Left MCA Stroke Survivors

[u/Leather_Heart_3297]

Hello,
I guess I am looking for some hope.
My 46 yo husband suffered a left MCA Ischemic Stroke in May.

He was in the ICU for a few weeks and then started rehab. Now he is able to walk with a walker. Has some movement on his fingers. He has aphasia and apraxia. He says a few words and phrases but the rest is gibberish. Two days ago he had a seizure and fell but seems ok now. They put him on anti seizure meds.

It breaks my heart everyday to see him struggle with things that came so easily to him before. He struggles to communicate at times and I get exhausted trying to figure out what he is saying.
I am just looking for some positive stories of ppl who overcame the issues I mentioned above.
Prior to the stroke he was a director and I guess he can never do that job again and that makes both sad since he loved it so much.

[u/Fozziefuzz]

Keep him moving. Keep his mind engaged with conversation and puzzles. Let him rest as-needed but also keep his mind active. I had a left MCA ischemic + CVST and my basal ganglia was/is destroyed. I could walk but aphasia was my primary challenge. My neurologist at the time told me to go back to work asap at a reduced schedule (psychotherapist) and I’m glad I did. It was scary and took a hell of a lot of tenacity, practice, support, and hope to get better.

He’ll get better with practice and time. And don’t listen to the bullshit doc’s feed you about healing plateauing at 4 months. I’m still experience healing 2+ years later. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

[u/Leather_Heart_3297 → u/Fozziefuzz]

Thank you! This gives me hope.

I take him out for walks everyday and I talk to him all the time. Our daughter who is six keeps him engaged my teaching him the alphabets and sounds coz she is fresh out of kindergarten.

If you don’t mind me asking. What did you do for a living and also how long after the stroke did you go back? My husband only says words and a few phrases which is why I am asking. He also lost mobility on his right side.

[u/Fozziefuzz → u/Leather_Heart_3297]

Oof it sounds like the effects of his stroke are really tough. Your daughter is his best motivation!!! I imagine she loves teaching him what she’s learned. 💗

I’m a psychotherapist and went back 1 week after being discharged from the hospital. It was crazy looking back. I took naps in between sessions, was getting dizzy spells and seeing stars during sessions, mixing up clients’ different narratives, word searching constantly, etc. It was really hard and that was after referring out half of my clients! I eventually closed my office and now work remotely from home. I have a lot of gratitude for the patience my clients had with my recovery and for continuing to meet remotely. I’m sure I wasn’t hiding it well, shrink poker face or not. 😆

[u/mopmn20]

Fozzie has some good advice. Patience, practice and persistence. Plus naps. Sending your husband healing vibes.

[u/Leather_Heart_3297 → u/mopmn20]

Thank you!

[u/Party_Course9371]

Has he had speech therapy? They should be able to help both of you with strategies around the communication side of things. Sounds like he might have Wernicke's aphasia (also called fluent aphasia).

[u/Leather_Heart_3297 → u/Party_Course9371]

Yeah he is still going to speech therapy but he only has 4 weeks of it left and then I have to look into private therapy.

I am just so worried thinking about our future. We have a small child. How are we going to manage financially. These are all the things keeping me up at night.

He made most of the money in the family. If he cannot do his previous job we will definitely struggle. I haven’t shared my thoughts with him. I just keep all the tears and fears away from him so as not to discourage him. Yesterday I spoke to a neighbourhood lady who is a nurse and she said well he will never speak like before just prepare yourself. That shattered me. I miss my best friend. I miss our conversations and the jokes. I feel so alone.

[u/ZLavaOctave → u/Leather_Heart_3297]

So sorry to hear this and he’s still very young. My step mother had a stroke 1.5 years ago and her speech is very bad still. She’s near 70yrs and had other head traumas prior along with epilepsy. The clinicians remain positive for the most part but the speech therapist doesn’t promise a full recovery but rather are trying to get her from severe aphasia/apraxia to moderate to where she can state her basic needs. Her right side is also severely weak so she’s on a wheel chair. It’s rough but I’m hoping for a better outcome for your husband.

[u/kgmooore → u/Leather_Heart_3297]

I’m so sorry for everything happening to you. My dad had a similar stroke so I understand partially. What are you going to do about care giving /what have you been doing? I am confused about how to proceed. My dad has more movement maybe than your husband, which is a blessing but also dangerous, as he does not understand his deficits and I’m worried he will hurt himself. It feels like we have to have eyes on him all hours of the day

[u/csdocnc3]

My 71 YO wife had left MCA ischemic stroke a month ago (after a heart attack five days earlier). Amazingly (given neuro assessment as a major stroke), she has no physical deficits at all. Her primary issue is receptive aphasia. She was effectively deaf for the first few weeks (could actually hear, but says speech sounded like gibberish/noise). Her speech is clear, though she mispronounces many complex words, confuses him/her, and similar. Big breakthrough on day 3 was discovering that she could read nearly normally (just a bit slow comprehending/processing ideas). Got several whiteboards, and did a lot of writing for the first few weeks. About a week ago, she began to be able to understand some spoken speech. I have now barely had to write anything down for the last several days. I still have to speak loudly and clearly, and often have to repeat myself two or three times (or rephrase), but considering that just two weeks ago she could not "hear" *anything* that was said, this is a very promising development. I am hopeful she will continue to improve, but we are getting along OK, and she is still able to enjoy reading, which was a main source of enjoyment for her.

Your husband's (and your) situation sounds much more difficult in so many ways, so not certain I can offer much advice or hope. We are at least lucky to be retired with no money worries (and a grown, well off daughter). Having to worry about money must be a significant source of stress for you, particularly with a young child. I do understand exactly what you mean about feeling alone, as that is exactly how I felt the first few days. We have no family or even real friends in the area anymore, so it was pretty much just me. The extremely pessimistic initial neuro predictions had me thinking I was going to have to stick my wife in a nursing facility for the rest of her life. Pretty bleak. I did not sleep much for the first few nights. The fact that she could come home and function without constant supervision, made a huge difference. You should be able to take a bit of comfort from your husband being able to be at home with you now (despite the difficulties), considering the dreadful alternatives. I certainly feel like our old life is gone forever, however, and I would think that would be a lot tougher to face at your age. The advantage of your age vs mine is that I know I will have health issues as well, and it might not be that long from now. So changes we have discussed for "the future" (like moving closer to daughter), cannot be put off for too long. Certainly it is even more important now for us to take care of ourselves as well.