Rehab Exercises
Common sense prevails: the hand takes up a larger area of the brain than the foot so the faster the recovery, and what ever your tryin to do, brace yoruself so your not going to fall over.
Get an acurate 3d MRI image and work out what got hit, and then what got surgially hit. Bingo you have a starting point. See that dead stuff, now liven it up. PET scans, make the hospital do their job. Check out clinical trials for reducing brian damage and improving motor skills after the stroke: Oxygen Therapy and Scripps Clinical Trials. Other drugs can reduce Cholesterol in two weeks if you fear a recurrance. Make sure your diet is up to your many challenges, with cholesterol in mind, proteins in mind and nutrition as well as happyness.
So talk with your Doctor and make sure they are doing all they can for your benefit, not just holding out their hand and making you come back and back and back and back without benefit. Do you have the right doctor? What is their experience with Stroke patients your age? Ask before you leave hospital. It's your life we are talking about not some science experiment with all the time in the world but a human being with extremely limited resources and no transport.
They are working on blood tests to identify some strokes, so keep your Doctor on your case.
The top predictor of your recovery is apparently your walking speed... see here. Zero mobility - slow recovery, standing with balance - low fall risk etc. The faster you walk, the less rehab and assistance you will be given. The less rehab provided the faster you will lose the dole, regardless of medical certificates. Your nervous system has been shot with acid, so make sure you eat a protein rich diet whilst it regroups and recoups, but by all means get a job. The scaring on the brain can also cause neurodegenerative diseases, so take vitamins with amino acids.
So merge physiotherapy and biochemistry, and your on your way...
Your will need a wall to lean on, download here and print.
Practice - Chair - Standing one foot - Eyes closed Shuffle - Heel Toe - no hands!
Balance comes when you can lean on something safe with one finger and eyes closed. You now will need to balance every time you want to get changed, you may not have any feeling in your limbs so this will take practice. Mechanically I got off lucky, everything worked but just I couldn't feel it and the strength was long gone. To put shoes on, I now need to see they are on and kick them on firmly, and nothing is done without looking. Sensory training and stimulation. Grab a partner you can trust. get them to massage - stroke your numb areas. Get them to use different objects such as a hair brush or comb. Your skin is hypersensitive, get them to write letters on your back, or stick with numbers to start with.
You are increasing the attention to the affected area - arm foot back what ever needs it, so the brain can renegotiate the message, reconnect the broken pathways and reroute.
Failing the lack of a partner you can do the massage in the bath, assuming you can get in and out safely. Have two baths a day, this is that important, it's all about you time. You need to reprogram. This takes time. And you are allowed to enjoy it.
The gap between the mechanics and the understanding has been severed, but you can rebuild it, you've seen he bionic man, now become it. Think it and do it. Understanding will follow.
Find word puzzle books, get the brain as active as possible. Price up your garage remodel into a studio apartment so you can put boarders in the house, gain an income and take control. For me, my weakest links fell off, math and spelling, my hand on the key board wants to take the left shift and I have to concentrate lifting my left leg and watch my gait so I don't walk in circles. This is tiring, yet I can never sleep. For me, I expected to be back at work in a few weeks - crap!
The disillusionment is appalling, on all levels. Just keep working for yourself and ask for help. Get over it and ask.
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