20240825 - My increasing vocabulary of unnecessary words & terms
Couple of weeks ago, I had mentioned about my teeth condition and the possibility that I might have to knock 1-2 as well (https://mindofmystrokedbrain.
I went to the hospital yesterday for it. You might be wondering why I went to a hospital when I should have been going to a dental clinic for it. i) That's because in my condition, there are many emergencies that can happen and a dental clinic is not equipped with all the facilities that is required to cope with such emergencies. ii) More importantly, it is because I didn't see a dentist but a "maxillofacial surgeon".
"maxillofacial" - I came across that term only recently.
I have always had a limited vocabulary in English... I wouldn't say it was poor, it was just adequate and limited to words used in regular speaking stuff.
I have always wondered what is the necessity of using complex words when we can say the same things with simple words.
maxillofacial - "of, relating to, or affecting the jaws and the face".
So Why not say that simply. Surgeon for jaw and face instead of adding another word to the dictionary!
After my stroke, I realised the complex web of such words and terms in relation to my stroke.
As soon as I had my stroke (well it was 4-5 weeks after the stroke itself but I was unconscious and in la la land till then so, as far as I am concerned, it was the first day for me). My comprehension was also slow initially.
I was told I had a massive "stroke". I knew what a stroke meant. Something to do which leads to a heart attack right... Then they said it was in my "brain stem". Hang on, what has it got to do with my brain? And what is "brain stem" I wondered, I only knew the brain has cerebrum, cerebellum and medulla. At least that is what I remembered from high school.
Anyway, I assumed it was there in the brain somewhere. I still didn't know what a stroke was. Those were days when I couldn't lift a finger or speak so no way to ask anyone and clarify.
I then was told (I don't remember if I was told or I overheard it) that my "basilar artery" had a clot in my "brain stem". Okay - that was just a name for an artery. Apparently, It was an "ischemic stroke" - ho ho another unwanted name. That's when an artery is clogged by a blood clot. Why not say that then? I had a stroke because my basilar artery got clogged by a blood clot. So much simpler to understand.
My source was mainly overhead conversations between doctors who came as a small army on rounds or when someone in my family or friends were present in the room as the caretaker and some doctor barged in and said something to them.
So my vocabulary related to stroke jargon kept building up. Although I didn't know the meaning of most of them.
Couple of months later, when I just started to be able to move my left hand (only the forearm from elbow) it would suddenly become very hard or sometimes impossible to move it. With my very limited actions and expression I would somehow indicate it was not moving. They would say oh it's just "spasticity".
When I was young, I have heard the word Spastic. It was generally used if someone was having learning difficulties etc. I have not heard that term in recent years. I guessed we have just become more polite and replaced it with something like "special needs" etc.
I thought maybe it's the same thing . Afterall , I had something called an ischemic stroke in my brain.
Spasticity, I gathered after about 2 years when I could hold my phone and reach "Mr. Know it all" - Mr. Google - was a very common phenomenon in stroke survivors which causes the muscles to become rigid and difficult/ unable to move.
So why not say that! That I have muscle stiffness instead of spasticity!
Such words and terms are piling up in my head ever since and growing!
I told this to my speech therapist. That I am going to so and so hospital and seeing so and so doctor.
She then said, oh good, a maxillofacial surgeon. I should then consult him about getting a "palatal lift prosthetic" .
I only understood those 3 words separately and had never heard of that term where they come together and give a different meaning!
So I had to pay a visit to Mr Google a visit again. I must say, I have been cheating of late and seeing his much younger better neighbour Mrs. ChatGPT - who said "A palatal lift prosthesis (PLP) is an intraoral device that lifts the soft palate to help with a condition called palatopharyngeal incompetence"
What's that!
Palatopharyngeal incompetence: A muscular inability to close the port between the nasopharynx and oropharynx during speech and/or swallowing. This can be caused by trauma, or stroke paralysis.
In layperson terms:-
Although I am able to get some sounds (noises) at my throat when I try to speak, I am not able to create intelligible speech because I am not able to get the air from my breath to come out from my mouth. It simply comes out from my nose not letting me create the air pressure in the oral cavity to modulate sounds and make intelligible speech.
Turns out that we all have something called a "palatal velum" or "Velopharyngeal valve" usually referred to as a "soft palate" .
The soft palate is a structure that separates the oral and nasal cavities during speech and swallowing. It's made up of the soft palate, pharynx, and the side and back walls of the throat . When the velopharyngeal valve closes, the side walls close against the velum, forming a valve that sends air and sound into the mouth for speech.
It was a revelation to me. I bet you didn't know that either!
We can't make the soft palate move voluntarily either. It is the job of our brain to do it automatically when we speak, when we swallow, when we want to hold our breath, when we want to blow candles on our birthday cake, when we want to blow a balloon at the same birthday party, when we rinse our mouth and the liquid stays in the mouth and doesn't get into our nose, etc , the list goes on endlessly... We just have to think/ intend to do such things and the brain lifts the soft palate automatically to ready us for the job.
It's not something we have learnt/ trained our brains to do over a period of time. We are born with that ability to be able cry out loudly at birth and suckle milk on day one. Everyone naturally does this. Except if you have had an ischemic stroke in your basilar artery and blown a few very important fuses in your brain stem.
It is part of the other 99% of things our brain does for us automatically/ autonomously to save the trouble for the mind to do better and more important things - like binge watching TV or reels on YouTube or endless scrolling on Facebook or Instagram etc.
Trust me, we are definitely un-evolving ourselves and throwing away millions of years of fine-tuning that the brain has done for us!
Anyway, I can go on and on like this about new words and terms I am unearthing frequently as part of this stroke journey. I'll stop here and let you go back to "better and more important things..."
Oh, btw what did they do to my teeth at the hospital?
Nothing! Turns out they are ok and not really rotting (which is another miracle altogether). They made me bite into a very yucky tasting and smelling like some rotten artificially citrus flavoured yogurt and which was warm. I had to stay biting onto that smelly gunk for about 30s till it was no longer warm. It was to get an impression of my upper oral cavity to try and make a palatal lift prosthetic for me. Will know if it works in about 2 weeks...
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