Stroke and taken to hospital within time limit

[Hather]

My 55 year o,d son had a stroke a week ago. He got to hospital quickly, it affected. The left. Side, left face, slurred speech, ..now getting a bit better, left arm, more movement now, left leg, can walk a few steps with physics telling him how to place his leg..each stroke.

He has had loads of scans including MRI as they suspected piss Fabry stroke because of his age ..so far the MRI does not indicate this but more investigations ongoing,

Apparently there was a clot in the cartirod artery, but no bleed as he got blood thinning medication in time.

He has height blood pressure and cholestral and has been taking medication .

They are thinking to get him into a rehab for physio if there is a vacancy...

So he seem to br progressing very well and cheerful , I am interested to know more about how long it takes to safely walk again as I am really grateful if he does get the physio referrral ..

Does the fact that there is improvement in speech and arm mean the leg will improve at that speed or is that a different issue,,,...he is doing the excercises as given while he is still in hospital just now.

Of course I realise that the physio will have all the comments but would love to read any of your experiences .. he lives just in lodgings that may not allow adaptable facilities if they are considered to be necesssary...

Thank you for reading

HAther 😊

[Franny7]

I was told that generally the leg is quicker and easier to recover than the arm. Certainly true in my case as my arm is still rubbish 9 months on. It's a scandal that you have to wait and hope for physio he so clearly needs. I wish you both the best of luck with recovery. Everything takes ages so you have to try and be patient. You should let the local authority know about the housing situation- he may need to be rehoused somewhere more suitable.

[Brenda1946 in reply to Franny7]

I dont know about that my arm and leg i am still trying to get going since 2014 but i must add i did fall at home and had to have my left hip pined and as a result 6 weeks later the found i had dislocated my shoulder. I feel that as a result of my shoulder i have trouble trying to lift my left arm higher than my waist.

[oldman1952 in reply to Brenda1946]

Hi Brenda1946, I hope you read my advice to Hather regarding movement using coloured rubber bands. There is so much you can do with them to help get your shoulder and arm muscles moving again. Do not forget Brenda 2 months with a dislocation is a very long time. Nerves, tendons and the rotator cuff muscles have all been affected and it will be months if not a couple of years before you get anything like the movement that you had before the trauma.

When I had my fracture and dislocation the first time it was nearly 4 years before I got 3/4 movement and because the large nerve had been trapped the pain was unbearable. I then injured the same arm as the one I dislocated in the early 1980's. This time I had a rotator cuff tear and dislocation and have been on strong analgesia since. Hope the exercises help you get some movement back into your arm as soon as possible. Oldman1952

[Brenda1946 in reply to oldman1952]

Thank you for your advice. Every morning i excerise my left shoulder and when i do things around the house i try and make my arm help with the every day jobs, but thanks for the advice i will keep trying

[oldman1952 in reply to Brenda1946]

Brenda there is masses of brain tissue that nobody knows what it does. I watched Good Morning Britain the other day and there was a mother and her son on, who only had an eighth of a brain. The doctors did not think that he would survive until his first birthday and now he is 5 years old and is really a happy chirpy boy who is speaking, as bright as his class mates and smiles all the time. He is absolutely amazing. As I said before it does take time but if you take your time and do not rush things using those parts of the brain with retraining it will help tremendously. Keep us all informed. Before I go I will let you in to a little secret. Where I live we have a council run health centre and many people are prescribed treatment to actually go there and be helped by the excellent specially trained gym instructors. Most of our profiles members that have been sent to the gym have a variety of conditions. Diabetes, all types of arthritis, chronic pain syndrome and many more to keep typing them. They all have a dedicated instructor who with the help of the person sets up a planned course of exercises and evaluations.

Brenda it is like a club. Some times you get the odd bod who makes a lot of noise doing there exercises but I have just found out that he is a blind chap. We are like one big happy family and it helps us to cope with our pain because when we exercise we push out our natural pain killers endorphins. I also see people that try to lift heavy weights. Why I ask myself because its not the weight that makes your bodies healthier, its repetition. I am stronger per say than some of the so called muscle men because they can only train for a limited amount of time. I on the other hand can work out in the gym with my regime for hours with out becoming tired and I do not use whey powder supplements. Take care Brenda, hope to hear how you are getting on in the future. Oldman1952.

[Brenda1946 in reply to oldman1952]

Thanks for your reply. I am trying to find a sports centre that can help me het swimming again, Or local baths can offer help to get me into the water with a harness but i feel with the footwear my husband bought me but would like some profesional help with what exercise is best for me. I messaged the Stroke Association but their information was not very helpful. Any ideas from anyone would be welcome. I live in Stretford.

[Juanicia]

I think everyone is different, but it is really good that your son is doing his exercises, that will help him a lot. I had to learn to walk again after my stroke, and although I am still not 100% most people have no idea I have been and still am disabled. As for walking safely, he will no doubt start to get around with one or two sticks, and although his balance may be affected I'm sure he will learn to compensate for that. He sounds as if he is doing really well and I hope he gets some good physio soon, that is absolutely vital.

[oldman1952]

Hi Hather, it's a totally indepenant and individual how quick the recovery is. He is very lucky it was his right side of the brain that was affected. If the left side of the brain was affected he would have big problems speaking because the left hemisphere hold the speech neurones.

I have worked for many years on older person psychiatry and have with the assistance of physiotherapy who cannot be there 24/7 like I and my colleagues could worked many hours rehabilitating people whom had different severity of strokes. With most of the rehab it is to ensure that the, ( I will call PERSON ) PERSON always uses the other hand and arm to move and motivate the hemiplegic arm. Doing this keeps the brain aware to a certain degree that they have 2 sides to their body. Physio will start to give the PERSON specific exercises the will help to keep the muscles and tendons moving and not stiffening up. Have you heard of the different coloured rubber strength bands. They are basically a length of rubber and can be used to help the PERSON to exercise the affected parts of the body. The person is helped to attach a band to their wrist and with the other hand they can move the other arm in tandem. The PERSON moves his body to the right the left hand follows the arm and will move to the right. It is quite difficult to type how a body should move. The PERSON should also understand that they have to persevere and have a lot of faith that they will get the best possible quality of life post stroke as they can. The PERSON must also understand that there will be a few bouts of frustration and depression along the way towards recovery. Sitting in a chair is not going to have the same effect as trying new exercise techniques . Like gym workouts developed for the PERSON in mind. Good luck with this Hather. Balance will most likely never return to normal as it should be due to the part of the brain that was injured. There is some support aids that the PERSON can use, one is like a very large Zimmer frame with hand grips and fore arm rests that will help him get mobile. It is a while since you originally posted your question so you most probably had appointments with the physio. Keep us informed and I hope us followers can in the future give you a shoulder to speak of Oldman1952.

[Hather in reply to oldman1952]

Hi old man 52,.. my son was discharged today with a support package as there is no vacancy at rehab and touchwood he has been doing so well.. he can walk a little and can manage the stairs..he will get physio at home, and he has been working really hard at the things they have told him. The care and support at our local hospital has been excellent ..he only has a room in lodgings which is concern..but just so thankful that he is on the up..it will take time we know.

Thank you for your concern HAther

[Hather in reply to Hather]

Ps the clot was at the back we were told

Hather

[Hidden]

Welcome, if you saw the Andrew Marr programme you will have heard about neuroplasticity when the brain remaps after a stroke. That can happen quite quickly. Physically can take longer but the determination to improve is a great place to be and can only help.

The following recent guidelines published by the Royal College of Physicians may be useful:

The "easy-read" version of the guidelines for patients and carers is available at:

strokeaudit.org/Guideline/P...

The full version for clinicians - but don't let that put you off reading it - is available at

strokeaudit.org/Guideline/F...