Stroke Rehabilitation

Stroke can cause damage to parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning and awareness.  Stroke survivors may have shortened attention spans or problems, or even loss of short term memory.   Stroke survivors may lose the ability to plan ahead, comprehend meanng, learn new tasks, and other mental activities.  Two very common problems are denial of these impairments, or any impairments,
and this is complicated by the the loss of learned purposeful movement of the body.

But, as we said before, these are not problems, these are opportunities. 

Tied-in are emotional disturbances.  Many people who have had a stroke feel fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness, a sense of grief for their mental and physical losses.  Don't over-do, over-react.  These feelings are a natural reaction to the mental trauma. Emotional disturbances and personality changes are natural reactions.  Clinical depression, a sense of hopelessness at the inability to function is the most common disorder.  Signs of this are sleep disturbances, a change in eating patterns leading to wieght loss or gain, lethargy, social withdrawal, irritability, fatigue, self-loathing and deprivation, even suicidal thoughts. 

All these things can be tgreated with medication and counseling. 

But the medication, the most effective counseling must be helped by you, the stroke survivor.  You will make it all effective.  Remember, you've got ot put one foot down at a time, one foot in front of the other, again and again and again and again - until it's right.  It may take awhile, but the result is worth it.

Interested in the result?  Just read the book, "Live Or Die, A Stroke of Good Luck".



Dick Burns
http://www.liveordieburns@aol.com/


   

          

   

Stroke Rehabilitation

You're reading number Nine in this series examining the physical problems that stroke survivors must face and conquer as he or she progresses through recovery:  lost movement of body and limbs, lost skills of daily living, meeting the obligations of life.  Please note that we refer to "survivors," not "victims" and always remember that problems can really be opportunities.

Let's first discuss the problems of speaking and understanding language.  The medical tern is "aphasia." 
At least one quarter of all stroke survivors experience some form of language impairment.  It may involve the the ability to speak, convey thoughts properly (the brain knows but communicatiuon with the mouth doesn't "sync." and the thoughts cannot be conveyed properly),  write or even understand the spoken or written language.  Damage to the left side of the brain (for right-handed individuals and even some left-handed) causes what is called "expressive aphasia" and the individual loses the ability to speak the words he/she is thinking and to put words together in a coherent manner  In contrast, damage to the language center in the rear of the brain results in "receptive aphasia" and people with this disorder have difficulty understanding written or spoken language and often have incoherent speech.  (they may have grammatically correct sentences but the words together are often devoid of any meaning. And the most severe form, called "global aphasia" represents damage to many areas of the brain and people with this complication lose all their abilities to understand language or convey any thoughts.   

Sounds pretty awful and daunting but please take it from one who's been there (I guess I had all three):  I'm able to write this blog.  After time I taught and gave presentations and speeches.   Always remember, nothing is impossible if you have hope and the knowledge and willingness to take on one problem at a time, make it well and then move on to the next. 

Eventually you'll make everything, and you, well.    


Dick Burns
http://www.liveordieburns.com/    

Stroke Rehabilitation

Stroke survivors frequently experience a variety of chronic pain syndromes resulting from stroke-induced damage to the nervous system.  Simply put, the body's well-tuned function has been interrupted and there's gong to be a reaction - and it's called pain.  In some stroke patients, pathways for sensation to the brain are interrupted causing pain in joints and limb, or with mechanical problems caused by a weakness from the stroke.  Patients who have a severely weakened or paralyzed limb commonly experience moderate to severe pain that radiates out from the shoulder, thigh, or whatever joint.  Most often, pain results from lack of movement in a joint that has been immobilized and the tendons and ligaments become fixed in a single position.  This is commonly called a frozen joint and should be gently moved over time to prevent this painful "freezing" and allow easy movement when voluntary motor strength returns.  

Sound bad? 

It can be, but the success of alleviating the pain and the accomplishment of movement and controlled action on your part will not only stop the pain but give you a great feeling of accomplishment and success.  This is where you first realize that in recovery you've got to level with the doctors, the therapists, the caregivers about the "what" and the "where"...they can figure it our and help.  And,  this is your first step in rehabilitation and recovery..

Dick Burns
http://www.liveordieburns.com/







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Stroke Rehabilitation

In medical terminology it's called sensory disturbances; in plain language it simply means the loss of the the senses, the ability to feel and to touch and sometimes even the ability to see and register thoughts.  The ability of movement, and of recognizing objects (sometimes one's own limbs), holding, coordinating.  even bodily functions like the bathroom oblutions , the toilet, often as not incontinence ...sound daunting?  It is, but it's not necessarily long-lasting and certainly not necessarily permanent.

It all depends on the type of stroke, where it occurred, what was damaged and how much the damage.  This is why the experts tell you to get to the hospital and the doctors - FAST.

There are more sensory problems including pain and we'll explore that next.  Because the pain syndrome is both hurtful and complex and deserves a hard look.  But, always remember that it's up to you with the guidance of the medical professionals 

This is what I try to explain in my book, "Live Or Die - A Stroke of Good Luck.  It's really rather simple.  You address and correct each matter, each opportunity, iu order of importance to restore "normal" function and make it and you better. 

Rehabilitation may take time, but it works.  It's the way back.