Joe has spent the last 40 years working with people with disabilities, providing them with orthotics and prosthetics. So it was a bit of a shock when it was his turn to become the patient.
Joe experienced a series of strokes in his brain stem that affected movement and sensation on both sides of his body. But the most challenging change for Joe was his inability to speak following the strokes. “It feels like you’re in a pool and you can’t swim, and you can’t get anyone’s attention,” he shares.
Joe’s brain was still fully functional, but his muscles were weakened from the strokes which made it initially impossible for him to speak. Joe began rehab at Magee where he made steady progress. At first, his road to learning to speak again was filled with bumps. “The hardest part is when people don’t understand,” he shares. Early on, Joe spent an entire hour trying to convey to someone that he wanted them to scratch his leg.
Joe then began working with his speech therapist Rebecca to learn ways to communicate. They started by hanging pictures and signs around his room, and Joe would point to things he needed. And visitors were instructed to ask Joe yes and no questions to help facilitate communication while Joe relearned to find his voice.
Joe’s motto is “never quit,” and he lived up to that while he worked with Rebecca to retrain his muscles to allow him to speak again. In going through this experience, Joe says “I have a new sense of respect for speech therapy and the value of being able to talk.”