Diagnosis

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JLH
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Diagnosis

Post by JLH »

Diagnosis is amyloid angiopathy. She had a little of her peripheral vision in one eye return. They will do a brain angiogram on Tues. to see if there is a tumor or anything else.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.

LDN July 18, 2014

Joan
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Gloria
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Post by Gloria »

It's promising that some peripheral vision in one eye has returned. I hope the improvements continue.

Gloria
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JLH
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Post by JLH »

Thanks, Gloria.

My brother is more pessimistic than my daughter is. He thinks the aphasia is pretty bad. She has remembered things though like a hair appointment that she needed to cancel and that her birthday is today.

Margo said that in one sentence, Jill used the word cellphone for every noun. :sad:
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.

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Joan
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Post by JFR »

Joan,

Recovery from stroke is measured in months not days. I suspect that it is hard to predict how much speech she will recover. Some people recover completely. I don't think that its time yet for pessimism.

Jean
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sunny
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Post by sunny »

Joan, this is from personal experience....
don't give up! Be careful listening to docs who are negative. When my husband had a massive stroke in 2009, they told us he would never speak or walk again. Today he walks, speaks remarkably well, and looks like the old Doug!
It tooks months for him to remember family names or who they were when they visited.
My daughter made flash cards with all the kids & grand kids names & pictures...flash cards with NFL teams & colors. You can help her by little things...keeping positive, help her ember things, tell her it's a process that takes TIME!

Our friend from another state came to the hospital & helped us know what to ask for....push for Intensive Therapy....tell doctors & nurses each small sign of improvement. We didn't know about this therapy. He was there in therapy for a month as they worked on helping him come back.

At one point the doctor suggested did we want to resuscitate? I was devastated... She was so wrong! Yes, it's hard to keep up your hope, but don't give up!! After a stroke, the patient wants to sleep all the time...it's ok, that's how the brain heals. Don't let others insist that she "perform!"
Doug still sleeps a lot. He has healed on his schedule...but he has healed so much.
"It is very difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. "
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Post by Thumbs »

I have been working with the Elderly/Sick for 10 years or so.. many of our patients have had a stroke. Therapy is very important and you should push for it in the beginning. We have rehabilitated many people, some years after the stroke but you can get better results with faster therapy. Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy. They can recover although it may not be 100 percent but you will be amazed at how far she will be able to get. Keep your spirits up.
JLH
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Post by JLH »

Thanks all, I appreciate your comments.

Jill sat on the edge of the bed yesterday and ate her lunch in a chair. I got to wish her Happy Birthday. My brother woke her up to talk to me because the nurse was going to do an assessment shortly. Jill was unintelligible but Tom assured me she could talk. She still has aphasia.

Jill may get to go to in-patient therapy at Rusk today the nurses told my brother!

http://rusk.med.nyu.edu/

YES, Sunny, my friend pointed me to this! http://www.nbcnews.com/health/good-nigh ... 8C11413186
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.

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Joan
JLH
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Jill Oct. 22

Post by JLH »

She is going to go to in-patient rehab tomorrow. Tom reports that she is walking with people at her side. Cognition is lots better. She's more talkative and more like herself.

We both talked to her briefly. She sounded very good. :grin:
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.

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Joan
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Post by lorimoose »

Joan,

This sounds like great news! I am so happy your sister is doing better.

Lori
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Lesley
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Post by Lesley »

Joan, I am a geriatric OT with a specialty in brain injury, specifically stroke.
It is WAY too early to make any predictions. Still, I would venture a small one here - she is so few days post and she is already showing improvements so you can be hopeful.
I have had patients who came back for treatment after 5 years because they were showing signs of improvement after a long period of stagnation.

The brain is a marvelous thing. I wish I had one! :roll:
JLH
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Post by JLH »

Me, too, Lesley.

Jill's doctor said she could go home in a week to ten days! My brother will stay with her. He reports that she is having problems with letters and numbers. She can count to 10 but doesn't know the numeral 10. She still has aphasia and some memory problems
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.

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Joan
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Gloria
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Post by Gloria »

Great news, Joan! How wonderful that your brother will stay with her. He sound's like he's determined to help her improve. Please keep us updated on her progress.

Gloria
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