Aphasia Comic Strip: 4

From the comic strip For Better or For Worse

A letter from one of the research assistants

Dear Participants,

I wanted to send this message through an email, as I know myself and how emotional I can get! I am already tearing up as I write this :)

You may all find it difficult to believe, but working with you over the past few weeks has had a great impact on my life. Sometimes in the midst of the piles of schoolwork and the stress of exams, I forget why I have chosen this profession. Seeing the progress you all have made, though, is a clear reminder and strong reinforcer that this is indeed what I was meant to do. I am so proud of each of your for your continued progress, hard work, and determination!

It may sound silly, but I've become fond of all you. Even those who were not in my therapy group (but met at the lunch Monday afternoon) I feel attached to as I've heard great stories and seen the occasional video. I wish you all the very, very best. I truly hope to see you continue with your wonderful progress and that we may see each other again in the near future!

Thank you again for being the best participants I could imagine!

Aphasia Comic Strip: 3

From the comic strip For Better or For Worse

Aphasia Comic Strip: 2

From the comic strip For Better or Worse

Aphasia Comic Strip: 1

From the comic strip "For Better or For Worse"

J.'s days

His day:
"Computer. Cards. Cribbage. I have 8 players that I play (cribbage) with, and I pick one at a time. I also have (cribbage) board.

I do other things. Walking around the mall, probably 2 or 3 a week, about 1 hour. I watch TV and movies and series.

I was living good. I was living pleasantly. When I had my 4th stroke and I could not speak and I could not work. I had an accent after my first stroke that gave me aphasia, from 1999 to 2002. It was a European accent. And then I had a stroke in 2008. I could not speak. But I'm trying to speak. I haven't worked in computers since my first stroke that gave me aphasia. But I have worked at Publix."

B.'s encounter with aphasia

"I was thinking about Taraie. He was a headhunter. He appeared on a Billy Graham show during the '70's. I met him when I was a schoolteacher in Peru. He was a driver on a pecky-pecky, the boats that took people to and from places in Peru. The boat was about 30 feet long and one passenger wide. It was a motor on the back. It was called a pecky-pecky because its noise made a pecky-pecky sound. He became a Christian and he lived a good life. Not everything went good for him. He had a stroke. That is the first person I have ever seen with a stroke. He asked me if I could do anything for him. I could not."

A stroke story: I had 5 strokes

I had 5 strokes. My fourth stroke gave me aphasia. I cannot speak. I tried to speak but I couldn't speak. But I felt good. I tried to say "I'm fantastic" but they did not understand me. I got a little better.

I had my 5th stroke in 2008. I just remembered knowing that I had a stroke. I could not speak again. Very difficult. Probably desperate.

~ as described to me by J.

A stroke story: It happened to me while I was asleep

It happened to me while I was asleep. I remember waking up and saying "Stop, Stop, Stop!" It felt like overwhelming waves, just washing and washing over me. I heard the nurse say "It's 6 o'clock" and my roommate called for help. And then I don't know.

I woke up in the ER. And someone said, "I'm your speech therapist."

~as told to me by B.