help and advice needed!!

[longshanks]

hi, my dad suffered a stroke on friday and hes been told that he has two blood clots in his brain. At the time of the stroke he kept forgetting how to carry out simple tasks like putting toothpaste on a toothbrush or putting bread into a toaster. after blacking out for more than 20 minutes he was given oxygen when he arrived at hospital and he seems quite normal again having suffered no paralysis. last night however he put toothpaste on his hand rather than a toothbrush and today he couldnt work out how to put his t-shirt on correctly. These are the only two things that hes struggled with in the couple of days since his stroke. Is this normal? will it take a few days/weeks for everything to come back to him? will it all come back to him? is there anything we as a family can do to help him?

any advice anyone can offer is gratefuly recieved. its terrible to see my dad being so scared of the unknown!

thanks
martin

[dewald55]

Wow.....He still has physical movements.!!!! First where are the clots...That will lead you to know what areas of thought, memory and control was affected....Once you find out where his clots are, google the name of the area of the brain affected.  The Website for the American Stroke Foundation is also great..They have a forum there and you may find a comment that is the same.
I almost did the toothpaste thing, but "hey, the vaseline tube looked the same size color and had a flat top like the colgate"
I did that twice until I put away that vaseline.....It did not have the pepperminty flavor at all

[joesi]

It's always difficult to watch ones parent go through these issues. At least you show concern.
The questions you've asked are difficult to answer. The human brain is extremely complicated and delicate. It's not like a doctor can simply open up the skull and look in to see what's wrong. MRA's, Cat Scans and blood chemistry are helpful.
You indicated that the two blood clots remain. It's possible those clots are interfering with the normal, down stream blood supply to that part of his brain.
The big question is, what did his doctors say about it? Also, how old is your Dad?

[Tksbussong]

My Dad just had a stroke a few days ago.  He's had several TIA's in the past, one official stroke, and now this.  The tests performed didn't identify a stroke but can't do an MRI/MRA due to his pacemaker.  However, he was sent to a very inadequate hospital that did NOT attend to him for 4 hours in the ER when he first arrived.  No oxygen, CT scan, nothing.  When I arrived hours later, it was evident that he had a stroke and his face was asymmetrical.  The following day, he had lost his speech and partial paralysis began on the left side.  

Now, I had him transferred to one of the best hospitals in our area and he's getting excellent care.  I'm hoping that he is able to recover a good portion of mobility and speech before any type of severe depression or such set in.

Prayers for your Dad.

D

[longshanks]

thanks for all your messages of support - hes 56 and never smoked and has normal blood pressure - his collestrol is quite high though. the blood clots remain and are in the back of his brain. hes had a ct scan but is due to have a mri scan today or tomorrow - as soon as a bed becomes available.

Im based in the UK and they have the mri scanner sat at the weekend doing nothing as they dont have the staff to man it! so his stroke was friday and he has to wait untill either today or tomorrow to find out what is going on inside his brain when they have enough staff to carry out the scan!

again i thankyou all for all your messages of support - it does help knowing others have gone through the same thing and are still around to talk about it!

martin

[Tressa999]

Too bad about the delay.  If the clots are still there it's possible to dissolve them.  He's long past the time when TPA could be used, but if it were my loved one I would give him nattokinase &/or lumbrikinase.  You might want to read about them and consider them.  In US Nutricology (also called Allergy Research Group) has the longest record producing nattokinase.  (iherb.com sells their products cheaply).  Don't know what the situation is in UK.  Hope MRI gives you the answers you're looking for today.

[Tksbussong]

Since my Dad can't have an MRI/MRA, the other option would be a CAT scan with and without contrast.  The contrast is shell fish based so if he has any allergies to that, he won't be able to do it.  Also, if he has any kidney conditions they won't do it.

When you say the back of the brain, did they say specifically the occipital region?  

To reduce clots, one of the options that they do is give a blood thinner.  In our hospitals here (US), depending upon the thickness of the blood, they normally would give Heparin.  

Stay optimistic!  There doesn't seem to be a dependable pattern of results with strokes so he could completely bounce back!  

[caregiver222]

Come to New York City on a tourist visa, get on a plane, and go to a city hospital such as Bellevue, or the very excellent stroke center at Staten Island. You will get a scan that same day. New York is pretty good about that, contrary to popular belief. You will have to fib a little bit about symptoms, and tell them you were visiting New York and experienced a "Loss of Consciousness" some time during the day. Then call an ambulance near the hospital. The "Loss of consciousness" report will trigger an automatic admission and he'll get the scan immediately. You'll get a bill, but won't be around to pay for it. Most of these clots develop because of dehyration and inactivity. I have a very negative opinion about introducing "blood thinner" into the equation. The clots often absorb, but sometimes don't. When brain tissue is deprived of oxygen

[caregiver222]

Boy, the computer conked out!....as I was saying, when brain tissue is deprived of oxygen, there is sometimes a death of tissue. When I hear that sometone was deprived of a scan under the circumstances you describe, I see red. So much for the UK healthcare system. I have worked in many hospitals in the United States, and contrary to what you read in the Guardian Talk columns, nobody is every denied the very best care for an emergency condition. We have a law that every hospital recieving federal funds must treat gratuitously a certain percentage of patients. I have heard a lot of stories about patients being turned away because they don't have coverage, but have never seen this happen, although one always gets a myopic view of things, and I can't speak for every hospital in the nation.

[Tksbussong]

Just an update...

my Dad is currently in a Rehab for his stroke and has been for about a month.

What is amazing is how you can take a patient that had paralysis on his left side and get his hand to move in 1 day.  In 3 weeks, they had him walking, talking, etc.

Yesterday, I observed his PT and OT and they actually asked me to help them out (I'm a MT) and it was incredible what they can do for people.

If anyone needs a recommendation of a Rehab in the Eastern Pennsylania area, I'd be GLAD to recommend this rehab center.

Thanks everyone!