Regulars will know I have been a carer for many years for my elderly Mum (now passed away) and my daughter with LD and autism all her life.
Sadly my lovely husband had a stroke on Wed and is in hospital. It was a bleed on the brain type. He cannot speak, his right arm and right leg won’t work. I think it was caused by his extremely high blood pressure which he has had for many years and despite being on about 7 meds for it, it hasn’t come down much.
I feel so sorry for my husband because he is normally so hard working and active. I can see he is so frustrated not being able to talk. They say we have a long journey ahead.
I am still in shock actually and can’t stop crying.
@Penny
Very saddened to read this. Devastating for you.
Yes a long journey ahead, but am praying it will prove to be a positive one. When you feel ready perhaps consider contacting the stroke society .
My heart goes out to you
Hi Penny. I’m so sorry to hear your news. Recovery from a brain injury takes a long time, and it’s true to say you won’t really see how things are for at least a year after the stroke.
It’s going to take a lot of work, but the main thing is to not let him wallow in self-pity. My Dad started out that way - he was 52 and the stroke came without warning - but Mum made him understand that the only person who could help him get any skills back was himself.
Please get in touch with a Stroke Association or other group that can offer support to you both. Stroke Association / Finding strength through support Their helpline is on 0303 3033 100 and is available from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and Saturday from 10am to 1pm, and is closed on Sunday.
So sorry to read your news. When Graham had his stroke it changed BOTH our lives and we never dreamed I would be caring for him as I have done for the last three years. His was a Left Pontine Stroke - a small bleed and relatively mild thankfully. He does have some weakness on his right side but apart from some short-term memory issues he got off quite lightly.
I am not sure how I would have coped if it had been much worse and he had even more mobility issues or impaired speech, so my heart goes out to you as you try to deal with this on top of your other concerns.
@Penny has he been seen by the speech therapist yet? Alongside working on speech recovery have they put in place alternative methods (paper based) methods to help him communicate?
Yes the Speech Therapist saw him Melly and tried to get him to write his name with his good hand, the left. He is right handed. It was very large and spidery but I could read it. She needed to see if he could swallow so she fed him a tiny yogurt which he ate then a small banana. So that was good.
Everything I read says early physio is vital but when I asked yesterday they said his BP is still too high to do anything.
I am desperate to see even a slight improvement.
Do physios and ST work over the weekend on Stroke wards? I do hope so.
I have asked for a doctor to ring me as I have so many questions but nothing yet.
@Penny
would it be less effort for him to type what he wanted to say on a tablet/iPad/phone? If so, let me know which he has and I’ll look which apps are free/ minimal cost as there are some with work prediction and voice output, which could be useful at the moment.
I hope they get his BP down quickly, so he can start physio.
@Penny
As you may remember my husband suffered a stroke but won’t go into detail.
The fact your husband wrote his name quite legibly with his left hand and managed a little yoghurt and banana is the very slight improvement you are desperate for. I really understand you won’t see it as that. But it is honestly
Rang this morning and said I would like to speak to a doctor. Nurse said she would write that in his notes and they would ring me but no phone call yet.
TD Talk is free in the App Store and can be used for typing messages that are then spoken out loud.
Unfortunately, I suspect a doctor won’t ring you until Monday, there tends to be only emergency cover at weekends, (unless stroke wards are different.)
I am getting concerned that he has had no physio yet that I’ve been told of anyway. On Fri I enquired but they said his BP was still too high.
As my son says if they wait for it to come down to a “normal” level, it will be a long wait because it has not been normal for decades.I am taking in his little BP notebook today to show them what’s normal for him on 7 or 8 BP meds.
The Stroke association have some exercise videos on their channel - some are aimed at early days post stroke and can be done sitting down etc Might be of use, until he starts physio/ to supplement physio
‘This set of exercises are for the first week of our four-week stroke recovery exercise programme. It is aimed at stroke survivors who have limited mobility. Watch the introductory video for families and carers before starting this activity:’
