LeAnn Walton felt and heard the blood vessel pop in her head while teaching a yoga class. These days she is able to see the good that has come from a bad situation.
Socials:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lee_ann_walton/
Highlights:
01:11 Year 2022 Mission
03:47 The Hemorrhagic Stroke
12:01 Perfect Time To Have A Stroke
17:11 Current Stroke Statistics
18:46 Unhealthy Lifestyle
26:49 Stroke Can Happen To Anyone
35:07 Learning Empathy After A Stroke
44:44 Post-Stroke Fatigue
1:05:05 Future Plans
1:14:50 Changes In Anatomy
Transcription:
LeeAnn Walton 0:00
When I was in the ambulance, going to the emergency room, I kept thinking I was having a dream. I think I was in shock for many months because I kept thinking, I’m going to wake up. And I know this is just a bad dream. I think the day that I realized what happened to me, I broke down and cried.
LeeAnn Walton 0:23
Because the severity of the situation, I really got for the first time, it has been a hard and challenging journey. And the first year, I tried to be optimistic. And then after the year, everybody said, Oh, you’ll get everything back. And after a year, I still walk with a limp, and it has affected my right arm and hand, I can’t really use it. I got really angry.
Intro 0:58
This is the recovery after stroke podcast, with Bill Gasiamis, helping you navigate recovery after stroke.
Year 2022 Mission Bill Gasiamis 1:11
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the recovery after stroke podcast. Recently, Spotify released a new feature which allows people now to rate their favorite shows similarly to how the apple podcast app allows it.
Bill Gasiamis 1:28
And since this is the last episode recorded in 2021, I actually recorded it on December 31. In Australia, I’d love it. If you would do me the honor of leaving the show a five-star review to end the year of in a bang, and to get it off to a good start in 2022.
Bill Gasiamis 1:49
My mission is to reach as many stroke survivors as possible that may need to hear the wisdom from the stroke survivors joining me on every episode. If this show has changed your life in some way, even if it was in a minor way, there could be people that may benefit from the interviews, just like you did, but they just don’t know that it exists yet.
Bill Gasiamis 2:12
So go to your favorite podcast app and share what the podcast means for you. It really will make a huge difference. Thanks in advance. And I look forward to continuing to support you in 2022 with a podcast or with coaching or in any other way that I might be able to help. I hope 2022 is full of growth and ongoing recovery. And I hope that you can set yourself some goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, and memorable. Leanne Walton, welcome to the podcast.
LeeAnn Walton 2:49
Thank you. It’s nice to be here.
Bill Gasiamis 2:53
Thank you for being here. All the way from New York, New York.
LeeAnn Walton 2:59
Yes, The Big Apple.
Bill Gasiamis 3:04
That’s a funny name for a city isn’t it?
LeeAnn Walton 3:07
I know, but you know, believe it or not, I think it’s because we actually have a lot of apple trees. Like in the borough’s I could totally be wrong. But I think that’s originally how we got that name like the Big Apple but I know people are probably going to be writing and go no, she’s totally wrong.
Bill Gasiamis 3:34
Well, until they do I’m going with that.
LeeAnn Walton 3:36
I’m sticking with it.
Bill Gasiamis 3:38
Or is it your stroke brain talking just making up stories?
LeeAnn Walton 3:42
Maybe it’s my stroke brain making up stories? I don’t know.
The Hemorrhagic Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 3:47
Tell me a little bit about what happened to you.
LeeAnn Walton 3:51
Well, I about three years ago on February 22, or almost around 5:15 pm I know that’s very specific. I was a yoga instructor and I was teaching my class I was finishing up my warm-up so that’s about 15 minutes cluster five.
LeeAnn Walton 4:19
And then all sudden, I had I felt like pop in my brain. But like one of those like really thick elastic bands I get that I felt like somebody like threw one of those at me because my head went back and I was like What the What happened?
LeeAnn Walton 4:41
And I stumbled over my student and proceeded to puke all over her. Not just once, but like and I was like, oh I’m so sorry.. And I couldn’t get back up. And whoever that student is because I forget I felt so bad but I had no idea what was going on.
LeeAnn Walton 5:14
I was trying to keep it together, because I didn’t want to alarm my students. And but I was in shock, because I had no idea what was going on. I was rushed to the hospital. And I went through, I had brain surgery, like 9-10 hours of brain surgery. For two days, I was really touched and go, they really didn’t think I was going to make it.
LeeAnn Walton 5:49
But I did. And the day that I was fully aware, and I woke up and, I’m in a hospital, like, what’s going on? How come my head like kills, and I have something hanging out of my head will somebody explained that, and it was my sister, she kept saying you had a stroke.
LeeAnn Walton 6:18
And I was like, wait, what? I had no idea what a stroke was. And I didn’t understand what a stroke was. I thought I was gonna go to acute rehab, and everything was gonna be fine.
Bill Gasiamis 6:38
Yeah, common misconception in stroke is that everything’s gonna be fine tomorrow rapidly overnight.
LeeAnn Walton 6:47
Exactly. And I remember where I taught, they told me like, how much time do you think you need off? And I was like, oh, I’m gonna be fine. In a month. I’ll be back teaching. And yeah, that didn’t work. Yeah, eventually I told them. I don’t know when I’m going to be back.
Bill Gasiamis 7:13
Yeah, a bleeding in the brain or a blockage in the brain, something like that, you know, hemorrhagic stroke or an ischemic stroke. It’s just not a broken leg is it? You can’t put a timeline on it. You can’t say it’s going to be done in six weeks.
LeeAnn Walton 7:33
Or even a year. Yeah with my stroke. They don’t know that the reason why I had it. They thought me blood pressure, but my blood pressure wasn’t high enough to burst a blood vessel. So I don’t know. But I am on blood pressure medicine, just, you know, just in case, and I get yearly MRI scans to just make sure that everything is okay with my brain.
LeeAnn Walton 8:09
I mean my brain gets a lot of action. I mean, CAT scans, MRIs cerebral angiogram, so, like, I you know, the cool thing about having a stroke was, I was like, introduced to the hospital scene, and like brain surgery, and I remember my neurosurgeon was like, we’re gonna put a camera in your vein is going to go up your arm and around your heart.
LeeAnn Walton 8:45
And then we’re going to take pictures of your brain at first, I was like, wait, you can do that. And that’s so gross. But the more that I learned about my brain and the things that they can do, I find it really cool now, but at first I was like wait what?
Bill Gasiamis 9:10
Doctors know stuff, they know.
LeeAnn Walton 9:13
And it’s actually really amazing what they can do now, I mean, because like, they just went into my major artery on my wrist. And, you know, the incision was, you know, you could barely see the incision. So, but I still have the dent from the drain. So and I think I told you before, it’s my new party trick.
LeeAnn Walton 9:40
Instead of doing cool yoga, crazy arm balances. I’m like, Hey, does anybody want to touch my ditch in my skull, on my head. And usually everybody’s kind of like, can I? And I’m like, Yeah, and then they go in. And they’re like, oh my gosh to do. I’m like, Yeah, I do. I have a ditch.
Bill Gasiamis 10:11
I’m the same, I tell people to touch the screws on my head do you want to touch the screws, do you want to have a feel of the screws, because when they did the, they removed the bone flat to get in to actually do brain surgery. And then they put the bone flat back, they actually screwed in place, or they tack it in place with something.
Bill Gasiamis 10:29
I don’t know what exactly right. So yeah, you can feel it. And on some days, they hurt like they make my head hurt my skull and my brain hit kind of thing because it gets cold maybe or something like that.
LeeAnn Walton 10:41
Oh my God Bill you are a badass. I mean, anybody who had a stroke is a total badass. But you my friend, you are a badass.
Bill Gasiamis 10:50
Yeah, it’s cool. It’s cool to tell people to touch the screws on your head, like, because then I can say I’ve got a screw loose and there’s a real reason. And then, you know one of the best things about my stroke was I was able to prove to my brother that I had a brain because there’s at least five people that saw it. And my brother didn’t believe until then that I had a brain because he always used to say to me grow a brain.
LeeAnn Walton 11:26
See, it’s kind of like I posted my cerebral angiogram photos. And so anybody could see what my brain looks like what it look like, before the stroke, when I had the stroke, and then after the stroke and then actually pulling to see my spinal cord and like the different blood vessels and like, it’s cool to me before I would be like, now I’m like, Oh my God, there’s my spinal cord.
Perfect Time To Have A Hemorrhagic Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 12:01
Yeah, it means something when it’s yours, when you’re looking at your scan, it means something for me. It was pretty strange to see a golf ball sized blood clot, you know, in my head far out, man. Like, that was just nuts. The fact that I could say or explain to me what it was what caused it take out what caused it? I mean, how lucky are we to have a stroke in the best time on the planet ever?
LeeAnn Walton 12:31
Yes. I mean, I tell myself that I am so lucky that I had my stroke three years ago and not during the pandemic. Even though when I did have a stroke nurses when I was in ICU, the nurses are like, you know, we might go on strike. And I’m like, wait, can you wait until I’m out of the ICU? And then you guys can go and strike. Just make sure like this thing is taken out okay? Then you guys can do whatever you want. Just please don’t leave your right now. But yes, I agree.
Bill Gasiamis 13:13
How long did you spend in hospital?
LeeAnn Walton 13:16
I was in the hospital for a month. And I actually feel because I was discharged from acute rehab. And I really wish what I know now, I wish I would have asked to complete the full two weeks of acute rehab. I want him to get out of the hospital. I was like, Yeah, give me out.
LeeAnn Walton 13:46
And I you know, and they said, Oh, you’re fine. You’re gonna you know. Yeah, and good luck. It’s what they told me. Actually, that’s all they told me like, it’s gonna be, it’s gonna be quite a journey for you and good luck. And I’m like that’s it? Don’t I get like a handbook or something? But you don’t get one.
Bill Gasiamis 14:14
Isn’t that interesting? In Australia, the Stroke Foundation has started trying to hand some kind of a guide some kind of a book to stroke survivors and their caregivers. So when they leave, they’ve got somewhere to start. Like they’ve got a little bit of an idea.
LeeAnn Walton 14:32
Well, I wish the states would do that. I mean, literally, the hospital was like, yeah, it’s a really hard, it’s gonna be really hard. Okay, and it was like, I had no idea I was like, until I started reading books and doing research on people who had strokes and the recovery.
LeeAnn Walton 14:57
But I was like, wow, I would have helped ifI knew this when I was coming out of the hospital, I really hope that the state starts doing what you guys do, because that makes complete sense.
Bill Gasiamis 15:11
Yeah, it’s funded by the Stroke Foundation. It’s not funded by the hospitals. But it’s something that they’re trying to raise money for. And every so often, they get some funding, and they go through this process of delivering these hampers, or books or something along those lines.
Bill Gasiamis 15:29
I never experienced that, because my stroke was February 2012, so quite a few years ago, but it’s a more recent thing, and just trying to get people informed about what to expect, who to call on, you know what some of the challenges might be, so that there’s less of a gap between the caregiver and the stroke survivor as to what’s going on.
Bill Gasiamis 15:51
So the caregiver doesn’t feel so overwhelmed. So the stroke survivor doesn’t feel so overwhelmed. And, you know, we can kind of bring people down from the cliff a little bit, you know, which is hard, even with the most information, but it’s, most people get exactly what you describe, that’s what I got, I got told that go home and, you know, kind of you’ll be right type thing.
Bill Gasiamis 16:20
And it’s like the trouble started, when I went home the complications got worse, because every time something happened, I was oh, my god, am I having another stroke? Or why am I feeling strange? Again? What should I do? Should we call the hospital should we do nothing?
Bill Gasiamis 16:39
And this constant not knowing made it really difficult to navigate? And we were over what we were doing, we were over cautious? And that’s a good thing. Don’t get me wrong. If you’re listening to this, and you’re new to stroke recovery and all that, and you’re over cautious, that’s okay. But it would be good to have some definitions, some explanations, something.
Current Stroke Statistics LeeAnn Walton 17:11
Yes. I mean, my team of doctors that I have right now. What they’re telling me is that more and more younger people are having strokes, especially women. And they don’t know why, which I think is really interesting. And also kind of scary.
Bill Gasiamis 17:35
I have a couple of theories.
Bill Gasiamis 17:38
What are your theories?
Bill Gasiamis 17:39
Lifestyle factors, mostly, it’s that we’re more stressed, more worked to the bone were less likely to look after ourselves, pay attention to all those things, we’re less likely to take care of ourselves, and we put ourselves out there for other people. We probably don’t eat as healthfully as we should there’s a whole bunch of reasons and we’re seeing the stats in Australia all over the world in fact, going up for stroke.
Bill Gasiamis 18:15
They say that the world stroke organization says that 95% of strokes are preventable. Which means that if that’s the case, 95% of them are being caused through lack of self care, in some way, shape or form. I mean, what was the reason that you suspect your stroke happened? I know a blood vessel burst, but tell me about your lifestyle before stroke.
Unhealthy Lifestyle LeeAnn Walton 18:46
Well, when I asked like what do you think? And you’re like, I think a lot of it is lifestyle like, gosh, yes, like I mean, I live in New York City, okay, I had a full time job. And I started teaching and I was getting a huge following. And my part time job became another full time job.
LeeAnn Walton 19:10
So I had two full time jobs, basically working 80 hours a week, stressed out but I had places to go people to see and I wasn’t paying attention to my body and I thought I was invincible. I can keep good so but I’m I’m a yoga instructor and nothing bad happens to yoga instructors and guess what?
LeeAnn Walton 19:42
Something bad can happen to yoga instructors and but I think the way that I was living and not listening to my body was trying to tell me slow down and slow down. Like take a break.
LeeAnn Walton 20:00
Say No, but I couldn’t at the time, it was so hard for me to say no, like, I can’t take on the class. I can’t do this. I can’t you know, I just, I wanted to please everyone. Now, it’s very easy for me to say no. Because before I couldn’t, but now it’s like, no. And if they like, push me, I’m like, I had a stroke No.
Bill Gasiamis 20:28
Yeah, it is a good excuse because it’s true. But as a yoga instructor, what was the point of being a yoga instructor? What did you hope to achieve from doing it?
LeeAnn Walton 20:45
Well, this is the interesting thing. When you’re a yoga instructor, you are teaching people to calm down, listen to your body connect with your body, you know, I was teaching all this stuff to people. And yet I wasn’t doing that for myself.
Bill Gasiamis 21:13
I’m gonna interrupt you for a second I have this theory about people who become life coaches, psychologists, and that kind of stuff. And I had a similar experience, because probably in 2010, was when I got my qualification to be a life coach, right. And when I got the qualification, I went through the course it took a year or whatever it took, I don’t remember how long it took.
Bill Gasiamis 21:38
And at the end of it, I was asked, What are you going to do now? Now that you’ve done the course you have the qualification who you’re going to go and help, what are you going to do? And I had this weird epiphany. I was around 30 years old. So I’m like that 31, 32, something like that. And the epiphany was, in fact, I thought that I started this coaching course, because I wanted to help other people. But in fact, what I’ve realized is I need coaching more than anybody.
Intro 22:11
If you’ve had a stroke, and you’re in recovery, you’ll know what a scary and confusing time it can be, you’re likely to have a lot of questions going through your mind. Like now long will it take to recover? Will I actually recover? What things should I avoid? In case I make matters worse, doctors will explain things that obviously, you’ve never had a stroke before, you probably don’t know what questions to ask.
Intro 22:35
If this is you, you may be missing out on doing things that could help speed up your recovery. If you’re finding yourself in that situation, stop worrying, and head to recovery after stroke.com where you can download a guide that will help you it’s called a seven questions to ask your doctor about your stroke.
Intro 22:54
These seven questions are the ones Bill wished he’d asked when he was recovering from a stroke, they’ll not only help you better understand your condition, they’ll help you take a more active role in your recovery, head to the website. Now, recoveryafterstroke.com and download the guide. It’s free.
Bill Gasiamis 23:13
And I’m not going to go and coach a single person until I go through a ton of coaching myself because I am struggling with who I want to be when I grow up. You know what, what my frustrations are in my family at work and all that kind of stuff. I want to learn I want to grow, I want to develop.
Bill Gasiamis 23:35
And I thought that I was in a position to help other people do that. And I’m not because I’ve never done that myself. So I think what I’ve discovered in the my course, is that I need coaching and then I actually went on a massive journey of counseling and coaching. And still to this day I go to counseling and get coaching. So would you relate to that? Did you start the journey thinking that what you needed to do was help other people but in fact, what’s going on is you’re looking for some kind of a way to settle stuff.
LeeAnn Walton 24:16
Well, to be completely honest, the reason why I kept taking on all these classes was because I loved teaching yoga, and I was good at teaching yoga and I wanted to leave the corporate world and it was very close to my stroke I was getting ready to resign from my job. And well I’m still at my job.
Bill Gasiamis 24:52
So it was a gateway. I like that. So it was different from what I did. I didn’t do it as a way to get out of my job but you were using it as a way to learn, create a following. And then do a flip, like, leave the corporate job and then just move into yoga, however you were teaching yoga and encouraging people to practice yoga. How much of the practice were you doing?
LeeAnn Walton 25:21
Towards the end, none. I mean, I would force myself if I didn’t, if it was almost six days And I would go to a yoga class, but I can barely keep my eyes open. And like, some of my students, they would go to like, where I because they would always ask where where do you practice?
LeeAnn Walton 25:46
And I would, you know, and they start showing up and they’d be like, Hi, LeeAnn. How are you? I’m like, I am so tired. I don’t even remember your name, I gotta leave. I was a walking zombie. And then now like, I have plenty of time to contemplate.
Bill Gasiamis 26:15
So if you’re working 18 hours a day, that only leaves another eight hours. What are those eight hours consist of? I imagine somewhere in there, there has to be some sleep. How much sleep?
LeeAnn Walton 26:30
Honestly it wasn’t that much sleep. I mean, because I’m a perfectionist, and I would teach a class and.
Bill Gasiamis 26:39
Excuse me let me interrupt, it doesn’t leave eight hours. If you’re working 18 hours, it leaves six hours.
Hemorrhagic Stroke Can Happen To Anyone
LeeAnn Walton 26:46
Okay probably like four hours. Because I would come home and I’d be like, Okay, so this part of the sequence didn’t work. I’d look at the clock and be like, Okay, I’ll just spend like an hour and finish, you know, and like, try to improve it.
LeeAnn Walton 27:06
And then honestly, sometimes I would go to bed and but my mind would be and then I’m looking at the clock. I’m like, like I have to get up tomorrow you know, so four hours, maybe even less, for some days it was definitely a huge wake up call. For my stroke, like I mean, the worst thing that has ever happened to me was I had a wisdom teeth pulled and I thought that was a horrible experience.
LeeAnn Walton 27:47
Oh, I would never got sick. I never broke anything. So when I was in the ambulance, going to the emergency room, I kept thinking, I was having a dream, because I’m like, things like this. They don’t happen to me.
LeeAnn Walton 28:09
And I think I was in shock for many months. Because I kept thinking, I’m going to wake up and I know this is just a bad dream. Because things like this don’t happen to me. And I think the day that I realized what happened to me I broke down and cried because the severity of the situation. Just I really got for the first time. But we talked about this before. You know, it has been a hard and challenging journey.
LeeAnn Walton 29:06
And the first year I tried to be optimistic. And then after the year, everybody said, Oh, you’ll get everything back. And after a year, I still walk with a limp and it has affected my right arm and hand I can’t really use it. I got really angry and then I got really quiet.
LeeAnn Walton 29:40
Meaning I really had time to really think about what my lifestyle was, who I was before my stroke and And in many ways, I mean, I think having a stroke was the best thing for me. Because it has opened my eyes to so many things. I realize now I’m like, not always so healthy. I had green juices every day. I’m like, Okay, three hours sleep. I’m like, that was so not healthy, not healthy.
LeeAnn Walton 30:31
And, I was so unaware of it. You know, I’m like, No, I’m a yoga instructor, green juice and vegetables and fruit. And, you know, I just realize, I laugh at my lifestyle. And there are certain people in my life, you know, they’re complaining about their life, and they’re this and this and this, and I’m like, I would slow down and fire you.
LeeAnn Walton 31:01
They’re like, nah, I’m like, okay. But from what I experienced, you know? You really got to think, are things really healthy? Is your life balanced? You know, how do you treat people? And I think, like, I hate to say this, but it’s the truth. But before my stroke, if I saw somebody like in a wheelchair, or, you know, and it was a packed train, I’d be annoyed.
LeeAnn Walton 31:46
Because I had to go round you know, wheelchair, and you know, and I was like, God, I was a jerk. I really was a jerk. And then, you know, if I was such a yogi, and everybody in my world was a yogi, but if you weren’t part of my Yogi world, I didn’t have time for you.
LeeAnn Walton 32:10
You know, so, there’s a lot of people that I kind of brushed off, whatever you’re not, oh, yeah, I’m gonna quit because I’m gonna teach yoga. But now, I talked to them. And I realized, I’m like, God, man, he was such a jerk before because this is the nicest person on earth. Like, he’s so nice. And you didn’t have the time of day to say, you know, to be just be like, Nope, I got to work on my yoga.
Bill Gasiamis 32:44
Was you a bitch?
LeeAnn Walton 32:49
I wouldn’t know. Well, I wasn’t, no, well.
Bill Gasiamis 32:56
That’s not a denial. Sorry. I’m so sorry. That is not a denial.
LeeAnn Walton 33:04
I was a bitch. But it’s like except I was walking down, like, you know, the New York streets and like somebody like said something to me then I’ll be like, you know, fuck you.
Bill Gasiamis 33:18
Well that’s normal. That’s, that’s okay.
LeeAnn Walton 33:22
That’s normal for New Yorkers.
Bill Gasiamis 33:23
That’s normal. That’s okay. I got no issue with that. And I’m not I’m just being cheeky. I’m not saying that you were a bitch. But you’re just reminded me of me, you’re just describing me. That’s exactly the kind of person that I was. I wasn’t that busy. I didn’t, I never worked 18 hours a day.
Bill Gasiamis 33:41
Although I did give it a good shot a few times. But I was really unaware of other people. I was really selfish. I was creating problems that weren’t really there. I was doing all of the things that you described in my own weird way. And it took me to have to be in a wheelchair for the coin to drop for me to finally go, Ah, shit, like when somebody is sitting in a wheelchair.
Bill Gasiamis 34:18
They’re not actually just sitting down, because they can’t be bothered doing anything else. They can’t use their legs, there’s a reason why they’re there. And then, not only that is there’s other complications that happen from sitting down in a wheelchair because your legs don’t work properly on one side or both of them.
Bill Gasiamis 34:38
So I really became aware of how much of a you guys call it jerk. We describe ourselves as assholes how much of an asshole I was and that’s kind of the equivalent of bitch you know, female. So it’s the male is the asshole so it takes some time to have that awareness.
Learning Empathy After A Stroke Bill Gasiamis 35:07
And I am glad that of all things, that’s one of the big things that I learned is that empathy doesn’t come from a lack of life experience. So when you’ve had a dream run, you’re more likely to be unable to understand the struggles of somebody else. And the difficulties and for me up until then, you know, 37, I reckon I had the dream run, I’d say, you know, I was never in hospital, I was never seriously ill, I was always able to be up and about and work and use my body and took it for granted, like everybody.
Bill Gasiamis 35:49
And now, I’m not that way inclined. So because I have been there, I can empathize with people. And these days, we will go into the city, and we’ll go for some shopping or whatever with my wife, and most of the time is spent dealing with and chatting to people that are living on the street.
Bill Gasiamis 36:16
And they’ll see me coming a mile away, and then we’ll lock eyes, and I’ll be, Hey, how’s it going? What’s happening? How come you’re here? What can I do to help you and sometimes they just need a few dollars, or give me a feed or something like that. And that is a really interesting thing that I can do now. Because before I couldn’t even see those people at all.
Bill Gasiamis 36:42
And now they’ll say, It’s so lovely that you stopped. And I’m thinking, if that was me, because they could just as easily be me on that street, I could be out on my butt in no time, this could have gone a lot worse. And it could have affected my personality, my memory, my ability to, you know, be normal, whatever that is.
Bill Gasiamis 37:08
And, I could have just as easily have been in a position where I need the amount of help that they need. And I could still end up in that position. So I think I need to make sure that we treat people the way we want to be treated if we were to be in the same situation. That can’t happen without stroke for me, stroke had to teach me that.
LeeAnn Walton 37:38
That’s very interesting that you say that? Because since my stroke, yes, I am I mean, yes, I’ll talk to any stranger who talks to me, you know, and I really thought about who I was, and who I needed to become. And also starting to really, for the first time in my life, create boundaries of not accepting certain behavior from people.
LeeAnn Walton 38:27
And maybe not, this person no longer needs to be in my life. Because they don’t treat people well. You know, and I’m like I understand them, because I thought I was invincible and like, you know, I took everything for granted.
LeeAnn Walton 38:52
I can move my body and, and now it’s like, you have no idea how grateful you should be. I’m like, life is so short. And anything in life can change on a dime. And we know that. And I think that is a lot of wisdom that most people don’t really learn.
Bill Gasiamis 39:21
Yeah, and you have to learn from life experience. That’s the weird thing. And we’ve had life experience. It’s sometimes an experience maybe we wish you didn’t have but the reality is, is that the people who didn’t get the chance to reflect on it like us, the ones that passed away from the stroke, their heart attack their cancer, their whatever. That’s like.
Bill Gasiamis 39:48
That’s the part that kind of plays on my mind is I have friends who died in their 40s at least two of them who were in their 40s that died from heart attacks. happened, and they were gone. They didn’t have a recovery, they didn’t have the anger, the depression, the bargaining, the denial, the acceptance, they didn’t get any of that. They just went, they’re gone.
Bill Gasiamis 40:14
And now we have this other part of which I am grateful for is I’m alive. But I get to do all that reflecting, and all that growth and all that wisdom creating, and now I get to apply that. And that’s going to enhance my life, regardless of how my left side feels, and how immobile I am.
Bill Gasiamis 40:38
And that’s going to make my connections with other people better. I got to apologize to my family and friends and tell them I love them and experience growth in my relationships. These other guys didn’t, they just, they never got the second chance they’re gone.
Bill Gasiamis 40:58
So I feel like if I was gonna have anything happened to me, it’s probably one of the best things that’s happened to me and I talk about that a lot. And so do you. But that’s why it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me not because I appreciate the ride in ICU, or I appreciate all the needles and the not being able to walk.
Bill Gasiamis 41:26
And well, I don’t appreciate any of that when it’s happening. But on reflection, I’m going, Man that kicked me in the butt that taught me a lesson, and I’m going to learn from it. And I’m going to take that and I’m going to do something about that. And up until then nobody had kicked me in the butt or I had not allowed them because my ego didn’t let me be taught a lesson nicely. I had to learn the hard way.
LeeAnn Walton 41:59
Me too. Yeah, and but before my stroke, it was really hard for me to ask for help. And this is something again, that I would teach my students, it’s okay to ask for help. I didn’t do that for myself. And when I had my stroke for the very first time, I had to ask for help. I had to ask somebody to help me walk down the hall.
LeeAnn Walton 42:34
Actually, I had like, had a help somebody to walk into the bathroom, because I couldn’t even like, make it to the bathroom. You know, it was a very humbling experience. And also, it has taught me that, you know, LeeAnn, it’s okay to ask for help. You know, I’m like, I taught my students and really too bad. I didn’t listen to any of it. Till now.
Bill Gasiamis 43:06
Yeah. So what’s it like with the family? Have you been able to reach out to them and mend things or just sort of be a little bit different or has changed at all with me, I, I really went out of my way to make sure that I not that things were sketchy or anything, but you know, I could be a bit of an aerosol. So I tried to tone that down. And I tried to ramp up the niceness.
LeeAnn Walton 43:41
Well, I’m adopted. And my family, they really didn’t understand what a stroke was. And they were under the impression after, like, a year that I was back to normal, because but they don’t live in New York, and my sister would start getting angry at me saying, I keep asking you to come down and you don’t do this.
LeeAnn Walton 44:19
And finally, I told them, I can’t I can’t carry a suitcase. You know, and so that was a challenge. And then the whole COVID thing. I don’t really want to get into it. But yeah, I don’t really talk to my family, but it was mainly over COVID.
Fatigue After A Hemorrhagic Stroke
Bill Gasiamis 44:44
Ah, okay. The misunderstanding part that’s really common family members don’t understand. I look normal on the outside “normal”. They look at me everything appears as if it did before.
LeeAnn Walton 45:00
Exactly.
Bill Gasiamis 45:01
And they just can’t connect the dots. They can’t. He’s describing fatigue. And it’s what does that even mean? I was tired once maybe is it tired? No, no. Like it’s tired times 10,000.
LeeAnn Walton 45:15
Yeah, it’s like when we like I would fight to try and you just can’t fight it. You’re just like I’m not asleep, one also, I had a lot of sleep to catch up on. But I was like, yeah, no, I mean, the fatigue, what I went back to work.
LeeAnn Walton 45:39
And I mean, I came in later. So I didn’t have to deal with rush hour, like I left early, but like, and I sit at a desk, and I was at the end wiped out. I mean, I would go home, I would feed my cats. And I would eat something and go to bed, like I was in bed by like, seven. Because I just was so so tired.
Bill Gasiamis 46:10
A lot of people listening would relate to that, especially me as well. And the monitors are, when I first sat in front of a monitor again, for a little while, it would really freak my brain out, it was really difficult to look at a monitor for a long period of time. And getting through a full day of work was so hard. So hard.
LeeAnn Walton 46:35
And mine was certainly like the monitor, it was just fatigue. You know, even like walking down the hallway, my leg would get really heavy, I’d have to go back and sit down. It was just, it completely wiped me out.
LeeAnn Walton 46:56
And that was something that to get I had to get used to because before I was like, I gotta go to this, gotta go there. And then now I was like, No, I gotta go home and go to bed. And I lost some friends over that, because they didn’t get that. You know, like, you never want to go out?
LeeAnn Walton 47:18
I’m like, I could barely make it through the day. Like, I’m completely wiped out. Like there’s I’m sorry, I can’t meet with you after work, because I could barely make it without falling asleep on the subway. And no, LeaAnn, you’re just making excuses. No, I’m not.
Bill Gasiamis 47:42
Yeah, you did have some kind of a shift, though, in the way that you dealt with your adopted family and your biological mother. Tell me a little bit about that. How did that shift.
Bill Gasiamis 47:41
And the COVID thing is issue for lots of families type of comes a lot of disagreements and misunderstandings and differences, differences of opinion. And I think if anyone listened to this is doing that instead of just just allow everybody to have a different opinion and love each other.
Bill Gasiamis 47:41
Just relax about it all. And let’s see if we can get through COVID alive, which most of us will so and when we do that, then let’s just calm down.
LeeAnn Walton 47:41
Calm the fuck down.
Bill Gasiamis 47:41
Yeah. But tell me about that other part of your life that changed for you?
LeeAnn Walton 48:45
Well, I am adopted. And I grew up in a white family and lived to white neighborhood and I was always ashamed of being Asian. I so wanted to be white, and have long blonde hair.
LeeAnn Walton 49:09
And then I went through many, many years of anger towards my biological mom. Like, Why did you abandon me? And so I think a part of me also, I rejected her. And so I didn’t want to learn anything about Korea, because I was going to reject her, you know, everything about her.
LeeAnn Walton 49:42
And it wasn’t until after my stroke where I started actually talking to people in the yogi world, and there’s an older Lady in my building, and I’ve become friends with her. And we started talking. And she was telling me she’s like, you know, I adopted two kids.
LeeAnn Walton 50:15
And I was like, really? And I was like, what agency? And she says exact same agency that I was adopted from. And she asked me, have you ever tried to trace back and like, try to maybe find you know, your biological mom. And here’s some books that you can read about the mothers who gave up their children, and you could hear the reasons why. And I started reading those books, and I cried.
LeeAnn Walton 50:56
And I realized I was a jerk because I never once thought what did my mom have to go through. It’s very selfish it’s about me. And for the first time, I was able to forgive my mom, to forgive myself. And I don’t know if she’s alive, or she passed away.
LeeAnn Walton 51:33
But you know, I talked to her the other day, tell her about my day, you know, I asked her, I’m doing this, I think you’d be really proud of me. And I’m learning about where I came from, culture, learning how to, sorry… Cook Korean food, really embracing finally, where I came from. And the amazing woman who had me?
Bill Gasiamis 52:16
Yeah, is it impossible that a mum has to give birth to a child and then give that child away and never think of that childhood again. She’s thinking of that child every single day of her life. And she’s wondering whether she did the right thing or not, and whether her decision was the right thing, she probably has regrets.
Bill Gasiamis 52:42
But she most likely did it for you to have a better life, more opportunities, and all that kind of stuff. And it’s the most selfless act to bring a child into the world and then to say, the child would be better off with somebody else. It’s an amazing thing to do even though it’s of course very difficult for the child to learn to coexist in a world that is very different looks very different from the way that her world would have looked.
LeeAnn Walton 53:19
Yeah, I laugh because I recently received my adoption documents and on, my flight status. It originally said France, and then it was crossed-out and I’m like, darn it I could’ve been French.
Bill Gasiamis 53:45
Your croissant. Would the fashion have been better or worse?
LeeAnn Walton 54:01
Oh, definitely better. Definitely better. And the thing is, I love France. I love. So when I saw it, I was like, it could’ve been so different.
Bill Gasiamis 54:17
I’m not buying it. You would have taken Paris for granted. You would have said I wish I went to New York. The city that never sleeps.
LeeAnn Walton 54:31
I don’t know. I think I really like France. I think but no. New York is my home. But after that sometimes I daydream you know?
Bill Gasiamis 54:46
Yeah, that’s a lovely thing to get to that point where you can forgive your biological mom and that’s a lovely thing. I mean, it should be a load off emotionally for you. It should really help shift and lighten your load right?
LeeAnn Walton 55:01
Yes, it definitely did. definitely did. opened up my heart even more.
Bill Gasiamis 55:10
Yeah. And which part of Korea?
LeeAnn Walton 55:17
Seoul
Bill Gasiamis 55:17
Is that? South Korea, right?
LeeAnn Walton 55:21
Yes.
LeeAnn Walton 55:23
You know, Parasite and Squid Games. That’s Oh, that’s where yeah, that’s where everything’s happening.
Bill Gasiamis 55:33
The weird stuffs happening.
LeeAnn Walton 55:37
That’s one thing I learned about Korean is like we’re fucked up like maybe that explains a little.
Bill Gasiamis 55:50
I saw the end of Squid Game, and it was worth getting through all the horror and gore. So if you’ve been on the fence about watching it, and you’re not sure, because it’s very gorey, and there’s a lot of, you know, crazy stuff happening. It’s worth it at the end.
LeeAnn Walton 56:11
At the end. I agree. I agree to it wasn’t exactly what I expected the end. But yeah, at the end. It’s really I thought was kind of powerful. Yeah, but it is very gory. And I’ll think some of the things you’re like, oh, my gosh, I can’t believe I’m watching this show. But it can’t stop.
Bill Gasiamis 56:39
It’s like a train wreck. You have to look.
LeeAnn Walton 56:40
I know, I can’t look away.
Bill Gasiamis 56:45
And Parasite was an interesting Korean film because it won a whole bunch of Oscars. I’m pretty sure it won like a ton of Oscar.
LeeAnn Walton 56:56
Yes, it won an Oscar. It was actually the film where it really I actually learned about how stratified Korea is the classes of the really, the elite and then the poor. I mean, they’re, living in basements for heaven’s sakes, I mean, spoiler I hope no one spoiling this. But like, they open up the window exterminator goes by so they kill you know, they’re insects in their apartment. I mean, that’s how poor they were.
LeeAnn Walton 57:44
And I didn’t know that. And that also helps me understand more what I started reading about these women who had to give up their child, because a lot of them were very poor. And when also it’s kind of a sexist, contrary, it’s definitely you are looked down upon if you are not married, and you have a baby.
Bill Gasiamis 58:19
They’re still living in the 1930s. It’s interesting that shifting a lot, though, that shifting all over the world, and I think that’s a great thing. Perhaps has it moved forward since perhaps your birth? Do you think has it changed? Or is it still in a similar mindset of, you know, single women with children? Is not the right thing.
LeeAnn Walton 58:51
I honestly, I think in the beginning, better over there. But I still think but don’t quote me on this. That there is still a little bit of that stigma still.
Bill Gasiamis 59:07
Yeah. So would have been tough experience for women to go through that have a child perhaps out of wedlock? Who knows what, and then have to make a decision on how they’re going to move forward in their life in their society that they have to live in every single day?
LeeAnn Walton 59:27
Actually, oh, I just realized something. I’m like, I think it’s my mom. That abandoned me. My mom could have had a stroke and died. It was my dad, I’m just thinking because, you know, I have no idea. It runs in the family, you know, having a stroke, but.
Bill Gasiamis 59:49
Yeah, well, it can. And yeah, this is one of the things that unfortunately, you’re not going to know you’re not going to know your history is there a possibility that you’ll be able to continue the mission to find more details of the family history?
LeeAnn Walton 1:00:10
I’m actually waiting for the orphanage in Korea, to see if they can send me copies of my file of how I came to them. So hopefully, in the new year, I’ll get that information.
Bill Gasiamis 1:00:33
And your mom in United States, does she have any additional information on that journey?
LeeAnn Walton 1:00:43
No, she was actually very against me ever looking for my real mom, I think she felt that I’m your mom. And that should be enough. So there wasn’t a lot of also factored into me not really looking.
Bill Gasiamis 1:01:07
Yeah. That would be hard for everybody isn’t it? It’s just that person perhaps has made a decision to do something that’s really good. You know, bring another child away from a situation that’s really difficult, raise that child and then be a mom to that child and then feel perhaps, if they’re emotionally sensitive feel perhaps that they’re being let down or betrayed or some crazy word.
Bill Gasiamis 1:01:40
I don’t know what the word is, by the child that they brought into the world to save to whatever you know, who knows? And it’s really difficult to understand what might be going on in the head of adopted I’m not sure if the words the right word, adoptive parent or the parent.
LeeAnn Walton 1:02:07
Adopted mom. Yeah.
Bill Gasiamis 1:02:10
It would be really difficult. Do you fit in through your life? Did you feel like fit in other than you weren’t blonde and blue eyed? Right? Typical. Did you feel like you fit in in every other way? Were you always feeling comfortable around family siblings?
LeeAnn Walton 1:02:31
I always like, felt like part of the family and I laugh because I remember a friend of mine in college. And she’s like, did you know you were adopted? I think yes, okay I said look at the pictures and I will definitely see that I looked very different from my family. She’s like, I kind of got that, I knew that I was adopted. It was not it was not a surprise. I was like, it was not a surprise. Like I even told her I’m the only one that’s adopted.
Bill Gasiamis 1:03:21
Wow, that’s so funny. She was joking, right?
LeeAnn Walton 1:03:26
No I was like, she went on to be a psychologist.
Bill Gasiamis 1:03:40
Maybe she’s grown. Maybe she’s had new learnings.
LeeAnn Walton 1:03:47
Let’s hope but like, I can’t believe you just asked me that question.
Bill Gasiamis 1:03:56
Yeah, look, people can be thick and that it’s just strange. You know that she could think that but you know, maybe she thought you’re oblivious. Maybe she thought you had no idea that you’d look different?
Bill Gasiamis 1:04:11
Maybe you just she thought that you just felt like you were you just were 100% True Blue. You know, United States person looking at 30 generations before you and all that stuff. Maybe she just thought that it’s legit. It’s impossible.
LeeAnn Walton 1:04:40
I know, you’re very nice. I’m just like what?
Bill Gasiamis 1:04:46
I’m trying to just give her a break.
LeeAnn Walton 1:04:48
I know you are.
Bill Gasiamis 1:04:49
Cuz that’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.
LeeAnn Walton 1:04:56
I’m like was it really were you shocked when they told you were. I was like no I wasn’t shocked.
Future Plans
Bill Gasiamis 1:05:05
Wow, I love it. So you’ve been three years into this recovery journey by now. What’s the future hold? What are your plans? Being that today in Australia, by the way, is the 31st of December 2021. And we’re supposed to be talking about New Year’s goals, resolutions, all that kind of stuff. What’s the future hold for you?
LeeAnn Walton 1:05:37
Well, I’m going to write a book about my stroke. But it’s going to be about all of the lessons that I have learned from my stroke. You hear stroke. We hear all like the bad things. And the stories and the struggles and yes, that is part of the journey. But there is another part of the journey that you can take.
LeeAnn Walton 1:06:13
And there’s so much wisdom that I have learned from my stroke. And it’s not and it’s gonna be a book, not just about first stroke survivors. But for people and also, like, maybe I could change somebody to really slow down and be kind and wise, and that’s my big thing is write that book.
Bill Gasiamis 1:06:48
Can we workshop some titles?
LeeAnn Walton 1:06:52
Yes. Wait a second. I’ve been working on it.
Bill Gasiamis 1:06:55
I wasn’t being serious. I was gonna say like, 101 things I’ll learned from stroke. Or maybe like, seven things that stroke taught me or one of the other quirky things like that people label.
LeeAnn Walton 1:07:25
You know, I thought about, like, what I want to call the book. And stroke is not going to be any part of the of the title.
LeeAnn Walton 1:07:42
I’ve been toying with strong or something. I don’t know yet. But I don’t want it to be too late to new agey, but I don’t know that at first I thought maybe lessons, life lessons or they’ll come to me. So it’s something with meaning, wisdom.
Bill Gasiamis 1:08:23
It’ll start to emerge as you start to write the book, I reckon, you get a feel for the book. And when you structure it, when you know what the chapters are, when you know what you want to share what the message is going to be. It’ll just emerge as it goes. And and I know he’s saying that you don’t want it to be about stroke, but you’ll be sharing your stroke journey.
Bill Gasiamis 1:08:46
So maybe a subtitle might have the word stroke in it or suggest that it’s coming from somebody who’s had a stroke and learned about life in her 40s. Yes, something like that, but I get, I get what you’re saying, you know, the book that I’m writing, I don’t really want it to be about me.
Bill Gasiamis 1:09:08
Which is strange, because it’s about stroke. But there’s a very small amount of it that’s being allocated to me, because I just want people to feel like they can relate to me. But then it’s about the lessons again, that I learned and it’s got nothing to do with. Well, what it’s, it’s because of the stroke that I lent them, but it’s not a book about stroke type thing. It’s about post traumatic growth, you know?
Bill Gasiamis 1:09:41
And that’s kind of where you’re at. Yeah, I know you want to share that story of growth and learning and wisdom and overcoming and that’s why you’re going to feature in my book, that’s why you’re going to have a chapter dedicated to you I’ll share a bit of your story in there.
Bill Gasiamis 1:10:02
That’s the whole purpose for that. Because I am, like you, I feel like there’s a lot of crap to talk about. But there’s also a lot of great things to talk about that come from the crap, they have to only emerge from the hard things. You can’t get wisdom of knowing what it’s like to be in a wheelchair, by never having to be in a wheelchair, and can’t get out of that wheelchair.
Bill Gasiamis 1:10:31
It’s one thing to sit in a wheelchair and push yourself around for a laugh. You know, and I’ve done that once in my life. But it’s another thing to be in there and then go, I can’t get out of that wheelchair. That wisdom of life doesn’t come from the mild version of that. It just doesn’t
LeeAnn Walton 1:10:52
I know it. Exactly. And it’s also those moments, at least like, I couldn’t feel on the right side of my arm. And one day, I was walking down the street, and I felt something straight into the right side of my arm. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I was like, Yo, like, Oh, my God, what’s going on? Should it go to the doctor.
LeeAnn Walton 1:11:26
And then I realized it was the wind. I felt the wind on the right side of my arm. And right then, and there on the street, I burst into tears. Because I forgot what it felt like. And then when it came back, like I was so grateful.
LeeAnn Walton 1:11:58
And it just really just those moments are so humbling. Because I felt very humble because I was like, I took for granted, you know, that feeling in my right hand and I am starting to get feeling back in. Thank you. Like just was humbling and so grateful.
Bill Gasiamis 1:12:35
Yeah, the wind on your skin. I mean. Wow.
LeeAnn Walton 1:12:42
Yeah. well, what is that? Do I have to go the hospital? Like, and then like, wait a second, I think I remember this, then I’m like, it’s wind I’m feeling the wind on my skin. And, I forgot what it felt like.
Bill Gasiamis 1:13:07
Yeah, that’s such a big thing. And it sounds so benign because we normally don’t pay attention to the wind on our skin, we pay attention to it on our body when we’re being pushed by the wind, for example, or when it’s messing up our hair bow don’t really pay attention to what it feels like.
Bill Gasiamis 1:13:25
And I have a similar feeling. I can feel the wind on my left side now. But not because it feels great it because it feels bad. So when I feel the wind, it hurts on my left side on my right side. I don’t notice it. But on my left side, it causes discomfort.
Bill Gasiamis 1:13:48
Not real pain, not debilitating pain, but discomfort where I would rather be wearing a sweatshirt or a jacket or something so that I don’t have to feel it. And I put my left hand in my pocket so I don’t have to feel it.
LeeAnn Walton 1:14:05
I have always numbness and tingling on my right side of my hand and my arm all the way up to the right side of my face. And let me just tell you like my right eyeball is numb. Like and I always feel it. You know, as soon as I wake up, I’m like oh there it is. But that let me just tell you I think we have experienced many sensations, that I don’t think a lot of people have.
Changes In Anatomy Bill Gasiamis 1:14:50
Well, we’re over sharing. I’m gonna share. So that straight down the middle thing happens to me too, and that’s straight down the middle of every thing on my body. So, I’ll just leave it at that.
LeeAnn Walton 1:15:13
I never. Wow what’s that like?
Bill Gasiamis 1:15:20
That’s like numb on one side and less numb on the other side.
LeeAnn Walton 1:15:27
Interesting. Wow.
Bill Gasiamis 1:15:31
Yeah, yeah. And it’s like, I don’t know how many people can say that? I can. And I know there’ll be a few other guys that are relating to me right now. But yeah, really strange really bizarre. I’ve even perspired on half of my body and not the other half of my body. Have you ever done that?
LeeAnn Walton 1:15:51
No.
Bill Gasiamis 1:15:52
So this is this it is dry. And besides perspiring.
LeeAnn Walton 1:15:59
My gosh, isn’t that that’s like, but then it makes me like our brains are like, it’s so scrambled and jumbled that like, oh my gosh, it just I feel like, I always explain a stroke to people. I always say think of your brain as a computer.
LeeAnn Walton 1:16:23
And then it goes down. And then when it comes up, half the program is not running, it’s running something completely different. And that’s why strokes are different for every single person.
LeeAnn Walton 1:16:40
Because that whatever program was affected, if that’s how it affects and that’s I just have the numbness all the way down, and the numbness in the eye and like in the weird sensation and pain in the fingers.
Bill Gasiamis 1:17:04
Yeah. So I’m in Gemini, I was born in June. So now I know exactly what it feels like to be two people in one body. My body now matches my personality. I never thought I would get there. But I’m living true to my star sign.
LeeAnn Walton 1:17:29
Well, I don’t know when I was born. So I don’t know.
Bill Gasiamis 1:17:35
Did you pick one?
LeeAnn Walton 1:17:40
The adoption agency picked one and my birthday is actually coming up? It’s January 4. So that would make me a Capricorn. I guess you know, I mean, Capricorns love to work. And before my stroke, I was working all the time.
Bill Gasiamis 1:18:07
Thank you so much for being on the podcast, I really appreciate it. I look forward to the book emerging and you’re going through that process. It’s good to hear there’s a lot of stroke survivors that are putting up books. And I just love that fact that sheet goes down. And then everyone’s going through a tough time. And everyone’s thinking about how to help other people. And it’s like, far out.
Bill Gasiamis 1:18:41
That’s such a great thing to come out of stroke as well. And I never really was to help the other people kind of guy like I was never that guy. But I thought this real deep desire to share and help other people. And that’s partly for the pod why the podcast happened.
Bill Gasiamis 1:18:57
That’s now why I stop and speak to people that are asking for money on the street and all that type of thing. I have this deep desire now to support and help people as little or as much as I can. It doesn’t matter. Some of them are very minor gestures, but they mean a lot to the people that are receiving them.
LeeAnn Walton 1:19:18
I just want to say that I really appreciate your podcast because I came across it and it was something really good for me to connect to and connect with you.
Bill Gasiamis 1:19:34
Yeah, absolutely. How long did it take you before? How long did it take you to find something that sort of helped you feel like you’re not alone? Was it something that you thought of at the beginning, or was it just later down the track when you thought I wonder if there’s a podcast about this?
LeeAnn Walton 1:19:51
I tried, you know, there were like Facebook pages were stroke survivor, you know, support groups and stuff like that. And I found a lot of them to be and I totally, I totally get it very angry and depressed.
LeeAnn Walton 1:20:17
But at one point, I was like I get where you guys are. But I’m going down this different journey. So I got rid of I left those groups and was always on the lookout for there’s gotta be something a little bit more positive. And I found you!
Bill Gasiamis 1:20:46
Well that’s it I’m glad that’s how you describe me. Thank you so much. Well, I look forward to keeping in touch with you. And just learning more about you and learning more about your book and talking about that sort of stuff. If you ever want to be on the podcast again, all you got to do is reach out.
LeeAnn Walton 1:21:08
I love to be on the podcast, literally this is fun.
Bill Gasiamis 1:21:16
I ever get back to New York, you know, probably gonna slip in your spare room with my wife there just so you know.
LeeAnn Walton 1:21:24
I don’t have a spare room. Couch.
Bill Gasiamis 1:21:29
Whatever.
LeeAnn Walton 1:21:32
And I hope you like cats, because I have a cat.
Bill Gasiamis 1:21:36
We like cats. And we don’t like spending $20,000 to stay for a week in New York. Yeah.
LeeAnn Walton 1:21:42
Oh, and you should stay with me because I live in Long Island City. And I have a beautiful view of the city and the water. So yeah.
Bill Gasiamis 1:21:55
Sounds like a lovely place. Thank you so much for being on the podcast.
LeeAnn Walton 1:22:00
Thank you for having me.
Intro 1:22:02
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Intro 1:22:19
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Intro 1:22:56
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Intro 1:23:10
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Intro 1:23:34
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