Stroke Recovery

When should stroke rehabilitation begin?

The sooner you begin stroke rehabilitation, the more likely you are to regain lost abilities and skills. However, your doctors' first priority is to stabilize your medical condition and control life-threatening conditions. They also take measures to prevent another stroke and limit any stroke-related complications.

It's common for stroke rehabilitation to start as soon 24 to 48 hours after your stroke, during your acute hospital stay. If your medical problems continue for longer, your doctors may wait to begin your rehabilitation.

Stroke Recovery

Stroke affects everybody differently. Many stroke survivors continue to improve over a long time, sometimes over a number of years. Recovery from stroke involves making changes in the physical, social and, emotional aspects of your life. You will make changes to prevent additional strokes as well as to facilitate your life-long recovery. It is normal to feel angry, anxious or depressed after a stroke. You may feel worried about work, money and relationships, and the tiredness caused by stroke can make things worse.

Rehabilitation is about getting back to normal life and living as independent a life as possible. It involves taking an active approach to ensure that your life goes on. This can mean learning new skills or relearning old ones. It may involve adapting to new limitations and post-stroke conditions. Or it can mean finding new social, emotional, and practical support to live your best life post-stroke.

With good care and rehabilitation, there is life after stroke.

First Steps to Recovery

Treatment following a stroke usually begins with care in a hospital, called acute care. During that time you are stabilized, assessed, and a treatment plan will be developed for your recovery. An important part of the road to recovery is your return to community living after leaving the hospital. Some of you will spend time in a rehabilitation center before returning home, but many stroke survivors return directly home following their time in the hospital.

As you start on your journey to recovery it is important to maintain your safety, seek rehabilitation services and immediately reduce your risk of having another stroke.

Safety after Stroke

Moving around safely and easily is not something you may think about, until you have had a stroke. Many areas of your life will be impacted and adaptations will need to be made to be safer. For example your home can be safer by modifying your home environment to prevent accidents as you move around the house or apartment. There are many different ways to accommodate your life after stroke that will depend on your strength, ability, judgment, and support.

Home Safety

• Clear paths to the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom
• Wear nonskid shoes and avoid slick surfaces
• Remove loose carpets and runners in hallways and stairwells, or fasten them with nonskid tape to improve traction
• Install handrails for support in going up and down stairs

And most importantly, be on the safe side and don’t take chances. Listen to the advice of healthcare professionals and experienced caregivers. Regaining independence requires patience.

Bloodwork

Blood-work

If you've suffered a stroke or have had symptoms of a stroke, you need to be fully evaluated by a doctor to get the right diagnosis and treatment. In the course of evaluating a patient who is suspected of having a stroke, doctors will conduct a number of different types of blood tests as well as a physical and neurological exam and imaging tests.
Though blood tests cannot definitively diagnose a stroke, they do help give the doctor a picture of what may caused the stroke.
 
The following Blood tests are required six months after the stroke. Talk to your doctor to obtain a list of blood test that he requires from the patient.
The following was required by our doctor.

Let's talk Stroke medicine

Let’s talk Stroke medicine

The following medication was given to my mom to take but I did not have a clue as to what they do!  Let’s look at the medication more closely.

XERALTO

This medicine is a blood thinner that treats and prevents blood clots. Also lowers the risk of stroke in patients who have atrial fibrillation.

Reason to take Xeralto:

·  No regular blood monitoring.  

·  No known dietary restrictions.

·  No frequent dosage adjustments.

CILIFT

Cilift is a brand name for citalopram, an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). It is used in the treatment of depression.

Anti-depressants could help recovery after a stroke - even in patients who are not depressed, research suggests. The drugs could reduce dependence, physical disability; depression and anxiety in the first year after a stroke, according to the study published by the Cochrane Library. They could also promote the growth of new nerve cells in the brain or protect other cells damaged by stroke.

BILICOR

BILOCOR is used to treat high blood pressure and recurring angina pectoris.  Angina pectoris is a disease in which the cardiac muscles receive less oxygen than is necessary.  Lowering high blood pressure helps prevent strokes, heart attacks, and kidney problems.

CIPLA – SIMVASTATIN

Cipla - Simvastatin is used for lowering high cholesterol and triglycerides in certain patients. It is a hypolipidemic drug belonging to the class of pharmaceuticals called "statins". It is used to control hypercholesterolemia (elevated cholesterol levels) and to prevent cardiovascular disease. It is used along with an appropriate diet. It is also used to reduce the need for medical procedures to open blocked blood vessels. It is also used in certain patients to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, blood vessel blockage, or chest pain caused by angina.

PURGOXIN

It is prescribed to treat congestive heart failure, a condition where the heart battles to cope with its workload, as well as certain types of irregular heart rhythms, atrial fibrillation, to slow the heart rate in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder of the atria.

BROMAZEPAM

Bromazepam belongs to the class of mediations known as benzodiazepines. It is used for the short-term relief of symptoms of excessive anxiety. It works to reduce anxiety by affecting certain substances in the brain called neurotransmitters.