seeking info

[gowilla18]

My 78 year old mom suffered a hemorrhagic stroke a month ago, we had been unable to awake her, but she now open her eyes move her right hand and both of her feet, the doctors say she is not being responsive and her movement is just her reflexes but if we're standing in the room talking she opens her eyes if we ask her to squeeze our hand she will squeeze it, also her tongue is swollen so large she's unable to close her mouth the doctors don't know what caused it and they say they never seen it happen before but some of nurses say they have had patients whose tongues have swollen, we had one doctor tell us with her age she's going to die because part of her brain had turned to mush, I told him we're all due to leave here eventually and besides what type of medical term is mush, she's breathing on her own, i'm really seeking info or at the least encouragement....

[oc1dean]

At least 1/3 of my right hemisphere has also turned to 'mush', ie. dead brain area. Unless the mush area controlled vital life support functions the patient has some chance of improving. So ask for a 3d map of the damaged area and have them specify exactly what functions were damaged. Don't take 'I don't know ' for an answer. They should be smarter than Sargeant Schultz.
Dean

[oc1dean]

You need to find different doctors. The ones you have are woefully out-of-date on current research. Ask them what was the latest stroke rehabilitation research article they read and does it apply to your mom. They should be talking to you about neuroplasticity, passive movement, mental imagery, thermal stimulation, mirror-box therapy. Ask why they haven't been doing music therapy.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/music.therapy/
Music a 'mega-vitamin' for the brain
Listening to music in the early stages after a stroke can improve patients' recovery, according to new research published online in the medical journal Brain February 20,2008.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080219203554.htm
Kenny Rogers Music Second to None at Healing Stroke Victims
More research on music listening for the early part of stroke recovery.
http://www.prefixmag.com/news/kenny-rogers-music-second-to-none-at-healing-strok/27242/
Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/131/3/866?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&title=music+&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
http://www.sciencemagnews.com/rhythm-of-life-music-shows-potential-in-stroke-rehabilitation.html

So dig out those iPods
Dean

[rumpled]

The medical term for mush is, I believe, encephalomalacia - which is softening of the brain which can happen after an infarct.

Breathing all comes from the brain stem. The doc sounds like a gem, Not.