Beth Weil Bio

BIOGRAPHY:

Beth Weil

My name is Beth Weil, and I am a 50-year-old stroke survivor. I was an acoustic bass player, on tour with a Bluegrass band called the Good Ol' Persons. I had my stroke when we were performing in a music store in Southern California. On the last beat of the last song in the set, I had a cerebral hemorrhage. I put down my bass, got off the stage, went to the back of the room and sat down. Within 10 minutes I couldn't talk or use my right side. A doctor called an ambulance, and I went to the hospital, where I had 2 brain surgeries. I was in a coma for 3 weeks and in the hospital for 3 months. A few years later my husband said he was unhappy and sometime after that he left. It has been over a decade since I had the stroke. My ex-husband and I have joint custody of our two kids a 15-year-old boy, Matt, and a 13-year-old girl, Rachel.

One thing I have noticed about being disabled is that everything takes forever. Household and personal tasks take over twice as long when you only have one side to work with. Showers take me 2 hours. Eating and food prep takes a long time. I had a string of nannies after my husband left, but now my kids are old enough to take care of themselves. One the one hand, it's nice not having the added expense of another mouth to feed, but on the other I have trouble controlling my emotions. My kids are used to my crying, and ignore it. This makes me cry harder and feel like a failure as a mother. I wish I didn't have this, and other problems.

I was also a graphic artist by day, and have retained that skill, but I find there is little work. I am too insecure to take the initiative and advertise because I'm afraid of rejection -- who would hire a graphic artist who's disabled and has brain damage? All these problems stated, I am remarkably cheerful and have friends who take me to bluegrass concerts (I can't drive because of blind spots in my peripheral vision). I am mostly self-sufficient, but have friends who come and do the things I can't, like changing light bulbs. That's my story and I'm sticking to it

The Stroke Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 492 Abingdon, Maryland 21009