About Us

How It All Began…

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”  Vince Lombardi

Jennifer’s story is much like other stroke survivor stories.  She was living life, happily married, with two children, running an ASL interpreting agency she co-founded twenty years ago.  Things were humming along, until…

December 23, 2020, that was the fateful day when Jennifer’s stroke story began. She was up in Portland for the holidays and she thought maybe she was suffering from vertigo. Though she’d never experienced the symptoms before, she knew a family member that had.  There was the stumbling and dizziness and the sense that something was off.  Jennifer made it through the day, even managing to drive to the airport to pick up her husband who had flown in from California to be with the family for Christmas.  Then she woke up in the middle of the night and tried to walk to the bathroom and fell over.  It was at that point that everyone realized she needed to go to the hospital, and quick.

It wasn’t until she got to the hospital and couldn’t write down her personal information that Jennifer realized she couldn’t move her right arm.  Of course this was during the first wave of COVID, so Jennifer was on her own in the hospital at the beginning.  Her symptoms had worsened and, at this point, there was progressive paralysis on her right side.  All throughout the experience, however, she never lost her ability to speak, and her cognitive skills were as sharp as ever.

The stroke had taken a toll on her physically.  Having lost movement on her right side, her battle now is to regain the use of her arm and leg. Jennifer is determined to walk normally again and to use her right arm.  She does her rounds of physical therapy to continue to progress towards full range of motion and movement.  It’s hard work and can be tiring, but she knows the battle will be worth the reward in the end.  It’s all part of the healing process.

Jennifer also embraces the soft therapies that help her manage the physical pain, mental strain and spiritual depletion that are part and parcel of recovery.  With the help of complementary therapies like massages, cupping, hypnotherapy, acupuncture and Reike, she has been able to see improvement in movement and in her overall well being.  She feels stronger both physically and mentally and she is prepared to put in the work for as long as it takes to reach her recovery goals.

At The WIT Method, Jennifer and Mistie are passionate about sharing their vision of awareness, education and empowerment.

We strive to get the word out about stroke, and also, let stroke survivors know that they can continue to live a rewarding and fulfilling life beyond their recovery.  For visitors to the Center we want to share the message of how important it is to keep an open heart and mind. 

Stroke awareness is a valuable tool to help our community reduce the potential of death and permanent disability due to stroke.   And for stroke survivors, we encourage them to try different recovery modalities, learn about what their body wants and needs, and to be an active participant in the recovery process. 

Regardless of the path, either through stroke awareness or stroke recovery, we want to be a valuable resource to our surrounding community and promote health and healing as we all make our way through this unpredictable journey called life.