Mum had a stroke, what to expect?

[prettypurpledaisy]

My Mum had a stroke yesterday on her 81st birthday, she has lost speech and is really confused plus has an erratic heart rate.

Don't know what to expect from here on in, so any advice from those of you that have been through similar would be gratefully received.

oh I'm really sorry ppd
no experience hope she gets well soon

Really sorry to hear that. From my experience (not an expert but dh had a stroke a few years ago in his 30's) the priority for the hospital will be establishing the cause of the stroke and treating appropriately, so giving heparin or warfarin if not caused by a bleed etc.

Re the speech, it is probably too early to tell what will happen there. Again hospital should get both OT and speech therapy assessments done before she is discharged. Speech therapy provision can be a bit patchy so you might need to push to get her seen as an outpatient.

The confusion I think is fairly normal for a stroke.

It is still very early days, expect lots of tests over the next few days, your mum will probably be in hospital until they ate happy with treatments etc.

I really hope that you are doing ok, it's a tough thing to deal with but my experience with inpatient stroke care was v good. Don't be afraid to ask questions, if consultant isn't around see if there is a specialist stroke nurse you can talk to. Try the stroke association online too.

Lots of luck, hope your mum makes a good recovery.

Sorry, just re-read my post, meant to say dh was pretty confused straight after his stroke too, but that did improve. It may also depend on which part of her brain was affected by the stroke.
HTH

ppd,

So sorry to hear this.What a shame.

My dad suffered from an initial stroke causing loss of speech/understanding.

Like your mum he was very confused initially but if you consider a stroke is such a major trauma to the brain this is expected.Is there a brain scan scheduled to assess damage?

Although you are probably reeling from the initial shock I would say to read the NICE guidelines and stroke care improvement as care after stroke varies so much and specialist stroke centres can offer a much better longterm outcome.

My dad had excellent care initially but unfortunately had further strokes later and the care wasn't there.It really helps to be informed and push for the right services from the NHS.

How worrying for you.Hope she starts to improve over the next few days.

Thanks for all your replies. She still appears to have no understanding of where she is or what has happened. Her speech is getting a little better, but early days yet. Off to see her again tonight and they will have a preliminary assessment ready for Wednesday, so fingers crossed.

I suppose I am worried about the long term effects, where she will live and the level of care she will need.

Thanks for the links sunandstars I will read them later on tonight.

Hi ppm, hope that your mum (and you) are doing ok. Hopefully the assessment should give you a clearer idea of what is likely to happen next.
Dh was discharged straight home after his stroke as he was not physically affected for long, he lost his r hand side but that came back quite quickly. There were people on the ward with him who were moved to a rehabilitation centre after their immediate medical needs had been met in hospital so that might be an option?

He had outpatient OT and speech therapy via Headway and we also used a private speech therapist as provision round here isn't brilliant.

Hope that you get some more info tomorrow.

Ppd, sorry. Bloody phone!

ppd sorry to hear this.

My mum had a stroke when she was 75. She spent 3 months in hospital but then went home and managed for nearly a year with home carers and someone getting the shopping.

She lived on her own and in the end she moved into a Care Home nearer to me.

Do hope you see some improvement in your mum but it can be very slow.

My mum had a stroke four years ago,when she was 74.Initially she was very confused and her speech was slurred and language all over the place.Gradually she improved and over time her speech was virtually back to normal with the odd issue where she forgets a word.She has some memory lapses,but nothing major.She also gets very tired,but as she's also hypothyroid and the main carer for my Dad,who has parkinsons,its hard to tell how much of the tiredness is due to the stroke.It takes time and physio etc,but things do improve.think in weeks and months rather than days.