Stroke Survivor Blog

The third day after my husband, Steve, suffered a major right brain ischemic stroke, he was moved out of ICU and therapists came in to start speech and physical therapy.

We found that the stroke paralyzed his left arm and leg, and affected his swallowing reflex. He choked on some Jello in ICU, so as a precaution a feeding tube was inserted. His speech is still slurred and it sounds heavy, but he is understandable. He can’t feel the left side of his face including his tongue, cheek and ear. He pockets food in his cheek instead of swallowing it, so speech therapy is required to help him swallow.

The physical therapists tried to sit him up but his core balance was way off. It took several of them to hold him up as they tried to get him to sit straight. But overall I thought his first physical therapy session went well, and I am encouraged by that.

Steve cannot feel or move his left arm and leg even after much prodding, poking and pinching throughout the day to see if he responded. This is the same leg in which he broke his ankle 3 weeks prior to the stroke. He’s not supposed to put weight on that ankle for 6 weeks yet, so that may hinder the physical therapy.

He doesn’t realize that his leg is paralyzed, so he keeps asking me to bring his crutches to the hospital so he can walk to the bathroom. He’s oblivious to the fact that he can’t do that. I think that’s because whenever a nurse or doctor asks him to squeeze their hands or move his toes, they just say “Okay, good.” So he thinks he did it when the left side did nothing. It will take much physical therapy to help him walk again.

He still thinks I overreacted by calling the ambulance when he had the stroke, so obviously his judgment is skewed a little. Speech therapy will help him in this area as well.

Right before I left the hospital he asked me to uncover his feet to cool them off. I touched the toes on his left foot and he flinched. I asked him if could feel that, and he said it felt like needles like when your foot falls asleep. He said he felt the same thing when I touched his left arm too!!! So praise God for showing us the beginning of many answered prayers for him. This was so encouraging for me as well.

When I got home, I slept wonderfully after being awake for 36 hrs., and I awoke completely refreshed after 7 hrs. of undisturbed sleep. When I awoke at 2:45 AM, the moon was shining brightly and filled my bedroom with light. I sensed the presence of God and His peace enveloped me as two verses of scriptures came to my mind:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

“He will not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.” (Psalm 118:17)

I sensed that God was speaking these promises to me and I am claiming them as such. I know they will come to pass as we go through this trial, and we will see the works of the Lord accomplished in our lives.