I’ve met a lot of stroke and brain-injury victims these past few days, and I’ve learned a lot. On Friday, I went to that stroke victims’ lunch with my speech therapist I told you about. That was fantastic! The two other women there had had strokes five months and twenty-one months ago. The five-month-veteran was doing very well; her symptoms are mostly cognitive, though, so it was hard to tell. She talked, for instance, about how she has to turn off the car radio because it distracts her so much that she can’t drive. She says it’s really hard when it rains because you can’t go and turn THAT off.
The twenty-one month veteran had hemorragic stroke instead of an ischemic stroke; those are more serious. The stroke scored a direct hit on the language part of her brain, and talking is sometimes still hard for her. You probably wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t looking for language defects like those of us at lunch were. When she had the stroke, she couldn’t say more than four words; now, she’s going strong, but she still sometimes forgets words or has trouble pronouncing something. “Ruler” is a particularly hard word for her to say; she has trouble with the “r” and the “l” sounds.
Yesterday, I went on a walk with my neighbor; she’s the one who had a brain injury a year and a half ago. Hers wasn’t a stroke; she got slammed by a door that someone kicked into her. She still gets really tired, but she’s now doing better.
Most of all, I think its sinking in that a stroke is a bigger deal than I thought. I thought that two or three months would go by and I’d be back to normal, but that just isn’t the case. My two-month anniversary was yesterday, and though I AM doing much better than I was (for instance, I can move my right side!), I have a long way to go. My goal of tutoring has been pushed back until the summer, probably, and I’m not going to take the PLACE test until April, when my brain will [hopefully!] function better. I’d say that my new goal is one year. I’m not sitting on the couch complaining, mind you, but I’d like to “feel like myself” again — namely, not mix up my words, be a more competent writer, not be so tired anymore, and be able to write notes with my right hand. (I can write right-handed, but it’s messy.)
Second of all, I learned how different people’s stroke symptoms can be. One person can have trouble concentrating, but make it through her seminary reading and writes papers alright; another can be hurt linguistically; and me, I don’t know yet! I know that I read more slowly, that I’m not so good at math facts or anything else I need to do quickly, and that I have trouble putting together words at work. What I don’t know is how long it’s going to take to get back to normal.
Well, enough of that. Ben and I spent most of today at church; first, at the service (during which we became members!), and then getting the Christmas tree, which was fun. Here are some pictures from the experience!
