Effects of Stroke

I have a colleague who had a stroke in his early 40's. He suffered some speech loss and took a while to come back about 90%. (When he had his stroke he was on a field mission and didnt have the available clot busters and other therapies that would have improved his recovery)
He still has weakness and has memory problems. BUT , hes learned to accomodate by keeping notes , thus freeing his corpus up for literature citations and jokes.

I bel;ieve in what Andy Rooney said. We take in stuff until we are about 25, then, inorder to take up something new, something old has to get dumped into a "Trash bin". Its still there but we need to develop work arounds to get at it.

I like dys because he doesnt talk about degrees or Mensa or other extraneous crap like that. We get a strait shot of him and its never augmented by uptaking links.(unless theres something funny to be gotten out of it).

My biggest problem is remembering URLs when I hear em on the radio. I should rite em down but they sound so decievingly simple that , by the time Ive reached the next exit, woosh, theyre gone and I have to backtrack about what the damn subject was even about.
Tell him to start playing sudoku, its really some good mental chin-ups. After a while, the mind begins to "rewire" its neural paths and dys will be able to recite pi to 20000 places.(Results may vary)

Diane, I just stumbled upon the fix for my dad's memory lapse. I had no idea that filling in the blanks on his calendar would also fill in the missing pieces of his memory for him.

I'm wondering if something similar might help Dys rebuild the connectors to those storage areas of his brain where the lost knowledge is located. Maybe browsing through photo albums and historical textbooks will trigger some memories so his brain can find the way back to them.

It might be something as simple as a Farmer's Almanac or Encyclopedia where a brief description will release the memories of years of study.

To start, here are a couple of book ideas if he doesn't already have them on his shelves:

The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin

http://www.amazon.com/Discoverers-Daniel-J-Boorstin/dp/0394726251

and

Outline of History (2 Volume Set) by H. G. Wells

http://www.amazon.com/Outline-History-Set-G-Wells/dp/040303082X





The full text of Wells' book is online at two locations I know of:

http://www.bartleby.com/86/

and

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/sherwood/Wells-Outline/Outline_of_History.htm

The first one is much easier for me to read onscreen. Both contain all the illustrations found in the book.

I remember reading this book over and over again as a kid. It was my introduction to history and one of many books on the family bookshelves that held my fascination.

As most know, I have had a stroke before too.

Though not to the degree Bob has. And I am lucky that mine was from something that could be pinpointed.

I had to deliver Jillian by C-section.

My doctor was a quack-ass, and claimed he had to re-cut my incision because he hit an artery.
While fixing said problem, he says it happened again, causing him to have to repair the artery in 2 places.

This caused a huge blood clot, almost the size of ping pong ball, to grow against my hip bone .

This blood clot began to , quite literally, flake away.

That is where I got my stroke from.

I am 99.999 % whole, and healthy. I know the fatigue that follows a stroke. It will stop you in your tracks no matter what you are doing. I am lucky, this is not an issue for me anymore.

The only problem I have is that I can not always recognize words, and my spelling is truly off. My choice of words do not match, and I dont always use the proper version of a word in a sentance. ( Too, to, two..) It makes sense to me when I use too instead of two , and to change them from what I THINK is correct, frustrates me.

I used to accellerate in English and spelling. Those 2 subjects carried me into college, and earned me positions next to my instructors in college assisting others with their lessons.

I was always proud of that.

Not anymore. In fact, I almost refuse to put pen to paper because there is no spell check.
I dont write letters anymore, I use email.

It isnt a huge problem, mostly just bothersome. But it was a source of pride at one point and is now 'distorted'.

My doctor told me that the best way to recall anything is to write about it.

Write pencil to paper.

Well, 2 years later, and I have only begun to follow his advice and I do see a diffrence.
Maybe.. doing that might help Bob recall things easier?

Interesting suggestions here. Farmerman, sudoku would be a good exercise.

BtrflyNet, he has the knowledge and he has access to it; he just doesn't have the immediate access that he always had before the stroke. He was reading at the age of three and, in Saudi Arabia, he was listening to the BBC on a ham radio because that's all they had access to. One reason why he is such a political junkie.

He has read all of Will Durant's historys, Bronowski's Western Intellectual Tradition and Ascent of Man. His knowledge of history is phenomenal and it is still there in that mind of his. That is why I sometimes get a little sarcastic and tell him that what he lacks basically is what many people never had. Still, it is his brain, his identity and his perspective that matters.

Shewolf, you sweetie, your writing ability is nowhere near being what anyone would consider limited. Maybe the spelling, but in no way the pictures you are able to paint with your words. Hugs to you, Bean and Mr.Wolf.

Bob was exposed to Greek philosophy at five, I think, or maybe six. I swear he still has the range of all he's read, but is not as swift at accessing it as before. Swifter than most, but constrained to himself.

Shewolfnm, I knew all that but had forgotten it. Damn, girl.

I knew dys only via the internet before the stroke and pesonally afterwards.

I'm sure, most would be glad to know as much as he does ... after he's had that stroke.


But what I do know is that many, many made the very same experiences Diane described above.


A lot more made worse experiences.

Osso and Walter, I know it helps him to know so many great a2kers in person, simply because they have a better idea of who he is.

He also knows that I threatened to kill him if he went and died on me.

I'd not like to belabor Bob's sometimes frailty except to acknowledge it, and speak of his strengths past that frailty (many, which I'll be glad to elaborate on and on.).

I'd rather describe the things I learn from him.

My father, of course, has the right to his own medical privacy, so I won't go into much detail re him. Rather, maybe, it will be of use to talk about how it's affected us.

My father has had 4 incidents, they may have been microscopic strokes or they may have been seizures. These all happened this year. The first one, my brother and I did not know about and it was only until the second that we were told by my folks. They were not keeping them from us. Rather, they thought it was nothing, just a momentary lapse. These were momentary aphasic episodes.

Over the summer, I was out of work, and it was damned lucky, as there was a third episode and by this time there was contact with Stony Brook Hospital and stent surgery was scheduled. So it was a godsend being out of work briefly, as I could come and help out. I mainly spent the time keeping my mother company and, when my Dad got home, turning the thermostat up and down so that he wouldn't have to.

The fourth episode was after I went home after the surgery and was another minor, little thing. So now, after surgery, it was unknown whether the surgery had really done anything (although it was clear he had needed it) so he ended up in a study of seizure disorders, and went to NYU Hospital for a while so that they could study him and see if they could induce an attack. One of the ways they tried to do this was by keeping him up all night one night, so he and his roommate (a 20-something guy who was also in the study) stayed up, I think they watched all the Die Hard movies. Still, no seizures, for either of them. Hmm.

So it's a holding pattern, a weird one. You don't know if something is going to happen again, but you can't live your life constantly in fear so you just do your best and see where that leads you. One thing he was told was to no longer sleep in a chair or on a couch (while sitting up with his head back), so if he is tired, he hauls himself upstairs and goes to bed. Hence it's not just a moment or two of napping, but a full-blown sleep. And he needs it. The fatigue is very real, so this kind of comes together for what he needs -- not just a quick catnap, but actual sleep.

As for any differences, there are really none that I can see, my mother sees a few things but it's hard to tell. They were here a few weeks ago and they were the same as ever. Perhaps a few memories are torn or a few fine details are hazy, but he seems the same, and I get the feeling something similar is the case with Bob. A few blurs, a few torn memory fabrics, but it's so small and so hideaway that the rest of us can't tell. Certainly they can, but neither of them should wonder about or be concerned about the rest of us seeing that. At least I know I can't. My father is my father, same as he was in 2005, and I suspect Bob is, to just about everyone, the same as he was in 2003.

For those of us who are "of a certain age", there is a realization, that from now on, it is all downhill. For people who have been independent, and secure in the knowledge that they are capable of dealing with whatever life throws at us, the realization often comes as a rude shock.

For most, that realization comes slowly...................the "brain fart", the inability to latch on the best word, the realization that what one could do twenty years ago is now difficult, if not impossible. With a stroke, the realization swiftly rushes at the person, unprepared, unprovoked, and certainly unwanted.

Years ago, Alvin Toffler wrote a book called "Future Shock". In it, he described the difficulties that people are and will be experiencing on account of the rapid changes in technology. The world today is not the world of our childhood. It is fast paced, and infinitely more complex than the world of our childhoods.

I relate the thesis presented in this book to aging in general, and physical changes, such as stroke, heart attack and dementia, in particular. We grew up, secure in our beings, and our brain power. We then realize that we are NOT the people that we used to be. For some of us, this realization can be taken in stride. For those who were endowed with a natural, native brightness, a gradually declining loss of those powers will still find us "ahead of the game".

With stroke, the change is far more dramatic. In addition to the intellectual loss, there is the understanding that our bodies, which has stood us in good stead over many decades, is not longer working properly for us, the way that it was supposed to work.

Something has gone awry, and often, our self concept goes along with it. There is always the anxiety that another incident, like a stroke or a heart attack, might render us ineligible for life, or even worse, leave us in a state of existence that we do not find acceptable. The bottom line is that, whether we like it or not, we are in less control of our minds and bodies than we were when we were younger.

In my training in rehabilitation counselling, the focus is not so much the disability, but the remaining abilities of the person. As other members have mentioned, there are little "tricks" that can be used to jog memories. For those who need them, there are places that sell assistive devices. One can have a graceful, happy older age despite the kick in the ass by Mother Nature.

Every time I become annoyed with myself over a perceived inadequacy due to an aging mind and body, I pull myself up short. I ask myself if I know anyone who is "100%". I acknowledge that there is nobody that I have ever met who has been completely spared the results of the rigors of a long life. Now if no one is "100%", how the hell do I expect myself to be? And then I am content.

It's tough, isn't it, realising we really ARE matter..."meat" if you will....and that our sense of ourself, the ineffable, seemingly eternal "me" is subject to the vagaries of bloodvessels in the brain?


I don't think we ever really believe this until it reaches up and belts us in the face.


Disturbances of body image are tough enough (the floor that becomes stickier to get up off, the hearing etc) but changes to ourselves where we live, in the brain, must be so much tougher.


With Bob's family history I wonder if this is even more significant emotionally than it is for people who have not seen serious problems in that area?

Cross word puzzles and such are supposed to be protective/helpful....


Dunno what to say except it sucks and I think it is also perfectly natural.


Of course, he knows smoking makes it worse!

There...now I'm gonna be beaten up.




((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Bob and Dianne))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

From my personal experience - and you truely get that, when you are together with a person over three days and nights in a RV - I think, dys knows better than most what to do and why he does what.

I've been reading along and wondering about this too. Like shewolf, I have nearly lost my ability to write or spell properly. Like Bob, I have a family history of progressive dementia. I can relate to how Bob and others feel about losing the ability to do something that once came naturally and I can also relate to the fear that may occasionally sneak in.

D&D - Love and hugs to you both!

Diane
Diane, I met you and Dys before his stroke and it was love at first sight. My fondest memories are of your seduction of Dys before he knew what hit him.

I've met a lot of very smart people during my long life, but Dys is, by far, the smartest---and the most caring---and the funniest. The Nun Gone Bad has good taste in men---at least this man.

Dys has an amazing intellect. When we last had dinner, he and I got into a discussion about Arab tribal culture. I mentioned that Alexander the Great learned the tribal society lesson that Bush had not. Dys immediately presented Alexander's war and his exit solution. I try not to show Dys how impressed I am out of fear his head will swell so large he won't be able to fit his head into his Stetson.

One reason I know Dys is so smart is his taste in women---or at least Diane. I also know how smart he is by the people he irritates, especially those who live in Albuquerque. He knows who they are.

BBB

Good thing he's a male.

If this had happened to him at the same time as menopause, he might never have recovered!


Honestly...I had something very insightful to say, but now I've forgotten it. Dwindling estrogen strikes again.

Eva


I'm waiting---tick tock tick tock.

BBB :wink:

BBB and Eva, we just got back from teh grocery store and I realized that I hadn't clicked the button for the post I wrote this moring. Then I see what you and Eva have written and had to laugh.

BBB, Bob has always loved good conversation with people he respects and enjoys. He can get a little obscure at times when he feels that the conversation has passed beyond any hope of palatable diologue. And yes, I did manage to lead him down the primrose path, didn't I? And at age 60 by gosh. You are also right that I have good taste in men. What you didn't mention is that my good taste didn't develop until I was 60. Hmm, what a coincidence.

Eva, you do have a way of getting right down to the heart of the matter. Your post reminded me of Gloria Steinem's essay on what society would be like if men mentruated. Hilarious. "I bled this month." "A holiday should be declared." Thank heaven he actually likes a little teasing, especially from you.

Diane
Anyone that Fred loves can't be all bad.

BBB