How to Continue Recovery After A Stroke

If you or a loved one has ever suffered a stroke than you should know that what they have encountered was a near death experience. Many people have suffered from this disease from all walks of life; it is no longer a disease that plagues the elderly in fact anyone can get it. The youngest account I have heard about was a seven year old boy. I had a stroke at 26 and people were astonished that I had one because I was so young. There were no early signs or symptoms it just hit me all of a sudden. I woke up one morning in an effort to start getting ready for work. As I awoke, I endured an excruciating headache, my mother checked my blood pressure and to my surprise it was 150/100. Now keep in mind, I did not have high blood pressure, nor have I been diagnosed with it. I decided to continue lying in bed until my head stopped pounding. When the pain stopped I thought I was ok. I proceeded to get out of bed and was unable to walk in which case I instantly fell to the floor. I crawled to the other side of the house to inform my mother that something was terribly wrong. I called in sick that day and went to the emergency room. Just as they were about to give me a prescription and send me on my way, I tried to stand up and fell in the nurse's arms. I was then admitted to the hospital and was in there for a month. I was unable to walk for a month and went from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane, to a leg brace and then to nothing at all. It was a scary and depressing experience for me. While I was in the hospital, I lost my job because at that time I did not have definite answers as to when I would be able to return for work (isn't this against the law or something "firing you while you are in a hospital bed"). So basically they sent me flowers with a pink slip attached. Well to make an extremely long story short, my quality of life has been altered significantly. I was never able to return to the same line of work within the Medical industry. Approximately one year after my recovery I went back to school to obtain two degrees a Bachelor's in Business Management and a Masters in Business Administration. I am scheduled to return to school in the fall for my Doctorate. When you have a stroke (God forbid), the road to recovery is not a cut and dry process, you may not fully recover because it is considered a mental illness with severe damage to the brain. On the outside you may appear as though you are back to normal, however; internally could be an entirely different outcome. In this article I will inform you of how to recover from a stroke after you have been discharged from the hospital.

Things You'll Need

• Physician
• Flaxseed Oil
• Dietician

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Instructions

• 1

  Your physician may suggest that you take Aspirin with Plavix. Although, I am not a physician, I would suggest that you take a healthy substitute such as; Flaxseed Oil. Aspirin and Plavix are both blood thinners, however; aspirin causes bleeding of the retina and damage to your liver, Plavix can cause minor bleeding, easy bruising, chest pain, facial swelling, tarry stool, dark and bloody urine, etc. Flaxseed oil is also considered a blood thinner which contains a plethora of vitamins that are essential to your health. If you take the time to observe the new medicines that are currently on the market today, some of those meds have already been recalled due to fatalities that have occurred as a result of utilizing the new prescriptions. For example, remember that birth control pill they were advertising for "Ortho Evra" well, they had to recall that drug due to side effects that ended in severe illnesses in which case attorneys are seeking patients that have taken the drug so they can begin seeking compensation from the manufacturer or Drug Company. I would suggest that everyone who has been prescribed medication conduct thorough research concerning the drugs and your current diagnosis and/or symptoms.

• 2

  Be smart, be healthy- consult a dietician in order to obtain a meal plan customized to your individual needs. For instance, if you have had a stroke and it was as a result of being overweight, then you should find out what meal plan is right for you, because everyone is unique, in which case it can be harder for some to lose weight than others. This way a dietician can integrate a plan according to your own personal metabolism.

• 3

  Continue therapy- If you have had a stroke and have just been discharged from the hospital, then you should continue occupational therapy, physical therapy and/or speech therapy. Although, it appears as if you are completely healed, there is a significant amount of damage to your brain as a result of the stroke. For instance, I had a stroke six years ago and as a result I often get dizzy, I remember one day, I was at church and I happened to close my eyes and I was swaying back and forth, I also endure some weakness on one side of my body that was affected by the stroke. At times I feel wonderful while, other times I see minor recurring signs of the illness that are only apparent to me.

• 4

  Work on regaining upper body strength- after you have had a stroke you may have lost the majority of the strength you had in your arms or legs, so make sure that you work towards strengthening the weak areas through resistance training. When I was in the hospital my arms were weak, so when I was in a wheelchair I regained strength in my arms quickly by wheeling myself all over the hospital.

• 5

  Exercise regularly- You may not be able to engage in vigorous activity, however; if you are able to walk then I would suggest taking a walk around your neighborhood (only if it is safe to do so). If it is not safe in your area then sign up with your local gym and hit up the treadmill and walk at your own pace.

• 6

  Follow up with your physician so they could evaluate and monitor you during your recovery.

• 7

  Avoid stressful situations- after you have had a stroke, you should avoid all signs of stress. If your job was stressful before you had the stroke than chances are you should consider changing careers to a field with minimal amount of stress because you may not be able to return to the same line of work.

• 8

  Volunteer- As I previously stated a stroke can be a depressing situation, however; you may be able get over depression by volunteering to help someone else who is currently having a tough time dealing with a stroke. When I was at HealthSouth (rehabilitation facility) they had volunteers that were there to encourage other stroke victims. Most of their volunteers have had strokes. Volunteering is extremely rewarding because you are showing stroke victims that they are not alone and that we will fight this disease together.