PORT ANGELES — CindyLou Romberg is a little speechless when it comes to how much attention her mysteriously acquired speech patterns have brought her.
The Port Angeles woman, 52, who began speaking with more of a European than American accent in 2007, has been in talks to appear on yet another national television show — this time one showcasing mysterious syndromes.
Her diagnosis was Foreign Accent Syndrome after multiple tests confirmed that her ailment was not a brain tumor, a stroke, cancer or a collapsed blood vessel.
“After I had an MRI done, they said I had a collapsed blood vessel in my brain and that they had to go in to fix it,” she said.
“Once they got in there — it was nothing. They said it was just a shadow on the image.
Scary part
“That was the scariest part for me, going into surgery. That is when I thought there could be actually something wrong.”
The show she has been speaking with developers about does not have a name or a network yet because it is still in development phases, she said.
Just as when she appeared on “Mystery E.R.” a couple of years ago, an episode would be devoted to exploring Foreign Accent Syndrome.
When diagnosed, she had never heard of the syndrome.
That isn’t surprising since only 61 people are known to have it, she said.
“I think there are many, many more people out there who have this,” she said.
“But they probably think they are crazy since they don’t know this is actually something that happens.”
Syndrome effects
Her “th” sound often sounds more like a solid “t” and “happens” comes out more like “hoppens.”
She also drop the “s” on some plural words.
She said the syndrome also affects her in odd ways — making words like “hello” seem odd on paper.
“When I write to people, I write ‘h-a-l-l-o’ because that is how I say it,” she said.
“It just seems weird to write it the other way.”
She said she can hear an accent when she speaks SEmD it switches among German, Swedish, Russian and French SEmD but she can’t control or hear the differentiation.
Since 9 p.m., Feb. 16, 2007, when she woke up speaking “gibberish,” there have been many theories about the cause.
A chiropractic appointment a week before had caused her neck to swell. A wreck in 1981 had left her with hearing problems and an inability to walk.
But ultimately, none of the dozens of doctors she has been to have a solid reason for it.
Little research
With all of the attention she gets on a personal basis, she said the syndrome doesn’t have a lot of research — which means doctors don’t really know what causes it.
“One of my goals for the year is to see about making a website where people can share their story,” she said.
Romberg said when she was first diagnosed, she felt a little crazy — and knows that is the case for others as well.
“I recently spoke to a woman from New Zealand, and she told me that her whole life she spoke like someone from New Zealand — but then recently she started speaking with a perfect American accent,” she said.
“She had seen me on ‘Mystery E.R.’, and she said she was thankful because she knew somewhere else it had happened to someone else.”
Romberg feels that once there is a central location for people to share their stories, comparisons could be made and patients with the diagnosis could see whether there are similarities or if every case is different.
Another oddity as a result of her accent is that her grandson, Caleb, 2, who she is raising, has taken to calling her “Mum” and mimicking other sounds she makes.
“I think it is from hearing me say it so often, but to him I think that is just the word for grandma,” she said.
Voice mail voice
All she has left of her past voice is the voice mail on her cell phone.
“That is all that is left,” she said.
To Romberg it is more of a curiosity, and she tries to be flexible when she “loses” her English — the term she uses for when she cannot speak anything but gibberish.
“It isn’t like it changed who I was,” she said.
“It just changed how I spoke.
“I’m just grateful it wasn’t anything life-threatening.”
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
