I admit that at times I need to remind myself that my mild case of aphasia is not the end of the world. Really, the only things I’ve lost are just some words, and usually it is only a temporary loss. I still have the things that really count in life. I still have my loving and supportive family. I still have a compassionate and praying church family. I still have considerate and helpful neighbors. I still have concerned and respectful colleagues and friends from more than forty years in higher education. I still have a team of knowledgeable and caring medical personnel. All of these people are individuals on whom I can lean. I have a real social network, not a virtual one. In addition to all these people, I still have my mind. A piece of advice to caregivers and friends, I really do not need sympathy. Please just be there when I need you, be supportive and encouraging at every step of the process, that’s the best gift you can give, and the thing I need the most.
When I run into road blocks on writing projects, I have learned that I can put those projects down and return to them later. I have also learned that after I have made a real attempt, I can then ask for help at any time. After several attempts when the words don’t come, I have also learned that it is okay to completely walk away from some projects. It’s not the end of the world.
Aphasia is not the end of the world. I am still alive and I am still me.
Glad to see someone else hangin’ in there. We share lots of the same views
Thanks for those words that I take as encouragement. I encourage you to keep ‘hangin’ in there yourself.
Great article, By. Good to see your faith in providence, perspective, and optimism. Write more.
Rex, Thanks for the encouragement. I do plan to write more. Right now that is the thing that is keeping me going. THis past week I taught an adult Sunday School class on Job. One of the primary question of the story of Job is “How can a good God punish good people, or allow hardship to fall on good people?” ELihu chides Job and his three friends for not recognizing the fact that God is sovereign and he is infinitely far above us. THe first sermon I did after the medical episode was entitled “Our God is a God of Miracles, Not a GOd of Convenience.” It would have been a lot more convenient for Abraham and Sarah to have had a child in the norm child-bearing years. But GOd’s plan was to show his power by the miracle birth of Issac. It would have been a lot more convenient for me not to have a brain tumor or the seizures, but God had miracles to do.
Amen and amen!
By, excellent blog. Evidences your faith, spiritual maturity, perspective, and optimistic philosophy. Appreciate it and you. Your words will help others with similar experiences. Blessings.