S2 E44: A Lesson in Swimming with Michael Shutt

Written By Eryn Martin

What can we say about Michael Shutt??  His kindness and compassion shine through in this heartwarming interview.  Michael is a three-time, over-achieving stroke victim.  He used his experience to write one of the most powerful depictions of stroke and what it is like to recover from one that I have ever heard.  His one man show, A Lesson in Swimming, is a radio, soon to be live, show that you won’t want to miss. 

Join us in this episode to learn more about the man behind the show. We touch on many important lessons that stroke has taught us both.  I know you will leave inspired and ready to find your community!  

In this episode:

  • Michael is a survivor of three ischemic strokes occurring from June to October 2015 for unknown reasons

  • Writer and Actor behind A Lesson in Swimming (see link below)

  • Neuro Nerd Network in Clubhouse Wednesdays and Fridays at 6p PST (see link below)

  • Difference of presenting well, being well, and being honest about it

  • Writers write to answer a burning question.  A Lesson in Swimming was about writing to try to explain something that happened to him that he didn’t understand

    • Short term memory struggles: 

      • Michael developed a notebook where people would sign in and where he would write down what happened

    • This notebook was the beginning of A Lesson in Swimming

    • Writing what he felt helped him to recall what had happened.  Focusing on his sensations (taste, touch, feel, sound, sight, feelings) really helped him with recall and grounding back to reality

    • Can use your senses to help ground yourself back to reality

    • It is a one man show where Michael plays 64 different characters.  Currently available as a radio show (see link below).  Will eventually be a live performance

  • Alien hand syndrome: when your brain doesn’t recognize one of your extremities

  • Michael’s recovery journey

    • He’s still recovering and needed inpatient and outpatient rehab

    • Speech therapy really helped him recognize and regain his cognitive abilities

    • Neuro-optometry: Hemianopsia- visual loss over half the visual field

  • The value of community

    • Clubhouse- a social media platform that is like a conference call

    • Neuro Nerds Network is a room where brain injury survivors come together to hold hands and make it down the path together

    • Wizard of Oz analogy

  • Being sick of fighting the good fight and taking bullets all day long

  • Lessons learned:

    • Value of community 

    • Feeling alone even when people are all around you

    • Find your people that get you and will listen

    • The benefit of feeling heard

    • Telling our stories creates empathy and helps others understand

    • It’s ok to feel what you’re feeling.  You don’t always have to fill the same role

    • Pivot! The Couch episode on Friends; not just a Covid word. 

    • Finding your way to help

    • The brain injury ‘club’; the dues suck but they’re worth it!

  • A Lesson in Swimming by Michael Shutt

    • Live show opening in May 2022 in LA (barring any new Covid variants) 

    • Available now as a radio show (see link below)

    • Future state: travel to medical conferences and hospitals as a powerful educational tool

    • The title comes from a memory Michael had of learning how to swim

      • “When a wave crashes over you and knocks you down you have two choices.  You can sink or you can swim.  Sinking is easy but it is my job to teach you how to swim.”

      • You have a choice of how the stroke will affect you.  

      • Where are the wins? Keep track of these; it shows you your progress and helps you see that you are growing and moving forward

      • Focusing on your deficits and losses gets very depressing.  

      • What’s one thing you did today that you couldn’t do yesterday?

      • This is not toxic positivity; it’s focusing on reality.  You get what you focus on

  • Lessons to healthcare professionals

    • Berading the patient on why didn’t you come earlier doesn’t help or change anything

    • There is a person behind the chart

    • Humanize what is going on and connect on a human level

    • Remember that we are all people and we are all the same

    • Keeping the human touch

    • Patients are more than their diagnosis.  Their diagnoses don’t define them.

  • Awareness is the first step.  It allows you to then make a choice

  • “We never know how strong we are until strong is the only choice we have.”  This is the thrust of writing the show. 

    • Michael always considered himself to be weak until he had his stroke. 

    • The stroke could destroy you but that is a choice you have

  • Being broken: stroke can make you feel broken but with time you realize that you’re the opposite of broken.  It takes a journey to get there.  You don’t figure that out right away

  • The difference between grit and grind.  

    • Grind is what you do everyday to get ahead

    • Grit is your internal strength; what gives you the energy to grind

    • Brain injury survivors tap into a well of grit

    • Being real about all you actually have

    • The opportunity to rediscover yourself and be different

  • The crashing and burning path

    • Perpetual people pleasing leads to burning out

    • Prevent crashing and burning by:

      • Shifting to self compassion

      • Putting your oxygen mask on before you put on the person’s next to you

      • You are worth being kind to yourself 

  • You can’t fix the past; you can only affect the present

  • Caregiving and pleasing others. 

  • Learning to ask for help when you’re used to being self-reliant

    • We are worthy of attention and care

    • We are worth our own time, attention, and respect as well

    • How can you expect someone else to respect your boundaries if you don’t respect your own?

  • Boundaries

    • Learning that boundaries have nothing to do with being a bitch

    • One of the most generous things we can do for someone is setting a boundary.  It teaches others how to approach you.  They are your guidebook; the map of how it's ok to treat me.  

    • Safe vs unsafe people

      • Who is it safe for you to express yourself to?

  • The word ‘should’ keeps you from moving forward.  It keeps you stuck in your muck. 

    • ‘Should’ tells you you need to turn to someone else for what to do.  It teaches you that you can’t trust yourself

  • Energy: being conscious of where it goes and what depletes us.

  • Wine country: try Cambria and Los Olivos

  • The value of having resources in the community.  It is life saving to not feel alone.  

  • Patreon

  • Donate section on our website.  10% of profits go to our favorite non-profit of the moment

 


Eryn Martin
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S2 E45: Brain Injury and Relationships Series: Being the Light with Tymiak and Rachel Hawkins
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S2 E43: Hope as a Basis for Recovery with Expanded Practice’s Danielle Stoller (neuro PT) and Marabeth Quin (mama bear)