Do you know anyone who's had a stroke?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
March 14, 2009 5:08pm CST
I've never known anyone to have a stroke until now. Last week the property manager had one! Her son is the head maintenance guy of the community, and he was over that day because all my drains were clogged. He hadn't quite begun working on my drains yet when he came to tell me his mother had a stroke and had to be taken to the hospital. He stayed though and got my drains fixed. I hadn't been able to ask about his mother since then because he was very busy all week trying to keep up with his own job, and cover hers as well.
Well, my home is right behind the office, and yesterday as I was pulling out to go do my grocery shopping, I saw her. I pulled up to ask how she was doing. Her speach was not normal. She was stuttering a bit and talking very slowly.
She did tell me though that she would be back to work on Monday. She also said she'd had a stroke back in 2006 and it was worse than this one!
I don't know a whole lot about strokes since I've never known anyone to have one before. I wonder if her speach will ever improve, or is she going to stutter and talk very slowly for the rest of her life? I assume that if her previous stroke was worse than this one, then that means she had these speach problems before, and eventually overcame them.
Who do you know that has had a stroke? How did it affect them?
3 people like this
7 responses
@TnWoman (1895)
• United States
14 Mar 09
hello katsmeow
i am so sorry to hear about that lady that you know of who had the stroke like she did. but yes i do know somebody who has had a stroke before and it was my Dad. he took early retirement from work and as soon as he did, he had a stroke that parallazied his whole left side. and it slurred his speach as well as well as left him not wanting to walk correctly either. after my Dad had his stroke, he went from a wheelchair, to a walker, to a cane, and then on his own again. he also had speech therapists visit him at home twice or three times a week and worked with him to get him to speak correctly again. this past January, my Dad was hospitalized we thought with a mini stroke and the doctor's had even thought so as well, but come to find out after test after test that they have done on him since then, he has suffered from nerve damage. so how that happened, i haven't any idea. he has speach therapists coming out to visit him again and also home health nurses but he is on the road to recovery from the nerve damage. i hope that the lady that you know of that had that stroke makes a full recovery.
take care and have a beautiful afternoon.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
14 Mar 09
Sorry to hear about the problems your dad is having, but glad he's working on getting better!
1 person likes this
@laglen (19759)
• United States
15 Mar 09
Strokes affect muscles. She will improve on her speech but will most likely not be perfect. I have been a round a lot of people that have had strokes. It s awful but a lot of people pull through. However, a lot of people die from this as well. Some people can have big ones, little ones, some people even have them and don't know it.
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
14 Mar 09
I think it depends on what part of the brain was affected by the stroke. I can not say off the top of my head that I have ever interacted with someone who has had a stroke. I think that if there is a speech impairment, it sometimes gets better. Remember, she just recently had the stroke.
Hope she gets better soon.
1 person likes this
@rocketj1 (6955)
• United States
15 Mar 09
My father in law has had several mini strokes in the last year. He had numbness in his face at the time. Didn't know what was happening until early stages of dementia set in and then it was shown on an MRI. He has mainly been dealing with dementia since. He is generally in good health other than going down hill with his memory. Very sad.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
15 Mar 09
I'm sorry to hear that, it must be difficult on everyone.
1 person likes this
@au_dawn (76)
• Philippines
15 Mar 09
I haven't really had the experience of seeing someone I know suffer from stroke but I have seen a lot of people who suffered from stroke as I worked with those people in rehabilitation department.
Depending on which part of the brain is affected, stroke can manifest as difficulty in moving one side of the body due to weakness or sensory problems, difficulty in communicating with others or even difficulty in swallowing, difficulty in recalling information, and difficulty in regulating emotions.
I remember handling a patient who had had problems with his speech before. He improved after two months of doing speech activities repeatedly. He was not able to speak 100% like he used but his speech is more comprehensible than it is after his stroke attack.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
15 Mar 09
Oh yes, a whole lot of people had stroke in Singapore. In terms of cancer rates and strokes, we are among the highest in the world. Everywhere you go, you hear people talking about so-and-so diagnosed with cancer, so-and-so recovering from stroke.
Your property manager has a minor stroke. She has to control her diet and exercise more.
Once we were in the medical hall, and one middle-aged woman walked in. She was here to get medical for her high blood pressure. She started to complain how stressful to take care of her husband who suffered a stroke before the age of 40. Her husband suffered a major stroke, bedridden forever, unable to feed himself, can utter some sounds as a form of communication.
Usually stroke patients don't have it so bad at such a young age.
I guess life in Singapore is really stressful, plus the food is cheap and rich. And we do not exercise enough. All these are contributing factors.
1 person likes this
@tjades (3590)
• Jamaica
15 Mar 09
I have seen people who suffer from a stroke before. Most times its their left side which seems to be affected. It distorts their face somewhat and the entire left side becomes nearly paralysed and they have to learn to use this side of their body plus speak properly all over again.
I have two cousins three and fourteen years old who both got a stroke. The three year old got hers from birth due to the stress her mother was experiencing at the time. Her left side is affected and she as to go to therapy to try to properly mobilise and use her left hand and foot. She is one little ball of energy though and most times its hard to remember she has those impediments.
The fourteen year old who is her sister suffers from sickle cell and recently had a minor stroke as a result of her condition. Thankfully she did lose the use of any side of her body. Both girls are so full of life that they just do not seem ill most of the time.
