Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

I met a man almost two years ago named Jack. We met at an aphasia therapy group organized by the Speech Pathology Department at Idaho State University. I was one of 8 participants for a 2 week program designed to help people who have Aphasia. The National Aphasia Association defines our condition this way: What is aphasia?  Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain-most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals. But brain injuries resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, from brain tumors, or from infections. Aphasia can be so severe as to make communication with the patient almost impossible, or it can be very mild. It may affect mainly a single aspect of language use, such as the ability to retrieve the names of objects, or the ability to put words together into sentences, or the ability to read. More commonly, howe...

Part of my “reading therapy” is "to read." It seems so simple. My 3 rd grade son has to read every day for twenty minutes. I need to do the same as my son. But, it is not simple for many reasons. It has been over 2 years since my strokes, and I do a lot of visual and reading therapy. “Reading” is fundamental. When you have a stroke, nothing is fundamental. The basic skill of reading was lost when I had my two strokes. Twin Falls Public Library I grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. I loved the public library. When I was a kid, I would ride my bike to the library. I still remember the smell of the library and the smell of the books. It excited me even then. I remember when I discovered Agatha Christie  and her mystery novels. I would check out one of her books, and I would go across from the library to the City Park by the Band Shell where I would read the book under a shade tree. It was heaven! In high school, in the 11th grade, I took a class called “Nov...

I used to get a lot of emails! At the height of my career, I bet I got about 100 (or more!) emails every day during the week. Over a weekend, it was less but still a constant stream of emails. Several years ago, when our son was starting to ride his bike, he asked me to “watch me Daddy!” I watched but I was actually responding to emails. Our son said, “Daddy! I want you to watch ME! Not your phone!” That was a great lesson for me. However, admittedly I still checked emails though I was more sneaky about it. When my career began, there was no email. It was a simpler time. My secretary would hand me a stack of messages, and I would respond. I had a policy that I would respond as soon as possible though never more than one day later. I had the same policy for my staff. “Call” – NOT email because there was no email – no later than 24 hours. Technology changed everything. The demands of time made everyone want instant answers. People would email me and then call me mi...

Jack Nicholson starred in a movie called “ As Good as It Gets.”    It is hard to realize that you are getting older. When is the prime of your life? When health starts to fail, does it ever get any better? When my strokes happened two years ago, I assumed I would get better.  Though the severity of my strokes did not give me a lot of hope, I struggled to recover. My family was the incentive for me to persevere. The other day, I saw a friend of mine who said, “You look fantastic!” That is great! But, in my head, I am not fantastic. It is very tough to deal with what I have lost. I have made a great recovery, but I know that I will never be the same again. I have to deal with that reality, and, for the most part, I have accepted my fate. However, the old adage I am waiting for the other shoe to drop seems appropriate for me. When I get out of bed, I wonder if something will happen to me. The seizure two months ago set me back physically but also emotionally. I...