Today, my mother, father, Ave, and I attended an Aphasia support group. There were about fourteen members attending ranging in age from about the late twenties to early thirties all the way to probably around seventy or so. All of them were stroke victims except for two who had brain surgery, and one who's aphasia cannot be explained except for possibly suffering from breast cancer a few years prior. The meeting was great. It was encouraging listening to some of the stories.
One was a beautiful, young, lady who had a stroke. When she initially had her stroke and was rushed to the hospital, the hospital staff thought maybe she was on drugs, once all of the tests were done they realized that she had a stroke. It took them two days to discover that she had a stroke. Now, although it is a struggle, she speaks and is continuing in her progress. She owns "The Grocery" in New Orleans on the corner of St. Charles and Sixth. Today, she treated the group to sandwiches and snacks from her store. The food was delicious.
Other members who attended, were a nurse, a professional businessman who does public speaking (he said that initially it was extremely difficult, but he did not avoid situations but instead pursued difficult situations and after awhile it became easier). Another lady (a minister's wife) said after seven years she can drive a car again. Everyone was excited and happy for her. Another member was a Congo drum player who is still working on the strength in his hands so that he can perform again. All of the members had different degrees of difficulty speaking. Dad's stroke was the most recent.
A Film was shown "It's Still Me!" The filmed talked about how one day a person is doing all of his or her normal activities and the next moment their whole world as they know it changes. How, although things are different, it's still them. Personality is the same, intelligence is the same, interests the same, but the ability to communicate this changes. It also went through several steps in communicating with a person suffering from aphasia.
After the film, the members talked about things in the film that stood out to them. One spoke about how fast people talk without giving them time to process the information. One spoke about how improving aphasia is a long process, and that it takes hard work. He said that it stood out to him that people can improve even after many years. A lady mentioned that she has asked her adult children to not worry her with their problems because it stresses her now and she can't handle it. A man said that he feels like another person is trapped inside his body trying to get out, but that he is learning to adjust his personality and go with the flow so that he doesn't get ran over. He said that sometimes he just takes long walks to rest his mind. Another lady said that she just grunts at people now when they insist that she does remember something from the past that she doesn't remember. She said sometimes it's just easier.
Overall, I think that we all enjoyed the meeting. The directors were wonderful, kind, considerate, and seemed to be well informed. We will probably attend again.
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