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Stroke Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to stroke, rehabilitation, ability to eat/swallow, alertness, bowel/bladder control, depression, motor skills, nutrition, orthotics/braces, pain, prevention, senses, and spasticity.
Rehab not an option?
by Daniiegirl, Jun 26, 2008 11:59AM
My father,43 years old, had a stroke 2 weeks ago, he has been in the hospital since the stroke. today i am told that he is going to be released and rehab is not an option for him. why is that? he does not have insurance, and SSI is working on his case? is rehab only for thse with insurance? is there anything i can do, or what other options are there?
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and I've been in a chair since. Is your dad walking? One doctor told me very early on" There is always something that can be done" Rehab is a good starting point, I do not know about the insurance, luckily I have a partner who handled all that stuff for me, I wish you and your family Luck and Good Health.
My mom was released from the hospital after 5 days, and after I did some thorough research, I learned that usual Stroke patients are supposed to DIRECTLY take rehab as an outpatient, or stay at the hospital while taking rehab as an inpatient.
However, hospitals are wary of recommending this when the patient does not have insurance, as they are afraid that we cannot afford it. In fact, I had to contact the hospital 3 times (and it's an excellent hospital w/ lots of awards so no bs here), to get the story straight, and in the end, it seemed like there would be no rehab/therapy available for my mom.
It was ridiculous. She needed therapy right away and it was obvious, and yet the doctors were being negiligent because we didn't have insurance. Luckily we found a physical therapist close by through a friend of my mom's, and right now we are paying $50 an hour for a physical or occupational therapy session. My mom is recovering well.
Also, one day we decided to go back to the hospital to see what their physical therapy was like, so I called the Physical Therapy line directly (not through the main line - don't ever do that they have no idea what the hell they are talking about) and went in for a tour.
Unlike the stupid answers the main line gave us, the Physical Therapists set the story straight. The hospital main line gave us this ******** talk like: "Oh you have to apply for a clinic card...you have to wait 3 weeks...pay money...blah blah"
Physical Therapist @ Same Hospital Answer: "Just come in, and if you don't have insurance you can just pay out of pocket".
Now this can get very expensive at the hospital...my hospital had a very nice discout program available, but still. (Be aware that some hospitals don't).
If you have further questions, please post. I'll do my best to help
I'm very sorry about your father's stroke. My grandmother just had a stroke 1 week ago, but luckily the damage was minimal for her.
I have heard of a clinic based in Birmingham Alabama. It was started by Dr. Taub. He has been known to successfully treat patients that were told that they were "untreatable" and had to accept their new level of functioning. Dr. Taub has done much study into the regaining of some functioning after strokes, but the sooner your father can get treatment the better.
Maybe Birmingham is far away for you, but I heard that they can help.
All the best & good luck!