"After that first stroke he didn't get any therapy for over a year," she recalled, remembering how difficult it was the first time around, "but he still regained the ability to drive." Norm actually went back to work for a short time, until his 60th birthday, then retired and was able to continue with other interests like cooking, photography and walking. The Quigleys had enjoyed eight, satisfying years since then. Jayne had continued to work as the secretary at a holistic health clinic and they had recently returned from a memorable visit to Israel with their church. Thier happy lives would soon be interupted by a second stroke... This second bleed was "the size of a quarter," she was informed, and immediate surgery was needed to relieve the pressure. Norm had fallen at home, severely bruised his face, and might have laid there all day if a friend had not been staying with them. Jayne had faith that he had survived for a reason, and simply refused to give up. "I was so busy running between my clinic, the hospital and home, but I knew I had to be the strong one. The therapists at Providence began working with Norm as soon as possible and he regained some speech within a week. Slowly, things began to work out. I even managed to lose some weight, which makes life much easier for me." Despite her full-time role as caregiver, Jayne looks younger than her 61 years and seems to have the energy of someone half her age. Norm Quigley was glad to be home after two weeks, just before Christmas. But he had now lost his short-term memory and suffered significant deficits on his right side. Once again, at the age of 68, he had to call on an inner strength to overcome this crisis. As a systems analyst and manager for the Bonneville Power Administration from 1961 to 1988, Norm had seen the computer come of age, but he had no idea that their PC would become an essential part of his recovery. | Using a PC for Speech and Language Therapy Speech and language therapy software has become an important tool in recovery, and is especially valuable for those whose insurance coverage has ended. It uses many of the same techniques that have been proven effective by speech-language pathologists. Computer-based rehab that is controlled by the survivor is highly flexible, eliminates peer pressure and the fear of failure. It is more acceptable to mature adults than workbooks, which often feel like "child's play." The Aphasia Tutor series by Bungalow Software, for example, provides five separate programs requiring increasing skills: letters and words, phrases and sentences, paragraphs and stories and functional reading. A survivor can operate the program alone using just one or two keys on a standard personal computer running Windows 3.1 or higher. Sights 'n Sounds, Bungalow's newest product, uses digitized speech to reproduce a human voice, then plays back the survivor's spoken response for comparison. You can obtain free demonstration copies of the software, information on speech therapy technology and a listing of online stroke resources at www.bungalowsoftware.com/sc Or call Bungalow Software at (540) 951-0623 |
"He's never going to leave, he's going to need institutional care for the rest of his life." Jayne Quigley remembers exactly what the doctor told her after her husband's second stroke--and her reaction. "That made me so mad. I told him that's not what I need to hear: that my husband is going to live out his life in an institution." Norm had made an amazing recovery from his first stroke in 1988, and along the way Jayne had learned her most important lesson--to never give up hope....