Stroke Story - Please help

[bemaks]

My Father in law (63 yrs old) had a massive right side stroke 10 days ago. I have read so many stories here and have shared them with my husband and we have been so inspired by them. However, we spoke to his nurse tonight who told us that she has Never seen Anyone recover from this. He is on a vent and feeding tube. He continued coughing up the breathing tube so they removed it and he breathed on his own for a day before they reinserted it. He has some movement on his left side and can now open his eyes but cannot speak. He raised his arm and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. He has squeezed or hands turned his head toward us when we are talking opens his eyes at the sound of new voices.  The doctors and nurses say these are just reflexive actions. Some of these things seem in no possible way to be reflexive. The nurse said he has not responded to any of their tests and that he never will. I asked her about all the stroke recovery stories we have read. After assuring me that she has read them all she said these happened in smaller hospitals where they were not able to get a full picture of what happened. She said due to them being a stroke center and level 1 trauma center they are able to get a full picture and know that he will not recover. We have hope and want to do everything we can for him and I would like to know if anyone has experienced a similar situation (especially being in a stroke center where they were able to get a full picture) and what happened in your situation. Please help us understand if there is any chance of recovery.  Thank you.

[wilmee]

hi so sorry to hear your stories and i know how you feel my mother in law who is 94 yrs olld had a massive stroke a week ago she hasnt woke up but can move one arm her legs and makes sounds with her mouth saying certain words our only concern is that she is in pallitive care and she is not being fed or given anything to drink which is really upsetting us. is this normal or should she be getting some fluids?

[bemaks]

Thank you so much for your comment. First to answer your question, the neuro's have said the same thing as the nurse told us. My mother in law has decided to move him to hospice and remove the vent based upon what the doctors have told her and her not wanting to leave him suffering any. My husband is completely devastated and feels that everyone should give him longer. It has only been two weeks and he is not ready to lose his father. Please pray for a miracle for my father in law and the family. Thank you again so much.

[Sleepy101]

Hello,
I'm so very sorry to hear about your father in law. It's torture not knowing what's going to happen to a loved one.

I think it's very difficult even for dr's to say just what is going to happen, seems they give bad prognosis a lot from what I've read. I know your FIL's nurse is saying all this to you but what about his Dr? there have been many miracle stories.

As you probably already know 2 strokes are never the same but what I can tell you is my sister had a massive stroke over 2 months ago then another one at the hospital, she was not expected to survive the night, the neurosurgeon said he had never seen someone have a massive stroke on the left side then another massive stroke on the right side of the brain and gave a very grim prognosis, she was unconscious for days and we never knew if she would ever wake up, when she did she was unresponsive to anything, just stared straight ahead but her legs and her right arm would move, we were told the same thing as you, they were involuntary movements but we didn't believe that.

One day she moved her eyes from side to side then another she turned her head, all the while the dr was saying she would not improve, she can now walk and she can eat by herself but does have cognitive impairment and is going to be transfered to a long term rehab center.

I was so frantic when this happened to my sister I spent hours and hours reading on the web about strokes, I really hope your FIL begins to improve but as someone told me their brains have been severely injured and it takes time also for the swelling to go down.
Hang in there, I know how hard and upsetting this is, never give up!! Take care.