HELP! Serious stroke doctors in hospital says theres nothing they can do

Hi doctors, i have an urgent question to ask. my best friends mom was admitted to hospital 5 days ago for a stroke. she was found lying on the floor and the doctors said that the right half of her body was paralyzed. Today, the doctors said that the MRI scans weren't able to detect the blood clots in the brain and there was nothing else they could do, and that the right side of her bodys paralysis was irreversible. they have taken 2 MRI scans. we even called a doctor close to our family to take a look at her and his diagnosis was the same. Is there nothing else we can do? does this happen to stroke patients often? and is there a chance that she may recover with rehabilitation or some sort of therapy? please help!

Daniel

[sue_in_oz]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your friend's mum's stroke :(

Yes the damage to her brain is irreversible.  But yes with rehab & lots of hard work she can improve.  No one knows how much can be gained, it may be a little, it may be a lot but the effort needs to be made.

Please ask her family to get her into rehab as soon as she is medically stable.  The sooner rehab starts the better.

Also if they can find out what caused her stroke, so that steps can be made to prevent any more strokes.

I had a stroke 17 months ago, complete paralysis on my left side.  I am able to care for myself, walk, cook, drive, work, most of the usual things.  Useful movements in my leg, arm & hand improve all the time.  So there is definitely hope.

HTH

Sue

[oc1dean]

Read the book - Stronger After Stroke to see what is possible for rehabilitation. You alsolutely need to find out what caused the stroke so the next one can be prevented.
For a bleed survivor book there is A Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte-Taylor or Teaching Me to Run by Tommye K Mayer. For a clot survivor story there is Change in the Weather by Mark
McEwan
While there may be nothing the doctors can do, if she survives the survivor has lots that can be done to recover.
Dean

[BJ71]

My mom had a massive stroke back in Nov. The doctors we had told us there was nothing they could do either. They wanted us to stick her in a nursing home but that was not an option for me or my brother and dad. We started her in rehab immediatley while in the hospital which was 2 months. We went to her therapies while in the hospital and watched what they done with her of course she may have got 15 min. out of it as they work in a group at this hospital so given that it wasn't much omprovement. They came to live with me until she gets back to where she is more stable. She to was paralyzed on her right side legs arm and hands speech. It has been a long hard road with alot of love support and hard work she is now walking with a walker and 1 person, she is getting movement back in her arm and hands but we work with her from the time she gets up in the morning till the time she goes to bed with speech I ordered a cd from Bungalow that works really well. She reads we do leg stretches for about 2 hours and we work with the arm and get it stretched a good therapist can show you exercises to do but you have to do them and be consistent and  believe me it works. My mom is living proof but it is very time consuming you have to be very patient and it will come the more you work. Hang in there never give up hope.

[ladyblyke]

hello my name is linda my sister age 52 just had a massive stroke she is brain dead and is still in a comma. the doctors are trying to get us to take her off the breathing machine, that is thee only thing keeping her alive, all her vitals are good her heart is strong. its been 3weeks and 1day as of 8/14/09 so my question is what is her chances of recovering?

[p27sgil]

hi  my sister 43 years old had a massive right brain stroke 10 days ago.  she is in a coma and on life support.  the dr's are telling us that her brain in "mush" and she will not have any quality of life and we should consider "pulling the plug"  they know she has brain function but not able to tell anyone how much.  i'm against stopping anything and would want to wait to see what happens on it's own.  any suggestions?

[oc1dean]

You need to go back to the doctors and demand a diagnosis, have them show you on a MRi or CT scan the damaged areas and have them tell you what they controlled. I know they will tell you that is not possible because the excuse will be that brains develop differently, but ask anyway and be very insistent about it. 'Mush' is not a clinical diagnosis and very unprofessional. I have about 12 square inches of dead brain on the right half and I am doing very well.
Dean

[kathleen45]

i do know for a fact that other parts of the brain that we do not use begin to take over for dead parts of the brain.  it doesn't cover a larger area but it is a proven fact that it does begin to repair damaged cells.  once cells are dead, they are dead and that's the end of those cells, but damaged ones start to repair and small areas on "non-used" parts of our brain begin to learn how to become used.  it takes a long time but it is possible.  the person may never be perfect, and may have lost a lot of memory and a few other things, but eventually with a lot of work, the person may be able to function to a point of needing less and less help.  at 43 years old she may very well have a fighting chance IF they find out the cause and try to prevent it from repeating itself.  
you also need to search inside yourself and your family to see if you people are willing to take on this heavy heavy load of bringing her back if it is possible.  it is extremely hard work and very time consuming and not everyone is cut out to be able to do this.  
"mush" is not something i've ever heard of so you need to have the doctors go into a bit more detail on her exact condition before any decisions are made.  
you may also try to consider what your sister would want.  does she have children and if they are at an age to help in the decision or not.  there's a lot of things you need to sort out and i wish you the best and hope you find an answer in your heart that will give peace to you all including your sister.  this will by no means be easy.

[littlepig3337]

Hi My uncle has had a stroke for 1 and half month in Burma. The doctor couldn't find the problem even he did 2 CT scan and 1MRI. We have to wait 2 weeks for MRI machine because there is only one old machine who donate from Japan. We don't know what doctors were giving him alot of injection like 8 or sometimes up 10 . The manela started come out from the bowel. They gave the blocking some injection again. Right now the whole body can not move but only fingers and feet can move. He can not speak but he understand and remember the family member and friends. My mum is very upset now .I want to know can he recover back? We just only want him to speak and can move his hand back.  

[jojocal]

i am a support worker , and one of the clients i look after had a massave stroke 2 days a go , hes got mild learning dificuties , he has never drank or smoked and is really healthy , the doctors have said there is nothing we can do and that hes diterating fast .. isnt there any hope ??? x

[cherub43]

Hi everyone, I’m new to this forum but I have been reading the posts and thought I would join.
I suffered a second stroke nearly 2 weeks ago [on Dec.13th] this year. Another shock as I have been on the anti-platelet med. Clopidogrel 75mg since the first stroke on Feb 1st this year! So thought I would be ok. Nothing’s a 100% though is it .Is anyone here on this drug and is anyone now on Statins as well? I refused to take the statins after my first stroke because of the many and varied side effects they can cause, but I have been worried enough this time to take them. I am taking 20mg which is  ½ of the normal starting dose of 40mg and I’m taking plant sterols as well in the form of spreads. Yogourts and yogourt drinks to help reduce my cholesterol levels. My overall cholesterol reading when I was in hospital was 5, which I thought was a fairly good reading, but not according to my consultants in the hospital. I still worry about taking statins because I have researched them online and every site says that they deplete the  Coenzyme q10 in our bodies and this can lead to other problems as this enzyme is supposed to be very important to our body as well as being a very potent antioxidant. But when I tried to talk to my consultant about this he was impatient and said that ‘’All patients don’t get these side effects’’. That’s not very comforting for the ones that Do though is it? I would prefer to use natural means such as the plant sterols instead . but he dismissed natural methods as not being effective enough . S I felt I had to settle for the ½ dose of statins and use the plant sterols as well. Anyway I hope you are all making some progress with your recovery. I was, until this recent setback! Need to go back to some therapy again now to get my strength and confidence back. I thought I would tell you all about a new book I have just purchased called’ the Brain That Changes Itself’ by Norman Doidge.It explains Neuroplasticity . [The brain being able to heal damage, grow new pathways and neurons and new connections etc. THERE are personal  stories that are really astonishing and trials and information that is very encouraging to people that have suffered any kind of brain injury/trauma  including strokes There is also a very good Brain training website I have found that helps with cognitive therapy. THE website is called Lumosity. The games have been devised by doctors and they are very good and interesting .You get your scores at the end of each game and daily session and you have to reach certain levels to graduate to a higher level. You can try this FREE for a few days and then subscribe if you want to. I have subscribed for 12 months but you can do it monthly yearly or for 2 yrs. I Hope this information is of some help to you. I also get very tired like some of you do, and have had  strange symptoms and sensations that have been put down to anxiety. But what do the doctors know anyway? Looks like we just have to shut up and put up!  These Forums are good though aren’t they? The feedback must help a lot of stroke victims and carers.
Love and best wishes for a ‘Happy New Year’ to you all

[jakebarrett]

I had a hemmorhagic stroke on Dec. 9.  An angiogram also found a small anuerysm.  I am trying to keep my BP low with lisinopril and atenenol but the doctors in the hospital also prescribed Crestor.  I didn't know about Coenzyme Q10.  Now I will ask.

[lynda3007]

Hi can anyone help?  My dad who is 66 has just had a massive stroke  3 weeks ago which has caused paralysis down his right side.  He has lost his sight in one eye and is unable to talk, he is nodding his head when asked a question but the majority of the time he is asleep.  The doctor has said it was caused by high blood pressure?  They have also said that he may never be able to talk again, my dad has always been very healthy and strong and is a very determined person.  Do you think this will help in his recovery???

[bullobeef]

hi there, my sister who is 43 had a massive right side stroke in february, the doctors put her on the critical list and said she had 48 hrs to live she was in a coma for about 4 days, she cannot walk or talk at the moment, but she can dress her self and point to things, we dont think she will ever talk again so we are gettig her a communication board to see if she can use that to talk to us. she is a totally different person to what she was, very demanding and aggresive (aggressive), and she has a serious compulsive disorder, but her family thank god for small mercies.

[son46]

I found my 90-year-old mom laying on the floor Sunday August 21, 2011. No idea how long she had been laying there. Her faceFace painwas badly bruised/red and swollenSwollen glandseye as she had hit a metal fan when she fell. It took forever for the ambulance to get here, and then they didn't take her to the ER which is 5 minutes away. Two hours after I found her she was finally in ER, where they spent 4-hours examining her, then transferred to a regular room as the intensive care unit was full. Tuesday she was transferred to the ICU as space became available. Today, Wednesday, doctor tells me she had a stroke due to her arhythmic heart & has blood clotBlood clots& extensive right brain damage. Dr. says she has only 1% survival rate, but she is breathing normally by herself (no tubes) and sleeping very soundly without aidAids
Aids - resources
Early symptomatic hiv infectionof medications. I was told by the nurses that Monday morning she had answered "yes" when asked if she knew her name and had moved her right arm & leg when asked to do so. She couldn't move her left arm or leg. Later Monday when I was allowed to visit, I asked if she recognized who I am and she had nodded "yes" - and I detected movement in her left leg - the kneeAnterior cruciate ligament (acl) injury
Anterior knee pain
Bursa of the knee
Dermatitis, herpetiformis on the knee
Knee arthroscopy
Knee arthroscopy - series
Knee joint replacement
Knee joint replacement prosthesis
Kneecap dislocation
Meniscus tears
Normal knee anatomywas black & blue and quite swollenSwollen glands. Her left eye was more black and blue, but not swollen anymore. She could see out of her right eye. Tuesday she just slept (even snoring) and breathing normally. I held her hand patted her right hand which was constantly rubbing the pampers the nurse had put on - she normally doesn't wear pampers. My sister flew in and Wednesday she spent several hours just talking about us "kids" - five of us, all in our 60s - and stroking her cheek and hand. And she squeezed my sister's hand with her left hand and there was more movement in her left leg when I put on her left foot sock which had slipped off. She looks terrible, but her body knows it has to sleep to repair itself. I liked the comment about other parts of the brain taking over the dead brain's functions - and the comment that some gentleman said he had 12 inches of dead brain, but he is functioning quite well. I cannot give up hope after reading a lot of your comments - please let me hear more of those kinds of comments - OK?

[sara12345]

Hi,
If you don't have side effects from the Statins, I don't know why you wouldn't want to take them.  I would, but sadly cannot.  But maybe some of the points below will help you.

First, if you worried about Coq10, why not just take the supplement of it?  Go with the cheapest one you can find, which Costco's Kirkland was rated by Consumerlabs.com as having the right dose of it with no contaminants and was very cheap compared to all others.

As another suggestion for you, I had a top cardiologist who specializes with high cholesterol problems who firmly believed in Zetia which is not a Statin, so you could try that.  Unfortunately, it caused itching for me.  I do take Cholest-Off or the Plant esters.  

I had a major stroke 3 years ago at age 56.  I have had trouble taking Statins because I get all over pain which the doctors take you off of the Statin immediately because of damage.  But I can never tell whether it's from my fibromyalgia or the Statin.

A highly educated friend of mine also has high cholesterol and doesn't believe in taking Statins.  She says that people with high cholesterol do not get problems and people who don't have high cholesterol do get problems.  I don't know what the latest controversy is on it.

Hope this will help you with some of your concerns.

[sonu030911]

Hi please help.My friend who's just 29 had brain hemorrhage due to high B.P 2month ago,a week later he recovered but was having blurred vision.two days later he again had a massive stroke after which he is unable to see from both eyes & he is unable to speak doctor's say's it will take about 8-9 month for his recovery.m pretty concern about his vision

[maggs14]

My mum passed away on the 24th October 2011.. she took a blood clot to the stem of the brain.  Was there anything I could have done to stop it from happening.  I am blaming myself for it. Thinking could I have done something to prevent it. When she was took into hospital with broken hip they noticed her left eye pupil was smaller than the right one. Could something have been done? I miss her so much. I've jus so many un answered questions. Please help!

[sara12345]

So sorry to learn about your mum.  No it was not your fault.  The hospital may have been at fault for not cueing in on the smaller eye pupil.  Sometimes during surgery, that can trigger a stroke, but you didn't say exactly when the stroke occurred.  

There are many things that you can do to prevent yourself from having a stroke.  Go to ***@**** to see a list of things from the National Stroke Association or there may be pointers on this website.  But the many things to control, e.g. diet, smoking, cholesterol, etc. were not your responsibility with your mother.  It's typical for a loved one to feel quilty, but please do not add to your grief with that inappropriate reasoning.

My best to you and sorry again.

[Betty1960]

My sister who is 53 suffered a ismamic stroke. On nouv.21,2011 She laid on her floor by her front door for 18 hours or more before her family found her.she lost all movemt on right side,could not talk.had a hard te eating.on jan 4,2012 her daughter put her in a rehab nursing home she will be there for 3 months. Her progress is she is walking with help and a walker. Her speech is coming. Her memory is sometimes there. Eats well. Laughs a lot .but she is like a toddler that has to be retaught everything.she has lots of support , but only gets therapy 3 hours a day 5 days a week . All family members work so it's hard to help her with the extras she needs but with hard work we will get her home and back to her self. She is a different person and has a new life so we except that  and we will get through this. I did find a book that helped me understand a little better what goes on in the brain. The book is .my stroke of insight by Jill bolte Taylor, ph. D. So there is hope and keep praying.

[3chickens]

My Grandmother, 93,  has had a massive stroke 4 weeks ago. Her right side was paralyzed including her vision. She has regained slight movement and seems to respond to us through facial expressions. She cannot swallow and is being fed via a nasal tube. She is on a mattress on the floor. It is heartbreaking to see her like this,how can we help, how long could/should she go on like this?

[sara12345]

Sorry about your grandmother. What do the doctors tell you?  I would listen to them.  I'm wondering, why is she on a mattress on the floor?  It would seem to be difficult to hold her hand and interact with her when she is on the floor. She really needs loving interaction at this point.