Stroke Survivor Blog

With the holidays fast approaching and family gatherings taking place, some relatives you haven’s seen for awhile may wonder why the stroke survivor isn’t over it yet. They ignorantly think that you can get over a stroke like you get over a cold or the flu. You can’t just get over a stroke! It’s not [...]

After 3 years of suffering from pain in his dislocated shoulder and in the ankle which was broken 3 weeks before his stroke, Steve is finally getting some pain relief. We tried many different things to eliminate the pain, but had to resort to using a pain medication called Hydrocodone. This was a reluctant decision [...]

It’s tempting to give up hope for stroke recovery when progress slows down and you don’t see visible signs of improvement. But that’s the time to press in and don’t give up. The brain is still making new connections even though you can’t see any change. It’s just like a tree going into the dormant [...]

With World Stroke Day approaching on October 29, 2011, it is important to be aware of a condition called Pseudobulbar Affect or PBA that can affect stroke victims. PBA is a neurological condition that is often overlooked or can be misdiagnosed as depression. Five Clues That Your Loved Ones’ Unpredictable Emotional Outbursts Are Not Depression [...]

Is assisted living an option for stroke survivors? Is it a viable solution for those with cognitive and physical disabilities and impaired mobility? Do assisted living facilities provide post-stroke rehab? Family members of stroke survivors often contact me who are hard-pressed to provide care for their loved one by themselves. Often distance is the problem [...]

It’s been months since I’ve posted to this blog. Probably because I didn’t have any encouraging news to tell. But the truth of the matter is that I can’t and shouldn’t keep reporting only good news, because that is not reality with stroke survivors. My husband Steve is experiencing a lot of pain in his [...]

We got some good news a few days ago when Steve’s cardiologist approved him for another round of external counter pulsation (ECP) therapy treatments. This therapy is designed and Medicare-approved to treat patients with angina and congestive heart failure (CHF), and is not really meant to treat stroke survivors. So it just a side benefit [...]