I had the opportunity to see Ms Nichols at Ottawa Comiccon last month and she seemed in good spirits, though she was a little shaky on her feet and seemed to be suffering from early symptoms of dementia (I live in a nursing home where there are a lot of dementia victims, so I can see the symptoms better than most). She was quite lucid and everything, but she mostly used canned answers to questions, repeating over and over the story about Dr. Martin Luther King's advice to her. She's as beautiful as ever, though. I hope she recovers from her stroke. My own experience with my stroke (somewhat more severe than what they describe for her) has taught me that many of a stroke's effects can be overcome, but she needs all the good vibes (and prayers, if you're the praying type) she can get. Keep her in your thoughts.
As I understand it, it usually requires quite a bit of training to learn the brain to work around the damaged parts; both for recovering from strokes and to slow down the progression of dementia. I hope she will have a swift recovery.