The Whale Poster That Changed My Recovery

In my healthcare presentations, I challenge healthcare heroes to treat each patient as a whole person—not a diagnosis, not a room number, not a checklist.

But what does that actually look like?

For me, it looked like a whale poster.

After my brain tumor removal, I was transferred to a second hospital for rehabilitation. I was working with a speech therapist named Michelle. Speech therapy in the early days can feel mechanical—repeating sounds, practicing simple words, working to regain what was once automatic.

One day, Michelle paused.

She noticed a poster of whales on my wall.

Instead of pulling out generic word cards, she pointed to a whale.

“What kind is that?”

“Blue whale.”

“Humpback whale.”

"Gray whale."

"Sperm whale."

Then she raised the bar.

“Now tell me the scientific names.”

And something lit up inside me.

Balaenoptera musculus.

Megaptera novaeangliae.

Eschrichtius robustus.

Physeter macrocephalus.

My speech wasn’t perfect. My pronunciation wobbled.

But I remembered.

Michelle didn’t know those names. She wasn’t a marine biologist.

I was.

And in that moment, she wasn’t just rehabilitating my speech. She was reconnecting me to my identity.

That exercise strengthened my articulation, yes. But it did something even more powerful:

It gave me hope.

It reminded me that the brain tumor had disrupted my abilities—but it hadn’t erased who I was.

Experiences like this shaped the foundation of Impact of Empathy.

Empathy in healthcare isn’t about adding more to a clinician’s workload. It’s about shifting perspective. It’s about noticing. It’s about asking:

• What matters to this person?

• What lights them up?

• What identity are they afraid they’ve lost?

When clinicians find that spark, therapy becomes partnership. Care becomes connection. Recovery becomes personal.

Michelle didn’t just help me speak again.

She helped me believe again.

---

 Bring Impact of Empathy to Your Institution

If you’re a nursing program, allied health department, residency program, or hospital system looking to strengthen patient-centered care in a practical, memorable way, let’s talk.

Impact of Empathy workshops equip healthcare learners with tools to recognize patient identity, build trust quickly, and improve engagement in care.

👉 Contact me to schedule a presentation or learn more about customized training for your team.