Is there still hope

[FEPAP]

My dad had his massive stroke March 23 2004.  He has been at home since Nov 2004.  He goes to a physical therapist and an acupunturist once a week.  He also goes swimming once a week.  He suffers from seizures and is on carbamazepine (tegretol) He has not been the same since his seizures began in August 2004.  He was doing well but he cannot stand at all when he tries to take steps he cannot lift his leg.  He has become incontinent and we are losing hope that he will ever walk again. Is there any hope?

Thanks

[mspence]

My father is 79 years old and had a massive hemerhage of the R/S brain Aug. 15, 2005.  He has been in ICU ever since and has only provided limited response to our stimulation.  He has lifted 1 finger and 2 fingers at times from the right hand and can move his right foot.  However, he does not always do that on cammand.  The doctors at the Cleveland Clinic don't give us much hope that he will ever walk again as his entire l/s appears to be paralyzed.  They are now wanting to remove the intubator tube and put a trach in so he can proceed to the step down unit and on to theropy.  He has, as the doctors described, 3 times the amount of blood in his r/s brain then what would be considered a "large amount" - 100 cc's.  Everytime I speak to a doctor or someone with similar experience, I get many variations to my story (age, amount, health etc.).  Has anyone experienced similar circumstances that would give the family and myslef hope and understanding of time factors?

[Spch tx]

CAn you not up the amount of time he goes to physical therapy?  Also, your PT should be a good resource for these types of questions.  Get involved with him/her. Ask if there are any ex's you can help you dad with during the other times of the week that he is not in Therapy.  What ex's can he do on his own to get stronger?  Things like that