WIBC interview June 23rd
Here is the audio for the interview with WIBC 93.1 FM’s Big Joe and Terri Stacey for this week. 
Briefly: talk about whether they think my foreign accent is getting better? What is an EEG? What happened during the EEG? And the benefits of friending on FaceBook.
Making Waves with an EEG
I recently underwent another medical test known as an electroencephalogram (EEG) which is a noninvasive test used to evaluate brain function or disorders.
Electrodes were attached to my scalp with a special gel or paste. This made for a VERY BAD HAIR DAY… it took forever to get that goop out of my hair. These electrodes recorded my brain’s electrical activity and transmitted impulses to an electroencephalograph, which magnified them and recorded them as brain waves on moving strips of paper. I was asked to close my eyes and be still for most of the test, so it was a semi-rest period for me. However, it was hard to keep my eyes closed when I wanted to open them up to see what was going on. A strobe light was used for a portion of the test, and it created interesting colors or spinning patterns while my eyes were closed. Although most of the test was routine. Something of great note to me happened.
The young lady who was administering my EEG interviewed me about what kind of problems I have been having. When she asked me the inevitable “Where are you from” question, I let her try to guess and then asked her if she’d heard of Foreign Accent Syndrome. No, she had not heard of it. I further confounded her when I showed her that I could sing with my “real” voice.
When the test was almost done, this young lady who had so painstakingly wired me up to all these electrodes all over my scalp did something unique. She asked me to go ahead and sing a verse of “You Are My Sunshine” (the song I had sung to her before the test began) AND THEN to just speak the same words to that verse. As I heard myself singing and then saying the words my emotions got the better of me. Just as I said “please don’t take my sunshine away,” I began to bawl like a baby!!
I think part of the reason I was so emotional is that I really heard how drastic a difference there is between my real voice singing and then the foreign accented saying of the exact same words. However, I believe the biggest reason I cried was because I realized something. This technician had really “heard” me. She noticed how much I believed that something could record the difference between the two modes and that I believed concretely that the singing and the speech are coming from two different places in my brain! I believe this may be the first time such a thing is recorded scientifically, in black and white, ink and paper, proven. Maybe history is being made.
This technician not only listened to what I had to say, but DID something about it. She recorded with the EEG the exact thing I had been talking about. When I asked the lady if this was a normal part of the test she answered, “No, I just decided to do that because of what you had told and shown me.” History — history was made. Not only have I demonstrated via audio, or video, NOW they have EEG waves recorded of this interesting phenomena.
I can hardly wait to see my neurologist on July 1st to get the results. There is surely something recorded on that tape of brain waves to help us understand exactly what is going on in the brain. Now, we are getting somewhere, “making waves,” and it feels good!
Weekly Report on WIBC
This weeks report at WIBC 93.1 FM sound file is at the following link:
WIBC 04 Sound File of Terri Stacey and Big Joe Staysniak of WIBC 93.1 FM interviewing me.
This episode is mostly about meeting another FAS person we’ve named Fishers Fran who has intermittent episodes of accented speech. There is a clip of the audio from the video that we took earlier in the week.
FAS Friends
I met with a new friend tonight who I call “Fishers Fran.” We both have Foreign Accent Syndrome, (an extremely rare
Eastside Ellen and Fishers Fran shake up a local Steak 'n' Shake. ---Photo by waitress Cloe.
medical condition that causes a person to speak with a foreign accent that is not their own) and live in the Indy area.
Fran had some friends tell her about hearing me on the WIBC 93.1 FM radio spots I’ve been doing over the last couple Tuesday mornings by invitation of the Morning Show personalities Terri Stacy and Big Joe Stayzniak. Her friends told her that she must listen. Then Fran took the initiative to call the radio station and they passed along my name and told her I was on FaceBook where she sent me a message.
Last Tuesday evening when we first spoke by phone, Fran had her normal voice. Her foreign accent came on suddenly for her along with left side neuromuscular symptoms back in 2005. Unlike me, her regular voice has returned, but she does have episodes where the accent returns for a few days. In fact she recently was interviewed about her Foreign Accent Syndrome story in an article for the April Issue of a magazine that is popular with the Catholic faith. I am sorry that I do not have the publications name right now, but I will edit this post when I have it.
Today she called to say that her voice has “flipped” so that she has the accent again. Her voice does have strong similarities to my own, but is definitely different. She can say some long “A” sounds that I cannot, and I can pronounce the “SK” sound that she cannot. So it was very enlightening as we met at a northeast side Steak and Shake for a friendly supper. Many patrons stared as we spoke and laughed together. Our waitress asked the inevitable “where are you from” question. To which we both smiled and replied “where do you think?” “Think” was pronounced “Sink” by Fran and more like “Tink” by me. Our waitress took a while to understand the fact that we are not FROM Europe and now living in the Indiana. Rather, we are both Midwestern Americans who are speaking with very strong foreign accents. She guessed Fran as more Eastern European and me she placed as Irish. LOL. Anyway our waitress Cloe was kind enough to snap our photo with my camera.
Given that there have been reportedly less than one hundred cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome ever reported worldwide and that so very few people, including medical professionals, have even heard of the affliction, I believe our budding friendship is an answer to prayer! It was encouraging to talk to someone who understands what it feels like to not have the voice/accent you have had your whole life. I feel greatly blessed by meeting her, and especially since she is within short driving distance.
We may have discovered a new comedy team in the making as well. We thoroughly entertained Fran’s daughters and husband with our silliness as we each corrected the others accent. Though our accents have some similar qualities, Fran sounds more Eastern block European (more Russian), whereas my accent sounds more French mixed with Norwegian. Her husband said that we sound like we are from different parts of Europe, but European all the same. I think it was an encouragement to her family as well as we were able to lightheartedly share our stories. Her family was able to see another person with the same thing happening so that they could feel less alone in the peculiarity of it.
Below is the link to a video that her daughter Celia shot of us. Please be kind to us as this was totally impromptu shooting so I am not wearing any make up and am looking more unkempt than I would have liked. However, the spontaneity of the shoot makes it too good not to post.
Foreign Accent Syndrome Friends
Now, I really would like to hear what you think about this post so please leave a comment. Thanks.
A Bird in the Hand Not Worth the Fall!
I am going to tell you the tale of yet another unfortunate event in my life. I think you will agree that I have more lives than a herd of cats.
The chicken was almost done in the oven when Steve arrived home from work. I glanced behind him standing at the sliding glass patio door into our backyard. There I saw a threatening sight; a dozen robbins were flying in and out of our Northern Star dwarf cherry tree. “Hey, get out of there!” I yelled at the winged thieves, “those cherries are almost ripe!”
The next few moments I was in a whirlwind as I grabbed a tree cover, some clothes pins and the step ladder to quickly cover the tree before the supper was done cooking. It would only take a few minutes, and then the little bandits would be at least deterred from depleting the ingredients for our future cherry pies.
Because of the metal rod in my left leg and fused ankle, I was barefoot to make sure that foot placement was solid and centered on the nice wide treads of the step-ladder. I had just finished attaching the half way point of the cover. When, suddenly, I was slammed into the ground.
There I was, face down in the lawn, trying to assess what just happened. My bell was rung! You could say I was seeing birds of a different variety now… the kind that join the stars around your head when you are hurt badly. I had apparently hurt my left side pretty badly, the ladder was contorted on the ground beside and beneath me, big bruise to the left thigh (that’s gonna be ugly), wrist, arm, shoulder all hurting from the fall, but then I saw my left foot… it was bleeding badly. Because my left ankle does not flex AT ALL, and the little toes on that foot curve under so badly, one of the toes evidently caught an edge that hyper extended it to the point of ripping or cutting the flesh as it came in contact with the hard metal.
“I am hurt”… correction, “I am hurt badly” and “I gotta get into the house NOW” were the words coming out of me as I limped toward the door as fast as I could. I grabbed the dishpan full of cold water that we keep right inside the door for cleaning the dog’s feet when she comes inside and was happy that I had just recently cleaned it well and that it was full of cold water. I stuck my foot right in there and watched the water turning dark red. It was like a scene out of the movie “The Ten Commandments”.
I called Steve into the kitchen, he was mad as he ran to get the first aid kit. Then I called in our daughter Michelle to get some ice on these big bruises. Then Steve doctored me up by pouring Hydrogen peroxide over my bleeding foot that was now up and over the edge of the kitchen table. It really hurt a lot as he straightened those little toes to get it clean in there.
I believe I lost consciousness for a tiny bit shortly after saying “I feel very dizzy … sick … not good.” I was sitting in a tall backed kitchen chair and rocking my head with the pain. That is something I do naturally rather than cry. However, I came too suddenly as Michelle was straightening up my head and trying to put a pillow behind it. As I was coming to, I realized that I was blowing out the pain and drooling, kind-of spitting up. Woah! I guess I am hurt worse than I thought. There was no way I was going to be able to drink the water Michelle was offering me. “No” was my answer to her offering me some Aleve pain killer. I do NOT want to thin my blood any more or make the bruising worse.
After Steve packed the cut with topical antibiotic and pressure of gauze and tape. They helped me get situated in the living room recliner for the night. Foot elevated, cleaned, bandaged, taped and now enjooying the comfort of pressurized ice water inside my cryocuff. Ice bag ace-bandaged to the giant bruise on my left thigh. AND I wrapped another little bag of ice over my left wrist and hand which I have at least badly sprained. I elevated that up against my chest as I laid my head back against the chair with a very cold wet towel behind my neck to ease the neck/head pain and nausea.
I am in PAIN!! I did NOT go to the ER… we were doing about everything they would do anyway. Plus, I have had more than my fill of emergency rooms and hospitals lately. I did call my family doctor today and have an appointment to see him tomorrow just because this was such a bad fall and did a lot of damage. Plus, I may need to get put on some antibiotics for that deep tear/cut at the base of my toe.
You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say I was cursed!! If I had been careless it would have been one thing, but I took several safety precautions as I endeavored to save our cherry crop. Who could plan on the old ladder just decideing to break. The greatest safety tip I tell everyone is NEVER EVER climb a ladder or swim when there is no one else around. This time that safety tip surely saved me big time.
Moral of this story: “A bird in the hand (or prevented from your cherries) may NOT be worth it!!”
Prayer requests: for those of you who follow me regularly, (1) Pain to ease (2) I have an EEG already scheduled at the hospital for Friday (3) I cannot use my crutches to stay off my left foot to heal because my left wrist and shoulder and collar bone area are all swollen/bruised.
After all of this, I was a bit upset to see that my husband took down the cover net I had already placed halfway on the tree. So the robins have free rain of my cherries again : ( Oh well, they need to eat too I guess.
