My mum had a major stroke in June 2016. She worked hard to walk again and in April 2017 she was able to live independently again with help from care visits. In April 2018 after a brilliant physio session she came home and fell. She broke her hip and had to have surgery. The impact has been severe. She’s lost her balance and cannot walk, needing two people to help her transfer. She pulls over a lot to the left and often her head is down. She also drools excessively. She did none of this prior to the fall. Has anyone else experienced this as I cannot seem to get any explanations as to why she has deteriorated so much since the fall. It’s heartbreaking to watch and she’s now back in a nursing home which she hates.
Hi Messenger
I am so sorry to hear about your mum's stroke, and subsequently falling and deteriorating. I wonder if she could be re referred to the phsyio she saw prior to her fall? Sometimes people need to build up the confidence they had prior to the stroke to be able to concentrate on their recovery, a fall can massively impact someone's confidence especially if they live alone, or in a nursing home.
Your mum's GP can refer her to alternative therapy if she is unable to see the same physiotherapist.
Sometimes posts in forums do get missed, this is something we are working on to improve better communication between users, but this does take time. Until then, you may want to repost on the main community wall, which you'll find here - https://mystrokeguide.com/social
For further support however, you may also benefit from contacting the stroke helpline where you can speak to someone who understands the effects of stroke. The helpline number is 0303 3033 100 or email info@stroke.org.uk
I hope this helps.
Take care,
Vicki
Hello Messenger,
I'm 8 years post-stroke but if I'm ever unwell, tired or have been overdoing it, my stroke affected side deteriorates - thankfully never back to how I was immediately after my stroke (when I was bed-bound) but I developed anaemia this year after a series of Urine infections. I completely collapsed at work because of it but didn't break anything. Mum sounds to have done well so far but it's worth asking the medical professionals to check that she's in good health and isn't having lacunar strokes or affected by vascular dementia, two things that can cause ongoing decline.
After any stroke, there's always a higher risk of another one, that's why it's important to keep risk factors low: blood pressure, being overweight, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
But, remember, it might just be that she is unwell in some other way - when I rest and recover I'm usually back to my stroke 'normal' pretty quickly - the anaemia took blood transfusions and surgery to fix but I'm fine now.
Good luck to you both,
Damian