Severe stroke

[shallIswim]

My mum has had a massive stroke. Can anyone hop on board and hold my hand and give me honest opinions on what we face? The doctors seem to be running away from me.
She was the secondary carer for my dad who has a live in carer so me and sister are also dealing with that.
Mum has lost all movement diwn her left side, is hallucinating and has no speech. Can't be sure but I think she may be incintinent now. On level 4 foods.
What chance is there if any recovery from any of this?
She's 80

My mum was similar, my heart goes out to you, it was horrible to see.

I cannot give you a good news story but mum did make a sort of recovery, she could speak lucidly at times and be the old mum now and then.
But every stroke/patient is different, demand answers from your Doctors, they wont have them all because its not a certain science but don't let them push you away.

I hope your mum gets better, many on my mums ward did, from some quite severe strokes.

Thank you x
My mum will be awful with a partial recovery. She still feels life owes her something. I think what's worse too is the knowledge that this was preventable if she'd taken the flippin tablets she'd been prescribed

Sorry to hear about your Mum. In terms of recovery, it really depends on so many things so that might be why the doctors aren't saying anything - they might not actually know!

The cause of the stroke, what type - a bleed or a clot - how soon she was treated, how her previous health was, her motivation to engage in any rehab, and just pure luck all play a part in how she might recover.

Good luck to you all x

Update. Her hallucinations are getting worse. Awful.
No one tells you this is what a stroke does. The public info stuff just shows a dropped face. The number of people who've breezily asked 'oh has her face dropped?' I want to scream at them how very much it is. So much worse. Life changed in a literal heartbeat

So sorry to hear this.
How are you getting on with the doctors? hopefully a bit more support.

fwiw my mum went through a stage of hallucinations but these reduced as the brain healed/new connections made, at this point she went to a community hospital which was a much nicer setting and we could spend far more time with mum.

Yes your correct, the FACE campaign is so limiting, strokes can have such serious effects but people can recover from these and make a good recover, you should be getting some information on this, any scans can tell the doctors a great deal.

Thanks @jasjas1973. Kind, wise words.
And @Sheepareawesome yeah I know you're right. But if they don't know I'd rather they said that. I find the avoiding eye contact and scuttling away behavior most odd.

So sorry your going through this, both my grandparents (grandfathers both side) has strokes, one was 94 and sadly he never recovered and passed away a few weeks later, he just gave up and I don’t think he wanted to go through attempting to recover, he refused physio and eventually refused food. My other grandad had what appeared to be a big stroke, I was the one who called the ambulance, but within a few hours of being in hospital his symptoms appeared to reverse without any real treatment (other than aspirin), he recovered but died a year later of cancer.

I would have thought at the age of 80 if your mum is otherwise in good health she has a chance or recovery but it depends on what damage has been done. Don’t give up hope as strokes effect people differently.

Update. Two weeks on and she's in the local rehab unit. They are short staffed tho so she isn't getting physio every day. Still paralysed down left side. Only glimmer is she's moved from level 4 purée food up to level 5 (normal diet is level 7).
Seems paranoid.
Feels like we're in a black hole tbh.

Every stroke is different. MIL wasn't expected to survive more than a few days. 6 years on she is still here but paralysed, no verbal communication - spoken written or reading, incontinent and epileptic. Will never be better than level 4 goods. Her friend who had a stroke not long before is driving though weak on one side and has slightly slurred speech.

@countrygirl99

Every stroke is different. MIL wasn't expected to survive more than a few days. 6 years on she is still here but paralysed, no verbal communication - spoken written or reading, incontinent and epileptic. Will never be better than level 4 goods. Her friend who had a stroke not long before is driving though weak on one side and has slightly slurred speech.

That's sounds awful for your MiL, and described my worst fears for mum. I took level 5 foods as a big win when I was told despite the paralysis in the left side

Stroke is just a horrific disease. I lost my otherwise healthy and fantastic 67 year old dad to it in February :( the worst time of my life, just how quickly it took him (they removed the clot, he made a full recovery and then two days after the initial stroke he had a massive bleed and died).

I did so much research in those two days and it really is just so individual. Getting on top of therapy very quickly is critical. Don’t let much time linger. Though with my dad we do wonder if they pushed him too hard in a those couple of days and caused a spike in blood pressure and the bleed. Who knows. It’s murky. From my experience you’ll have to be your mums advocate in getting her therapy quickly.

Best of luck. It’s a terrible time.