talking again.

  They consider me a medical miracle, but I don’t see it that way. What I take the most pride in is that I've become a better person throughout this journey. 😊 Read more...

• June 2016, 2nd stroke

  The cause of my second stroke was the intervention performed during my first stroke (the thrombectomy procedure), which resulted in the surgeon damaging a vein. This left me with one blind eye and excruciating neuropathic pain. While sitting in my wheelchair, I was unable to walk or talk, and my arm felt utterly useless.

  At that moment, I had lost all hope and struggled to find meaning in living.

• 6-8 months later
  Nothing had changed. However, I was discharged from the rehabilitation clinic where I had been staying because they did not observe any progress in my condition.

• 1 year post 

  I could read, say about 30 short words, and walk with a foot brace and a cane. I began immersing myself in books and research papers, discovering no time limits on recovery. In my studies, I found therapies that helped eliminate my pain. I was amazed to learn that this "learned pain" could be entirely removed by rewiring my brain. I stopped taking pain-relieving medications, as they were largely ineffective.

  At that point, I could only move my left large toe. However, I realized that if I could push myself to walk without the cane and brace, my left foot would gradually dorsiflex more.

  I imagined myself as a cavewoman without a brace or cane, believing I could only survive by moving around walking. I learned that walking barefoot provided much more feedback to my brain, so I walked on various surfaces—sand, mud, grass, stones, and snow.

• Soon after this, I met  Arjan.
  Shortly after this, I met Arjan Kuipers, a chiropractor and functional neurologist, who developed a keen interest in brain-related issues due to his mother's struggles with brain stem migraines following a series of head injuries. He quickly became my best friend, and together, we became determined to explore how stroke survivors could achieve further recovery.

  And I did make further progress in my recovery!

  This was made possible through our neuromotor development exercises (like pre-crawling and cross-cord movements), constrained muscle isolation exercises, a focus on cross-lateral movements, and various other "out-of-the-box" rehabilitation methods.

• My book
  In my quest for more recovery, I gained so much knowledge that I decided to write a book about it. Stroke Rebel was very well received and is backed up with 800 scientific references. I'm giving out the audio book for free because I want to share with you what I did to recover this far (I must be the least commercially oriented person that you know). 

  But I don't care (-:

  I have a bigger goal: to help as many stroke survivors recover further. And I want you to know that even if you have tried "everything," much more is possible.

• Inventions

  In my TEDx talk from 2021 (linked below), I expressed, “I am thankful for my stroke.” I elaborated on why I feel this way, noting that my life wasn't particularly fulfilling before the stroke. For instance, I was working 60 hours a week at a job that lacked meaning, placing excessive importance on external values. This is all true.

  Neuroanatomical Basis

  What I didn’t mention during the TED talk is that I'm also thankful for my stroke from a “neuroanatomical basis.”

  Let me clarify before anyone (even my mother!) thinks I'm irrational.

  I experienced two strokes: one in my right hemisphere and one behind my right eye. Typically, speech is localized in the left hemisphere, while other functions, such as basic calculations and structured thinking, are also linked to this area.

  Recent research indicates that approximately 97% of individuals have language represented in the left hemisphere. However, in about 19% of left-handed individuals, the language centers are situated in the right hemisphere.

  I happen to be one of those people with a switched brain.

  Despite experiencing a loss of certain functions, my stroke simultaneously enhanced a remarkable aspect of my brain's capabilities.

  The creative part! Innovative individuals are often described as "right-brain" thinkers, as ideas and inventions are predominantly associated with the right hemisphere. Once initial insights are generated, they are transmitted and refined by the left hemisphere for practical applications like figures and spreadsheets.

  Since my brain has switched, my left hemisphere functions as the "creative" right hemisphere.

  Following a severe stroke in my right (left) hemisphere, my left hemisphere has evolved, fostering extraordinary inventiveness within me.

   However, my corpus callosum (the connecting bridge between the brain's two halves) It seems, developed more connections than previously. Of course, I can't provide concrete proof to substantiate this theory.

• How am I doing today?

  Exciting times! I'm traveling with Arjan and our entire Stroke team on a global journey for several weeks of intensive rehabilitation. We're bringing our invention to facilitate much faster recovery for stroke survivors through concentrated repetition in a short period. We feel like the paradigm shift has started! Why a paradigm shift? The rehab center from which I was discharged clearly could not help me improve, but our approach has the potential to make a huge difference. Unfortunately, there are many such rehab centers around the world...