Only Joyce's speech appeared to be affected. "When she was asked to sign some papers, she signed her whole name perfectly, as she has for the 54 years of our marriage," says her husband, Richard.
The Cedar Run resident was admitted to Southern Ocean for more testing, including an evaluation by Southern Ocean's speech and language pathology team. "Early evaluation of stroke patients in the acute care setting is essential in developing an appropriate and timely plan of care," says Southern Ocean speech-language pathologist Mary Ann Schiattarella.
Joyce started speech therapy with Mary Ann during her stay at the hospital. "We took everything one step at a time," Joyce says. "She made me feel very comfortable and relaxed as we worked to improve my speech and verbal comprehension."
After four days, Joyce returned home, where she continued speech therapy on an outpatient basis. "Development of both inpatient and outpatient speech-language services over the past few years has allowed us to provide a seamless transition of services for patients like Joyce," explains Mary Ann.
Since then, Joyce has been working hard — and has benefited from a lot of help at home. "My husband has been a great teacher," Joyce says. "We have homework from the sessions with Mary Ann, and he works with me every day. My speech is really improving. I still use the wrong word sometimes, but I tell my family and friends that, when I do, they have to laugh."
That sense of humor has served Joyce well, says Mary Ann. "A stroke can be devastating. From the very beginning, Joyce was very motivated, had excellent family support, and faced this life-changing event head-on. All these are a big part of a successful recovery."
"I just feel so lucky to have Mary Ann to work with me and my husband and family to support me," says Joyce. "We are all going to have fun during this journey."
