Stroke Support Group
A stroke is an acute neurologic injury where the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted, either by a clot in the artery or if the artery bursts. The brain perfused by that artery no longer receiving oxygen carried by the blood and dying with cessation of function from that part of the brain.
Recently, my mom suffered from a stroke on her left side.
A little backstory, my mom 3 years ago was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went through chemotherapy which had the unfortunate side effect of damaging her heart. After beating cancer, she then had to have open heart surgery where they placed a left ventricular device to assist her heart. After waiting a year, she was placed on the heart transplant list and just two days later received the call that they had a heart for her.
These 3 years have flown by, with victories inbetween the heartache.
During the heart surgery, there were complications which led to her being put on a machine that ultimately caused her stroke. She was under for almost 3 weeks, finding out she had a stroke was the most unbelievable thing after all of this. My mom is such a wonderful person, she is so incredibly strong. I know life works in mysterious ways, but I just don't understand why her. Why after everything did this have to happen?
She is awake now, speaking very little and no movement on her right side. She seems to know who I am as well as my sister, but her awareness comes and goes. I've only been able to see her once due to COVID and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I'm spending the day with her in just a few hours, and I'm terrified. I'm 20 years old and my mom is my world. I can't wrap my head around what this means for the future. We don't have many answers as the priority right now is to get her stable enough to carry out with an MRI. I know there's a long road to recovery, and I will be here every step of the way. I just don't know how I'm going to cope.
These last few years have been difficult, but this is the hardest to grasp. My mom and I have such a playful relationship, she is my best friend. It breaks my heart that things may never be the same.
I know that this was a blab about me and my feelings.. I just don't know where to go with this anymore. If you've read until the end, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read. If anyone has advice, stories, or words of encouragement lol (I feel so lame) I'd love to hear from you. Thank you again.
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Does anyone follow her? She's really got some good tips.
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He couldn't talk or swallow at first. With in patient rehab center he got slowly better. Its very hard in the beginning but it gets easier to cope with time. I read a book for people who had a sick loved one. That gave me ways to cope. Talk to friends, write in a journal, take time for yourself. Listen to music, exercise,
meditate, take bubble baths. Whatever calms you.
My story: I was in the best physical shape of my life. I was 33 and bedridden March 13, 2016 for 6 months lost all my muscle and weight. I lost a lot of things but with hard work and persistent. I gained some of them back. Still work to do at a slower pace than normal.
My family is what keeps me going without there help and support I would be much worse off. So give as much support as you and your sister can. It means a lot.
With Love,
John
P.S. I would type more but tremors won’t allow me to. Lol
I’d like to give an update just in case someone who is in a similar situation happens to come across this.
A week after said visit, my mom started making some serious strides towards recovery. While this wasn’t linear, it was such a relief as I was preparing for the worst.
She started physical therapy while in the hospital, along with speech, and started to regain all movement on her right side.
On December 11th, she went to a Rehabilitation center where she had 4 hours of therapy everyday and worked her ass off. A month later she came home and continued to work her ass off.
Today she still struggles with speech and her strength is not fully regained, but it’s so much better than anyone could’ve ever imagined.
The ways I coped were spending a lot of time with family, and remembering that recovery is a process.
I couldn’t be more grateful and proud of her. Thank you for reading, sending you love, health, and happiness!