Therapy Team 7

My second role in the therapy basket was that of Saint Scheduler and Sister Chauffeur. An average week for the first two and a half years after the stroke included fifteen to seventeen therapy appointments. We were meeting with one or more speech therapists three time a week each, one or more physical therapists three times each a week, and of course, our extra-special Occupational Therapist, Martha, as often as we could. Our schedule book was packed tight. Some of the therapists came to our home, and we went to the gyms or other locations of others.

For P.T., I would get John up, bathe him, get him dressed and into the car by 6:30 a.m. three days a week and take him to a hospital in Glendale, a mere thirty miles away to spend an hour with an NDT Physical Therapist. This Angel was amazing! I truly cannot remember her name so I’ll call her Angel Gabriela. What a gift she had as a therapist. She was calm, kind, loving, and a master at her job. What a gift she gave to John and I. Angel Gabriela worked on teaching John the proper gait for walking.

John had to relearn the proper gait. The so-called therapist at the SNF where he had resided for four weeks after his initial rehab in the hospital had taught him an old-school method of dragging his weak leg sideways instead of a normal walking gait. This allowed him to get around with a cane but it was certainly not like walking as most of us know it. It was not only visibly uncomfortable to watch him try and move like this, but it was also unsafe. It kept him off-balance and frightened as he walked. It works only on absolutely flat surfaces. We all know now that the world is round, not flat, so this method is not acceptable. Our goal was to get him to walk in a normal, or as close to normal a fashion as possible.

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For a while, John saw a Chinese Acupuncturist who was a specialist in stroke treatment several times a week. We were told that in China, they treat strokes with acupuncture immediately after the CVA. The goal is to reconnect neurological pathways in the brain before they disappear permanently. John didn't start seeing this gentle soul until over two years past his event - well past the optimum window for best treatment results. 

Amazingly enough, whenever we would leave the treatment, John would get in the car and speak absolutely normally for about twenty to thirty minutes. It was as if the neurons in his brain were stimulated by the treatment and could communicate amongst themselves. For that short thirty minute window, John and I could converse, laugh, and enjoy each other like we did prior to his stroke. What joy! 

Then, sadly, the small miracle would fade away and he would start struggling to find his words. His aphasia crept back into his brain and took its strangle-hold again. As soon as his normal speech faded away again, I was heartbroken. It was as if I lost him again and again after each trip to visit this doctor. 

I saw and heard the benefits of this treatment - they just didn't last. Was this because of the fact that his best healing window was years in the past? I believe so. I only wish that we had known about this miraculous option for him sooner.  My purpose in relating this is my hope that if you know someone who has experienced severe speech loss from stroke, find one of these Chinese Stroke Specialists. Find one immediately! We were fortunate to live in the Los Angeles, California, area with access to a wide network of alternative medical personnel. Pursue this treatment. You have nothing to lose and the potential for gain is astounding.

This intensive therapy program was supplemented by John and I doing his homework from the speech therapists, and doing other physical exercises we found in books or as assigned by the therapists. 

One of our favorite things to do was go for a bike ride/jog a couple of times a week. I purchased an adult tricycle for John. It had a large vinyl seat that was similar to molded lawn chairs. It was safe for him to be in it. Then I would strap his right leg onto the pedal and use an elastic bandage to attach his right arm to the handlebars. Off we would go! 

I jogged beside him and we enjoyed the streets of our neighborhood for twenty minutes or so.  It was a way I could get my exercise with him. 

I must tell you that to this day, when I see gray haired couples out walking together, my eyes fill with tears. They have no idea how lucky they are to have each other in health in their later years. That companionship is to be treasured as if it were better than gold. 

2014 Nancy Weckwerth