We are going to peek into what may happen when I get my scan result. Remember? Yes, the diagnosis.
Doctor: Let’s have a look at you.
Me: Yes, doctor.
Doctor: This is remarkable. I have never seen such an improvement.
Me: Are you sure?
Doctor: Everything is all tippity top.
Me: Completely? How has it changed?
Doctor: I just don’t know.
Me: Well, this is wonderful. Thank you.
Well, that wasn’t difficult.
I generally don’t look up much about medical stuff on the net because there is so much information, and sometimes conflicting. I like: “Que Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)”. Just take what you are given. The song was released in 1955, and I was released in 1955. And don’t forget that Bruce Willis is on my side, and he was also born in 1955.
Invaluable support from the SayAphasia group
I introduced you to SayAphasia Hove in a previous episode. It started around nine years ago, and now SayAphasia has spawned across the country with another 19 groups. SayAphasia Hove had about 20 members last year and now the number of members and helpers has increased to about 40.
Our volunteers are invaluable. Some are Speech and Language therapists, or students training, or people with an interest to help.
Some members read the newspapers, others talk. The volunteers keep things going. Some members can’t speak, but they can use a ‘Magical Drawing Tablet’. They work for some people.
I think it was the first session: I was chatting with a few people. I asked one of the people: “Do you feel the same inside?” She said, “Yes”. It’s only when you try to communicate with the outside world that the difficulties happen. It is frustrating. But indoors, or outdoors, wherever, my experience is that almost all people are helpful. I have said that before. I’ll probably say it again.
SayAphasia has a serious purpose. Some members had good jobs, but suddenly their world crashed. Creative jobs, crashed. People have been in hospital for six months after a stroke, or brain tumour, severe head injury, or dementia. Members and volunteers have fundraised for Aphasia. But best for me is friendship and support:
Coffee, tea, doughnuts, cake, biscuits, and singing, or a sort of singing.
I like the cake, but the best is bread pudding.
I make a nice apple crumble
My Tesco shopping list:
Cooking apples.
Foil (silver).
Milk.
Cheese.
I went to the SayAphasia group first. I talked to a few people. There are some people I haven’t yet spoken to. One of them sits opposite to me. And he draws. He smiles, especially when he uses a walking stick to gather the biscuits. On this occasion, I had the opportunity to talk to him. He was drawing a farm, but he said he draws anything.
After the session I went to see a friend. We had a coffee in George Street.
Then I looked at the charity shops.
Then I got the bus home.
Is something missing? What did I forget?…
I forgot the shopping list. I had to turn back from Lyon Close to get back to Tesco’s. This is normal for me.
The good thing is that I make a nice apple crumble. It’s all gone.
Speech and language therapy
Last year I had some sessions at the Speech and Language Therapy unit, Brighton General Hospital. We met every two to three weeks. Chris came to some sessions. I think that I was being assessed to see what I could do. Later, the focus was to keep the ability I have.
The most difficult for me is to name a category (animal, food, anything) and see how many objects I can think of in a minute. It was dismal. I think nine animals was my highest. After 30 seconds, I gave up. I sweated through the rest of the 30 seconds.
Similarly, you have to remember three objects: there will be another task, then name the three things. I can’t do it. There were things I could do, like drawing the route of a maze to get out, and sentence structure. But I have lost one of the months. Really. I am happy with September, and November. But the middle one I can’t remember. That’s Halloween scuppered.
The therapist showed me some ‘apps’. Chris and I decided to buy the Language Therapy, and Advanced Language Therapy. There are loads of exercises: each can be moderated for easy to difficulty, and can be scored. There are audio and keyboard tools you can use too.
You could spend a year going through the whole lot.
I am very grateful to the therapist, and Clinic support worker, for helping me.
Entering the realm of fantasy again
Let’s continue:
Me: So I have no aphasia?
Doctor: What?
Me: Aphasia.
Doctor: Oh, no, I deal with Addison’s disease.
Me: What’s that?
Doctor: The address and disease must have been mixed up.
I live in Addison Road, not Addison’s disease. For the record, Addison’s disease, or primary adrenal insufficiency, is a rare, long-term condition where the adrenal glands don’t produce enough essential hormones like cortisol and aldosterone, often due to an autoimmune disorder. You can’t say that this isn’t educational.
It’s only a few days before seeing the neurologist to get the results of the scan. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Jonathan goes to SayAphasia Hove.
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