Stroke recovery?
Question:
The doctor dose not think she will recover. She can not walk, talk or eat. she can not communicate and dose not seem to understand what i say to her. she seems to be in pain as she is always moaning.
Before the stroke she had diabetes, low blood pressuer, a pace maker, kidney problems, and water retention that causes her to have heart failer so she is on oxygen.
Has anyone else had this happen to their parent and what happened. what dections did you have to make.
Answers:
I'm sorry to say this, but the doctor is probably 99.9% right on this one because so many of her organs are diseased. She is at a high risk of having more strokes, too, because of her diabetes and heart problems.
It is likely she can only understand the tone of your voice, not the actual words. Moaning is not always due to pain, but is sometimes due to the lethargy patients experience after a large stroke.
I worked as a speech pathologist for 20 years and evaluated hundreds of patients like your mom who had communication and swallowing disorders, so I'm a bit biased in terms of end-of-life medical treatment or lack thereof. I doubt your mom will have any quality of life, will end up on a feeding tube, and will have aspiration pneumonia and other complications before long (such as bedsores). If she was my mom, I'd insist on a DNR (do not resuscitate) order right away, and put her on hospice so she'd suffer as little as possible in her last days.
I hope you all had a discussion about her wishes before this happened, just as all families should. Everyone should have an advance directive signed and in the chart, at the doctor's office, and at home. It saves a lot of grief.
My mother had very similar symptoms in 1995 when she had a stroke following surgery to repair a leaky vessle in her head. It happened in March. In May, right around Mother's Day, she started reacting to stimulus around her. She never came close to fully recovering, but we were able to hold conversations and enjoy her company for several years.
Keep the Faith - It Works
Tim
I'm sorry to hear about your Mom's stroke. My Dad had a stroke a couple of months ago, so I know how hard it is to stand there while you feel helpless. First of all, did your Mom ever leave instructions with anybody about what she would prefer if she was incapacitated? Is she receiving any life support other than oxygen? When you say she is on oxygen, I'm not gonna assume that you mean a respirator, but she has just supplemental oxygen going to near here nose/mouth.
If you have brothers and/or sisters or other family members, you need to all sit down with her doctor, and make sure that you all understand what is going on with her medically, so that you can make an informed decision about her care. Then you all need to decide together what is the best course of action that is in her best interest. Some of the things you should discuss are -Signing a Do Not Resuscitate order, what measures should be taken to ensure her comfort, if you want to take her home for palliative care or to hospice, and you also need to get a list of each other's phone numbers, and organize a "phone tree" so that you can keep each other updated.
Even though your Mom doesn't react and is always moaning, do not assume that she can't understand you. Depending on the type/severity/location of the stroke, she may just have trouble communicating outwardly, but be just fine with understanding what you are saying. Keep this in mind, and talk to her often. You can recount stories of summer vacations, tell her who has called or come by to check on her, or just sing to her. It doesn't matter. On some level, your voice will bring her comfort, and it might do you some good to remember the happy times too. I know that this is a hard time, but you will get through it.
I wish the best for you and your family.
I am so sorry about your mother. My dad had a stroke the last day of April 06, he like your mother could not speak, swallow and had no feeling or movement on right side of his body. Like you, they told us he would not make it. He also had alot of other health issues, but I will tell you this, the first 2 weeks were bad, really really bad. When he looked at us it was if there was nobody there. If she is anything like my dad she is sleeping alot right now, they said it's the brains way of trying to heal. My dad's stroke was massive covered 75% of the left side of his brain. In time and with alot of therapy, we actually sent him to a hospital that specialized in stroke patients along with trying to wean patients off venalators. Anyway, he did learn to swallow again, but expect a feeding tube for a while. He got a few words back, they were mostly cuss words, but none the less he knew how to use them to get his point across. I taught him to sign "I love You", and he had the middle finger down pat all by himself. He knew what was going on around him, he just couldn't communicate it back to us with words. I saw him fight so hard to get better and he did. He got some movement and feeling back on the right side, he became minimum assist as far as getting him up out of bed and such. You have to believe that she will get better, never lose hope. I think that is very important. I would say to you I don't know everything going on with your mom, but I wish you the best. It sounds like her stroke was pretty massive also, so I don't know how much she will recover, but she can make progress if she makes over this difficult time right now. And sing to her and get her to sing back to you, something like Happy Birthday, or her favorive song, my dad did better when he sang, I know it sounds strange, but it is true. The progress was good until we got a cancer diagnosis, then it was all down hill, but that had nothing to do with the stroke. I hope this helps and I am wishing you and your family the best, this is a very very hard thing to go through.
Some of the decisions that you will have to make, is if you can care for her at home when that time comes or if she will go to a nursing home etc. We were fornuate enough to be able to care for my dad at home, hospice did come into the house at the end. It will be alot of work and I am hoping she has a strong will to live. Stay strong!!!!!
Lisa R
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/the...
Based on the information that you have given, your Mom is quite ill, sorry for being so straight-forward. But, because of her medical background and the severity of her symptoms, the Doc is probably making an accurate prognosis( outcome) However, with stroke victims,they experience damage to their brain which, causes swelling. So, until the swelling has resolved, it can be difficult to give a definitive prognosis ( outcome). The swelling, the location of the stroke that occurred in the brain, the size of the bleeding ( hemorrhage) in the brain/swelling, can all impede( delay) an accurate outcome. Please talk to her as though she can understand/hear you because it has been proven that stroke victims that do recover, can recall conversations and, also touch her, kiss her, hold her hand. Let her know that you are there. As far as providing a definite answer, it is best to see what happens in the next few weeks. God Bless !!
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