11/13/2018
Guest Post by Ted Baxter
In 2005, I was at the top of my game-a successful business man in peak physical condition. I spent my workdays traveling the globe as a financial services executive. Then, at age 41, with no warning signs whatsoever, I had a massive ischemic stroke. The doctors feared I wouldn’t survive.
But I did survive. And even though the recovery period was rough and a long battle back (including three seizures, loss of speech, inability to write, memory loss, and the loss of use of my right arm and leg) my life has (mostly) returned to my pre-stroke normalcy.
One of the main impairments that I suffered from was aphasia, a condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate. In those first tough months, my family and friends provided countless caring acts that helped me not only regain my speech, but also provided the desperately-needed hope that my situation would improve.
Here are a few of the most helpful caring acts that family and friends did for me during my time of need. If you know someone who has had a stroke, or suffers from aphasia, perhaps these examples will spark an idea for how you can care well for them.
If you have had a stroke, or you are caring for someone who has had a stroke or suffers from aphasia, please write a comment in the comments sections. I’d like to hear what caring acts people enacted for you, and how this helped your recovery.
Best wishes,
Ted
About the author: After spending 22 years in the financial industry, Ted W. Baxter retired as a global finance executive with a large hedge investment firm based in Chicago.
Ted now resides in Newport Beach, CA where he volunteers at several health-related institutions and hospitals in Orange County, leading groups in a stroke-related communication recovery program, and is a stroke and aphasia advocacy ambassador. He is the author of Relentless: How A Massive Stroke Changed My Life for the Better. For additional information, visit www.tedwbaxter.com.