MY NAME IS WINSTON JEROME LINDSLEY
On April 29, 2002 I had an aneurysm on my aorta. I barely survived the surgery required to fix the tear in my heart. As a result of the surgery and bleeding, The surgery took about 3 hours but I was in the Operating Room for 7 and half hours due to the bleeding that followed; only one in ten people survive this procedure. I suffered a stroke which affected the left side of my brain leaving me with a condition known as aphasia. They believe the cause of my aneurysm was my use of EPHEDRA which I had been taking for approximately five years. A headline on Ephedra read April 12 Supplement Linked To 155 Deaths. The move marks the government's first ban on a dietary supplement. A 1994 law allows the FDA to a dietary supplement from the market only if it presents a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury under ordinary conditions of use."
APHASIA IS A COMMUNICATION DISABILITY caused by damage to the language centers of the brain, as the result of a stroke. It is not a loss of intelligence. Depending on where and to what extent the brain is injured, each person with aphasia has a unique set of language disabilities.
While intelligence remains intact, abilities to speak, understand spoken language, read or write may be reduced or eliminated. There are many types of aphasia, but two general categories: nonfluent and fluent. Someone with nonfluent (expressive or Broca's) aphasia speak in a hesitant, telegraphic style using short phrases and effort in speaking. They usually can understand speech more easily than they can speak. Someone with fluent (receptive or Wernicke's) aphasia speaks at a normal rate, but may have difficulty producing their intended words. They tend to "talk around" a point, substitute a similar word or use nonsense words. They may also have difficulty understanding speech. Persons who have very severe difficulty speaking, reading writing and understanding are said to have global aphasia
I have attended the University of Michigan Center for Development of Language and Literacy which specializes in a six-week intensive therapy session for Aphasia/Apraxia patients on three occasions: February 16 - March 27, 1993; May 11 - June 22, 2003 and Oct 26 - Dec 6 2003; I will be attending another six-week session beginning August 16 through September 24, 2004. Contact details for this program are:
Ms. Mini Block, University Of Michigan, Director of Clinical Services,