My boyfriend age 52 is into his fifth week of recovery from left frontal bleed and craniotomy removal of his AVM. Paralysis one the right side. He is walking with a cane, still very unsteady. His right arm still has no movement and can’t even move his fingers. I work with him doing flash cards for his speech and am seeing some improvement. He can repeat a short sentence but cannot get one out on his own.
Has anyone shown full recovery from these symptoms?
Deb
All I can say is that everyone is different. I had my bleed in December, 2002 and my craniotomy to cure my AVM in February 2003. The problems I've had as a result of my bleed/surgery are cognitive and short term memory and some loss of peripheral vision. I noticed a great deal of improvement for the first two years, however, my improvement still continues... My personal opinion is that one will continue to improve if they continue to "push" themselves :) Good luck to you and your boyfriend :)
I'm sure someone has shown full recovery from these symptoms but there's no telling what level of recovery your boyfriend will achieve. My daughter had two bleeds while her AVM was still active and while she's come a long way, she's reached a place where we now deal with "the new normal", which means she has a lot of permanent "deficits" that we all work with.
In terms of recovery period, 5 weeks is relatively "soon" on the path of recovery. A friend of ours had a bleed in her "speech center" (I forget what area that is) and she was unable to speak for several months. She essentially had to learn how to speak again but today you'd just think she had a VERY slight speech impediment as she occasionally has to search for a word.
The fact that he's walking and talking is fantastic and I hope there is a lot more progress...but it will be very slow. Thank you for all you do for him.
Have you read the book “My Stroke of Insight”? It may be of some encouragement to you…mainly to keep on working on getting better, believing that it is possible to have improvement for many years to come.
This sight has encouraged me too that many people have continued to have improvement for a long time.
My thought is that some people give up and stop working and then settle for where they are and stay there forever.
There is a stroke magazine I read in the hospital with my husband of 53…it was the testimony of a lady who was helping her husband overcome asphasia …maybe you could do a search for stroke magazine and find that article. She was doing puzzles, and so forth to help him.
I am just giving ideas, my husband is not walking or talking yet, and still unable to move anything but his hands and feet, and slightly move his head…but these have given me hope to keep working with him and hoping for improvement day by day.
Hi - yes, I had a brain bleed, had a crainiectomy(like a crainiotomy but the skull bone piece isn’t replaced-long story: they had to shunt my brain, too, due to swelling), and then was in a coma for a few weeks.
When I came to, I was what’s called locked-in, where I was fully paralyzed; however, my brain worked, and I communicated by yeses/nos by blinking my eyes. After a couple of weeks and a lot of work, I regained movement in a lot of places, still, my left side, including my left vocal cord remained paralyzed where I wasn’t able to speak, and I used an alphabet board, pointing to letters to let others know what I was “saying”.
A good friend of mine helped me to achieve vocalization with some flash cards that she had from a linguistic class she took previously, plus over six speech therapists helped me regain and practice my breath and speech, plus many of my other friends including my then-boyfriend and family helped me. It took a lot of trying, practice, and work just to utter one word.
I’m in no way speaking as I did prior to my bleed and coma, but I can speak in complete sentences now. Even if some people can’t understand me - I sometimes get that awkward pause or someone will ask me to repeat something and they still can’t understand it, I’ll take it. I’m able to be patient with myself for many reasons; a big reason is that I know how frustrating in was to communicate by blinking my eyes and with an alphabet board.
As someone already mentioned, I’m still improving, although now after five years, improvement is much slower and the step-backs/down-sides are more apparent to me.
I have left hemi-paresis after my bleed on 2004. The doctors will not do a craniotomy or craniectomy due to the location and size of my AVM. It sits within centimeters (if that) of the motor strip. I can walk with an ankle brace and even without sometimes even rho it could be unsafe as my ankle could roll and I could break it not realizing how bad I hurt myself.I went through ALL of the therapies and physical and some even after I got to come home. 6 months is still a very hard time. Some days (almost) 10 years can be rough.don’t give up. The more he uses his appendages and strengthens them, the more he tries to talk, the better chance he has of regaining his motor and speech skills.
You have to keep trying even while the brain struggles to put itself back in order. Its amazing the way the brain will reroute to manage the things we try hard enough for.
Just remember that 6 months is still early. I know it seems like forever but its the blink of an eye along this type of journey.
Sorry for my typos. I’m not quite awake yet. I also realized I mixed the length of time in your post with someone else’s.
5 weeks in the hospital I was still walking in between balance bars at the hospital and trying not to fall because I couldn’t correct my weight distribution due to not feeling my entire left side. I was also still practicing picking things up with my left hand, buttoning, and tying.
It takes time and patience but you’ll both get to a place where you learn to adapt & move on to the next phase.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Deb, I have aphasia, as well. My AVM bleed was on my left temporal lobe, therefore I had a craniotomy. I believe my aphasia has improved somewhat, but it has been 6 years and I think it is probably good as it will get. When I try to read, I can read a short sentence and then have a problem. What I do is copy and post on Word and then put a line in between the sentences...then I can read it.
What helps me on the computer is that I type things on Word, which has Spell Check, so I can fix what I spell incorrectly. The Network doesn't have Spell Check, so at times I write it on Word and then copy and post here. I haven't done this with this reply...so it will get better in time for your boyfriend.
There is a sub-group on the Network "Aphasia" so you can discuse with that group as well.
my experience has been: 1. my speech has improved quite a bit since i had a rupture 18 months ago. the first 4-5 weeks i couldn't utter a word if my life depended on it. i still have problems with my speech but not as bad. 2. my walking/balance were at the high end to return. i was able to progress faster than my counterparts. 3. my OT has been the one to give me more grief. i've improved with fine motor movements but i still have problems smearing peanut butter on bread, washing dishes and so forth. i used to wake up in the morning in rehab, look at my right hand and think, "maybe tomorrow it'll move". one day, it moved!
don't give up! i hope tomorrow everything'll be better. keeping you all in my prayers.
Thanks Michelle, I don’t believe in plateaus. And hope he will continue to regain what he has lost. Glad you are doing better and still improving.
Deb
Thanks for your reply and positive thoughts. It just has to be so hard to be stuck in your own head. I tell him it’s just temporary so he doesn’t get too frustrated.
Thank you Mary. I will look into the book. I also agree to never stop working at recovery. We will not settle for a plateau.
My best wishes for your husband. He is lucking to have you as his cheerleader.
Deb
Julie. Sound like you have come a long way with your recovery. You should be very proud of where you are now. Don’t let any down side outweigh so much of the over coming upsides.
Deb
Thank you Melissa. Also thanks for reminding me about the ankle brace. They did fit him for one but I haven’t seen him wear it at home. I just reminded his son to have him use it. Never thought about the twisting of his ankle. I was thinking more about the knee collapsing, which he seems to be ok with. Such simple things that you don’t think about
Deb
Louisa, thanks for the reply. I didn’t know about the Aphasia sub group here. I will check it out. Please don’t stop working at it. I am glad that you have improved significantly. That tells me a lot.
Deb
Thanks for the reply. I am worried about his right arm never moving. So glad that yours did and that gives me great hope. We take simple things for granted using both hands. Like tying, buttoning, washing the opposite side that is not paralyzed, eating a sandwich etc.
Deb
Although everyone's recovery is different, I do encourage you to recognize that 5 weeks is very early. My husband had an AVM on his left motor strip (so no language problems) but he was paralyzed completely on his entire right side. He was in ICU for 1 week and 6 weeks in a rehab hospital with daily OT/PT. He was 60 but athletic and fit and also a pianist and he is playing the piano better now than before and walking okay (he has clonus in his right toe which digs down and holds him back). But he also is disciplined about going to PT still and most of all has been helped by a fascia masseuse who has loosened all the stuck fascia (holds the muscles together) after the trauma of the stroke and this allows the PT to work. I don't think most people receive this service and then their PT does not help like it should. We are fortunate to have the means to afford these services for sure. He could not drive for 9 months and now does too. And he started with a sera lift in the hospital, a walker, cane, and after months and months of work, no cane is needed. So be hopeful. The Stroke of Insight book is particularly relevant as the author had a huge AVM and lost everything practically and is again a practicing neurologist! Good luck and take care of your self. It is draining to be the caretaker and to carry the burdens of this important job.
I had aphasia after brain surgery and recovered fully.
I to had paralysis on my right side after removal of my AVM and very slurred speech. It gradually went away after the brain swelling went down and I had to have physical, occupational and speech therapy. It might take some time especially given that he is 52. I was only 29 so recover was quicker. Hope that you see some improvement soon!
Hi! I had my bleed in March 2011; I was 27. It was right frontoparietal, right in the heart of my motorstrip. I am hemiparetic/hemiplegic (depending on which doc you talk to ha!). I have severe weakness on the left side, very limited movement and range of motion. Doctors told me the first 6 months are the most critical and where you will see the most gains. The first year is your best window, the second year you will see a drop in frequency of gains and from then on it is an uphill battle that requires A LOT of work but not all is lost. I stopped therapy at about 6 months post-bleed and just pretty much gave up. I returned in October 2013 and lo' and behold, I am having more gains. No, my fingers don't do much (I can close my hand tight but that's it) and yeah I have a pretty heavy dropped foot and I use a cane and wear my AFO (ankle/foot brace) but there are still gains and even the smallest ones, to me, are very significant because according to the doctors, my window should have closed.
5th week of recovery and walking with a cane is a good sign (no wheelchair). Not using his brace, probably not the best idea. I don't think a complete recovery is out of the question. I met a woman at my therapy the other day that had an annie rupture and left her paralyzed, like me she had to wait for medicare to kick in (takes 2 years for newly disabled folk) before she could start therapy. She has a slight limp and her fingers don't function without direct thought but when she wants to she can turn the pages of a book, drive a car, write...and she is out of her foot brace. So, I think 100% might be a prayer on a doves wing but not completely unlikely. For me...I'd be happy with 80% return, hell, I'd settle for 70%! It'd be nice to wear shoes without a brace!
http://www.stroke-rehab.com/balance-exercises.html