Sunday, July 19, 2009

Des Moines teen helps dad deal with stages of living



Joseph Kearney crinkles the corner of his mouth and thumbs through the list of medical terms he must know for a test the next week.

Aphasia. It's a sudden inability to understand words, caused by disease or brain injury.

This is how the husky, soft-spoken 17-year-old spends time before class two days each week at the Mercy College library in downtown Des Moines.Next..

Couple inspires with cancer book


Given six months to live, Brian Monaghan was prepared to get his affairs in order. But his wife refused to let the diagnosis of Stage IV melanoma take her husband. Eleven years later, the healthy couple have published a book about their inspirational fight.

“We decided we weren’t going to accept cancer as a death sentence,” said Gerri Monaghan of her husband’s 1998 diagnosis and their battle, which they document in The Power of Two: Surviving Serious Illness with an Attitude and an Advocate.

Hundreds walk for heart health in Spfld 2009 annual Pioneer Valley Heart Walk

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Upwards of 1,000 people came to Springfield's Forest Park to help combat heart disease. Men, women and children fought heart disease by taking part in Sunday's fund raising Pioneer Valley Heart Walk.
22News met up with people who suffer from heart disease and stroke, or who've experienced the disease taking loved ones from them. "My wife had a stroke a year ago in January and she has aphasia to inability to speak. Slowly, slowly, slowly, she's working her way back," said Jack Taylor of Springfield. Next...

Friday, July 17, 2009

A stroke took his voice, but he never lost faith


Dan Kidd rolled out of bed for work at 5 a.m. on Mother's Day and could only walk sideways.

In the shower, his balance failed and he nearly fell over.

He Googled the symptoms of stroke. The results came back: Severe headache, weakness on one side, droopy face, slurred speech and impaired balance. Everything matched.

"Something's happening in my head," Kidd told his wife, Kim, a nurse with experience attending to stroke victims.

She took Dan's blood pressure, put him in the car and drove to the hospital.

There, as doctors ran tests and prescribed medications, Kim noticed something in her husband's voice and alerted the staff: Next..

Petition

Petition summary and background
Speakability offers support to people with Aphasia, who have communication problems following a stroke, head injury, brain tumour or other neurological condition. People with Aphasia know what they want to say; they just have trouble finding the right words. They can enjoy social activities just like everyone else if communication tools, such as illustrated / photo hand-held menus, are provided by coffee shop and café owners.
Action
We, the undersigned, suppor Next...

National Aphasia Awareness Month

“Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.” Isaiah28:23

Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person’s ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence. Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.
The most common cause of aphasia is stroke (about 25-40% of stroke survivors acquire aphasia). It can also result from head injury, brain tumor or other neurological causes. Aphasia affects about one million Americans or 1 in 250 people. While aphasia is most common among older people, it can occur in people of all ages.
Recovery from aphasia. If the symptoms Next....

Haifa study: First, second languages controlled by different parts of brain

Ever feel as though you had two languages or more competing for a finite amount of brain space?

If so, think again.

A new study by a University of Haifa researcher on bilingualism suggests that first and second languages are represented in different places in the brain.
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Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim was able to extend what little knowledge exists on cerebral linguistic representation by studying the curious medical case of an Israeli Arab who, after sustaining brain damage, found it easier to regain his Arabic than his Hebrew.

The 41-year-old bilingual patient is a native Arabic speaker, but spoke Hebrew nearly as well. A university graduate, he passed entrance exams in Hebrew and used the language frequently at work. Next............