Halifax’s Dalhousie University is offering a program that gives new hope to those living with brain injuries.
Interact is an intensive month-long rehabilitation program that helps people around the world and is offered in the Maritimes.
“The Interact program started in 2002 and what happened was, we were looking at the fact that individuals, post-stroke and post-brain injury, often don't receive as much therapy as the research would advocate for,” says aphasia clinic director Linda Wozniak.
Interact is a program for people who live with aphasia, a communication problem that results from a brain injury.
“When a person has aphasia, it's as if they've gone to a different country, where a different language is spoken,” says Wozniak.
Program participant Colin Pilipchuk was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. He underwent surgeries and chemotherapy in Edmonton and just when he and his wife Cheryl thought they were in the clear, he was diagnosed with cancer again.
“Testicular cancer is usually something that happens once,” says Cheryl. “Second time, this should be done. There’s been enough surgeries, enough chemotherapy, there’s no chance it’s going to come back again.”
But it did come back again, for a third time, while Cheryl was pregnant with twins.
While battling cancer, Colin then suffered a stroke - a rare side effect of chemotherapy.
“Colin was paralyzed on one side of his body and communication was affected the most and comprehension,” says Cheryl.
Matt Onofrychuk is also participating in the Interact program after suffering a stroke three years ago.
“Matt was at home alone. He was supposed to go to work that afternoon so we left him at the house,” says his father Darryl. “My wife tried to call him in the afternoon to make sure he was on track and couldn’t get a hold of him.”
The stroke left Matt paralyzed on one side of his body and doctors said he would most likely never speak again.
However, Matt is talking again and he has made major strides since his stroke.
Like the Pilipchuks, Matt and his father have travelled from Alberta to participate in the Interact program.
Both families are able to participate in the program thanks to donations made by members of their communities in Alberta - an act of kindness for which the families are grateful.
“Where he's come from in 10 to 12 days, it's amazing to see,” says Darryl.
“I've seen improvement with reading and writing and communicating, there's more fluency and so there's less miscommunication with me and other people and that's half the battle,” says Cheryl.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand
