Ernie

I had my stroke at 52 years old. I had a wife and 2 boys in high school. It was the beginning of COVID, and it has now been 5 years of recovery. I still have very limited use of my right side.

I was a west coast regional manager for wine and liquor sales, and before that, I was a football player at Cal, NFL, the World League, and CFL. As an athlete, I was used to recovering physically, but aphasia was a whole new challenge.

I joined ACC right when I came home from rehab, and I couldn’t say a word. I remember Giti writing down what I was trying to say. The group was so patient, and now I find myself at times being a bridge between the new patients and the speech therapist. 

I believe that talking every week has really helped me get back close to where I was. The main thing with conversing is, I do better seeing the person on FaceTime or Zoom.  I can now speak at stores, appointments, pay bills, make reservations and even cook dinner. Most importantly, I recently got my driver’s license back! I have a van with an adaptive pedal, and I’ve taken long drives on my own.

My words of wisdom are to keep at it. You are slowly getting your words back, so keep practicing. Some apps that have helped me are: Lingraphica, including Small Talk and Apraxia Therapy. By the way, I still beat my buddies on Words with Friends and Wordle! (they hate that )

I had a stroke in March 2022. I couldn’t work, so I focused on getting better. I made progress in speech therapy, but I wanted more, and I knew that I needed to work on talking.

My wife and I heard about the Center, and it’s instrumental in my recovery. I was nervous when I started, because my aphasia was severe, but I quickly realized that I was in friendly company.

I’m in three groups: Conversation, Book Club, and Young Stroke Survivor Group. Everyone is nice, we’re all in the same boat, and we’re all rooting for each other. Anybody can be affected by aphasia, and the groups at the Center show how diverse they are. But we all have common ground because of our aphasia, and the Center provides community and camaraderie.