Episode 140 Healing Body and Mind: Interview Amanda Grow

Episode 140 Healing Body and Mind:

Interview Amanda Grow – Part 1

Did you know that the United States has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world? Because severe childbirth complications have become very rare, it is easy to forget that childbirth can be life-threatening. Amanda Grow, a wife, and mother of 4 children – 1 daughter and 3 sons, experienced an extremely rare complication of childbirth known as Amniotic Fluid Embolism which has a mortality rate of 80%.

Amandas story today isn’t just about a miracle and the healing of her body. It’s also about the toll such an event takes on us mentally as well as physically and today we’re looking at the total process of finding meaning in brokenness and the process of rebuilding.

Amanda is the owner of Strategic ACT Prep, a business she built over 10 years that helps high school students prepare for standardized tests. At the time of her medical crisis, she had 12 employees and three locations. The crisis necessitate major life changes as it took many months to regain mental and physical functioning. She and her business partner summoned the courage to shut down all 3 locations and let all the employees go. In the aftermath of the crisi, Amanda has also experienced mental health challenges characterisctic to Post Intensive Care Syndrome, situational drpession, and post traumatic stress. She has also struggled through a deep identity crisis as she no longer has the energy to the “do it all” mo, business owner and community member she once was Amanda has a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University and a Master’s degree from the Univesity of Utah. She and her husband now serve on the Patient and Family Advisory Council for Intermountain Medical Center.

Tune into the audio program to hear about her rapid blood transfusion that nearly drained the hospital’s blood supply and left her in a medically induced coma for a week.

We’ll discuss questions like:

You said, “A crisis or trauma is not just one chapter in your life…it is a deep canyon that affects everything going forward from that point.” Tell me a little about that.

What do you feel is the most important part of your story?

What was your biggest struggle?

What has been your most important growth or insight gained?

How are you doing now?

To follow Amanda on Facebook look for: Miracles for Amanda Grow

So often we are talking about recovering from accidents, loss, death….the stories we tell here are always about the victors who find their way out of the dark, and they shine a light for us so that if we are having similar experiences we can learn from their stories. Sometimes is hindsight I think we may gloss over the real process of climbing out of those dark holes that take us to the brink of strength. Mental and emotional recovery is significantly harder than physical recovery. It can be a long road to becoming whole and even then we will most certainly not be the same. Sometimes what must be grieved is the loss of who we were before. This is all a normal part of growth and life.

Amanda’s story and feelings about her story focus on these concepts of acknowledging the real journey.

Your challenge for this week is to think about your own journey. Is there a space where you have expected yourself to bounce back more quickly, or expected someone else to bounce back and get back to normal without a sensitivity to the length and depth of the process. Consider what this looks like in your circles and see if there isn’t a place where you need to check in, allow, and nurture, yourself or another.

Remember the website – You can go there to get your copy of my new book: LIFE – Living Intentional and Fearless Everyday. The 21 Life Connection Challenges. Or hop on Amazon.

On the website you can also buy t-shirts, listen to all the past episodes, and reach out if you would like to contact me. See you next week.