Throughout the next 12 hours, a nurse came to my bed, checking my vital signs and other neuro checks required every 30 minutes. It was about 2 AM, I was in the ICU. The ICU nurses were very diligent in their efforts to make sure I had not lapsed back into a worsened state from the earlier attack on my brain. They were extremely patient with their queries: What was my name? What was my birthday? Could I feel this prick on my right foot and arm? Where was I? Who was that in the chair by my bedside? And sure, I knew all the answers in my head. The yes/no questions, I could just nod my head. But sometimes they needed words and words were just not coming out of my mouth. At best, my answers were garbled versions of yes and no, or one-word answers that they accepted, but it did not sound right to me. I was physically doing better but I was speechless. I could not move my tongue and my mouth properly, the words did not want to come out. How in the hell was I going to communicate? Continue reading “Speechless – 4”