Strokes ??? A family member had one this Morning

[lovmy2girls]

Just wondering if anyone has had a family member who has had a stroke? Our relative had one this morning, couldn't move thier hands or speak. This is the second time they have had one like this.

Will they have another one? Is a major heart attack the next thing that will happen?

Just wondering. I don't quit understand why they keep having them, and the doctor can't do much for it.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Is he better now.Able to move his arms/legs etc? I had a stroke like this in 2003

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Sorry about your family member. Each stroke is unique to that person, and it doesn't follow that they will necessarily have another stroke or heart attack. Here's some information which may be helpful: http://www.cslot.com/adults/cva.htm

 

[WDWfan36]

I am so sorry about this

 

[lovmy2girls]

Is he better now.Able to move his arms/legs etc? I had a stroke like this in 2003

Yes, the movement comes back and the speech too. I don't know yet about todays. My husband is at the hospital, and hasn't called back yet.

 

[Evil Queen]

I'm so sorry.

My Dad has had a few.

 

[pat fan]

to you.

My DMIL had a major stroke years ago that they believe was due to her high cholesterol. A piece broke off and......

She recovered fairly well from that, albeit with some limitations. She had trouble walking (looked like a drunken sailor), speach was ok if you could get around that she said what she thought (the valve in your brain that says "hmmm, that might not be appropriate to say" got shut off,it happens a lot in stroke victims). The worst that she was left with was the constant dizziness. She said the rooms were spinning all the time. I can't imagine living with that.

She lived quite a few years after the stroke without having another one and it was not a major contributor in what finaly brought her end around.

 

[monarchsfan16]

My great grandmother had a severe stroke several years before I was born. It was her only stroke ever, and she lived for probably 15 or so years after the stroke. With her's she had only extremely limited movement on one side of her body, could say a few very simple words, etc. But it was the one and only stroke for her
Fast forward to this spring. My next door neighbor, the mother of the girls I grew up with, and essentially my second mom when I was growing up had a stroke. Two weeks after the stroke she had additional bleeding on the brain, and over the 4th of July weekend she had another stroke. With the first stroke at least (not sure the extent of the damage from the one over the 4th), she was able to regain most of her movement, still has great comprehension, and was slowly regaining speech.
In other words, everyone is different. Some may have multiple strokes. Some may only have one. Some may be major, some minor. Strokes are generally caused by an issue in the brain (thrombosis, embolism, etc), so while a heart attack is a possibility in the future, it wouldn't be as a result of the stroke, it would be as a result of whatever problem caused the stroke

 

[kellyg403]

Yes, my mom had one about 8 years ago. It was a mild stroke. She woke up one day the side of her face had "relaxed". She didn't even realize what had happened. She didn't feel well and was having trouble speaking and the dizziness others spoke of. My dad woke up, saw her and got her to the emergency room. She fully recovered, took awhile and now has slight problems with dizziness and slurred speech when she is tired. She has not had another since. The dr. at the time explained to us that there is no way to determine if she will have another or what the residual damage might be as each person is different.

I hope that you family member is better soon.

Kelly

 

[DVC Sadie]

I had a stroke when I was 25 right after having surgery. It took awhile for me to regain my speech and strength on my right side. I had my second stroke about 4 years ago and thankfully it was mild. I still had to go to rehab and build my strength back up but this time it only took about a month to recover.
The worst part for me is having difficulty "finding" some words, I know the words but can't get them out properly. My short term memory has also been affected, so I do not have the recall I once had.

I will be saying prayers and pixie dust for you and your family.

 

[barkley]

i had two within a period of 6 months around 4 years ago-i was 41 years old.
i had no history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol or the like. i did and do have a terrible time with migranes. both of mine were preceded by t.i.a'.s which are also known as 'mini strokes'-they can mimic all of the classic signs of a full blown stroke but the affects (for me drooping facial muscles, right side weakness, loss of verbal skills) disappear within about 24 hours.

the permanant effects of my strokes are hearing loss in my right ear, loss of peripheral vision in my right eye, and some issues with short term memory-and when i'm realy tired or stressed my right side will get weak/i get shaky and my speech gets aphasic (i know what i want to say but the words come out wrong, or i will misprounounce or slur words). initialy after the strokes my reading ability was shot-i could read but i found myself re-reading the same stuff over and over to get it to absorb or to remember it so the subsequent material made sense (i developed a heavy addiction to tabloids-short articles that helped me with both memory and reading speed. i can read normaly now but it's one addiction i've never kicked ).

depending on what contributing factors can be determined to have caused a stroke lifestyle changes can help prevent further ones. for me both were preceded by incredibly stressful events and numerous headaches and migranes so i have to be aware of what's going on in my life and try to steer clear of family stuff that i can't control/will cause undue stress. i have to make sure that any medical person i see is aware of my history and takes that into consideration when perscribing meds (i recently was given a perscription for a pretty run of the mill antibiotic and started getting bad headaches within a few days, found out one of the less common side effects was headaches-so i had to get an alternate drug). i have to know my physical limits and take that into consideration (i have nowhere near the energy levels i had before-if we are vacationing even if i feel great i make sure i get enough sleep). my doctors monitor me for the know contributors to strokes and while a slight increase in cholesterol or blood pressure might be deemed 'wait and see' for another patient-it's addressed immediatly with me (i might have to quick change my diet to total no salt/no bad fats/high good fats to get back within acceptable ranges).

having one stroke does'nt nesc. mean you will have another (i know a young man who had one out of the blue at age 16-his was caused by an issue that once corrected will likely never happen again)-but you need to be aware and make the people around you aware (my kids are 9 and almost 12 now-but they got clued in quick to let me or my husband know if they noticed i was favoring one side or 'talking funny'-sometimes i dont initialy realize i'm showing symptoms).

the realy great news is that with timely physical therapy alot can be regained/recovered. it's amazing what a good pt program can do to help regain strength and mobility.

good wishes to your family member-the issue with speech can be realy frustrating. so patience on both their part and the people around them is key (i wanted to communicate realy badly, and esp. with the kids we had to get them to stop talking for me-it was only through practice, trial and error that i could work on it).

 

[Lorix2]

I'm sorry to hear about you're family member, hope it isn't devasting, not all strokes are as another poster mentioned.

My mother had a stroke at the age of 50. She had both heart valves replaced due to congenital heart failure, the surgery was a great success for 3 months until the stroke hit. Unbeknownst to anyone, a blood clot had formed on the back of one of the valves. 5 days later, still in the hospital, a bigger piece of the clot hit her central brain causing aphasia and apraxia. They had to open her back up through her back and scrape the valves of the offending clot. She was in and out of ICU, it was touch and go.

She had Bells Palsy for a day or so, that went away. She went through physical, occupational and speech therapy for a year.

Today she is 56 and does everything for herself accept speak sentences. She has a vocabulary of maybe 10 words that she uses everyday for different things. The apraxia has left her unable to use her tongue to form most words. She can say "maybe, beautiful, it's not, no, thank, love, yes, two, wait and this". She can no longer pronounce names or speak sentences, but we communicate by writing though most thoughts are backwards and jumbled, but we can all understand what she's getting at...sometimes not....but she is ALL there, she knows what she's trying to say or what's going on in a movie and even tries to repeat gossip between 2 old bickering aunts of hers, it's hysterical.

Stroke victims can be severely impaired or just a little, strokes can really wreak havoc in the brain. Patience and compassion is what every stroke victim needs as support. It's very hard to watch a loved one have to deal with such a disability that comes on suddenly and most times without warning.

Please give us an update when you can, I pray everything will be okay for them.

 

[slo]

I'm so sorry to hear this . My Grandpa had 2 before he passed away I will keep your family in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[lucas]

Some helpful info: http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HOME