The Most Important Ingredients for Recovery

Last night I saw a former patient of mine. I was at a restaurant with my husband when an attractive young man made his way to my table. At first I did not recognize him. Then, I realized that in 2003, I had helped in his recovery. What a difference 6 years has made in his life. He showed no signs of his past struggles.
In 2003 I first met him in an acute care facility. He had suffered a tramautic brain injury and had a myriad of problems. He was in a veiled bed when I first met him. Basically, that is a bed enclosed by a net so the person cannot get out of bed and harm themselves.
During the course of the next several months he was at our facility he made a lot of progress. I actually fed him his first meal (pureed food) after his accident. When he left our facility he still had lots of work to do. Honestly, I felt he would never be the same. When he left our medical center he could barely hold his head up, but his time was "up".
Last night, he was at the restaurant with his mother. They told me of the struggles of the past 6 years and his courageous efforts to continue to make progress. He told me the key ingredients to his recovery.
1. Family Support. Without the constant encouragement, love and support of his family, he would not have continued to do all of the hard, "boring" therapies.
2. Belief he would get better. This ingredient goes hand in hand with the first one. His family sincerely believed that he would get better. They never gave up! They told me of the various facilities and home health care agents they had experienced through the years. They always were looking for solutions.
If you have a loved one that is recovering from a stroke or brain injury, please understand that the role you play is a very vital one.
If you need more Aphasia Therapy for Expressive Aphasia, go to my website www.communicationpartner.com. We produce Aphasia Therapy on DVDs that can be used at home independently or in conjunction with a speech therapist.