different types of stroke symptoms and general prognosis

[pookyandjo]

hi there,
my father in law had what the doctors BELIEVE to be a stroke last friday evening (Dec 4th 2009).  Friday afternoon he was an articulate 87 year old male who looked after himself and his 83 year old wife of 62 years with Dementia. Friday evening and the time since then he has been a loud, obnoxious, swearing, old man who doesn't recognise anyone and who seems to be on some sort of recurrent loop similar to ground hog day!  He lays in the hospital bed wearing a nappy (because he pulled out the catheter) he slaps his stomach and anyone that gets too close, he goes through a verbal diatribe, pulls the sheets up and then down again, puts his hands behind his head, swears again, sheets up and down again and then goes to sleep for about a minute... and then its starts again.. he has had a CT scan which showed no evidence of a bleed but they are going to repeat that test in the next day or so.  He doesn't have any paralysis and his fine motor skills appear to be intact because he was attempting to remove the remnants of a tablet that the nursing staff had placed in his mouth.  If you put yourself in his line of vision and peak loudly to him he will make eye contact and will sometimes answer simple questions with yes and no answers but this is a hit and miss situation with him only responding around 2 times out of every 10 attempts.
As i mentioned above.. the doctors BELIEVE it is a stroke but they aren't 100% sure at this stage.  He isn't eating but they do have him on a saline drip to keep him hydrated. He is on no pain relief at all so his behaviour is what it is without any benefit from drugs.
I thought strokes caused paralysis type symptoms but it seems that all of his symptoms are mental rather than physical.. has anyone had any experience with this sort of situation as we feel that the doctors are maybe clutching at straws and we aren't getting too many answers or help at this stage.  It seems to me that a person in his situation wont last too long with without food and whilst its very distressing seeing this man who has always been a gentle and loving man behave like this.. I know that he would be horrified to know that he was behaving like this and would rather just slip away
thanks

Jo

[oc1dean]

Full recovery from a stroke is a total unknown and you will find no doctor that can give you a better idea of what it takes. The main problem is that stroke patients are not getting a detailed diagnosis, i.e. this particular area of the brain is dead and these functions were affected. The penumbra affected these areas of the brain and this is what those areas controlled. With no diagnosis there can be no mapping of therapies that would fix those areas. The only solution is for survivors to completely take over the ASA and NSA and provide direction for a 10-20 year strategy. This does not help those of us right now but I figure part of our function is to make it easier for those coming after us.
I'm 3.5 years out and while i can walk I don't ever think i will get a smooth walk again because my pre-motor cortex is completely destroyed. You need to read Stronger After Stroke by Peter Levine to get a good idea of what is possible.
Dean

[micky0212]

ho lon does it tAKE TO FULLY RECOVER FROM A STROKE.  I STILL CANNOT WALK ITS BEEN 2 MONTHS.

[micky0212]

I am new here i am only 43 yrs old and i hadassive stroke on october 3rd  i ju got out of in patient rehab last week  now i go 3 times per week for outpatient therapy i ccannot walk.  i have no use of my left leg and left arm.  i wonder if i will ever walk again, or will i be in a whelchair the rest of my life