Hello! Long time, no see! It’s been five years since my last post, and seven years since I regularly posted. But I’ve missed it here. I’ve been feeling the itch to write again. Blogging (in this form) no longer seems to be in fashion, having moved to social media. And I have noticed that Substack seems to be the current place to be, though there are a litany of ethical reasons to avoid it. As such, I’ve decided to return here, with a bit of a rebrand (a new era, as it were…)
Aside from all of that, I thought that I should keep posts regarding current updates in one spot, instead of strewn across various social media platforms. As such, it seemed like a good idea to return to this space.
As a bit of an introduction to anyone new to this space, I started this blog way back in 2010 to document a three-month backpacking trip I was taking around Europe. I updated it “on the road”, writing posts in train cars, hostels, and cafes to keep friends and family updated on my whereabouts and share photos. And now I have it as a nice little keepsake/time capsule of the trip. As I mentioned, this type of long-form blogging was a bit more fashionable in the early twenty-tens, so I kept it up. I shared my experiences with anxiety and panic disorder throughout 2011, and in 2012, when I moved to London, England, for a two-year OE/ Working Holiday, I wrote about that experience here. Around those topics, I continued to post about miscellaneous travel, fandom adventures, and life in general. In doing this, I found an outlet of expression that I had always craved, but never experienced before. A way to let out my thoughts in a way that others could understand. I am self-aware enough to look back and see that some of what I shared was cringy and came across as attention seeking (and in some instances, I will admit that it likely was – This is something I have been addressing in therapy!), but overall I came to discover that writing allowed me the freedom and control to assert myself, to be open and vulnerable, in a way that worked for me. I also discovered through this that I was able to explain my experiences (particularly those around mental health) in a way that allowed people who had not had those same experiences to better understand what it is like. Over time, I also received messages from people who had similar experiences, making new friends and building a lovely little community.
Why now?
Well, life took some unexpected turns over the last several years (I’ll get into that shortly), and I have found myself feeling lonely and in need of some kind of reconnection with the world at large. The idea to come back here arose about two years ago, but I struggled with the purpose of doing so.
And then one day I was listening to the podcast The Cool Table, and the hosts were discussing their experiences of leaving evangelicalism. Amy and Beth, so succinctly, put into words what I’d been struggling to articulate:
“I want to be understood.”
This hit me hard. I’ve always struggled to feel understood, and this has only intensified in the past few years. But when I wrote these blogs, all those years ago, I felt understood. And I would like to try to feel that again, in some small way.
Catching Up
For those not new to this space, who are receiving this in their inbox after five years of complete radio silence, and seven years of minimal updates. Here’s a quick summary of life since then:
2017
In 2016, just a couple of months shy of my 30th birthday, I met the love of my life, Meighan, so much of 2017 was spent in previously unknown happiness as that love continued to blossom and grow. (Sorry, it turns out I’ve become a hopeless sap about love. Gross, I know.) We moved in together (insert Uhaul joke here…), adopted a chunky tuxedo cat named Simon, and built the foundation of a pretty fantastic life.
2017 also brought a lot of travel:
February – London and Paris (solo trip, spent catching up with friends)
March – Los Angeles (with my mom and gramma. Gramma wanted to go and visit two good friends who live there, so mom and I offered to take her.)
May – Los Angeles (with Meighan to celebrate her 30th birthday)
July – Los Angeles again (my friend Katie invited me, and I can’t resist a travel invite)
December – London (another solo trip, prompted by a massive airline credit given following a cancelled flight connection during my February trip.)
And 2017 brought my first job in my professional field (non-profit project management)! I started a one-year contract with the provincial volunteer network where I oversaw the implementation and provincial expansion of a massive professional development training program based around the update of a federal Code for Volunteer Involvement. This position proved to be the perfect foundation for the years to come.
2018
Another busy year followed in 2018.
In January Meighan and I got engaged!
In February Meighan was in the wedding party at a destination wedding in Mexico, so we travelled to Cancun, and both had our first taste of the all-inclusive resort experience – I highly recommend it!! The wedding and the destination were both wonderful and gorgeous.
In April, to celebrate my mom’s retirement from 30 years of teaching, her and I took a celebratory trip to Florida.
That spring the contract for my previous job ended and I began a new one that summer at one that would forever change me, at a poverty reduction organization in my hometown of Niagara Falls. In that job I delivered programming to youth and adults around financial literacy, and housing. In doing this I became radicalized in Housing As A Human Right. I will now happily talk anyone’s ear off who wishes to discuss the current housing crisis. If this is a subject you wish to learn more about, I urge you to visit the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness at https://caeh.ca/. While this particular initiative is Canadian, they offer insights and strategies that I believe to be of universal importance (example: Their recent 10 pillar approach, presented in context of the current trade war and its inevitable effect on housing.)
In September my world was shaken to its core when I nearly lost Meighan. Twice. The first time to sepsis, caused by a perforated bowel, and the second, a week later, to a massive pulmonary embolism. Thankfully, the embolism broke up, rather than continuing to grow, and Meighan recovered completely from the embolism and was discharged and back home in early October.
In late November, our beloved senior cat, Simon, passed away. He was a big, dumb goofball, who we loved so much. I know we gave him a great life in his golden years.
The year finished up without much fuss, and we roll into…
2019
As many others did that month, I spent much of January Marie Kondo-ing the house.
In February Meighan underwent her follow up surgery, which went perfectly.
In the spring, once Meighan recovered from her surgery, wedding planning was in full effect. Now that we knew Meighan’s health issues were behind us, we were ready to confirm our date: September 28, 2019. A venue was booked, invitations sent out, caterers and cake makers met with, and outfits purchased.
In June we adopted two kittens – Templeton and Frederick (Fred Fred). We only intended to get one of them, but they were the only ones left from their litter and how could we possibly choose?
The second half of the year was pure chaos, including:
Selling our house
Buying a house
Loss of Meighan’s grandfather, her wonderful Papa
Making the heartbreaking decision to leave my job, as the funding for the programs I was overseeing ended.
Wedding
Starting a new job at another organization
Moving
Adopting a rescue dog
2020
We had a sad start to 2020, losing our beloved cat Kaylie in January. Meighan had Kaylie since she came to live with the family during her teenage years. They were together for nearly half of Meighan’s life and it was a difficult time.
I was struggling professionally, having found myself in the worst employment experience of my life. I muddled along with the horrible aspects being balanced out by fantastic coworkers, volunteers, program leaders, clients, and organizational mission.
In early March we adopted an absolute muppet of a cat named Milhouse. He had been up for adoption for seven weeks and no one even enquired about him. As soon as Meighan picked him up, he flopped in her arms, and it was decided: We were bringing him home.
Milhouse turned out to have a massive personality, and he absolutely charmed everyone at home: The babies (Tempeton and Fred Fred) adored him, and he and Gretchen had something of a love affair, bonding almost instantly.
And, of course, we are all aware of what else March 2020 brought, so no need to get into any of that!
Spring 2020 was busy. I transitioned to working from home and worked with my colleagues to transition all of our organization’s programs and services to virtual. We were successful, but it was an exhausting experience.
Meighan made a career change.
In May we had to say goodbye to Milhouse, after only a couple of months. What we were told was a bad ear infection when we adopted him turned out to be inner ear tumours. He wasn’t with us long, but his presence will remain (he taught Templeton and Fred Fred how to open cupboard doors and how to carry large objects, both past times that they continue to enjoy.)
My nanna passed away in late fall. Due to ongoing closures, grieving looked different.
2021
It was an uneventful start to what would become A YEAR.
Early in the year I started experiencing a variety of symptoms that I thought were a relapse of my ulcerative colitis, but would discover were actually from celiac disease. It was accidentally found by a McMaster surgical resident who snuck in a biopsy during a routine endoscopy. It was confirmed with a blood test the following week. This discovery required some major and immediate life changes.
In May Meighan’s gramma (her Favourite Person) passed away. Like so many others, we had been dealing with a lot of grief in 2020-2021.
My work situation continued to worsen, culminating in the most dehumanizing and humiliating experience in my professional life (an excruciating public airing of grievances, dubbed a “wellness day”) in August, followed shortly thereafter by the onset of burnout so severe that within the span of one week I would have three doctors tell me that I needed to quit my job immediately. One of them even said to me that if I didn’t leave my job “it will kill you.” I took the statement as hyperbole at the time, but it would prove more on the nose than I could have ever imagined.
I took a leave of absence from work following these events, and spent the time off searching for a new position. Thankfully by late fall, I would receive a job offer and in December I started a new role with an organization where I felt like I could do a lot of good, and could grow my career.
These hopes would be dashed when on December 30th, on a Thursday evening during my second week at the new job, I would experience a massive and devastating hemorrhagic stroke. Oh, and it was my birthday!
2022
The first 104 days of 2022 would be spent hospitalized, undergoing brain surgery and recovery, plus intensive inpatient stroke rehabilitation, where I would relearn how to walk and use my left side (My brain bleed was on the right side and brainstem, resulting in left side paralysis, loss of emotional/impulse control, vertigo, double vision, and cognitive impairment, to name a few. Some things got better, others never will, or will continue to be a struggle.) After several extensions in my stay, I was released from the hospital just in time for Easter,
The remainder of the year would be spent in outpatient rehab, vision rehab, with various other healthcare supports within the community. I would also learn one of the most difficult lessons of this experience: Healing isn’t linear. A misstep on my left leg turned into a sprained ankle. This sprain likely had a domino effect, which would eventually lead to the onset of spasticity. Spasticity is the shortening of muscles leading to stiffness and rigidity of the affected limb. Around the same time I coincidentally developed trigger-finger in my left hand, which had the same effect of developing into spasticity in my left arm.
Over the summer I was approached by the rehab hospital about taking part in a fundraising campaign and being an ambassador for a new annual event they were launching: Hope In Motion. We did a photoshoot and interview, posters were made, teams were assembled, and the event went off without a hitch.
My team surrounded me on the event day, providing me with love and support. And the team has reassembled annually ever since! During the event I ended up chatting with my teammate Rose. Rose was a former work mom to Meighan, and out of that day began one of the most beautiful friendships I could ever ask for. We start going on weekly walks/adventures/coffee dates and she has become one of the dearest people in my life, and she means the absolute world to me.
2023
Over the winter I made a comment to Meighan about feeling trapped in the house, having lost the ability to drive anywhere on a whim, go out for a walk, or just leave the house without extensive planning. As a result Meighan spent the spring and summer building a deck, planning and planting gardens to beautify my world. This gesture was so incredibly meaningful.
2024
The curling of my toes worsened, affecting my mobility greatly. I began receiving regular Botox treatments in my arm and leg.
Over the summer I did my first post-stroke overnight trip! I went to Kincardine with my mom for a weekend, and was able to spend some quality time with family in a place that means a lot to all of the Bradley clan.
In the fall I returned to Shaver (rehab hospital) for another round of outpatient rehab. This round focused on using a neuro-bio-electrical stimulator on my arm and leg to help improve use, as well as doing an array of testing and training (cognitive, visual, and physical) around returning to driving.
2025
2025 has been a good year!
After spending much of the previous fall preparing myself to get back to driving, once the snow cleared, I got behind the wheel again! It was scary, but I did it!
In doing so I regained a massive piece of my independence back. I took myself on little dates, and for the first time in nearly four years was able to drive myself to appointments, to run errands, to meet friends or family for lunch, etc. It helped me build up my confidence, and feel the itch to try more adventures.
I gave a speech at my rehab hospital, which was terrifying and so, so meaningful. [LINK]
Over the summer I did something HUGE (both for Meighan and myself)- I traveled solo to Toronto on public transit (a two hour journey on bus and train). My friend Genievieve met me at union station, we had a lovely lunch, and then I headed home.
Over the summer and fall I would do a number of love;y trips with friends, including St. Jacob’s with Rose, and a mini cow petting experience with my friend Katie.
In early December my best friend, Tara, drove me to Ottawa so I could visit my dear friends Laura, and Melissa, who I hadn’t seen since my wedding in 2019, resulting in my second overnight trip post-stroke!
Also this fall, after years of treating the spasticity that we thought was causing my toes and fingers to curl, it would be discovered that it is being caused by dystonia, a neurological movement disorder, and not by spasticity, as previously thought. This has resulted in new treatment plants for both my arm and leg.
And now as we head into 2026, I’m focused on one thing: Peace. I have spent the last decade in survival mode, and I’m ready to thrive! I started this journey in 2025 and it’s been successful. I’m actively working on achieving this goal through a variety of modalities. I won’t be reducing my focus on recovery, but simply sharing that space with peace, and learning to incorporate it all together as I continue to relearn how to live life.
From here on out this space will be focused on my journey, my insights, my processing, my experience.
Mission Statement (2025)
- To give myself a space to process, to share, and to be understood.
- Provide a space that may provide hope for other young stroke survivors and their loved ones, showing that life continues on.
- To advocate, in some small way, on the needs and experiences of young stroke survivors. This is an unusual experience, but one that’s becoming more common, with stroke rates for young adults (under 60) on the rise. As such, this issue needs more attention and resources brought to it. My discussion of this will be based around the Canadian context, where public healthcare is available, but has its limitations.
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Being Alive | Sloane Square 