The Stroke Treatment That Worked For Karen Quigenden

Recovery After Stroke

Dr. Tobinick Stroke Treatment: Karen’s Recovery Story of Hope and Healing

Life Before the Stroke

Karen Quigenden lived an active and full life on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. At 47, she was working in community care during the week and spending weekends at rodeos with her youngest daughter. Horses, long days, and caring for others defined her lifestyle. She considered herself healthy, fit, and unstoppable.

But everything changed one ordinary day while driving home from work.

The Day Everything Shifted

Karen began to feel strange behind the wheel. Her right hand stopped working, her mind clouded, and her car drifted across the road. Police noticed her erratic driving and tried to intervene. In a moment she’ll never forget, she crashed into their vehicle before collapsing.

Ambulance crews, firefighters, and eventually a helicopter rushed her to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital. What followed was the shocking diagnosis: a hemorrhagic stroke.

In disbelief, Karen thought, “I’m only 47. I’m too young for this.” Doctors explained recovery wouldn’t be six or eight weeks like a broken bone — it would be measured in months and years.

The Rehab Battle

Karen spent weeks in the hospital, adjusting to life with her right side weakened and her speech impaired. Nights were sleepless, surrounded by the noise of other patients. When she was finally moved into her own room, it was the first chance to think clearly.

Rehab at Sunshine Coast University Hospital became her full-time job. Hours in the gym each day tested her body and her patience. She often described hitting a “brick wall” of fatigue — no matter how strong her will, her body forced her to stop.

Through it all, she missed her youngest daughter deeply. “The hardest part wasn’t the physio,” Karen recalled. “It was being away from her.”

Discovering Dr Tobinick’s Stroke Treatment

Years later, Karen heard about Dr Edward Tobinick in Florida and his off-label use of etanercept stroke treatment. The idea sparked hope but came with a heavy price tag — around $30,000 AUD. Determined, Karen sold her farm, booked the trip, and flew halfway across the world with her daughter.

In Dr Tobinick’s clinic, she was tested with tasks like drawing a clock, then received her first injection. At first, she noticed nothing until a mirror revealed the return of her dimple, a facial feature lost since her stroke.

Other changes soon followed:

• Normal sensation inside her mouth
• Relief from constant neck pain
• Clearer thinking and reduced brain fog
• A lighter feeling in her leg and improved mobility

By her third injection, improvements were undeniable. Karen described the difference as “going from kindergarten to grade two” in her ability to perform tasks.

Tools That Help Along the Way

While Dr Tobinick’s stroke treatment gave her a breakthrough, Karen also credits ongoing rehab tools. She regularly uses the Syrebo Hanson rehab glove, distributed by Banksia Tech, to improve hand function.

“It opens and closes my hand, stretches it out, and makes a real difference,” she explained. “I use it every week.”

A New Normal

Karen has reclaimed independence — even regaining her driver’s license. Now she can support her daughter at rodeos again, this time from the passenger seat or the sidelines.

Her biggest lesson? Recovery takes time, but progress never stops.

“Just keep going. There’s no date where you’ll suddenly be ‘back to normal.’ Recovery keeps unfolding in its own time.”

Takeaway

Karen’s story shows how stroke recovery is rarely a straight line. For her, exploring new treatments like Dr Tobinick’s stroke treatment provided hope and tangible improvements. Combined with consistent therapy and the right rehab tools, she continues to move forward.

If you’re on this journey, remember: you’re not alone, and your story is still unfolding.

Get my book The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened

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“Recovery has no deadline — but you’ll get there. Just keep going.” — Karen

Disclaimer

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan.

Karen’s Recovery Story of Hope and Healing

After a dramatic stroke at 47, Karen found hope in Dr Tobinick’s treatment — and discovered recovery can keep moving forward.

Highlights:

00:00 Karen Quickenden’s Background and Lifestyle Before Stroke
07:18 The Day of the Stroke
13:56 Hospital Stay and Initial Rehabilitation
26:33 Discovery and Decision to Seek Treatment in Florida
35:32 Experience at Dr. Tobinick’s Clinic
43:23 Post-Treatment and Ongoing Recovery
55:01 Impact on Family and Daily Life

Transcript:

Karen Quickenden’s Background and Lifestyle Before Stroke

Bill Gasiamis 0:00
Hello and welcome to another episode of the recovery after stroke podcast. Before we dive in, I want to thank all the patreon supporters who make this possible. Your support helps cover the costs of hosting and producing this show, and after 10 years of doing it on my own, I can now keep creating content for stroke survivors who need hope.

Bill Gasiamis 0:20
Thank you also to those who buy my book, leave reviews on Apple podcasts and Spotify, and everyone on YouTube who comments and doesn’t skip the ads. You all make a massive difference. Today’s guest is Karen Quicken. Then she was just 47 when a hemorrhagic stroke struck while she was driving, leading to one of the most dramatic rescues I’ve ever heard.

Bill Gasiamis 0:44
Police, fire and an ambulance all working together. Her journey didn’t stop there, from months of rehab to selling her farm and traveling across the world to Dr. Tobinick’s clinic for three shots of etanercept. Karen’s story is one of courage, risk and surprising breakthroughs. And before we begin, a quick thank you to Banksiatech, distributors of the Hanson rehab glove by Syrebo.

Bill Gasiamis 1:11
The glove is designed to help stroke survivors improve hand function at home, whether you’re early in recovery or years into it, you’ll hear more about how Karen uses this exact glove later in the episode. Now sit back and relax and enjoy our conversation. Karen quickendon, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thanks for being here. What was life like for you before stroke? What did you do? How did you get it by your day? What you got all your hobbies.

Karen Quickenden 1:44
What did I do? I went to work Monday to Friday, and I spent the weekends at rodeos and barrel races and all that type of stuff. I did some split shifts, which allowed me to be home in the middle of the day. So there’d be a lot of dealing with horses then. And my daughter, at the time, is still at school, and she’d get home from school from for the day and have some to eat and then start working on horses.

Bill Gasiamis 2:22
Rodeos that’s a massive Northern Australian thing. We don’t have rodeos in Melbourne. I’ve never heard of a rodeo, I’ve never seen a rodeo, I never knew they existed in Australia. Where do they do rodeos, and how often do they do them? If you were there all the time.

Karen Quickenden 2:38
Probably about every second weekend, or every weekend they’re all over. They’re from Rourke right through to the top end.

Bill Gasiamis 2:52
Uh huh, and how did you participate? Did you just turn up and spectate? Or were you guys participating them?

Karen Quickenden 2:58
My daughter rides yeah. She rides in it. She does the barrel race, which is the three tins. And you go around the three of them in a.

Bill Gasiamis 3:11
Figure eight?

Karen Quickenden 3:11
Yeah, type of thing, yeah.

Bill Gasiamis 3:14
Okay. And then they’ve gotta do it the quickest, so it’s up, yeah, yeah.

Karen Quickenden 3:19
So she she does that, and she does steer and decorating, yep, and she does a broken tie.

Bill Gasiamis 3:29
So, you know, you know, when a horse doesn’t do well, or when the team doesn’t do well, do you sometimes get the riders going? Oh, the horse is terrible. This horse doesn’t know what to do. And then vice versa. Does the horse ever complain about the rider?

Karen Quickenden 3:43
No, the horse doesn’t complain. She’s really lucky. She’s got some really amazing horses, so she doesn’t really complain that much. She blames herself. So that’s good.

Bill Gasiamis 3:57
It’ll wait. She’s learning how to take responsibility.

Karen Quickenden 4:00
Yeah, yeah. She’s turning 19 on Sunday, so it’s been three, three and a half years of going out there and getting things for herself. Why I do rehab.

Bill Gasiamis 4:19
All kinds of rehab. So what was your kind of work? What work did you do through the week before the stroke?

Karen Quickenden 4:26
SB Care, which was South Burnett Care, so I’d care for all sorts of people.

Bill Gasiamis 4:35
like Disability Assistance, that type. And that meant that you spend time in people’s homes, go in check, in on them, etc. Yep, that’d be me, yeah. Fair enough. Your family. What’s that like? Is just you and your daughter, or is there others?

Karen Quickenden 4:52
No I’ve got two older daughters, Tamasha is 30. She. Runs vet clinics in Brisbane, and she’s doing her own thing. She’s a lovely girl, lovely. And Danica is 29 on the first of August, and she’s happily married, and three little girls.

Bill Gasiamis 5:19
So it’s lovely. So you got two that are totally independent out of the house, even become moms, and there’s grandkids running around and everything, and then you’re still caring for your daughter, you know, in her last sort of few teenage years, or she’s about to fly the coop.

Bill Gasiamis 5:41
Life’s pretty full on. It’s exciting, and it’s amazing, and you’re doing things that you love, and it’s a really active lifestyle, yes, yeah. And up in the Sunshine Coast, in the northern part of Australia, you know, there’s more sun, there’s more warmth, there’s a lot of outdoor stuff that’s happening.

Karen Quickenden 6:00
Yeah, there is.

Bill Gasiamis 6:03
Rodeo every second week.

Karen Quickenden 6:05
About every second week, yeah, yeah. Very cool. We go to barrel races midweek and, do all sorts.

Bill Gasiamis 6:16
Did you have a sense of the condition that your body was in? It with regards to your health. Did you? Would you have described yourself as somebody that was healthy, fit, and all that kind of stuff?

Karen Quickenden 6:26
Oh, yeah, healthy fit. I just did what I had to do.

Bill Gasiamis 6:30
Yeah. How old were you at the time?

Karen Quickenden 6:37
I was 47.

Bill Gasiamis 6:42
So you were a young mum, if you’re 47 at the time, and you’ve got kids that are near their 30s, you were a young mum.

Karen Quickenden 6:50
Yeah, yeah.

Bill Gasiamis 6:54
Wow, that’s so cool. So then I can imagine, at 40 ish, you’re still full of energy, real fit all over, running around, doing all sorts of things.

The Day of the Stroke

Karen Quickenden 7:04
Yeah, yep, I get up from about six in the morning. And you know, there’ll be some days where I’ve finished work at seven o’clock and, you know, get home, find out which horse has done what. Yeah, it was good. It’s real good.

Bill Gasiamis 7:24
So what happened on the day of the stroke? Do you have any recollections of what that day was like?

Karen Quickenden 7:29
Yeah, it was like a normal day. And I’d been to two clients that morning and and I was driving back into town, and I thought, Oh, my stop. It will worse. And then I started feeling really funny, and I thought, no, blow it. I’ll just go home. And I started going home, and I pulled up that these set of lights, and I was looking around, trying to work out what, what was wrong, and I still didn’t get it.

Karen Quickenden 8:03
I drove forward and kept going, and then I went, something submits, something’s gone really funny. And I pulled over, and then I realized that my right hand wasn’t working. And I thought, what, what’s wrong? And then I thought, oh, righty, oh, keep going. I’ll, I’ll get home. Dad will know what’s wrong. And and I went down and went around a big roundabout, and I started heading out at an old Creek Road.

Karen Quickenden 8:40
And yeah, apparently the police had spotted me. It really like it’s funny for police to see me, and I was all over the road and and the police were behind me, and they come up beside me. And they thought, this girl, there’s something wrong, like she’s not just drink driving or anything like that. There’s something really wrong. She’s not seeing us.

Karen Quickenden 9:14
They got in front, and I sent him again, and I thought, Oh my God, what’s what’s wrong with me? I can’t stop the car and and then they stopped in front of me, and I went, boom, straight up the bathroom. And I thought, Oh my God, and he couldn’t get in the front of my car. And I thought, what’s going on? And then he got into the back of the car, and I just thought, oh, okay, well, I’m going to sleep.

Karen Quickenden 9:50
And then I don’t remember anything from then, apparently, the far. A was there, the ambulance, and everything was there. And I woke up in Kingaroy hospital, and I was just laying in the hospital, couldn’t speak, and I was laying there, and I looked around at everything, and I thought, What are they doing to me? Like and I looked over to the right, left hand side, and my daughter was standing there, and she was crying and crying, crying, and I couldn’t even ask, what’s wrong with me? What just happened? And yeah, it was, oh, big things from then on.

Bill Gasiamis 10:47
We’ll be back with more of Karen’s remarkable story in just a moment. But first, the sponsor of today’s show is Banksiatech.com.au, proudly distributing the Syrebo Hanson Rehab Glove, a soft, robotic love that helps stroke survivors exercise and improve hand mobility at home, whether you’re regaining function or preventing stiffness, it’s a practical tool that makes rehab accessible.

Bill Gasiamis 11:13
You can learn more and order even internationally. At Banksiatech.com.au, I love being able to share these kinds of solutions with my listeners. They are the perfect sponsor, because they’re real products. They can help stroke survivors keep moving forward.

Bill Gasiamis 11:31
Now, back to Karen’s story and her decision to travel overseas for Edward Tobinick’s etanercept stroke Treatment. My God, the cops are involved. The fire is involved, yeah, and bows are involved, yeah, that’s the most dramatic stroke experience that I’ve ever heard. I mean, yeah, all of them are ridiculous and shocking, but even that one, when you’re driving and people are trying to help you while you’re in a car, yeah, they’re trying to stop the car, and you run into the police car.

Bill Gasiamis 12:05
Oh, man, that is so dramatic. And I can’t believe like that would have been almost like one of those slow motion, hot pursuits, you know, where they’re chasing after a car, but, yeah, where they’re chasing after a car, and the person’s going really slow, but it’s like the most cute, high speed chase ever. Yeah, you’ve woken up in hospital. Paper are around you. You’re they’re everyone’s trying to work out what’s wrong. When’s the first time you’re noticing or you become aware that you’re unwell, it’s you that the problem is and you’ve had a stroke.

Karen Quickenden 12:41
Yeah, well, I still didn’t know what it was at Kingaroy. I knew that there was, it was me, and like, I went back out to her then, and then I woke up, and they were putting me in a helicopter, and I remember looking at the faces of the guys, and I’m thinking, Where am I going? But I couldn’t ask, so I couldn’t say anything. And I thought, alright, okay.

Karen Quickenden 13:11
So got in the helicopter and went back to sleep, and I woke up as well coming down in Brisbane, and I just remember going like this, and the guy grabbed me a vomit bag and everything, and because I hadn’t eaten all day, like, like, where’s the food? I’m hungry. And, but I couldn’t ask, and and I vomited, and had a look around, and I thought, oh God. And I went back to sleep, and I landed in the PA.

Hospital Stay and Initial Rehabilitation Before Dr. Tobinick stroke treatment

Bill Gasiamis 13:57
Prince A. PA which hospital is that?

Karen Quickenden 14:00
Princess Alexandra? I think it is. And, yeah, they took me in there, and they opened my eyes, and I saw everyone around the room all in their whites, and I thought, Holy hell, this is real. What’s going on? And they gave me needles and all sorts. They took me into theater. They did what they had to do.

Karen Quickenden 14:28
And then I woke up in the room at midnight, and I looked and tamisha and Danica and Mitch with were there, and I looked at him, and I went. And they went, oh my god, Mom, you’re awake. You’re okay. And I said, like, but my voice wouldn’t let me talk. And and a nurse come in and said, Alright guys, it’s, it’s midnight, you know, let your mother sleep now.

Karen Quickenden 14:58
She’s awake, you know. She. Is okay, and I went back to sleep, and I woke up the next morning and my right arm and leg were just, just there, and I’m like, what has gone on? Oh, really. Like, this is not funny, and the doctors and that come around. And they started talking to me, and I said, book. And they said, Oh, that’s alright.

Karen Quickenden 15:30
And they went through and you, they’ve gone, Karen, you’ve had a stroke. And I went, me, and they’re going, Yes, you have and I said, No, I’m not like I think I got out old enough. And they said, Yes, you are. Everyone can have a stroke. It happens to everyone any age. And I’ve gone, whoa. And I asked six weeks, eight weeks, how they they said, Oh, you want to know how long it takes us. And they said, How long is the piece of string? And, oh, my God, I cried.

Bill Gasiamis 16:18
You’re hilarious. Oh, so even in that moment, you’re in denial. Firstly, day two, right? They tell you, you have a strike, fair enough. That’s, you know, I’m 47 I’m not old enough to have a stroke. That’s cool, denial. And then immediately, like, six weeks, eight weeks, 10 weeks, like it’s a broken bone, you they’ll give you a timeline you’ll work towards that you’ll be back on on board and, yep, back to normal, quote, unquote, normal life.

Bill Gasiamis 16:48
Yeah, yeah. That would have been hard to handle so that that’s day two. You’re already thinking about your recovery and how quickly you can go back to your yes, what? Yeah, it’s like already there. These guys are breaking your heart. Yeah, yep, spend in hospital.

Karen Quickenden 17:09
I spent three weeks in Brisbane, and I was getting cranky because you’re in a room, and there’s four beds, and, you know, it’s pretty disturbing. It’s, you know, like people in there for different things, stroke different, it’s all different. And everyone’s trying to, number one, realize what’s going on with them. And then you got the person in the next bed who’s tied down to the bed and trying to, like they’re filling him up with all sorts of medication and and then you got the guy across from me.

Karen Quickenden 18:08
And you know that there’s people, everyone’s got their own thing. And you know, you get woken up about three times a night because the guy crosses, having a medical episode, and, and you’re like, you just laying there, and you’re just thinking, oh my god, please do something, you Know, Like, so they, they organized my own room and, and that was heaven.

Karen Quickenden 18:44
That was the first night of sleep. And like it was just me. I could think. I could, you know, think about everything and, and it was just me in that little room. Didn’t have to worry about anyone else. And then they came in and said that the kiwana Hospital, which is University Hospital on the Sunshine Coast, is ready to have me. And I said, yeeha, so rehab hospital, yeah, it was the best.

Bill Gasiamis 19:27
So, you know, when originally you went to King ARoy, how close is that to your home?

Karen Quickenden 19:34
At the time I was living out there, it was about 15 minutes?

Bill Gasiamis 19:40
Okay, so king of Roy was the sort of small hospital out of in the middle of nowhere. You guys all lived on your farm and played on your horses. It wasn’t equipped to handle a stroke patient, so they flew you almost what, two hours away by car. You. About three hours to Brisbane, yeah, yeah. So they flew you to the nearest hospital that could handle your stroke, the situation that you were in, and then also, then you went to rehabilitation. Yeah, was that somewhere near Brisbane?

Karen Quickenden 20:18
It was, it’s about two hours, oh, about an hour and a half away from it. Yeah, closer to home. Yeah, well, it’s probably about the same distance. And, I mean, it was home for, what, three months, four months.

Bill Gasiamis 20:40
So you spent time there, and that’s what I’m trying to get my head around. Now you’re away from home, yep, family, yep. It’s really inconvenient, technically, to be where you are. Were they around? Were they able to be there for you?

Karen Quickenden 20:54
Well, Tamasha lived in Brisbane, so when I was in hospital in Brisbane, she was there every day. She’d bring a work with her, and I’d wake up and she’d be there and and we would start talking on a a blackboard. And I remember one day I was trying to say something, and and I and she said, What? And I said, No. And we started laughing.

Karen Quickenden 21:28
And we just like, come on, fix it. Like, start working. It’s only your voice. And then the day that I came back to Sunshine Coast was a Thursday night, and she was in there and got me organized, and the ambulance come and and brought me up to hospital. And then it was danica’s turn. She had two kids then, and they were wonderful.

Karen Quickenden 22:04
They would like, I’d have a a daily routine of what I had to do, and I was awake at eight o’clock ready to go down to the gym room, and I’d go all day. I’d get time off for lunch, and then they take me back down, and I’ll do something else, and like I will work in the gym from eight to 12 and then from one to three in a day. And I was had it. I couldn’t understand the the mental side of it, like it was like, I wanted to keep going, but the body was saying, I gotta stop, yeah. And I wasn’t used to that.

Bill Gasiamis 22:57
Fatigue and exhaustion right? Just gone, and no matter what you wanted to do, it was no doing it. That was it. It was just done. Yep, I know that feeling. It’s like you hit a brick wall. And lots of people have said that to me, I hit a brick wall today, but I’m like, feeling like I actually smacked into that thing at an hour, and it was solid, and it didn’t move an inch, and it just it put me on my and that was it.

Bill Gasiamis 23:24
And until I sit down and rest and recover, there is no getting back up and doing anything. Yep, yep. I know that. So in this three month like you seem very happy, go lucky, quite chirpy and cheerful. Did you have your downs as well?

Karen Quickenden 23:42
Yeah, I did.

Bill Gasiamis 23:43
What was that like? What were the parts that kind of upset you?

Karen Quickenden 23:48
Um, oh, God.

Bill Gasiamis 23:55
Like they still do, right? I understand.

Karen Quickenden 23:57
I think the biggest thing was my daughter being in home. And I couldn’t be there for her.

Bill Gasiamis 24:23
Yeah, the youngest, You’re home alone.

Karen Quickenden 24:29
She was at home with my dad. Yeah, she was.

Bill Gasiamis 24:40
She seems like, though, if she grew up around you and her sisters, that she would have been quite the independent kid, and nonetheless, you’re thinking about her going through it on her own, kind of without you and without anyone attending to her.

Karen Quickenden 25:02
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, my dad was always there, but you know what? That’s like? Dad’s a very, um, very different to mum,

Bill Gasiamis 25:24
supportive in a different way. Yes, yeah, they are not mum. And definitely she’s thinking about mum actually being unwell away, and you wanted to kind of prove to her that you’ll be right, that everything will get better, but you couldn’t do that because you were in a hospital elsewhere,

Karen Quickenden 25:45
fighting the battle.

Bill Gasiamis 25:47
So your rehab and your recovery, what were you trying to get back? Obviously, your voice and then, yeah, your right side of your body. What parts of the right side of your body were offline

Karen Quickenden 25:59
the lake and right up the, you know, my chest and right up to the shoulder, the neck, the arm, everything. Everything was down.

Bill Gasiamis 26:16
Where are they now, after nearly, what, three years,

Discovery and Decision to Seek Dr. Tobinick Stroke Treatment

Karen Quickenden 26:20
um, in three years. It’s come a long way, but it’s like anything, um, it would take time. Yeah, time I don’t have. Well, I do. I’ve lost the time. Um, I went over to Florida in

Bill Gasiamis 26:43
February. Yeah, tell me about that. Oh, what a

Karen Quickenden 26:48
magnificent if you look at my face, I have a dimple back.

Bill Gasiamis 26:54
Oh, my God, you went to Florida and you got a dimple.

Karen Quickenden 26:59
I couldn’t care about anything else, but he showed me a mirror, and I looked and I went, my God, I got a dimple.

Bill Gasiamis 27:10
So you’re talking about Doctor, tobernik, right? Yes, that’s him, okay, so this is interesting, right? We have mixed responses. People go to tobinick and they get no result because of the condition doesn’t support the medication, etanercept doesn’t help a particular person, and yeah, or that person ends up being disappointed and dealing with all sorts of things, right?

Bill Gasiamis 27:36
We totally get it, and then we get other people who just rave about it and think it’s amazing. And everyone hears those stories, and then goes there with hope that they will be one of the lucky ones, right? We’ll call it. So you went there, but it didn’t miraculously fix everything.

Bill Gasiamis 27:53
You’ve got your dimple back. I understand that that is really important. My wife has got one dimple. She’s always had one dimple, yeah. And I kind of always ask her, where did the other one go? Has it been relocated? Where is it? Anyhow? You obviously are attached to your dimples. You very fond of them, right? So when one disappears, you notice.

Karen Quickenden 28:16
I notice the dimple the inside of my mouth, which I didn’t think anything was wrong. There was cos I said to him, it’s gone. And he goes, what I said, thing in my mouth. And he said, What’s it feel like now? I said, normal. It feels normal. And he goes okay.

Bill Gasiamis 28:46
Inside your mouth as a as a result of the stroke, you had an strange feeling, yes, on the inside of your mouth, on the right side as well.

Karen Quickenden 28:54
And it was gone. I was like, Oh, thank God. I didn’t even know it was there. But after having the injection, I was like, wow, that’s that’s great, and I got no pain in my neck that’s all gone. I can lift my arm up. I’ve got no pain on my left side, in my ribs or anything like that. Down to my hip, my leg is getting stronger and stronger up the top, top of the leg, and yeah, it’s, it’s moving around. It’s still, to this day, I’m finding things are always getting better.

Bill Gasiamis 29:54
Alright, how long ago was this trip to in this February? Okay, yeah, so February. 2025 it’s been now, and now we’re recording in July, 2025 so it’s been about six months. Yeah, okay, and can you tell me a little bit about how you found out about it and what made you go? Let’s talk about the discovery of the etanercept treatment. For stroke survivors. How did you discover it?

Karen Quickenden 30:27
I had a worker out at Kingaroy, and she rang me and she said, I’ve got a stroke client. And I said, Oh, yeah. And she said, she only had her stroke six months ago or something, at the time of the phone call. And I said, Yeah, how’s she going? She goes, no good. She’s like a husband saying She must not get out of the chair. She must not do this, do that, so she doesn’t do anything.

Karen Quickenden 31:07
I said, Oh, that’s not good. And she said, yeah, she’s not you. And I said, Oh, okay. And she said, I want you to look this up for me and see what you think, because this lady is going for it, and I think you benefit from it. I said, okay, and she gave me his name and everything, and I had a look and recessed as much as I could. I went to my parents and told them about it, and and, of course, when it come down to the money side, they were just like, really? They didn’t know what to say.

Bill Gasiamis 31:48
Because it’s a lot of money, right? They’re thinking, yep, heaps of money. What are you going to do? You’re going to go over there, blah, blah, blah, the usual thing that people think of, right? What? What’s the money amount in Aussie dollars. What would it cost?

Karen Quickenden 32:01
I think it’s about 30,000 it’s a lot of money, yeah. And so I had to go through, selling the farm, selling everything, getting the money for it. And, you know, I I did all that, and we went around my oldest daughter, and I told her about it, and she goes, yep, so when are we going? I said, right, I’m going. You said you’re going, I’m gone.

Karen Quickenden 32:38
And I booked and we are up at three o’clock one one night, and had a phone call with him, and it was like, this isn’t happening. And I said, I can’t believe that I’m going like, I’ve got an opportunity here. It better work. So we booked a holiday as well. We booked we saw the Bahamas, all sorts. Okay, we did all sorts. While we were there, I tried to do everything or possibly could.

Bill Gasiamis 33:23
Why not? You may as well. You’ve gone so far. Yep, traveled halfway around the planet. You may as well. Now, in those initial conversations with Doctor Toby Nick, do you get a sense of you also might not get a result? Does he let you know that there is a possibility that it might not work? Yep, but he take that news like, if he’s upfront and says that, how do you take that news, knowing I’m going to go there, I’m going to drop 30 grand, and then it might not work. How do you deal with that?

Karen Quickenden 33:53
I don’t know. I didn’t think about it. I was on a high, I suppose. But I think planning as if we were going on holidays was probably a good thing because we were, you know, Tamesha has everything down to the tea. And I thought I don’t know if I’m going to follow your routine, but I’ll try.

Bill Gasiamis 34:38
Yeah, because you’re probably also thinking about being exhausted and all the stuff that you have to deal with. But you and her, I mean, at her, her age, like, you know, just before 30 and you at 47 you guys are like sisters more than anything. Yeah, all the time. So it’s very high energy, very full on.

Bill Gasiamis 34:58
And then you guys do the deal, so to speak. You know, you have your chat with Toby, Nick. Toby, Nick tells you all the pros and cons. You make an informed decision, and then you go, I’m off. You also book a holiday so you can make the most of it. But you get to Florida, and then you go to the clinic, yep. Tell me about how that goes for you. What is that like?

Experience at Dr. Tobinick Stroke Treatment And Clinic

Karen Quickenden 35:20
It’s it was like, Well, this is my turn. And, you know, you, you go in there, and the staff are amazing. They’re really positive, nice, general people, you know, like, yeah, they were, they were great. And they took us into a room and did little tests on me. Like, the one that sticks to me is, can you draw a clock?

Karen Quickenden 35:56
Yeah, so do the outside you’re doing the numbers and and, can you place the hands at 10 to 11? I said, yep. And I did all that and everything else that they asked me, and I gave it to them, and they took me in, gave me the first needle, which you put your head down, puts the needle in, then swings the chair up, and you’re laying back for 10 minutes, I suppose, and they’re talking away, having their own conversation.

Karen Quickenden 36:32
And I’m laying there and I’m thinking, huh, what’s happening? Like, yeah, and if it’s flips me back up and says, Can you feel anything? And I said, No, it wasn’t until he put the mirror in front of me that I could see it all happening. And I went back for the second needle at a week’s time. They didn’t do much of investigation. Against me.

Karen Quickenden 37:03
Then it was sort of like, just let it do its thing and see in a week. I said, okay, and I go back for my last one. And they said, we’ll get you to do a a clock again. And I said, Yeah, no worries. And I did it. And I did it perfectly. And they showed me the one that they first got me to do. I went, Oh my God. I said, I didn’t do that, did I? And they said, Yes, you did. I went, Oh my god. It was like looking at a child in kindergarten doing a clock, and then looking at a now, she’s in gray too, looking at her clock. It’s so different.

Bill Gasiamis 38:00
You didn’t happen to take a photo of it. Did you?

Karen Quickenden 38:06
No, I didn’t

Bill Gasiamis 38:09
You know that first week, were you noticing things improving? Did the pain in your neck go and so you noticed the first lot of difference happened quickly, as well as the dimple?

Karen Quickenden 38:21
Yep. And even my leg felt lighter, because it feels quite heavy, yeah, it felt lighter. By the time I had the third needle, I noticed that my hands, I couldn’t touch it. I couldn’t do that. Everything is just improving all the time.

Bill Gasiamis 38:46
Yeah, that’s so good after the second needle. Was it more subtle the changes? Or did you have, like, big changes, big notice?

Karen Quickenden 38:58
Probably not. I don’t think. But there was nothing to really report, though, like it was just, I felt the same. Dimple was the same. It probably wasn’t till the third needle that I started to notice big changes, like, you know, the dimple was definitely there. It wasn’t going anywhere.

Bill Gasiamis 39:31
So the third needle happened a week after the second one?

Karen Quickenden 39:36
Yep, yep,

Bill Gasiamis 39:40
Wow. And then you started to feel even lighter. What happened?

Karen Quickenden 39:45
Yep, it was funny, because the hand, like the shoulder, everything feels really good, but I say, you know, why won’t it work? Okay, you know. And they’re like, well, it takes time, so keep working at it. And I said, Okay, I’ll keep going.

Bill Gasiamis 40:12
So you know, with with your stay, are you staying nearby, an accommodation near there the whole time,.

Karen Quickenden 40:22
Yeah, we stayed at.

Bill Gasiamis 40:27
And in that time, are you, do you have access to the to the clinic if you have any questions or any problems or challenges?

Karen Quickenden 40:34
Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Bill Gasiamis 40:35
And since then, has there been any follow up? Do you check in or touch base with anybody about anything

Karen Quickenden 40:43
They did. Four weeks after I got back, they sent me an email, and I sent back, and they said, well, good luck, and they’ll talk to me in February, see how I’m going.

Bill Gasiamis 40:58
So there’ll be a follow up at some point just to check in. Yeah. Do you think any of it has eased off? Any of the improvements have eased off, or they all still basically the way they were?

Karen Quickenden 41:12
No, like, even, like, my speech is a lot better. The brain fog is gone.

Bill Gasiamis 41:27
So sounds like looking back now, it sounds like your life has changed dramatically, physically, emotionally and mentally. It seems like there’s been a big shift.

Karen Quickenden 41:44
Yeah, a big shift.

Bill Gasiamis 41:46
Would you say is the biggest thing, the most important thing? I know there’s still things that need to come back, yeah, working on and that are not 100% where they you would might prefer. But what do you say is the biggest thing that is improved for you now.

Karen Quickenden 42:02
I think probably the brain and the the normality of the face And, you know, the leg and arm, whatever of I think to myself, well, it’ll get there one day, but at least, you know, to look at me, you you say, Yeah, I’ve had a stroke. Oh, have you Okay? Instead of, you know, them looking at me and going, Oh, she’s had a stroke. You know, blah, blah, blah.

Bill Gasiamis 42:44
So it’s obvious that you that you have had a stroke, if people just look at you and they’re not paying attention to you, yeah, yeah, fair enough, yeah. So what about you, though? Like, What have you discovered about yourself? Like, did you find new strength, or were you always kind of really able to get through difficult times and challenges, or what, how have you personally evolved and changed?

Post Dr. Tobinick Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Recovery

Karen Quickenden 43:14
Um, I suppose I haven’t changed that much. Probably, thinking more about me, and, you know, like, I’ve gotta go to the gym twice a week. I’ve gotta go, I’ve gotta go to this and that and whatever. And whereas before, that wouldn’t have been a choice to me, like going to work, getting home to my daughter, doing what has to be done is done. But nowadays it’s like go to the OT, go to this physio, go to that physio go to, you know, from Monday to Friday is everything about me, and that frees me up for the weekend.

Bill Gasiamis 44:10
But that seems to be a really important lesson that you learnt, that that time has come to make it about you. Yeah, everyone else can kind of fend for themselves, your older daughters, obviously, and your younger daughter’s old enough now she’s getting old enough where she’s becoming more independent. Yeah, yeah, you’ve laid the foundations for them already.

Bill Gasiamis 44:31
They know how to continue on with their life, what they’ve gotta get done. Yep, now you’ve got some space for you. Yeah, that’s right, that’s cool. And then, and then, what’s the idea behind coming on the podcast? What? What were your thoughts when you discovered there was a podcast in that you’d like to share your story? What was that for?

Karen Quickenden 44:59
My OT, Effie said to me, do you know Bill the podcaster? I said, Yeah, I’ve listened to him a few times. And she said, get him to contact you. I said, Oh, okay. That was it.

Bill Gasiamis 45:17
You seem really willing to share your story. Now, Effie is the sponsor of this episode, by the way, through one of their organizations that they do this glove. You might have seen this one. They supply the Syrebo hand glove to people. They use it every week. Okay, so this is not an ad for Effie and her organization, although they are the sponsor.

Bill Gasiamis 45:40
And whoever’s listening to this has already heard me mention them twice, yeah, in the intro and in the mid episode break. But that’s really cool that you use that glove that Effie suggested you should be on here. I really love that. I think it’s a really important part of the recovery is that sharing the story and getting off your chest and making it about somebody else.

Bill Gasiamis 46:05
Because people listening to you will get encouraged. They’ll relate to your story, perhaps, and they’ll relate to what you went through. They might even think about contacting Tobinick and all that kind of stuff. So that’s really cool, and I really appreciate you sharing your story in your own way. It is pretty dramatic. Your one I gotta say, ambos, helicopter, fire, cops. And you’re probably one of the few people who drove into the cop car and didn’t get arrested or didn’t end up in jail. That’s pretty cool. You can say you’ve done that.

Bill Gasiamis 46:45
It’s difficult, though I understand how difficult it can be, if you share one lesson from your experience with the people listening, or maybe people who are newly diagnosed, maybe even listening in hospital. Aanything you’d say?

Karen Quickenden 46:59
Just keep going. That’s all I can say, is keep going. One day we’ll all be back to, well, you could say normal. But what’s normal? Yeah, I think there’s never, like, there’s no date. You can’t put a date on it, like, by this date, it’ll be all over and you just get up and walk away. Well, hello, there’s no date.

Bill Gasiamis 46:59
Your six weeks has blown out a little.

Karen Quickenden 47:23
Yeah, way out. But you’ll get there. Everyone will get there. I know it’s horrible, and it’s, I tell you, the best thing I ever did was got my license. That was the first thing that I wanted to get, because my daughter got a learners, and I could sit next to her. I was allowed to do that. So we put the gooseneck on and and we go, and I say to her, I can’t wait to be driving this. She goes, just sit there, big Wyatt. And then I spoke to the girls from NDIS, and I said, right, how do I go about getting my license?

Bill Gasiamis 48:29
And they said, that’s a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Karen Quickenden 48:44
Yes, I spoke with my ot at the time, who was out at King ARoy, and I said, I’m ready. I’ve gotta get my license. And yeah, so within a few months and some driving with a a guy in his car. And I was just like, Come on, give it to me. And then I got my license, and yeah, it was just.

Bill Gasiamis 49:17
So they initially took it off you after you became unwell. Yeah, license, yep, and then you had to resit the test and everything, right?

Karen Quickenden 49:26
No, I had to, had to drive. I had to go over to Toowoomba, and they had a lady over there. Had to sit with her one day and talk through it all. And I suppose she was checking that my mind was up to date with it all. And I remember saying to her, I might not sound as 100% but it’s all up here. And yeah. So went driving and NDIS pay for the the modifications, and went for a drive in it.

Karen Quickenden 50:14
And I was like, never, never again. Will you see me sitting still. I gotta be doing things. And even if I’m at home and I just go for a drive somewhere, look at the beaches. Drove out to Gatton, where Marley is living, and we’re going today, actually, um, today, she’s doing some roping training with a guy that does roping, and tomorrow she we go to a little town called Texas.

Bill Gasiamis 50:56
Texas, Australia, classic.

Karen Quickenden 51:00
Yeah. So that’ll be my weekend.

Bill Gasiamis 51:04
I love it. It’s so lovely to meet you. Thank you so much for joining me, willing. Oh, that’s alright. I really appreciate it. I’m just curious, actually, before we go, you know, that glove, how? How have you liked it? Does it work? Well, what’s the situation with it?

Karen Quickenden 51:22
Oh, it’s great. It puts your hand out and sucks back, out and in out and in. I do that for however long.

Bill Gasiamis 51:33
Is that your right hand? Can you bring it up? Okay, so it’s normally in that position, and then when you use this, it helps to straighten it?

Karen Quickenden 51:47
Yep, straightens it out.

Bill Gasiamis 51:49
And have you found that as a result of using this, your hand has improved?

Karen Quickenden 51:54
Yes, and they keep the second skin on it as well, and it sits probably like that. There’s skin on. When I don’t have the second skin on, it sits like that.

Bill Gasiamis 52:10
Okay, so that, so your hand with this opens up, and even though you’ve got that second skin on, this, can still go over the top.

Karen Quickenden 52:18
I take the second skin off and use it. And it’s great. It’s well, you couldn’t tell. It’s just fantastic.

Bill Gasiamis 52:36
Okay, and your hand hasn’t been like that since day one. Yeah. Yeah, okay. And have you found out that it’s more flexible and opens better and closes better since, yep, yep. Did that change with the etanercept injection as well? Did it improve?

Karen Quickenden 52:56
Probably a little bit, but not as much as the machine. I suppose you could put it as if it’s getting repaired. It’s like the shoulders working. It’s making its way down to the hand. It’s about elbow mark at the moment, it’s still got a fair bit to do, but.

Bill Gasiamis 53:23
So does the work at the other end?

Karen Quickenden 53:25
Yeah, it’s so good.

Bill Gasiamis 53:28
Alright, it’s good to know I haven’t met anyone who’s used it, so that was really cool to know that you use it. And also, yeah, the guys are sponsoring the episode, so that’s really cool. So honestly, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast, sharing your story. I wish you well in your recovery, and I hope everything goes well. Congratulations on all your achievements. Thanks for sharing your story about the etanercept, and it’s all been amazing. Thank you so much.

Karen Quickenden 53:55
Yeah, that’s alright.

Bill Gasiamis 53:58
That was Karen Quicken then sharing her incredible recovery journey from colliding with a police car on the day of her stroke to regaining independence and hope through Dr. Tobinick Stroke Treatment, her story is a powerful reminder that recovery is possible in ways we might not expect. Remember to subscribe to the recovery after stroke podcast so you never miss an episode.

Bill Gasiamis 54:21
And if you’ve found this conversation helpful, consider supporting the show through Patreon. Your support keeps this resource alive for stroke survivors worldwide. Finally, remember to check out my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. It’s available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book, and it’s all about how to move from struggle toward post traumatic growth.

Bill Gasiamis 54:45
Thanks again to Banksiatech for supporting this show and episode and for helping stroke survivors improve hand function with the Syrebo Hanson rehab glove. I’m Bill Gasiamis. Thank you for joining me and remember. Remember, you’re not alone on this journey.

Impact on Family and Daily Life

Intro 55:02
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Intro 55:18
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Intro 55:41
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Intro 56:03
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Intro 56:20
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