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What should we expect after a Hemorrhagic Stroke?
Hi there,
I was looking on the internet for any information about Hemorrhagic Strokes, and I came across this website, and after reading a few of the forums so far I am very glad I did.
On the 5th of March 2011 after calling my 42 year old Mother for a few hours I became worried and went around to her house and luckily had a key and found her unresponsive but with eyes open lying in her hallway surrounded by vomit. I immediately called the ambulance and went with her to the hospital. soon after we arrived I was advised that mum had had a brain aneurysm that had ruptured, resulting in a Stroke. She then had the aneurysm "coiled" and when she returned to the ICU she had a shunt in her head and was on life support.
My Mum was then on life support in the ICU for a little over a week, but was then taken off all of the breathing tubes and is now breathing on her own. She remained in the ICU until 3 days ago. She is able to move her right arm well, a little bit of movement with her left arm, she can't hold her head up and has no movement in her legs as yet. She can respond with "yes" and "no" ( on rare occasions and after a lot of repeating the question ), but has randomly answered our questions with 2-3 word sentences.
Through my personal investigations (the time between her last phone call that she had on her mobile, to the first missed call from me, to the time I found her) I've found there is a window of 3 and a half hours. So she obviously didn't receive early medical assistance after collapsing.
Mum looks as though she is there one minute with us and then gone the next. It is heartbreaking as she was the fittest person I know, who spent every spare moment with my 2 year old daughter and who was only a few short weeks ago helping me prepare for my 2nd child which is due now in just 3 short weeks.
As I have no one to ask these silly questions in my day to day life, I'm hoping that someone out there can answer me with your opinion or experiences... :)
* The large gap between mum collapsing and receiving medical help would have contributed to the amount of brain damage she has now wouldn't it?
* Is there anything I can do to help Mum along in her recovery?
* And is there ever a full recovery after something like this?
I'm just desperate to do anything I can to help her, and selfishly I guess, I'm just desperate to get my Mum back.
Thank you for your time :)
I was looking on the internet for any information about Hemorrhagic Strokes, and I came across this website, and after reading a few of the forums so far I am very glad I did.
On the 5th of March 2011 after calling my 42 year old Mother for a few hours I became worried and went around to her house and luckily had a key and found her unresponsive but with eyes open lying in her hallway surrounded by vomit. I immediately called the ambulance and went with her to the hospital. soon after we arrived I was advised that mum had had a brain aneurysm that had ruptured, resulting in a Stroke. She then had the aneurysm "coiled" and when she returned to the ICU she had a shunt in her head and was on life support.
My Mum was then on life support in the ICU for a little over a week, but was then taken off all of the breathing tubes and is now breathing on her own. She remained in the ICU until 3 days ago. She is able to move her right arm well, a little bit of movement with her left arm, she can't hold her head up and has no movement in her legs as yet. She can respond with "yes" and "no" ( on rare occasions and after a lot of repeating the question ), but has randomly answered our questions with 2-3 word sentences.
Through my personal investigations (the time between her last phone call that she had on her mobile, to the first missed call from me, to the time I found her) I've found there is a window of 3 and a half hours. So she obviously didn't receive early medical assistance after collapsing.
Mum looks as though she is there one minute with us and then gone the next. It is heartbreaking as she was the fittest person I know, who spent every spare moment with my 2 year old daughter and who was only a few short weeks ago helping me prepare for my 2nd child which is due now in just 3 short weeks.
As I have no one to ask these silly questions in my day to day life, I'm hoping that someone out there can answer me with your opinion or experiences... :)
* The large gap between mum collapsing and receiving medical help would have contributed to the amount of brain damage she has now wouldn't it?
* Is there anything I can do to help Mum along in her recovery?
* And is there ever a full recovery after something like this?
I'm just desperate to do anything I can to help her, and selfishly I guess, I'm just desperate to get my Mum back.
Thank you for your time :)
thank you so much. My Mum seems to be improving day by day. Baby steps as you can imagine, but has started writing short responses on a not pad as it seems to exhaust her to speak.
she started physio last week and is getting better at passing objects with her arms. her feet and legs are still not responding... but she seems well spirited when shes paying attention.
she is now responding that she lives in the suburb that we lived in 16 years ago, but i explain where she is and what has happened on a daily basis and she seems to understand each time.
she unfortunately doesnt have any recollection of my 2 year old daughter, and is shocked daily when she sees my BIG pregnant belly. where as, after a few hours of us being together she remembers that I am due in April? but I can't complain, she's still with us and fighting strong, so I am happy.
The photo idea was brilliant and she responded well and flicked through the pages herself and smiled at every photo of family members. I am in the process of filling an Ipod with her favourite music and will take it up to her in the hospital tomorrow.
She's still not allowed outside, as we are all eager to take her outside, as she was such an outdoors kind of person, but as I said she now goes for physio in another section of the hospital and at least isn't 24/7 in her bed any more.
Thank you again. Your honest and informative answers were exactly the pick me up I needed. I will pass this on to all of our family and will keep you posted on her progress.
:)
she started physio last week and is getting better at passing objects with her arms. her feet and legs are still not responding... but she seems well spirited when shes paying attention.
she is now responding that she lives in the suburb that we lived in 16 years ago, but i explain where she is and what has happened on a daily basis and she seems to understand each time.
she unfortunately doesnt have any recollection of my 2 year old daughter, and is shocked daily when she sees my BIG pregnant belly. where as, after a few hours of us being together she remembers that I am due in April? but I can't complain, she's still with us and fighting strong, so I am happy.
The photo idea was brilliant and she responded well and flicked through the pages herself and smiled at every photo of family members. I am in the process of filling an Ipod with her favourite music and will take it up to her in the hospital tomorrow.
She's still not allowed outside, as we are all eager to take her outside, as she was such an outdoors kind of person, but as I said she now goes for physio in another section of the hospital and at least isn't 24/7 in her bed any more.
Thank you again. Your honest and informative answers were exactly the pick me up I needed. I will pass this on to all of our family and will keep you posted on her progress.
:)
The first thing is not to give up hope.
One of the more famous individuals who developed an aneurysm and suffered a hemorragic stroke was actress Sharon Stone, who remained in a wheelchair for a year.
They are all a little different, and recovery depends upon which blood vessel ruptured and how much damage was done.
Do not assume that because four mom cannot communicate she can't understand every word in the room.
When visiting ALWAYS place your hand on her shoulder or grasp her wrist. Don't simply stand with your hands folded. Instruct every visitor (our of her hearing) to do this. Tell her what day it is and speak about the family. Bring photos or videos. Make enlargements and post two or three where she can see them.Visit as often as possible (use family members to arrange a visiting schedule) and take her outside as soon as medically possible.
The standard "rental wheelchair" has hard rubber wheels unsuitable for outside. You need a wheelchair with either pneumatic (bicycle) or filled foam wheels and a cushion. You need two wheelchairs. A small four-wheeled one for in the house and the one with the large foam-filled wheels for outside. Make sure both wheelchairs have brakes.
If you take her out two people are best. One to push and the other to hold her hand.
She will be helpless and give her as much choice as possible.
Obtain a dry-erase board and try to communicate in large block letters. On the board you can write "yes" or "no" and she can point. Make sure you or an aide use the board EVERY day even though you can communicate otherwise.
If she is able finger-painting is a good rehab exercise. Checkers and playing with toy soldiers.
Small radio controlled toys may be helpful. My little one enjoyed learning how to work her radio-controilled rocket firing (foam rockets) tank and driving it around the room shooting rockets at the aide. I also set up an 0 gauge trolley car for her on the table and encouraged her to learn to work the transformer.
Insure the hospital staff or her aide uses debrox to clean out the wax from her ears. Most people have hearing degradation secondary to wax build-up and it is a simple matter to take care off.
Music helps recovery as does television and talk radio. Get her a set of earphones and insure she listens several hours a day. This will be difficult.
Bring her flowers or a small gift such as a balloon every day you visit.
Clearly the time elapsed between the event and her medical care resulted in additional damage, but to think about that is crying over spilled soup.
The fact she talks a bit is very encouraging!
She may have difficulty in swallowing, which is a common side effect. This may go away.
When she is served beverages, try to provide four small (2 ounce) cups of different flavored beverages rather than eight ounces of one flavor.
For her bed, purchase body capacitance switches that turn a lamp on and off when you touch the lamp at home depot. You can hook such a switch to the television as well.
Get her outside in the sunlight as much as possible, and provide her with daily Vitamin D3 supplements, sublingual B12 with folic acid and co-enzyme Q-10.
She will have a short attention span and will get confused when two people talk to her at one time or one person gives her a cookie and the other person talks.
Large goldfish in an illuminated tank next to her bed will be very soothing for her to view in the evening. Later, consider getting her a pet parakeet. Do not purchase a bird that is not already hand-tame! Price makes a difference. Make sure the aide will agree to feed the bird and take care of the fish.
If she is religious bring her religious materials and say a short prayer together with her every time you visit.
Besores may be a problem. Make sure that a ceryticafe of necessity is obtained for an anti-bedsore inflating-deflating mattress and another certificate for a an electric recliner.
My program with my "little one" was to provide her with what I called "maximum experience days". I would expose her to all sorts of experiences from riding on a bus to feeding pigeons in the park. I began taking care of a stroke-damaged woman at age 99 and it took a year and a half of "maximum experience days" for her to be able to regain the ability to talk and to feed herself. She is now 106 years old and alive and well.
My prayers are with you.
One of the more famous individuals who developed an aneurysm and suffered a hemorragic stroke was actress Sharon Stone, who remained in a wheelchair for a year.
They are all a little different, and recovery depends upon which blood vessel ruptured and how much damage was done.
Do not assume that because four mom cannot communicate she can't understand every word in the room.
When visiting ALWAYS place your hand on her shoulder or grasp her wrist. Don't simply stand with your hands folded. Instruct every visitor (our of her hearing) to do this. Tell her what day it is and speak about the family. Bring photos or videos. Make enlargements and post two or three where she can see them.Visit as often as possible (use family members to arrange a visiting schedule) and take her outside as soon as medically possible.
The standard "rental wheelchair" has hard rubber wheels unsuitable for outside. You need a wheelchair with either pneumatic (bicycle) or filled foam wheels and a cushion. You need two wheelchairs. A small four-wheeled one for in the house and the one with the large foam-filled wheels for outside. Make sure both wheelchairs have brakes.
If you take her out two people are best. One to push and the other to hold her hand.
She will be helpless and give her as much choice as possible.
Obtain a dry-erase board and try to communicate in large block letters. On the board you can write "yes" or "no" and she can point. Make sure you or an aide use the board EVERY day even though you can communicate otherwise.
If she is able finger-painting is a good rehab exercise. Checkers and playing with toy soldiers.
Small radio controlled toys may be helpful. My little one enjoyed learning how to work her radio-controilled rocket firing (foam rockets) tank and driving it around the room shooting rockets at the aide. I also set up an 0 gauge trolley car for her on the table and encouraged her to learn to work the transformer.
Insure the hospital staff or her aide uses debrox to clean out the wax from her ears. Most people have hearing degradation secondary to wax build-up and it is a simple matter to take care off.
Music helps recovery as does television and talk radio. Get her a set of earphones and insure she listens several hours a day. This will be difficult.
Bring her flowers or a small gift such as a balloon every day you visit.
Clearly the time elapsed between the event and her medical care resulted in additional damage, but to think about that is crying over spilled soup.
The fact she talks a bit is very encouraging!
She may have difficulty in swallowing, which is a common side effect. This may go away.
When she is served beverages, try to provide four small (2 ounce) cups of different flavored beverages rather than eight ounces of one flavor.
For her bed, purchase body capacitance switches that turn a lamp on and off when you touch the lamp at home depot. You can hook such a switch to the television as well.
Get her outside in the sunlight as much as possible, and provide her with daily Vitamin D3 supplements, sublingual B12 with folic acid and co-enzyme Q-10.
She will have a short attention span and will get confused when two people talk to her at one time or one person gives her a cookie and the other person talks.
Large goldfish in an illuminated tank next to her bed will be very soothing for her to view in the evening. Later, consider getting her a pet parakeet. Do not purchase a bird that is not already hand-tame! Price makes a difference. Make sure the aide will agree to feed the bird and take care of the fish.
If she is religious bring her religious materials and say a short prayer together with her every time you visit.
Besores may be a problem. Make sure that a ceryticafe of necessity is obtained for an anti-bedsore inflating-deflating mattress and another certificate for a an electric recliner.
My program with my "little one" was to provide her with what I called "maximum experience days". I would expose her to all sorts of experiences from riding on a bus to feeding pigeons in the park. I began taking care of a stroke-damaged woman at age 99 and it took a year and a half of "maximum experience days" for her to be able to regain the ability to talk and to feed herself. She is now 106 years old and alive and well.
My prayers are with you.
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