Dr. Stotz gave me good advice, all those years ago. He told me to stay on the same medication for the rest of my life, and to keep working as long as possible, both of which I did. His opinion was that most people who lose their words never recover, because they have not tried hard enough, so he wanted me to force myself to talk, even if it was difficult. The other piece of advice he gave me was that most of the medical literature says that improvements end at six months after a stroke but he disagreed. His observation was that improvements continue as long as the person keeps trying. He was ahead of his time, but he was correct. I make fewer errors now that I did five years ago so improvement has been continuous over time.
Dr. Stotz is a neurologist working in a small city. The machines are not as powerful as at a big medical center but he knew his stuff and figured out what had happened and gave me medication to live with. He was puzzled as to why only one artery was blocked and he never did figure out why. It took the University of Texas in San Antonio to figure out what had really happened, after I had a relapse.
I was ready to leave Texas and return to work when I lost my words again. That was when I recalled more advice from Dr. Stotz which was to rest and recover for six weeks before you pick up your life. So I took his advice and we stayed at the lake while I worked on my words and my strength. Tomorrow we will visit Dr. Stotz again but this time to have him check Ken. I will be pleased to see him again and I am sure he will be happy to see me too.
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