My grandma had a stroke last monday .....?!
Question: She cant speak or move her right side. Dr said she doesnt have haemorhage in the brain. What should we expect? How long will she be hospitalized? Is it easy to return home? She is old, 90 years old, but she is able to understand everything, however can nto speak. Its really sad. thanks for any advice!
Answers: She cant speak or move her right side. Dr said she doesnt have haemorhage in the brain. What should we expect? How long will she be hospitalized? Is it easy to return home? She is old, 90 years old, but she is able to understand everything, however can nto speak. Its really sad. thanks for any advice!
It is impossible to tell how long she will need hospital care and very important that before your family accept her release, you all understand how much home care she will require..that sounds heartless, but there is a tendency nowadays to release patients quickly even when their families are not likely to be able to provide really adequate care. It has to do with patient numbers rather than patient care and the pressure that can be placed upon a family can be considerable.
The best thing you can do for your grandmother is to make sure that she has plenty of visitors..another unpleasant fact about modern hospital care is that the patients with visitors get more attention generally than those without..If she can understand what is being said to her then it is important that she should be encouraged to listen and think..read to her, tell her the news and about what is going on in the family; once she is eating solids sneak her in a few little treats and feed them to her..make sure that she knows that she is not being kept in hospital because her family are abandoning her in any way..old people fixate about this idea..and share the duties of doing these things fairly so that no one is over-taxed and no one feels left out.
From the point of view of providing home care, the most difficult thing is going to be her inability to communicate her needs and I really think that you should discuss this at great length with her doctors and the hospital social worker who can, if properly motivated by a thoroughly persistent family, arrange for a variety of forms of help but who may be all too inclined to do nothing if your family do not push her a little. With the shortage of funds currently available you will probably have to wait a long time for such practical help as a stair life and bath-lift or seated shower, but ask, ask again and remind the person dealing with your request that you are still waiting.
Sorry about your grandma. This happened to my mum too. She was in hospital for a year while she recovered. She had to learn to speak & walk again. She still can't use her right arm, her speking isn't that good & her memory isn't what it used to be. This happened when she was 40 years old!
But everybody is different.