For two Hope Clinic patients, music spurs recovery

ORLANDO, Fla. — Sweets sounds emanate from the stage, accompanied by giant smiles from the musicians.

In the center of it all are Glexey Caraballo and Cathy Garrett.

A casual bystander would never know the musicians are an eclectic group of stroke survivors, each with his or her own abilities and story.

For Glexey, this is his first time performing with STROKESTRA®, a stroke rehabilitation program led by Dr. Phillips Center in partnership with AdventHealth and driving patient-led recovery through group creative music-making workshops. The performance was a prescription from Glexey’s occupational therapist at AdventHealth University’s Hope Clinic.

Glexey was paying bills online in his room one evening in 2018 when he began vomiting and having convulsions. He was having a brain hemorrhage that would leave him with severe aphasia (language impairment), the inability to walk and one arm distorted. After emergency surgery to drain the hemorrhage, he spent several weeks at the hospital in rehabilitation therapy.

“I got down on my knees and started praying to God,” says Glexey’s mother, Elena “Meibol” Caraballo. “I wished what was inflicting him was inflicting me instead. I finally had to ask God to give me peace. I was always praying. A lot of people were praying.”

Following discharge, Glexey used at-home therapists home for several weeks, but insurance was eventually suspended.

“They thought they had done everything they could for Glexey,” Meibol said.

About five years ago, someone mentioned Hope Clinic to Glexey’s father and Glexey began receiving physical therapy and occupational therapy there two to three days a week. Hope Clinic provides free physical therapy, occupational therapy and cardiac rehabilitation to those who are uninsured and underinsured. Hope Clinic clinicians and professors and supervised students in AdventHealth University’s physical therapy and occupational therapy programs treat clients.

“Everyone here has given him encouragement and support. They work with a lot of love and patience,” his mom says.

Glexey, who previously worked in computer science, can now walk independently, his arm has become extended and he can speak a couple of words. He understands everything and is participating in music therapy as well.

“Glexey is so positive,” said Olga Melnik, OTR/L, Director of Hope Clinic. “He’s an inspiration and a joy to work with.”

Olga utilized Glexey’s love of music to challenge his brain, encouraging salsa dancing with a therapist and introducing him to the adaptive flute. He can play for three to five minutes before needing to rest.

“He was a musician since he was little,” his mom said. “He studied it in school, and music was like life to him. Since he began having music therapy and performing with the orchestra, I see a happiness that he hasn’t had for a while. This is something for him to feel more involved and included, something that would help him with his self-esteem and confidence.”

Glexey is not alone in this feeling of inclusion. This year’s performance at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is Cathy’s second stint with STROKESTRA®.

Overdue to deliver her second daughter by only a day or two, Cathy suffered an extremely rare amniotic fluid embolism in 2019. She fell into a coma and endured seven surgical procedures. Cathy’s baby, named Chloe, was delivered by emergency Cesarean section and spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit to ensure she was getting enough oxygen. Babies born to moms who’ve had an amniotic embolism have an 80 percent chance of surviving, and mothers have only a 40 percent chance of survival after an embolism like this. Chloe beat the odds. Cathy, however, was still struggling.

After her second surgery and a process called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, commonly known as ECMO, the doctor told Cathy's husband, “There’s nothing else we can do. It’s up to her now to work really hard.”

Cathy suffered a basal ganglia stroke as well as compartment syndrome, clots causing blockages and swelling. Clinicians even discussed a possible leg amputation.

“My husband could see I was really tired and ready to give up, so he brought Chloe in,” said Cathy, who ended up waking from her coma on Day 9. Alert and grateful to be alive, Cathy had a long journey ahead. An avid horseback rider, Cathy had trouble walking and speaking and had retrograde amnesia – causing her to not remember anything from the month leading up to her embolism.

“I went from very healthy to disabled,” said Cathy, who was 34 at the time of her hospitalization.

After recovering for 25 days at AdventHealth Orlando, she was transferred to AdventHealth Winter Park for eight days of rehabilitation, where her most challenging journey would begin. The physical therapist said, “ ‘Cathy, can you lift your right foot?’ I thought I was.”

She so badly wanted to go home.

“I remember being very angry at rehab, very grouchy, even though I was super grateful. I’m looking around, and these people are the age of my parents. A stroke in your 30s is really rare.”

Her discharge from the hospital seemed like the freedom she so badly desired.

“Once I got home, I thought it would take me to back to being a stay-at-home mom. I was in denial of how sick I was.”

That’s when she realized this wasn’t a short-term illness. “My neuro doc finally said, ‘Cathy, this is lifelong.’”

Following inpatient rehabilitation, she actively participated in at-home rehabilitation, including balance therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. She also saw a neurologic psychologist and visited the Aphasia House for six weeks.

In 2021, after Medicaid was limiting the amount of therapy she could receive, she discovered Hope Clinic. Learning a great deal about what she calls “energy conservation,” Cathy’s goal was to increase her endurance so she could return to the activities she both needed to do and enjoyed.

“I have good days and bad days. There are days I can’t get out of bed.”

She began cardiac rehabilitation at Hope Clinic five days a week.

“The Hope Clinic is really a family. It really is. They see me as a person, not a patient. Olga and I talk about gardening a lot. It’s a breath of fresh air. They’re your biggest cheerleaders. They care about us beyond these walls and care about how we’re doing in our everyday life.”

Today, Cathy can drive a car about 35 minutes without resting and can focus on reading a book for about 20 minutes. Her daughter Chloe is 5½ years old and her older daughter Claire is 7½ years old. She is tremendously grateful for the progress she has made, her husband and her caregivers, and she still has wellness goals she wants to achieve. That includes cantering a horse, longer car drives, and strengthening her body to decrease pain.

“Really, my ultimate goal is to take more off my husband’s plate. My heart really breaks for my husband for bearing more than a 30-year-old should have had to. He doesn’t complain, and there’s no way I’d be doing as well as I am without his support.”

She was grateful to perform with Glexey in STROKESTRA®.

“I think finding other stroke survivors and finding community is what makes STROKESTRA® so special. Recovery can be lonely. The orchestra opened a whole new world to me. It challenged my endurance.”

Glexey plays the drums, and Cathy plays the vibraphone – taking their recovery to an added level. In partnership with Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, STROKESTRA® is a rehabilitation program utilizing creative music-making as part of a formal clinical recovery program. The musicians, with the help of AdventHealth clinicians, practice twice a week for three months, culminating in a show for the community. The program, started in 2022 with about 15 stroke survivors, has grown to about 30. One highlight of the 2025 concert was a song titled “Si Si Mejor,” specially created for the only two words Glexey is able to speak.

Si means “yes” and mejor means “better” or “best” – symbols of the endless optimism, strength and purpose that stroke and embolism survivors display each day. To learn more about or become part of STROKESTRA®, visit the orchestra’s site.