Left Arm Mystery

[Judy]

My mother suffered a severe right brain stroke in August and is paralyzed on her left side. She talks to her left side as if she was talking to a young version of my sister Jill. She sometimes thinks her left arm is Jill's. She also complains of the discomfort of constantly having to carry "Jill" and sometimes begs me to take "Jill" from her so she can get relief. The other day she was telling "Jill" that I was coming to take them both home.

Is this normal? Why does it happen? How should I react to this? I have been telling her that she had a stroke and her arm is paralyzed and because she can't feel it she thinks it is not hers. I hope this will pass but I suppose it serves as a comfort to her to have someone to talk to.

[Sue1962]

Sounds like your mother is suffering from "left side neglect". I'll try to come up with some references for you. People with this may not wash the left side of their face, may not eat food on the left side of their plate, may not dry off the left arm or leg, may not "see" anyone on their left. If you point out their left arm, they will say it is anyone else's but their own. It is well documented. Ill try to come up with an article or two for you!
Sue

[Sue1962]

Here is one link-- [url="http://www.noravc.com/images/visual_neglect__hemiinattention.htm"]http://www.noravc.com/images/visual_neglect__hemiinattention.htm[/url]
Sorry I can't make it a working link, but I don't know how yet. If it is easier, go to [url="http://www.noravc.com--"]www.noravc.com--[/url] there will be a scrolling thingie to the left -- click on the one that says Visual Neglect
Sue

[Pooky]

I was just looking at my rehab folder and I saw something that I was given. It's called Passive Range of Motion (PROM): Upper Extremities. Anyway, I think this should help your mom, if she could get a copy of this paper because it has exercises that should be done to the weak arm. I've done these exercises and they do make me feel a lot better, and they seem to take the tightness out of my arm.

[Candice]

I am a college senior studying communication disorders (Speech Pathology) and we recently discussed left sided neglect in my neurogenic communication disorders class. My prof. has extensive exerience in working with patients who have had CVA's, TBI's, progressive diseases, etc. When discussing the symptom of left-sided neglect he told us about a client who had this condition. As part of his therapy the speech language pathologist and occupational therapist thought of the idea to put up flashing christmas lights that played music (the music was activated by a motion detector) around the house and on the sides of the stairs. Apparently this patient had difficulty manuevering around his home, and would inch his way up the stairs only on the right side, because he was neglecting all the information from his left visual field. The flashing lights and music were enough stimulation for this man to recognize that there was something to his left side. I don't think he was able to see everything to his left, but he knew that if he saw the lights or heard them that there was something there. I know therapy is different for everyone and what works for one patient might not work for the next but I thought this was a neat idea to try with your mom if she has difficulty getting around.

- Candice