Arm recovery

[thector]

Hello any help or advice would be very much apprieciated. My wife had a stroke last september three weeks after giving birth to our second son. it was diagnosed as disection in her cartoid artery on her right  which was caused by child birth. her left arm and leg have been affected the most. she has been having intense rehab as well as acupuncture and yoga. she has been making progress she can walk but needs to have assistance to help her foot drop, which means that she can get around the house allbeit slowly. her arm has been very slow to recover and has been told recently that she can't expect any more improvement, which is hard for us to accept. especially as we have to young boys one of which she hasn't picked up since he was three weeks old. if anyone has any sudgestion of treatments or people that have made any break throughs in stroke recovery, or has been told the same. thank you for taking the time to read this. basically we looking for hope.

[vega1318]

This is very hard but your doctors are probably right -- the most recovery may have already occurred.   However, depending on what the main problem is with your wife's arm - more could be done.   For example, if it's very stiff, thus limiting her movement ability, she may benefit from local Botox injections -- they're short-lasting (a few months at most), therefore, you could try and see if it helps with regaining movement.   There're also attempts at "constraint therapy" where the good arm gets bound up transiently to allow for the affected arm to do more action.   It may not work too well in this stage (or ever, for that matter) but still worth looking into.   Another possibility is experimenting with a mirror -- i.e., placing a mirror in between two hands and moving the good hand while looking in the mirror -- it just MIGHT help activate the affected part of the brain a bit more and help that way.   But, again, not proven and totally hypothetical.  

This, unfortunately, happens quite often to young women who are someitmes left with devastating stroke effects.    Usually, young age bodes well for recovery -- which means had she gotten the same stroke much later, it could have been much much worse.   Not at all encouraging but still.  

Keep doing therapy, even at home -- it can only do good.

[joesi]

The human brain is amazing. Never underestimate a bodies ability to heal. TYPICALLY, the best rate for recovery happens in the first 90 days. Typically the next 90 days is slower. At one year, TYPICALLY the rate of recovery is very slow. BUT, that doesn't mean some people will not continue to recover for years to come. It's a SLOW process. It will take a lot of effort on her part to continue therapy. YOU will be her best source of encouragement. Be patient but stay with it everyday even at home. Easier said than done, I know. Become her rock. Hold her hand, look into her eyes and tell her you love her and you are there for her often. She may want to give up. YOU can't let her. Spend a lot of time searching the internet. Ask a lot of questions. Change up her rehab routines frequently. Challenge her daily.
Best of luck and remember - NEVER GIVE UP. Your two sons are watching and learning from what you do. Heavy stuff.

[thector]

thank you for replying most of the things you both said  are really helpful it's just good to be able to talk about it. we'll keep going and see what happens.