Although the stroke hadn’t affected her movement, it caused aphasia, a language disorder that affects about a third of stroke survivors and can make it difficult to speak, understand, read, or write. In Paula’s case, she could understand everything being said but couldn’t respond, not even in writing.
Paula couldn’t speak … but she could dance.
After three weeks of intensive inpatient speech therapy, Paula returned home, able to say a few words like “hello” and sometimes “yes” and “no,” though not always correctly. One day, her husband told her how proud he was of her hard work.
“What else am I gonna do?” she replied matter-of-factly. It was her first full sentence since the stroke.
Paula quickly realized that the world didn’t always know how to respond to someone with aphasia. People often treated her differently, addressed her husband instead, or spoke down to her. Such reactions left her frustrated, angry, and “feeling stupid.”
“Aphasia does not affect my intelligence. I have ideas that I can't express through language.”
In outpatient therapy, Gaylord speech-language pathologist Tammy Spurgeon tapped into Paula’s love of movement.
“Her dancing created a natural rhythm that helped support her speech fluency,” Tammy explains.
Paula also thrived in her group speech therapy sessions, where she practiced conversational skills in a safe, supportive, and judgment-free environment with others navigating similar challenges.
When writing full sentences still felt far off, Paula turned to crafting six-word stories to capture her thoughts and emotions. One piece, written later in her recovery, reflects on her time at Gaylord Hospital and the healing power of its gardens:
Last spring, I watched a robin
sitting on her nest.
In the Japanese Garden at Gaylord.
Now, snow is falling.
I still have a long way to go.
Don’t give up.
Spring will come again.
One constant source of encouragement has been Tammy. “She seeks to understand what I cannot say in spoken and unspoken language,” Paula says. “She helps me believe I can do anything.”
“Paula has inspired me to grow as a clinician by shifting my focus beyond functional skills. She’s shown me how powerful it is to prioritize what’s truly meaningful to each patient to help them feel successful, confident, and connected to their identity and emotional well-being,” says Tammy.
Right after her stroke, Paula made a deal with herself: she would beat aphasia in one year.
“I've made great leaps in my talking and writing, but my aphasia is still here,” she says. “It's a lifetime process.”
Today, Paula continues to find new ways to share her voice. She recently returned from a long-dreamed-of trip to Ireland and will soon begin volunteering at Gaylord, offering Reiki to patients on their own journeys. And she uses every opportunity she can to teach others about her condition.
Like the robin she once watched at Gaylord, Paula understands that even the longest winter will eventually give way to spring.
“I just want to live the rest of my life with as much joy as I can.”