DISABILITIES

By Daniel J. Vance

“Amanda” isn't her real name and she agreed to be interviewed only under the condition of anonymity. She faithfully reads this column in the Huntsville Item, a daily newspaper in Huntsville, Texas.

“In 1990, doctors diagnosed my son with brain cancer when he was 13,” she said in a recent telephone interview. “He had a large tumor in his head. Surgeons removed it, and he went through chemotherapy and radiation. Everything seemed fine and he even returned to school. Other than a bad memory, you couldn't tell that he had been sick.”

About four years ago, her son, who I'll call “Billy,” had several strokes. The American Stroke Association website states that “a stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or bursts.” About 700,000 Americans annually have new or recurrent strokes.

She said the strokes were a side effect of Billy's earlier radiation treatments.

“And he has brain damage from the strokes,” she said of her 28-year-old son. “His memory is bad and he can't walk or use his left hand. He has slurred speech and lost most of the vision in his left eye. But you can still sit and have a [regular] conversation with him.”

She said that Billy's greatest struggle, like that of so many people with disabilities, is handling loneliness. Nearly all his former friends have left him. Amanda could take Billy outside the home more often to meet others, but fears doing it because in the past she has “dropped him” while transferring him from his wheelchair.

“So I'm in the process of finding a group home to put him in,” she said. “But I'm having trouble finding a decent one. I thought I'd found one, but then learned they wouldn't take him because he's incontinent.”

Doctors say Billy's outlook is grim. Only recently, an insurance company refused to pay for physical therapy at a rehabilitation center in Dallas because it believed Billy wouldn't benefit from the experience.

Amanda has been seeking emotional support. “I've been trying to find someone that's gone through what he has,” she said. “But you don't meet many people with brain cancer. I asked the neurologist what others in his condition are like, and he said they are all dead. I guess I should count my blessings he's [alive].”

For more, see www.danieljvance.com or www.strokeassociation.org