Steve, there's always hope. A long time ago I was in a coma that almost all doctors said was hopeless. They told my wife to prepare to deal with the burial and such, and my "sterling" government health care said that the expense to keep me alive was not authorized. My doctor, with whom I was close friends, wouldn't "pull the plug", and eventually I "woke up". No acupuncture or other alternative health routines, I just woke up.
That was 12 years ago. There is always hope. BTW, getting a person with speech problems can sometimes be helped by getting them a parrot, they can teach each other to talk. Again in the case of the person, for the first time in the case of the parrot.

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