Tim Johnson's son on his dad's progress

[renate]

Brendan says the important thing is that progress is being made. He says he's heard nothing but good reports since coming home from a trip to Washington on Sunday, and that stability means bigger steps aren't far away. "Today he was actually sitting up and had his feet on the floor and was doing some physical therapy and some speech therapy," Brendan Johnson said. "So those are the types of steps that he continues to make each day."

http://www.ksfy.com/Stories/Story.cfm?SID=9448

More good news:

According to Johnson's office, a test performed on the South Dakota Democrat today showed that he no longer has a tangle of arteries and veins in his brain that caused cerebral bleeding last month.
{snip}
But his long-term prognosis is unclear. One of his doctors says the tangle of arteries and veins appears to be gone and that Johnson continues to be responsive to both his family and physicians -- following commands, squeezing his wife's hand and understanding speech.

http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=8698

[Redstone]

1. Well, all righty, then. This is good news, indeed.

Redstone

[SoCalDem]

2. Yep. He's already in better shape than Strom was (for decades)

Go... Tim...Go

[orpupilofnature57]

9. Nice one!!!! and MSM wasn't pursuing him ,he was revered. n/t

[Democrat 4 Ever]

25. Hell, he is already in better shape than Chucklenuts.

Dim Son is truly slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-w. My money is on Johnson.

[Kajsa]

3. This is good news.

He's making progress, slowly
but surely.

Thanks for posting this

[Cha]

4. Yay! Senator Tim Johnson ..

bless his heart~ Nice and Easy does it.

[babylonsister]

5. We're all pulling for you, Senator Johnson! And thanks for sharing, renate. nt

[Contrite]

6. That's great. He's moving right along. n/t

[rodeodance]

7. umm..speech problems. They are NOTsaying he is talking.

[NMDemDist2]

8. he'll have to re-train his brain to speak and probably to walk

Democracy Now! had a lady on her show right after the Senator had his surgery.

She had the same situation, and it took her a couple years of intensive therapy to regain her speech and she still sounded "off" but it was obvious she was mentally alert and able to function at a very high level. Her brain worked fine, her speech was still a little unclear.

[IndyOp]

13. I saw that interview, too! I was really impressed by her and

her husband. Set a goal, reach that one and then set the next goal.

[NMDemDist2]

17. I hope the Honorable Senator can make the same (or faster) progress

don't you?

[Grateful for Hope]

10. This is such good news

Thanks for posting this!

[Fridays Child]

11. Something tells me he'll be back sooner than people think. eom

[wiley]

12. Let's KICK and R this up. This is GOOD news for Tim and everyone else!

[shaniqua6392]

14. He continues to be in our thoughts and prayers.

It is going to be a long road for him, but I am sure he will be back. Dem's are notorious for fighting against all odds after all.

[pitohui]

15. get well soon senator EOM

,

[ellisonz]

16. Great news.

"squeezing his wife's hand"

:thumbsup:

[Old and In the Way]

18. Thanks for posting!

[fed-up]

19. aphasia-inability to use language (written or spoken) can take years of therapy

to regain former abilities

After my mother's stroke it took at least a month or two before she could even say yes/no appropriately.

It took another year for her to speak short phrases.

She had a left-brain stroke which is the area of the brain where language is processed. We had great success when we used sing-song patterns to relearn phrases as music is processed in the right side of the brain.

At first she was unable to even utter a simple consanant like the letter "b" or "m" but with multiple short therapy sessions every day she worked up to simple sounds, then words within months.

We used picture cards so she could point to things she wanted like food, drink, bathroom, doctor etc.

I learned to speak slowly and to watch her face to make sure she understood what I was saying.

Sometimes there were words that she couldn't comprehend, but if I substituted a word with similar meaning she had no problem understanding.

I have the greatest respect for those that go through months or years of therapy. The inner strength that it takes to work hard for what sometimes seem like minimal gain is a very inspiring thing to watch.

She used a computer based program as part of her therapy that had been developed by the VA center in Menlo Park.


One side note is that my mother was also diagnosed with an AVM by the cat scan that after she had her stroke. It did not burst and was not the cause of herr stroke, but we made sure to watch her intake of aspirin and other blood thinners!

[badgerpup]

20. Trouble speaking doesn't necessarily mean 'not all there'...

The speech part of the brain may be affected yet the cognitive functions will be working quite well, thank you very much.

My mom has had two strokes. Second one really screwed up her speech center, but she's still hitting on all cylinders, even if she does have trouble with word choice, pronunciation and speaking in complex sentences. She UNDERSTANDS them, and doesn't need things dumbed down. Questions about choices need to be yes/no, either/or, but that doesn't mean she's incapable of understanding something complex. It's just easier for her to answer.

[fed-up]

22. If a person does not understand some word or words then their total

comprehension will be affected. Substituting words is not "dumbing down". It is using a creative, work around strategy to ensure the best possible communication.

If I was speaking English to you, but then substituted a few words in a foreign language then of course you would not have a complete grasp of what I was saying.

Luckily my mother was mentally gifted and had a very large vocabulary to begin with, so losing the ability to access some of it probably brought her IQ to a normal range, instead of well above average. Language and communication ARE cognitive functions and if one's ability to use language is affected, of course cognition will be affected.

I am not saying that she did not understand what was going on around her, but that that understanding had been somewhat compromised. I knew her limitations and by working around them we were able to communicate effectively. She also was able to communicate with others, but on a very limited level.

Her progress was also documented by her speech therapist, even though we (therapist, mom and I) all knew that her level of comprehension was greater than what the test results showed because of the few (sometimes only 3-4 per category) questions asked.

All that said, the recovery rate and amount of recovery from stroke or other brain injury depend on age, location/extent of brain damage, physical health of person, diet, willingness of patient to participate in therapy, skill of the therapist, willingness of therapist to work with family/friends and patient and more. Plenty of variables here, which is why therapists and doctors are reluctant to state how much and how fast the patient will recover.

[badgerpup]

23. Point taken.

It just really annoys both my mother and me when people talk to her as though she has the comprehension of a child...or worse; bypass her completely as though she is incapable of thinking or speaking for herself. :grr:

[williesgirl]

21. C'mon Tim, get better - your country needs you as does your family.

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. Wonderful news! It's nice to hear he's coherent.. He can vote when needed.

I'm glad to hear he's on the mend.