Hemorragic Stroke Therapy at Home

[Dottie from Iowa]

My husband is coming home from a care center on Wednesday after surviving a very serious hemmoraghic stroke. The stroke occurred June 28th. He was operated on that day and has been in  rehab skilled care for all this time. I am afraid I am not doing enough for him. He has atrial fibrillation and has been put back on coumadin. He walks with a walker, but is unbalanced and may  fall causing another stroke.  A gait belt is used to steady him when he walks. He is overweight, tall, and suffers from diabetes. He has regained much of his speech ( occasional aphasia), his right hand has ataxia, but is not paralyzed. He is still vital and seems quite strong. His attitude is very good and hopeful. And his mind seems to have retained memory and intelligence.  
His time with skilled medicare was terminated on the 11th of Nov. We appealed with no positive results sadly.  If he now stayed in a care center we would be left to cover a very hefty daily bill that we absolutely cannot afford. Also a stay at the nursing home as private pay would not give him enough therapy to keep him progressing, but would give him room and board and safety.
I was told by his surgeon that his progress would be most effective between 6 months to
one year.
How to best help him? Is there any organization that helps stroke victims that perhaps I havae not heard of? Is there any hospital in the United States that specializes in rehabilation for survivors of such a stroke?

[NoriB]

Your husband's condition sounds similar to mine, when he was discharged from acute rehab unit of the hospital. We continued with physical, speech and occupational therapy home visits through a private agency. Are home visits for therapy an option for you? I found that though the scheduling was erratic for these home visits, it gave us both something to work from.

I don't know about your area, but there is an excellent rehab hospital in Washington DC, National Rehabilitation Hospital that is state of the art in their programs for recovery as well as neurological research. They have a website, and may be able to refer you to an agency in your area.

I tried to help my husband with walking, recommended exercises, etc., but found it difficult to make it a regular practice (I work full time). We posted diagrams of exercises that he could do safely while sitting on the edge of his bed or lying down, on the walls as a reminder so he could do them himself.

I think any effort to keep up the rehab goes a long way to recovery. I have also read that the 1-year window for recovery is too conservative and we should set our sights higher for continued progress. Best of luck to you and your husband.