father's stroke, memory prob n aphasic - Stroke Message Board

krishna_2484 · 05-12-2004, 10:05 AM

Hi friends,

On the night of 02-25-04, my father had stroke which v cld not recognize due to lack of experience, by the moring of 26th finding him to be aphasic with right facial droop, and hemiparesis in right hand and leg, we rushed him to the hospital. During his hospital course of 7 days, he was treated with mannitol, piracetam IV, methylcobalamin IV, amlodinpin with lisinopril. He was discharged to home medication with piracetam tabletS, methylcobalamin tabletS, ginko biloba tablets, and amlodinpin tablets (plz note all r generic names) for three months. It is now almost two and half months. We had given physiotherapy contineously for 2 months. With this he has improved to some extent but not yet satisfactory. The major concern is his speech and memory. He thinks correctly but says the wrong. On reminding, he recalls immediately laughing on himself quoting how he made this mistake, and secondly he is unable to use his right hand to eat or to do any activity becoz he is unable to hold anything. He just is able to move his limbs which of no use.

Can any one throw a ray of light on this wheather the treatment given to my father was adequate, whether my father can restore his normal activities with his right hand as usual, whether his aphasic condition wil improve to the normal, will his memorry improve, I think his judgment and insight are ok, but his speech is slow and recall of recent memory is poor as he is 57-year-old now. Can I hope for any improvement ...........?

inmyhead63 · 05-19-2004, 03:03 PM

Hi Krishna,
I am new to the boards seeking support and hope like you are. I think my own fathers stroke symptoms are similar. He had his stroke in November, spending a month in rehab in the VA Hospital. I am currently his caregiver and having to face that this is a LONG TERM thing. There has been no improvement whatsoever in his physical symptoms and in ways things are worse. I also feel his aphasia is worse. I am thinking of alzheimers like symptoms. He often calls me by someone elses name and gets lost in the middle of his sentences. Most of the time tho I feel he is thinking right but can not communicate it. This has caused much frustration for both of us. The other day he was wanting me to call the cable company and kept saying "where is the finger remote?" I'm like "you mean the remote? its right here!" He just kept getting angrier and angrier. Thinking I was being smart. I don't know how much hope you give a person with this. I mean, he's always saying he will be better in "just a few weeks". I disagree. I feel its just something he will have to deal with. I don't understand why some strokes affect others different ways. From what I understood at the hospital that once a certain level is reached there was nothing more in the way of rehab they could do. I am stuck and frustrated. Am sorry if this post was a bummer. I want to find hope too.
Diana

krishna_2484 · 06-02-2004, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inmyhead63

Hi Krishna,
I am new to the boards seeking support and hope like you are. I think my own fathers stroke symptoms are similar. He had his stroke in November, spending a month in rehab in the VA Hospital. I am currently his caregiver and having to face that this is a LONG TERM thing. There has been no improvement whatsoever in his physical symptoms and in ways things are worse. I also feel his aphasia is worse. I am thinking of alzheimers like symptoms. He often calls me by someone elses name and gets lost in the middle of his sentences. Most of the time tho I feel he is thinking right but can not communicate it. This has caused much frustration for both of us. The other day he was wanting me to call the cable company and kept saying "where is the finger remote?" I'm like "you mean the remote? its right here!" He just kept getting angrier and angrier. Thinking I was being smart. I don't know how much hope you give a person with this. I mean, he's always saying he will be better in "just a few weeks". I disagree. I feel its just something he will have to deal with. I don't understand why some strokes affect others different ways. From what I understood at the hospital that once a certain level is reached there was nothing more in the way of rehab they could do. I am stuck and frustrated. Am sorry if this post was a bummer. I want to find hope too.
Diana

Hi Diana,

First of all thanks for sharing ur prob with me, but u dint mentioned anything details abt ur father, plz give me the details abt ur father's age, condition, like when it started, whtz the impression of CT scan of head wheather it was an infraction or hemorrhage, if infarction/hemorrhage then in which portion of the brain, and wht drugs were administered, and who was the doctor treated him, and in which hospital plz write me the names of the drugs. or plz mail me the details to my mail id <krishna_2484@yahoo.com>
Plz dont worry, this is such a disease where the supply of blood to a particular portion of the body becomes chocked temporarily, which takes a lot of time to get restored, and the entire treatment involved in this disease is once the blood circulation is restored to its normalcy, everything goes back to its normal position, but for that a strong family support is required too to the patient.