Lynne123
01-29-2001, 01:16 PM
My Dad had a severe brain stem stroke 9/9/00. He has come a very long ways as he is now able to open his eyes, has use of his left leg and can walk and his left arm is starting to spark, as his therapist calls it. His main concern is his inability to swallow. He has been on the peg tube since about a week after the stroke. He has a lot of speech therapy but his swallow is not strong enough to eat anything. Does anyone have anything that could possible help? He is getting depressed over this and he is usually the most optimistic person, even through this whole ordeal. Any alternative therapys he could try? He continues his mouth exercises and we continue to encourage him and work with him. Has anyone got their swallow abilities back after 5 or 6 months post stroke? Thanks for any information!
Lynne
Lynne
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Peter Brown
01-30-2001, 05:27 AM
Hi Lynne,
Sorry to hear about your father's stroke, I certainly pray he will improve with time, That however depends on how bad and what area the brain was damaged. I trust that I can give you some hope. I suffered my stroke at the end of Aug '99. It was an arterial clot that affected both sides of my brain at the cerebellum, this was complicated with a haemorage between the cerebellum and brain stem. My recovery has been nothing short of amazing. I was in a coma for 5 days, quadruplegic 4 weeks, learnt to walk in 5 weeks. I have regained my drivers license and returned to work part time. The past 12 months I have worked up from three 3 hour days a week to four 8 hour days a week.(old technical job plus a company willing to work with me)
In the early days I was being fed via a nose tube. My swallow test was 4 weeks post stroke before I was placed on thickened fluids and pureed food. It was another couple of weeks before graduating onto solids. The period where I learnt to walk again was in a rehabilitation hospital. I also underwent speech therapy, occupational therapy, neuro tests for long and short term memory along with physiotherapy.
My progress was relatively fast for the type of stroke that I suffered, though it still seemed frustratingly slow to me. You have to be patient and caring. If you never give up there is always a chance for improvement.
Peter
Sorry to hear about your father's stroke, I certainly pray he will improve with time, That however depends on how bad and what area the brain was damaged. I trust that I can give you some hope. I suffered my stroke at the end of Aug '99. It was an arterial clot that affected both sides of my brain at the cerebellum, this was complicated with a haemorage between the cerebellum and brain stem. My recovery has been nothing short of amazing. I was in a coma for 5 days, quadruplegic 4 weeks, learnt to walk in 5 weeks. I have regained my drivers license and returned to work part time. The past 12 months I have worked up from three 3 hour days a week to four 8 hour days a week.(old technical job plus a company willing to work with me)
In the early days I was being fed via a nose tube. My swallow test was 4 weeks post stroke before I was placed on thickened fluids and pureed food. It was another couple of weeks before graduating onto solids. The period where I learnt to walk again was in a rehabilitation hospital. I also underwent speech therapy, occupational therapy, neuro tests for long and short term memory along with physiotherapy.
My progress was relatively fast for the type of stroke that I suffered, though it still seemed frustratingly slow to me. You have to be patient and caring. If you never give up there is always a chance for improvement.
Peter
Lynne123
01-30-2001, 03:10 PM
Peter,
Thank you for your encouragement! Congratulations on your recovery. It is a very slow process for recovery. My Dad had a brain stem ischemic type stroke. He already has surpassed his doctors goals for him because they gave him up for dead.
Take care of yourself. God bless.
Lynne
Thank you for your encouragement! Congratulations on your recovery. It is a very slow process for recovery. My Dad had a brain stem ischemic type stroke. He already has surpassed his doctors goals for him because they gave him up for dead.
Take care of yourself. God bless.
Lynne
Pooky
02-07-2001, 01:04 PM
Next week, I'm going to the hospital for something called a swallow test. That is because after my stroke, I had a hard time swallowing and drinking (without a straw). Maybe, you should see if your dad's hospital will allow him to take a swallow test.
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I had my stroke on September 8, 1999
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I had my stroke on September 8, 1999
Lynne123
02-12-2001, 12:09 PM
Pooky:
Thanks for the reply. He has had a couple of swallow tests but each one showed his swallow to be not stong enough to push anything down yet. He only swallows about half of the saliva he produces and spits the rest out in Kleenex. He has felt a different feeling in his throat for about 2 weeks, he said, and he feels like he has to "clear his throat". Maybe the paralysis is coming "alive" again? He does do his exercises daily and hopes to one day eat or drink something. Thanks again!
Thanks for the reply. He has had a couple of swallow tests but each one showed his swallow to be not stong enough to push anything down yet. He only swallows about half of the saliva he produces and spits the rest out in Kleenex. He has felt a different feeling in his throat for about 2 weeks, he said, and he feels like he has to "clear his throat". Maybe the paralysis is coming "alive" again? He does do his exercises daily and hopes to one day eat or drink something. Thanks again!
Lynn34
02-12-2001, 01:44 PM
My Grandma had a stroke on Nov.13,2000. She still has a trache tube in. She can barely talk. She has had a feeding tube (in her stomach) for almost two and a half months, she has not eaten anything and she has to have the saliva removed at times also. Her big thing to over come is getting the trache tube out. They say she needs to learn how to cough again. I wonder if the same muscles are needed to learn to cough and swallow? This is very frustrating because if she had the tube out she could talk more. She does exercises daily too, but the theripist is really pushing her to learn how to move her limbs again. She does not remember when my Dad was born (she is 76yrs old) she is very confused about a lot of things. The stroke was a massive hemmorage where a large clot had to be removed during a nine hour sugery. She also had a great deal of blood leak around to the front of her brain that had to be drained over a period of weeks. They told us she would die. I wish you the best of luck, and will be praying for your family.
Lynne123
02-13-2001, 12:23 AM
Lynn34, (nice name!)
I am very sorry about your Grandma. From what I understand, my Dad's speech therapists have been telling him that coughing, clearing his throat and spitting are all things that help the swallow. I think it has something to do with the tongue muscles towards the back. I am glad the therapists are helping your Grandma move her arms and legs because the more you do early on helps in the long run. Strokes are very frustrating for the patient. I was never exposed to this before but I know from my Dad that patience and perserverance are very important. A real good attitude helps, too. My prayers will be with you. Thank you for your comments.
Lynne123
I am very sorry about your Grandma. From what I understand, my Dad's speech therapists have been telling him that coughing, clearing his throat and spitting are all things that help the swallow. I think it has something to do with the tongue muscles towards the back. I am glad the therapists are helping your Grandma move her arms and legs because the more you do early on helps in the long run. Strokes are very frustrating for the patient. I was never exposed to this before but I know from my Dad that patience and perserverance are very important. A real good attitude helps, too. My prayers will be with you. Thank you for your comments.
Lynne123
CHU1151
02-26-2001, 12:41 AM
lynne,
I sure can relate to how you are feeling. My father had a stroke at least 4 years back. his swallowing problem started at least 15 months ago. It started with his voice getting rough, to now where it is so hard for him to talk that all he does when eating is moan... I can see that he is slowing choaking to death. We had him to hospitals all thru Pittsburgh and they removed a Hernia in his throat in Dec.2000 Thought he would be better, but today was there and again he is still chooaking. He claims it feels like a rubber band is stuck there. had all kind of tubes all thru his nose and throat.. nothing in there. what can cause this feeling for these men... I feel soooo bad for both.I am lost as to where to take him next... If you get any insite please share with me...
Donna
I sure can relate to how you are feeling. My father had a stroke at least 4 years back. his swallowing problem started at least 15 months ago. It started with his voice getting rough, to now where it is so hard for him to talk that all he does when eating is moan... I can see that he is slowing choaking to death. We had him to hospitals all thru Pittsburgh and they removed a Hernia in his throat in Dec.2000 Thought he would be better, but today was there and again he is still chooaking. He claims it feels like a rubber band is stuck there. had all kind of tubes all thru his nose and throat.. nothing in there. what can cause this feeling for these men... I feel soooo bad for both.I am lost as to where to take him next... If you get any insite please share with me...
Donna
Lynne123
02-26-2001, 12:29 PM
Donna. I am sorry to hear about your Dad. I wish I had some insight on what was going on. I will include your father in my prayers.
Lynne
Lynne