Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

Recently I was asked to speak at a local stroke support group. The basic topic is "what have I learned since my strokes?" So many things. My presentation is in a week or so I’m still preparing my thoughts.  Tomorrow, January 10, 2012, will be the 7th anniversary of my first stroke. It was followed three days later with my massive stroke. After my strokes, I remember thinking my life is over. I could not talk very well. My right arm didn’t seem connected to my brain. I didn’t know my name. I had to learn new terminology like Aphasia. Numbers and letters were foreign.  Simply put, when you’re on the top of your game professionally and personally and then your seven-year-old son had to help you to the bathroom because you’re scared, I just wanted to die.   I felt really sorry for myself. Several months later, my mom was dying of ovarian cancer. Despondent, I was wallowing in self pity. She was dying and I was all about me.  My mom grabbed me with her withered and weaken...

Welcome to 2019! I started the new year chairing the Idaho Aphasia Support Group on January 2nd. We shared stories about our holidays. Our common bond is not strokes and aphasia. Rather, we have true affection for each other. We share our stories, our laughter, our advice, and sometimes tears. This morning, two survivors attended and we haven’t seen them for several months. One stroke survivor and his wife attended, and he basically said he’s "given up." He has started to drink and smoke again because there’s no use doing therapy or trying to get better. We also sympathized with him. However, we politely yet bluntly told him that "it’s not all about him."  We told him that there is no plateau when you have a brain injury. You get better all the time though it’s more subtle when the years go on. We basically said that we are not judging him, yet his wife/caregiver needs help as well. Does she need to deal with another stroke because you’ve given up and you’re smoking...