StrokeSurvivorBlog

Last night Steve went to St. Vincent’s Sleep Clinic for a Sleep Study to determine if he has sleep apnea. This breathing disorder is caused when the tongue relaxes during sleep, blocking the airway to the lungs. Steve was born with the palate structure for this type of disorder. When he reclines with his head back, his [...]

Getting speech therapy at home was a treat for Steve, especially since his therapist was the same one he had at the hospital after his stroke. Steve has dysarthria which is slow, slurred and distorted speech. He had some swallowing problems in the beginning (but that improved as time went on), but now he has [...]

Yeserday, Steve’s physical therapist Paul brought out a sales rep from the Walk-Aide company to test their device on Steve’s leg for improving his walking ability, which has been hindered by “foot drop”. Foot drop is a condition caused by weakness or paralysis of the muscles involved in lifting the front part of the foot, which causes [...]

We retained home health care services, and met Steve’s new therapists…physical therapist Paul, and Nick the occupational therapist. They are wonderful and there was an immediate rapport between them and Steve. The speech therapist is the same one he had in the hospital. He called her “Look Left Sue” because she kept telling him to [...]

Steve has been home for 6 days and things have been going amazingly well with his stroke recovery. The first night was a little rough, and I didn’t get more than an hour of sleep. His restlessness and erratic breathing kept me awake all night. The sleep apnea doesn’t allow him to fall into a [...]

The day has finally come! Steve left the nursing home and came home after 6 wks. of hospitalization and 9 wks. of skilled nursing care…15 wks. altogether. We took one last tour of the nursing home to say good-bye to residents and staff. It was a bittersweet day…glad to leave but sorry for those who had [...]

I have some wonderful news! Steve is coming home on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday, and he has been approved for home health care. All his therapies will be done at home as well, and an evaluation will be made this weekend by Bellin Home Health Care Agency to make out the therapy plan; then [...]