Recovery from a stroke : suggestion abou rehab possibilities - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ciccio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 09:31:40 am
content: Hello everybody.At the beginnig of september I was hospitalized because of a "light " stroke, due to a brain hemorragyI must admit that I was a lucky guy: I was thinking that an alien worm wanted to come out of my head, and I had difficulties to use my left hand..The ambulance operators understood the situation and carried me to one of the best Emergency Units in the region, where they yook good care of me.They also discoverd that my heart was too slow (42 bpm at night), and in two days I had a pace-maker implanted.After two weeks I was discharged to free all available beds for Covid emergency .Now I 'm recovering well, but I have difficulties in controlling my left hand for precise movements.I discovered that i was not capable of inserting a resistor in the PCB's holesIwas left-handed until the age of 6, when the teacher obliged me to use my right hand, so doctors define me as a Corrected left-handed, but I alwas used my left hand fra all precision operations.The Health system in Italy is passing difficult moments, so I am experiencing delays for physiatric consultations.I ask to all member to give some advice if they had a similar problem or if they know somebody who had itWhatis a feasible recovery treatment?Coming December 8 I will see a physiatrist, and program a recovery plan (if possible).Sorry for the long message. For me it is realy difficult to use a keyboard.Thank you for any suggestion and/or experience sharing .Best regards

author: andy3055
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 12:11:26 pm
content: Sorry to hear what happened to you and hope you will recover fast.Although I have no experience in this particular area, from what I have seen on various TV documentaries is that these issues can be corrected over a period of time with physical therapy. I am not sure if that is what you are planning to do. Your left hand will need a lot of "re-training" so to speak. Main thing is to take it slow but not be disheartened at the slow progress you may experience.Good luck. Keep your spirits up!

author: ciccio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 01:02:18 pm
content: Thank you very much for the response.I'm waiting for a consultation that will open my eyes and present some possible therapies,I had a preliminary conversation with one of the doctors, and she said that it could be a long road. My condition of "corrected left-hander " makes the road harder. She said that they were successful with retraining in hand writing, but I write with the right hand, thanks to my elementary school teacher.I hope that the Italian Health care System can recover quickly from the current chaos, and I'll take it easy, waiting for it to return to the excellent level it used to be classifiedWill post more information in the following weeks.After my experience, I want to suggest to all Members to have periodically checked their hearth status, including long duration"Holter" tests.I was routinely checked because of high blood pressure, but no one of the doctors never suspected of a possible bradycardia.A very capable (and I say very nice looking ) eastern European nurse discovered it by simple routine tests..The cardiologist said to my wife: that young lady maybe saved you husband's life, because she insisted on us for a review of all preceding instrumental tests.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 02:28:21 pm
content: Hi ciccio,I can probably speak with a little practical knowledge as I have a left side brain tumour which is near enough to my sensory and motor strip to affect things (I am right handed).Firstly, congratulations on successfully coming out of the other side with relatively minor symptoms, you're already winning! Secondly, September isreallyrecent in brain insult terms, you still have plenty of room for functional recovery. There is a lot of talk about brain plasticity these days and there is some truth in this. Unfortunately when you become 'of an age' , as I suspect we both are, the plastic gets a bit more like wet concrete and progress is slower, but still there.After my surgery and a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage (several years ago now) I was left with right hand coordination difficulties among other things. My right hand is still sluggish compared to my left and fumbles things a bit more. I also have some annoying tremor in both hands that gets worse with extended concentration, but I'm pretty sure that's down to anti-siezure meds.In terms of advice... Rehab tends to depend on the degree of disability - if you can no longer speak, have lost the use of your legs etc. then you get a lot. If function impairment is relatively minor then you tend to get more of a 'good enough' self help approach - which of course is as it should be with limited medical resources.Things that I have found to help me:1. Practice speed of large hand movements. The exercise that I was taught was repeating a clenched fist (with thumb inside), thumbs up, fingers extended with thumb across palm sequence. Repeat as quickly as you can without making mistakes (you will!).2. Thumb to each finger tip in turn exercise, run in both directions and concentrate on accuracy of hitting thumb tip to finger tip as accurately as possible and as fast as possible. Do the same with eyes closed.3. Touching the tip of your nose with your finger tip, from an arm fully extended position, your eyes closed. Normally this is just done with the index finger, but can be done with all fingers in turn. Be careful that you don't poke yourself in the eyewhenyou miss. Eyes closed exercises strengthen your Proprioception (body's awareness of its own position without external assistance).4. Make, or get somebody to make, a peg board with a lot of holes in a rectangular array and pegs to go in the holes. Practice putting the pegs in the holes in row order with one hand at a time. Restrain your good hand under the bench when using your bad one - it will almost certainly want to subconsciously jump in to help the bad one (curious to watch) but don't let it.4. Develop a relationship with a pet rock!Something like an interesting shaped and smooth textured beach pebble that you can get into the habit of keeping in your hand, rolling around and manipulating with your fingers when you are sitting, reading or watching TV. You might try metal 'worry balls' but the clanking will quickly annoy anybody else in the house! I also used a ceramic UVeprom with the legs cut off and filed smooth, this is trickier to flip end over end without dropping it and the feel of the window gives feedback on which side is which.5. Most importantly, do something with your hands that motivates you. In your case, as in mine, this is clearly electronics. It doesn't matter if you are clumsy and it takes you an age to get resistors populated - as I said, it's really early days and time doesn't really matter. The main thing is that it is something that you are really motivated to do. I now take about three times longer to do things than I used to, but my memory, maths and sensory sides are affected too.6. Your typing looks fine, but try to avoid it becoming one handed - keep pushing the bad one.7. An unlikely one, but might just work for you. Try doing things under optical magnification. In my case I find that doing things under a magnifier (binocular microscope) greatly improves my fine manipulation, it attenuates my clumsiness by about the same factor as the magnification. It may or may not work for you, it may just be me.With the fast hand movement and peg board exercises, if possible, ask somebody else to time you with comparison of left and right hand. Your perception of time can become distorted when working with your bad hand. Regular comparisons will give you benchmarks of improvement, which will both give you encouragement and be helpful when you see your neurologist.Lastly. Take your time and be relaxed about this process. Motivation is good, frustration and panic are definitely not! Rome (coincidentally) wasn't built in a day.I hope this helps.Chris.

author: Syntax Error
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 02:58:10 pm
content: Sorry to hear about your situation. If this is of any help to you, I know of a stroke victim who took up Tai Chi to aid his recovery. Tai Chi helped to restore both his movement and state of mind. And it was something that he could do every day at no financial cost. Rehab is all about teaching the brain to do old tasks in a new way, and the gentle movements of Tai Chi can help achieve this.Some links:https://www.flintrehab.com/tai-chi-stroke-recovery/https://www.strokemark.com/tai-chi-good-mind-also-body/https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/6/e010866Buona salute!

author: ciccio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 05:55:43 pm
content: Thank you for the suggestion. The exercises you are suggesting are similar to the tests that doctors did the first days in the hospital.I will try all of them.The neurologists were at the beginning a little worried because I made them believe that there was a little hostility by me against these tests and the series of questions they posed.They said to me that there was hostility on my side. When a a doctor asked : "tell me the name of the animal with a long neck" my answer was "ostrich", She looked at me with an interrogative expression, meaning: are you kidding? " I said: "maybe the normal answer is giraffe"..Let's see what time will carry.

author: andy3055
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 06:36:38 pm
content: Wow! Look at those pointers. This is great information.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 07:36:27 pm
content: Quote from: ciccio on November 16, 2020, 05:55:43 pmYes, I can't claim credit for a lot of the exercises (although I can probably claim the eprom and pet rock), but it's important to keep them up. Doctors like to see improvements, it makes them feel good.Getting back on balance takes a bit of time after such an event, the neurologists will be prepared for this - anyway Ostrich is a perfectly valid animal, she didn't ask you to name amammal. It shows an agile mind!Relationships with the neuro folks take a while to build up, particularly as they are watching you closely for unusual side-effects, they need to get to know you (and you, them) you will probably be seeing them for a while. I see a neuropsychologist every 1-2 years and we have great fun 'pushing the limits' with half a day of cognitive tests. Some people hate it but I find it fun and educational, and it often results in some novel specific workaround strategies.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 07:52:19 pm
content: In addition to the good advice already given: One of my family members had something similar but much worse but he has recovered quite well (given age). The key is to keep moving, keep practising and don't give up.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2020, 11:02:24 pm
content: Interesting, seems the brain may have effect on the heart causing it to slow down.https://www.clinicalcorrelations.org/2016/06/22/the-brains-effect-on-the-heart-after-a-stroke/

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 03:40:53 pm
content: I have no personal experience (thank god!) but have had a few friends who have had them. it seems normal repair and recovery lasts up to a year or more, and most of those people have pretty much recovered fully. That may be other areas of the brain taking over, or just recovery from the stroke.So, give it time!Jon

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 10:30:44 pm
content: You might want to read up on rehabilitation using physiotherapy. Your mileage will vary in terms of recovery.https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/stroke-rehabilitationThe above is an Australian website, which may (or may not) be relevant to where you live, but it has a lot of useful information.Good luck on your recovery.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2020, 11:20:00 pm
content: Watch "Forks Over Knives", which explains how a healthy diet can help heal the damage from various medical problems including heart attack and stroke. Keep in mind it mentions "Whole Foods" so many times it sounds like an ad for them, note that you don't necessarily have to buy from them for the advice to work. (It was also prior to Whole Foods being bought by Amazon, when the quality was presumably better.)

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2020, 10:45:47 pm
content: Quote from: NiHaoMike on November 18, 2020, 11:20:00 pmI think you have to rephrase that: just make sure to eat healthy. I'm starting to get the feeling & being baffled that a lot of people have no clue on how to eat healthy. And I don't mean going from one 'super food' to the other but just basic knowledge similar to knowing how to wipe your ass after taking a dump.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2020, 04:27:59 am
content: Wow, isn't it great to get so many responses, (I'm jealous, a bit ). But, of course, not TOO jealous (lol).If you can access a swimming / wading pool, with a professional therapist monitoring, that's something I've heard is used.Mentally, to keep your spirits up, as we are sometimes gloomy in winter, keep remembering, the winter solstice is point where daytime starts getting longer, so that's in about 2 weeks! Myself, I have moreworries, when daylight is short.It might not sound very professional, but pay attention to your chair, and posture. That also means to stay fresh and limber, (instead of slumping in front of a long movie). Act like a salesman, good posture, upbeat presentation of yourself.I do a limber- up routine, a formal list of an 8 minute set. Try this:. Put a big digital clock in front of you, and settle in chair. Now, here is my list, everything is balanced (as in one minute right side / one minute left side).SET LIST:MINUTE. ACTION2. Gentle twist to left grab and hold chair arm.3. repeat to the right4. Now twist to left again5. repeat, twisting to right6. and 7. gentle twist to left, and hold8. and 9. same twist to right, and holdNow, you can see the balance there, and as long as your doctor does not object. In that ten minute bubble you get 4 total minutes of limber up on each side, plus two minutes rest, get a sip water, and maybe do another set, when clock gets to 3:22 or whatever. Just use the first digit to keep your left and right equal.You would be surprised how effective such low impact 'training' can be. I mean: When was last time you spent a dedicated 20 minutes ?If you want: Send me a personal note with questions.We all like to help, there ! Thanks, Rick B.