Hemorrhagic stroke recovery

[MLG765]

My 79 year old husband suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on 11/18/08.  Before the stroke he was very active and seemed to be in generally good health.  
Since the stroke, he does not have use of his left side(leg or arm), but he does speak and eats regular food.  He spent 10 days in the hospital and then went to a rehab facility.  After 5 days he was sent back to the hospital with pneumonia. The doctor who admitted him to the hospital told me that his prognosis was very poor - she mentioned death and advised me to consult with the palliative care nurse.  I am certainly not ready to give up on him yet!  The pneumonia seems to already be clearing up, though I'm sure he will need to spend several days in the hospital.
Does anyone have a hemorrhagic stroke recovery success story for someone my husband's age?  I need some encouragement.

[lahinva]

My dad age 80 had a hemorrhagic stroke 2 years ago.  We all rushed to the hospital because the doctors told us he didn't have long to live.  Well, he made it through that.  He left the hospital and went to a rehab facility.  After 2 weeks they told us he had reached his potential and would not give him more rehab.  We kept fighting and after about 2 months we got him into an acute rehab facility.  They worked hard with him for 2 weeks and after that he was able to come home.  Currently, he still cannot walk, but my mom can transfer hime and get him to the bathroom.  She has caregivers come in and help her get him up in te morning and some days they stay longer so she can get away.  It's been a long road, but overall he is doing OK.  The worst thing with him is his short term memory is gone.  So he doesn't remember what he did five minutes ago.  
Good luck to you and keep fighting for more therapy.  I feel like if my dad would have continued therapy for the 2 months we were fighting, he could have been alot better.

Keep us posted on his progress...

[PamRam228]

Although my husband isn't as old as your father, he still had the same kind of stroke.  My husband was also paralyzed on his left side.  The doctors told me they didn't expect my husband to make it.  Long story short, everything just about came back.  It's been a year and a half and my husbands short term memory has greatly improved.  He has regained movement in his left side and is driving and doing things on his own.  He does have double vision because he got hit in the occipital lobe.  All the doctors were telling me that after a year he won't heal anymore but that's just not true.  He's getting better and better.  It's awesome to see the little improvements that happen through the year.  
People do continue to heal even after two years.  Just read some of the posts on this site.  I have gotten a lot of hope and encouragement from these folks (lahinva's posts were of a lot of help!).  You are doing right not to give up.  Good luck to you and yours and I hope to get an update of how your husband is doing.

[MLG765]

Thank you for your responses.  My husbad has been in rehab for one month and they say he has reached his maximum in physical therapy.  The only thing they consider is that he cannot stand or walk. He has improved greatly in other areas. He can feed himself, brush his teeth, wash his face, read a little, do crossword puzzles that I read aloud to him (he was always very good at crossword puzzles).  He fades in and out somewhat - sometimes he is very alert and willing to work on writing or puzzles.  I talk to him about issues like accounts and such, and he responds to me.  I don't ask him complicated questions, so perhaps he is only saying what he thinks I expect. But I sometimes can engage him in very normal conversations. I am going to try to continue his physical therapy, which I will probably have to pay for myself. It's been 7 weeks since he had a serious hemorrhagic stroke, and I figure that it is not even absorbed yet.  I am very encouraged by your experiences. I'm not giving up on him. We are in this together.