If you're wondering what to say to a stroke survivor, or how to cheer up a stroke survivor, start with that very word: survivor. The term 'stroke victim' is often perceived as a negative label. It's much better to use the word 'stroke survivor' or even 'stroke warrior' – because that's what these individuals are!
As you begin to recover, you might feel that your behaviour changes or improves. You may start feeling better physically and emotionally. But some changes will be long term. You are still the same person, but a stroke may change the way you respond to things.
If the nerve control to your eye muscles is affected, one of your eyes may not move correctly. This may give you blurred vision or double vision (diplopia). This is sometimes called a squint or strabismus. This can make it hard to focus on objects and cause moving images and / or double vision.
Let us fight against the strokes by creating awareness and spreading the knowledge. Let's defeat this silent killer and live a healthy life.
It takes about three months after the stroke for neuroplasticity to return to a more normal state. After that, a survivor can still work on regaining function and practice for improvement, but those improvements may come at a slower pace.”
The initial recovery following stroke is most likely due to decreased swelling of brain tissue, removal of toxins from the brain, and improvement in the circulation of blood in the brain. Cells damaged, but not beyond repair, will begin to heal and function more normally.
Everyone recovers from a stroke differently. Most people will need some form of rehabilitation. The goal of stroke rehab is to get you back to living as much of a normal daily life as possible. Your stroke's severity and the damage it does affect how much rehab you will need.
How Does a Stroke Impact Life Expectancy? Despite the likelihood of making a full recovery, life expectancy after stroke incidents can decrease. Unfortunately, researchers have observed a wide range of life expectancy changes in stroke patients, but the average reduction in lifespan is nine and a half years.
Most stroke patients are unaware of the warning signs of stroke and present late because they misjudge the seriousness of their symptoms. Even when patients know that they are having a stroke, most do not seek immediate medical attention.
Many people have problems with their memory after a stroke, especially in the first weeks and months. It often affects short-term memory more than long-term. Someone might find it hard to remember something they have just been told.
Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke. One study found that 43% of stroke patients experienced mini-stroke symptoms up to a week before they had a major stroke.
“You don't have to be at 100% health to return home after a stroke,” says Raghavan. “If you can perform most of your regular daily activities in your home environment and/or you have family support to assist with these activities, you can go home.”
Changes in your emotions and to your personality are common after stroke. It's very normal to experience strong emotions after stroke, however these emotional reactions usually get better with time. Longer-term emotional and personality changes can be very challenging.
The stroke recovery process is long and can come with many challenges, including the feeling that symptoms are getting worse instead of better. However, know that regression after stroke is common and often temporary. This can be impacted by factors such as new medications, schedule changes, or excess fatigue.
Apathy is a reduction in goal-directed activity in the cognitive, behavioral, emotional, or social domains of a patient's life and occurs in one out of three patients after stroke.
A stroke can affect your ability to control your mood and emotions. This is called emotionalism, sometimes known as 'emotional lability'. It can mean that your mood changes very quickly and you are more emotional than you used to be.
Even after surviving a stroke, you're not out of the woods, since having one makes it a lot more likely that you'll have another. In fact, of the 795,000 Americans who will have a first stroke this year, 23 percent will suffer a second stroke.