Q: After your loved one is released from the hospital, it will be up to you to know the medications and therapies needed by the stroke survivor. This is an important role, and one that should not be taken lightly. It will greatly benefit your loved one's health if you help her maintain a schedule for medicine and therapy. List all medications and times when the patient will take them. Make sure your loved one does not run out of any necessary medicine. Planning ahead is very important to avoid delays in therapy. Understand the side effects of any medications prescribed to your loved one. Be on the lookout for any of these side effects. Discuss the administration of your loved one's medicines with her doctor. Recognize if the medicine should be administered orally or if it should be crushed in food. Know if it should be taken with food or on an empty stomach. Adherence to doctor's appointments should also be followed to ensure that any problems that may occur during rehabilitation are managed early. This will help to prevent complications of delayed treatment. You will likely need to remind your loved one of the appointment and arrange a ride for them to the clinic. Make keeping track of your loved one's medication and therapy easy on yourself by writing notes or setting alarms on your phone. Look for apps designed to remind you when to administer medication and utilize planners and calendars that are prominently displayed. Forgive yourself if you make a mistake. If you are late giving a pill or going to a therapy session, don't beat yourself up. Feeling guilty will not benefit your loved one nor yourself. It's wise to attend at least one therapy session in order to become better acquainted with exercises and activities that the stroke survivor must practice at home. While the therapist is performing the exercise with the stroke survivor, try also doing it with him. Having the therapist present while learning the exercises is helpful. The therapist can correct or help you improve how you help the stroke survivor during therapy exercises. Knowing the goal of rehabilitation (that is, the expected outcome or outcomes) will help you better understand the time frame of rehabilitation and the progress that is being made. It can also help you push the patient further in performing her therapy exercises. Encourage your loved one not to quit on her therapy goals. Rehabilitation after a stroke can be very difficult, and it is important that you encourage your loved one to keep striving toward her goals. Oftentimes, gains in abilities can take up to six months to one year after a stroke. It is very important to partake in therapy routinely to continue to progress forward. Recognize any improvements and address non-improvement too. If your loved one is not improving after a long time in rehabilitation, speak with the doctor or therapist about adjusting the therapy regimen. There are several situations during your loved one's rehab where you may need to make a special trip to the doctor. Especially during rehabilitation, when your loved one is pushing his body to recover from a serious brain injury, it is important to keep a vigilant eye on his health. Do not ignore any falls. Falls are quite common during rehabilitation. The falls can cause further damage to the patient and worsen the condition. The patient should be taken to the hospital for a medical checkup in the case of a fall so that all serious medical issues can be ruled out. Remember that your loved one is at an increased risk of suffering from another stroke within a year of his first stroke. Know the warning signs of a stroke and know who to call if you see your loved one experiencing any of these warning signs, including: Face drooping Arm weakness Speech difficulty Sudden numbness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
A: Memorize your loved one's medication and therapy program. Acquaint yourself with therapy exercises and activities. Know the rehabilitation goals made by the therapist and the stroke survivor. Know when to call the doctor.

Q: It's easy to become lost in your own little world with someone that you have feelings for, but if you're trying to hide your feelings, it's best if you avoid spending time alone together where situations are more likely to make it hard to hide how you feel. Spending time alone will only cause your feelings to grow and create more opportunities for you to accidentally give yourself away-- a hug that lingers too long, a brush of the hands that leads to hand-holding, or a gaze into his or her eyes that says more than you meant to say. Keeping other friends nearby can give you a way to avoid those tempting scenarios and also keep your affection from growing. If you typically spend time alone with this person, avoid setting off any alarm bells in their mind by gradually shifting to more group-oriented get togethers. For example, if you usually grab drinks after work together, arrange beforehand for another mutual friend to meet up with the you at a particular location. That way, when the object of your feelings asks if you want to grab a drink, you can say that you already have plans but he or she is welcome to join. Don't try to impress them or show off too much for them. It shows that you're looking for attention and most people will figure out why. Similarly, don't go out of your way to run errands or do favors for your friend. It might be easy to go overboard with helpful favors since you really like this person and care for his or her well-being, but it will be obvious that your feelings are not what they were before if you start acting in new ways. Try to notice their flaws or things about them that you don't find attractive or sexy. We often tend to elevate people we like to a superhuman status and forget that they have flaws and failures just like everyone else. Try to think of them as a sibling. If a relationship with this person is just not possible (for instance, you're gay and they are not, or they are married), the best thing you can do is re-frame how you view the person so that he or she is off-limits to you, too, instead of just the other way around. If the feelings have gotten too strong and you feel you can't hide them any longer, you may have to reduce the amount of time you spend with them or cut out your relationship altogether. For example, if your friend is married or in a serious relationship, and you cannot stop thinking about them romantically and you are afraid you are going to try to act on your feelings, it might be better for both of you to lose a friendship than for your friend to lose their marriage.
A:
Avoid one-on-one time. Act normal. See them in a new light. Avoid them if you must.