Does anyone here have family, or friends that have

[Deneb]

Recently (the week before X-mas) my grandmother, took on a series of mini-strokes. Then on X-mas eve, she took on a big one, that paralyzed her left side.

She's been in the hospital (well they transfered her to a rehabilitation hospital) since, and is slowly regaining, a small degree of movement.

It's particularly hard for me to be there, because I didn't really see her at home. My uncles make me not want to go over to my grams. Both are wastes, that leech off of my gram, and do nothing to help her. So I don't really go over. I heard this news, and I've basically been to see her every day.

It's been really hard for me to be there, because it's sad seeing her in not so good shape, but I've been trying to help her. I walk her through the building (well I push her chair) and talk to her about things. She's getting discouraged, that things are taking so long to get better, and tonight she was upset about medicare and medicaid. Basically, she's afraid they are going to put her out, before she can get all the therapy she needs.

She's in a bad way now, I mean, she is alive, and semi-moving the left side, but it's like, labored movement. To move the arm, the whole upper body moves, to move the leg, the whole lower body moves, and it's not a very far movement.

Does anyone else have some experience with these things? I really want to be there for my grandmother, but I don't want to be filling her up with my problems, because she doesn't need to hear that now. Basically, I'm coming here to vent.

Pap died in November (it's not my grams husband, it was my friend that dieds pap. Him and I considered each other family, even after Eric died) of lung and brain cancer.

My gram had these strokes.

Money isn't an issue for me, I've got what I need, and my bills are paid, but 4000$ for a new furnace didn't make me happy.


There's some other crap that is going on that bothers me immensely. It's hard to keep a smile, with a lot of bullshit going on. I just want to be able to help my gram, so I don't want to tell her this shit, especially with what's going on. I mean, a lot of shit, while it affects me directly, doesn't affect me. At the end of the day, I've got my health, and a roof over my head, but dammit, I don't like seeing the people around me suffer at all.

Just venting guys, a question turned into a vent. I guess thank you for the internet. It's a little easier to vent, when only some of the people here, know me online at all, and to the rest, I'm a stranger.

[wulfe13]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that have

We're always here for venting bro! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I think if she has any movement at all, that's got to be a good sign. My Grandfather died in 1977 from a heat stroke. I'm not sure how similar strokes can be but I believe that if she's got even the slightest movement then there's hope. I hope she gets better soon. Just try to keep her spirits up.

[horns666]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that have

Sorry to hear this man...I hope she gets better..

Life is a rollercoaster..you're at the top...then you go 100mph into a double helix loop of poop..

Venting...what is that..?? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[neilli]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that have

That sucks. I know that folks can gradually improve from a stroke, but it can take a long time for just a small improvement. My gran had a minor stroke a couple of weeks ago, but it was a minor bleed rather than a clot, so recovery is apparently much quicker....

[dg]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that have

Deneb, I'm really sorry to hear this. You're already doing the most important thing, which is being there to show you care. I've had a little experience with family members who've had strokes, & what I learned was that the biggest help I could be was to provide a little morale boost. Another thing you can do is to get to know the staff at the facility. It really seems to me that they give better care when they know that family members are taking an active interest, and the better you know them the smoother it goes if problems arise & need to be corrected. One thing I learned when dealing with doctors & staff is to stay positive & try not to get argumentative, but be firm when necessary.

Since the stroke is affecting her left side, the damage to the brain occurred on the right. There are some specific things to look out for depending on which side of the brain the stroke is on. This link has some good info about stroke on the right side, and things you can do to help:

http://caregiver-information.com/Str...ain_stroke.htm


It's a very hard thing to deal with, and I wish you & your grandmother the best!

[Soap]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that

[ QUOTE ]
Life is a rollercoaster..you're at the top...then you go 100mph into a double helix loop of poop..

[/ QUOTE ]
Bill, my friend, your description of lifes journey...you nailed it, so true so true.

Yeah, any movement with stroke victims is always a major plus a very good thing. If she is little by little regaining movement shes gonna pull through. Its just a long rehabilitating process and this is where patiences kicks in.
Hang in there.

[blindmuddy]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that

It's crazy shit but somehow we make it thru stuff like this. When my twins were born my wife had an aneurysm burst in her brain which caused a stroke. Then it was quite a while til we knew how well she was going to do. She was lucky to survive the aneurysm and just as lucky to survive the surgery then it was wait and see as to how much better she would get. We were really fortunate that she made pretty close to a full recovery.
Just being there is sometimes the best you can do. Hopefully you have alot of support cause I don't know what I would've done without it.
And I know how hard it can be not wanting to kill certain relatives while this shit is going on. I was close to hanging her mom who was planning out how SHE was going to raise my kids when she'd already done a shitty job with her own! Hang in there for her sake and you'll be glad you did and one way or another it'll work out.
Chris

[guitarsjb]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that

My husband had a stroke 8 years ago. He still hasn't fully recovered. He was affected on his left side. Most people can't tell he had a stroke, but if you are aware of it, you can tell his left foot still scrapes the ground a bit as he walks, and he can't write legibly (sp?). He always had bad handwriting, but now it's worse than doctor bad. He's alive, that's all I care about. It was the most terrifying time of my life. I worry about him every single day. If your grandma is making even SMALL progress, it's a great sign. Just be there for her, and encourage her movements, and help her "work out" a bit if you can. You guys are in my thoughts.

[jjw]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that

My grandmother(died a few years back)had a stroke when she was young(30ish) and had pionering head surgery and was lucky/fit enough to get on with life normaly with no side efects(apart from seeing ghosts!!lol)in her mid/late 50's she had a series of strokes that robbed her of her mobility and reality-i was in my early 20's then and she changed a hell of a lot,luckly my granfather was there to care for her untill the endhe lasted a few years till the big C suddenly apeared out of nowhere during a normaly hospital checkup and was dead within weeks over christmas and buried on my birthday.In a way i am glad my grandfather went so quick as it would have been too painfull to watch him slowly ebb away over the years like my grandmother.Still miss them both and christmas is never the same,but we all have to go some time mate.Some people also handle these situations worse/better than we do,bear that in mind and good luck with the future

[Deneb]

Re: Does anyone here have family, or friends that

Thank you for your kind words