Tomorrow will be 7 weeks since my boyfriend’s stroke triggered by a ruptured AVM. As for a brief background, this was his first semester getting his PhD in southern literature. Needless to say, a bright individual, strong with words and recollecting quotes, passages, etc.
After his surgery, he surpassed the “tests” for physical and occupational therapy, but was in strong need of speech therapy. His biggest feats that we’ve pinpointed are as follows:
-difficulty in finding the right word in conversation (i.e. saying hay instead of grass)
-keeping focus at any given time (watching a movie, keeping up with a conversation)
-difficulty in keeping up with songs (mostly lyrics, even for songs he knows by heart)
He’s seen a speech therapist multiple times and it hasn’t seemed to make much of an impact on his improvements. We’re still waiting for him to be seen by a neuropsycholologist to determine what steps we (he) can take towards a full recovery if possible.
Roughly a month after surgery, his hair began to fall out in the area of the AVM (left frontal lobe) and in the back of his head. His hair has yet to grow back, but we have high hopes from reading others’ stories of hair loss (and regrowth) after embolism treatments.
We’re hoping he will be able to return to school by next fall, but time will tell. This site has been beyond helpful…thank you all!