SURVIVE & THRIVE AFTER A STROKE76 | July• 2019multifaceted programme. “When I
was shown an image, I was unable
to say the corresponding word and I
pronounced another one,” she recalls.
“Little by little, I began to understand
what was expected from me, but just
orally. It took me almost a year to be
able to talk and read. For writing, it
took much more time.”
Florence is still in speech therapy
three years after her stroke. Because
her right hand feels heav y, she was
unable to continue her career as a
hairdresser and turned over man-
agement of her salon to one of heremployees. Now about 75 per cent
recovered, she is determined to con-
tinue her progress.JAN’S THERAPY
While still in hospital, Jan commenced
physiotherapy. “I could not raise my
arm at all in the beginning,” he says.
But, with the help of his therapist, he
kept trying. “After the second week,
very slowly, I could move it a little
bit.” At that point, he was transferred
for five weeks to a rehabilitation clinic.
Unlike Florence, he understood
everything he read. But trying to form
even the most rudimentary verbal
response was hard. His speech ther-
apy began with relearning how to say
a few words, followed by some sim-
ple phrases. He found it frustratingly
difficult to set words in the right order.
But Jan had a strong will to practise
and regain what he’d lost, and gives as
an example one of his first attempts
to speak to a supermarket assis-
tant, after leaving the rehabilitation
centre. “I ordered my meat and cold
cuts although I was stuttering and my
speech was almost not understanda-
ble. But finally, I got my order right.”
Although he continues to go tophysiotherapy and speech therapy,
Jan says that everyday life is his best
therapy. In his leisure time, he en-
joys cycling and jogging and getting
out into nature with his dog Fellow.
Though he hasn’t yet got full use of his
right hand and still has to write with
his left, “I’m trying to do everything
first with my right hand and arm.”THE BRAIN’S AMAZING
ABILITY TO RE-WIRE
Although stroke is a leading cause
of disability worldwide, it’s not clear
how many more people who are pre-
sumed incapable of further recovery“IT WAS FRUSTRATINGLY DIFFICULT TO
SET WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER”
Jan Heussen