StrokeSurvivorBlog

Having a swallowing disorder (dysphagia) is a symptom that accompanies a number of neurological disorders. The problem can occur at any stage of the normal swallowing process as food and liquid move from the mouth, down the back of the throat, through the esophagus and into the stomach. This is a condition my husband Steve had [...]

Last night I finally understood why Steve doesn’t want to eat and why he says it’s so much work. He says he holds his breath with each bite of food because swallowing is still difficult and he doesn’t want to choke on the food or aspirate it into the lungs. The technical term for this [...]

One week after Steve’s stroke, he was experiencing pain in his sciatica nerve, right arm, shoulder and elbow. This was a result of being confined to bed for so long, and from using his arm to support his weight. On the weekend he was moved to the inpatient rehabilitation department of the hospital for intensive therapy. The next day the whole [...]

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 [...]

Today is the third day after my husband, Steve, suffered a major right brain stroke that affected the whole left side of his body which left his arm and leg paralyzed. This morning he looked a little better and they moved him out of ICU. They already started him on Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech & Language Therapy [...]