ATCHISON, Kan. -- Nearly a month after a man slashed the throat of a clerk at a convenience store, the 19-year-old woman struggles to recover and regain her speech.

Police said Sean Cave, 38, allegedly robbed the Stop-N-Go on Highway 59 in Winthrop, Mo., and nearly killed Kim DeJonge. He is accused of slitting DeJonge's throat twice and stabbing her seven times.

The attack silenced Kim DeJonge, leaving her unable to speak. Typing has taken the place of her voice for now, although she is determined to speak again.

"I thought at one point that I was never going to make it, but then I woke up in the hospital with a trach in my throat and no voice but was just happy to be alive," DeJonge typed. "I looked around and I saw everyone I cared for most standing around me, and the relief on their faces that I was awake. It was amazing."

Marla DeJonge, Kim's mother, said, "You just plug on through day by day, and thank God you have the next day to look forward to."

KCTV5's Surae Chinn spoke with DeJonge, who uses a UbiDuo to communicate. The device was created by Jason Curry, of Raytown. It allows DeJonge to type her words and they show up on a monitor for the person with whom she is conversing. Curry donated the $2,000 device to DeJonge after hearing her story on the news.

When Chinn asked DeJonge what would be the first thing she would say when she someday regains her speech, DeJonge wrote with a smile, "I would probably be speechless."

DeJonge spends hours each week with doctors, testing and doing therapy.

She said that besides fighting to get her voice back, her goal is one day to work at a hospital with other trauma victims.