This month during the Ultimate Blog Challenge I decided to share a little bit more about my journey. Specifically, what it‘s like for me to have aphasia and apraxia of speech. How I communicate differently. How I have used strategies to speak more normally. Apps I have used. Ways that I improve self esteem and mental health. This month I will do so with the ABC’s, highlighting words started with each letter instead of telling individual stories as I have done in past months.
Imagine walking up one morning and you can‘t say any words or utter any sounds. That’s what happened to me on Mother’s Day 2019. I had just had surgery to repair my right rotator cuff and was supposed to be relaxing/recovering. But then, I suffered a stroke. The stroke left with me with minimal physical damage but significant damage to my language center. I didn’t know it at the time of the stroke, but I would have the following challenges: aphasia, apraxia of speech, dysarthria and dysphagia. All I knew was that I could not speak. I lost my ability to speak. The ability to communicate.
Shortly after the stroke, I knew I wanted to tell my story but I didn't know how I could do it. Once I was able to write again, I thought that a blog would be the best way. Short pieces of writing that could remind me of my journey.
I want people like me, who’ve had a stroke and now experience communication challenges, to know they are not alone and that there is hope. It is true that every person who has had a stroke has a different story. Every person with aphasia or apraxia has a unique experience. But we can all learn something from the experiences.
I also want people who care about a person who has had a stroke with aphasia and /or apraxia to know that their loved one is still the same person. I still feel the same. I may need to communicate in a different way; I may have different challenges than I did before; I may have different goals or dreams; but I’m still me!
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