My name is Rachel and I’m 22 yrs old. My mom who is 48 had a brain aneurysm rupture in the beginning of May. She actually had 2 in the occipital lobe so she needed the other clipped. She has just gotten home 3 days ago since she wasn’t awake for 3 mo the and has been in rehab since. With her Aneurysm she had a stroke on her right side and had several vasospasms and seizures while she was asleep.
I had a couple questions about what we are experiencing and if they are “normal” per say. So she has a very difficult time focusing on one task at hand especially during therapy and we try to help her stand up on her own, get into bed, brush her own hair etc. It is almost as if she can hear us and understands, but then quickly changes the subject and won’t focus on the task at hand. For example, last night my brother and I were trying to get her to use her arms (which are very weak from being asleep for so long and her stroke) and legs which are super strong to wiggle herself up onto her pillow and it took us 30 mins to get her to finally do it.
Is this something that is common and if so how have any of you handled sotuations like this especially to help her keep focus? She says she wants to get better but does she maybe not have the drive to work at it?Any help would be incredible! Thank you!
yes hi its normal, we cannot multi-task at all, repetition is very helpful and do not talk to her fast or when others are talking, the filters are all “leaking” and we hear bits and pieces of multiple conversations in one sentence kinda. The “flooding” is really hard to deal with. Be very careful early on, no malls at Christmas time like I tried!! ugh I am 8 yrs post sah w 6 day coma, any questions? ask away! tc
Hello Rachel,
I’m Maes and I am also a Annie “survivor for 13 years now” and I am too been in a Coma for 2 months that I’m Paralyze right paraetal same with your mom and had PT and yes’ because of the longgivity being in the bed its normal to have some difficulty in everything and as you do taking care of her my advice to you is to let her listen to a radio because this makes our sense of hearing more active and able us to think and excersice our brain to be in use again.
The key is to just take it easy on her because in her time she will recover and "please Don`t lose your patience on her because we can FEEL everything.
Thank you for the explanation. Our rehab center didn’t do a very good job explaining why she still struggles with certain things so that was very helpful. Also, Thank you for the pointers! I try to always just keep encouraging her as much as I can and letting her know we are here for her. Was there something specific that you think I could do to help her when she loses focus? How could I re-direct her to the task at hand?
Hi Rachel,
How’s your Mom right now doing, hope she’s happy and more cheerful," though It’s really a hard time for person like us to be cheerful. But with you taking care of is a blessing for a mother. I think you can help her by simple things like how to handle a comb, so that she could get back focus by doing so she will refresh her brain. Simple as for you but for her thats a big struggle now just giving her something to do. Little by little but NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME. And also can you give me if you can the medicine she’s taking? Because now I’m not taking any meds. This is because my Doc told me to just drink a milk which is named ENSURE not an endorser or any of the kind but give it a try! It works for me why not for her. You know here in our country people or some Good Doctors don’t prescribe meds not unless its an immediate basis drugs that need to be taken.
As my physician said the day We meet again for check-up "I did`nt give you prescription drugs because it will only damaged your liver/ and by the encouragement of the people around you."
This is what my doc told me. By the way you can also give her some exercising her toes,palm hands and feet for fast recovery/movement wise my nurse dad used this to me and it works! try if you have time and do it regularly in the morning and night time.
you can always contact me here!
Best Regards
Maes
I am also a ruptured aneurym survivor. After hearing my fellow survivor stories in our monthly group, you get the understanding that there are varying recovery rates so you have to be patience. In my case, it was closer to brainstem and I lost 40% of my vestibular function. Neuro-PT was very difficult because the exercises themselves causes dizziness and there are lot of step backwards in making one step forward. So, please be patience with the recovery. Also, I would get the Neuro-Surgeon notes including MRI/CT scans which would described the location, extent of bleed and any observation of neurological deficits or stroke. As you continue with the recovery, those notes will serve well in consultations with other physicians in her recovery. It is good to start a journal as things change during the course of recovery and you can be an advocate for your Mother if there are cognitive issues or taking notes on side effects of medication. The best thing is that you are there for your Mother. Family support and positive encouragement means a lot. Hope the best for your Mother.
Hi Rachel, I just wanted to add that improvments are extremely slow, it takes years to see it and the survivor has to look back years to see it, my biggie was tying my shoes, I jut went for it even tho left hand was completely numb and both eyes blind on left side. I was so happy I did it- the first step to recovery, that and stand-up shower. I had to think back a year and recalled nurse putting on my shoes and was amazed I hadn’t been able to do that even?? They had the PT elastic laces which stayed tied- they work great! Hope you all are getting long ok, tc have patience
Right now she is doing well we just got back from vacation in Florida which is fun for her, but very tiring and overwhelming. Still relaxing for us all!
She is taking topiramate which is an anti seizure medication. They said they still like to keep patient with her type on injury on the medication “just in case”. Other than that she is off everything else! I definitely think I can overwhelm her with trying to do too many things at once so thankyou for mentioning that tip!
My mom sometimes won’t eat a lot of food even though we stress to her how important it is that she eats and gets stronger etc. So if she doesn’t eat much she doesn’t have a problem having an ensure shake. I don’t understand why she might not eat her food, but doesn’t mind drinking the shake. Her emotions are also very out of whack which we were told is very normal since what she went through was traumatizing. I hope as she continues to heal this gets better as well. Maybe I am expecting too much at this time.
Hi there RMA21,
Thats normal been with this situation before too. She might have something that troubles her perhaps from the vacation that you have, brings back memories that trigged her emotions to be like that. Needs a small talk at time when you see her alone. Frequent talking with her is a must with her now. And as to her eating'as long as she drinks her milk from time to time thats okay. Dont pressure her with foods sometimes we have some foods that we crave and thats the time you have to tell her about foods the “DOs AND DONT”. you know what I mean right’. perfect timing" THATS THE WORD FOR BOTH OF YOU.
And for you,you are doing great with your mom. EVERY CHILD THAT LOVES HER MOTHER IS LOVED BY GOD. MORE POWER AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY EVERY DAY.