From stroke to strength: Patient shares inspiring journey to reclaim her passion for fishing

Business Journals

16-05-2025

Nancy Roberts walked in to her first day of physical therapy at the Intermountain Health Wheat Ridge Clinic with a distinct goal in mind.
'I said 'see this arm? I have to be able to cast a fishing pole.''
But first, she'd have to gain back her muscle memory — along with balance, coordination, motor skills and even part of her vision. The retired nurse suffered a stroke the day after Christmas in 2022.
A stroke disconnects the brain from the body by interrupting blood flow to specific brain regions. The first six months after a stroke, sometimes referred to as the 'golden period,' are crucial for recovery. And studies have found the most intensive rehabilitation should begin 60-90 days after stroke onset.
'The brain is amazing. It's just incredible it can help heal that much, but you have to give thousands of repetitions,' said Jayme Brindle, Intermountain Health physical therapist. Brindle specializes in neurologic physical therapy, which, in most neurological conditions, means retraining the brain.
'It's intensive, and she'd wear me out,' said Roberts, who began physical therapy with Brindle in February 2023 at Intermountain Health's Wheat Ridge Clinic. 'I had to set goals for myself because a lot of fatigue came with this whole process.'
'Most people won't stick with it unless you make it kind of fun. So, I think the added challenge as a therapist is making sure that it's something that engages the patient,' Brindle said. Patients create goals during their first class, and then Brindle immediately gets to work creating a series of customized games and exercises to help patients achieve those goals over the course of their 12-week program.
'That's why it's important to find a good therapist because they can make it a little bit more engaging for the patient during one of the most difficult times of their lives. I've had people bowl in here because they were big-time bowlers in the past. That actually takes a lot of balance so I would mimic that in a clinic. We've worked on golf swings. I even helped a guy re-learn how to play the bagpipes.'
And for Roberts, it was relearning how to enjoy the great outdoors. 'Camping and fishing is near and dear to my heart, because my husband taught me how.'
Her recovery began with a card game.
'Nancy had a visual field cut, meaning that she could not see a 180 panoramic image in front of her. We played a game called 'Spot It' where she had to identify matching objects between any two cards I pulled from the deck. I'd put one target in front of her and the other card into that area of her visual field cut, so she learned how far she had to turn her head to see the other card. Over time, she was able to see into the spaces she at first could not.'
As the program incorporated more balance training exercises, Brindle introduced more physical games, like obstacle courses and tug of war.
'We did the work on uneven surfaces so she could get back down to the creek. We even did some casting in the clinic.'
'We kind of worked up a chain of difficulty,' Roberts recalled. 'I looked forward to those sessions because I had to prove to myself that I could still do something, and it gave me the confidence to start trying those things at home.'
Roberts' biggest victory, though, came in June 2023 — just six months after her stroke.
'I did go camping and fishing again. And I caught a fish on my first cast,' she said, proudly.
Brindle was one of the first to hear the good news.
'She actually texted me. We've kept in touch after she was discharged from PT, and that makes me feel like what I do is meaningful and rewarding, even though it's really hard.'
'She's a great example of if you push hard and continue to work at it, there's a good chance that you're going to be able to accomplish it.'