new victims

[tiki1923]

My 58 year old husband had a stroke last Sunday. We were let out of the hospital last night with no instructions, warnings or anything. Any sugestions? I am terrified. What next?

[oc1dean]

I went back to work at six months but my work is office/computer related. Physically my left side is very weak/nonfunctioning. I am currently 2 years, 4 months post stroke, fatigue is still a major problem, I can sleep 3-4 hours every afternoon. I got off Coumadin at 4 months and now  am just on 325 aspirin. it was interesting that your doctor called it a stroke since there seems to be no deficits, which is kind of the definition of a TIA.
Hang in there.
Dean

[tiki1923]

We were told at first that they thought it was a TIA but the neurologist said it was  stroke from a clot. We are checking the Coumidan levels but won't see a doctor until Monday. Needless to say I have quite a few questions for him.
We were told that he won't be able to do the same work that he did before. He is a very strong physical man and I know this really worries him. Were you able to go back to work?

[oc1dean]

Since your husband is on Coumadin, a blood thinner I would assume he had an ishemic (clot) stroke, The headaches all the time sometimes are from hemmoraghic (bleeding) strokes so I would definitely ask what kind he had or if it was just a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) With no deficits he may have just have had a TIA but you do need to find out in order to prevent the next one. The extreme fatigue is quite common in stroke survivors,
When taking Coumadin the levels in the blood need to be monitored by a weekly blood test to make sure they are at the correct levels. Make sure you ask about that since it was unprofessional not to be monitoring this via blood tests.
Dean

[tiki1923]

Thanks for gettimg back to me. My husband really has no noticible deficits since getting out of the hospital. He is on Coumidan. What worries me is he has headaches all the time, is extremly tired and won't eat. We do know that he didn't need therapy but as I said before, we weren't given any instructions about what to look out for, what to do or not do. He was let out on the weekend by a doctor we never saw before and can't get into one of ours until Monday. Maybe we just slipped throught the cracks and everyone thinks someone else spoke to us.  i will be speaking very frankly to our dr. on Monday about this.. I just feel totally helpless. and stupid, I was in medicine for 14 years bur ob/gyn never got me ready for this.I do have him in a Coumidan clinic though.

[oc1dean]

You should go back to your doctor and ask  what has been done to prevent another stroke, you may need to see a new doctor, which is perfectly fine. Either way ask for what therapy should be followed to address any deficits and ask for a doctors order for those therapies, which may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy. You should never have been allowed out of the hospital without some explanation of preventative measues being taken.  Does he have any deficits? With that knowledge someone here could respond specifically. Ask for a medical release of all the stuff that was done in the hospital to bring to your next doctor.
Good Luck
Dean