Hi Everyone, Its my very first post so please be gentle!
My Stepmum had a stroke 10 days before Christmas Day and has been in hospital ever since. She’s 74yo and before the stroke she was very independant in her life and hardly ever asked for help with anything.
The stroke has come as a huge shock (for her obviously) but also for me, my sister and our families. She doesn’t have birth children and has lived alone since the death of my father 22 years ago.
On the day of the stroke, even though she had the mouth droop and severe mobility issues, we were able to make out what she was saying, she seemed to also be unaffected in her thought processes and awareness of what was going on.
However, 14 days on, I am seeing a downhill slide in her. She is looking very frail, her speech is almost incoherant and she is extremely sleepy and dispondant.
S&L quickly determind that her swallow reflex was badly affected and she has been on a nasal feed since day 2. I know this is getting her down.
I guess my question is do Stroke survivors sometimes get worse before they get better?
At the family meeting all of the professionals seemed to be pleased with her and said she has the ability to rehab to the point of going home.
Every time I see her I feel so upset afterwards.
Any advise would be welcome, Thank you
@WilburDonut welcome to the forum but sorry to hear about your step mum.
I think it is very possible to go backwards before moving forward so I wouldn’t be too concerned at this stage; especially as the drs seem content. Not being able to eat properly will make her more frail & the exhaustion that a stroke can bring on is likely to be affecting her too. As will spending a lot of time in bed (if she is).
There is much hope from what you’ve said. Patience is a big part of stroke recovery.
Wishing you all the best.
Ann xx
Sorry to hear this, but do try to trust the professionals. She has only just had her stroke so will look and feel terrible. However, things do improve.in the early days most of us are ‘out of it’ because the brain is in shock and has to make new pathways to affected parts. This will take time and is always slower than we and our relatives would like.