Stroke Information

May 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Stroke happens suddenly and many family members as well as the strokee himself are not prepared. When that happened to Rock, I was totally caught off-guard and went through a period of being lost and really do not know what to do. The doctors and physiotherapist at the hospital were all very helpful and they gave you good advise but you cannot remember all that they said, moreover most probably you were still in shock. On hindsight, how I wish I did spend time reading about this common, deadly, if not devastating impairment.

For the benefit of my readers and especially those who are still young, I have listed here some websites where you can go to learn about stroke, care-giving plus sites where you can purchase special rehab tools, utensils, equipment and even special clothing’s for the stroke survivor. These are not affiliate programs where I earn any commission but just sort of info base where you can go to for help, assistance etc

Information on Stroke.

American Stroke Association. ( Free Magazine).

Family Care-Giver Alliance.

Stroke Rehab Treatment and Equipment.

Saebo Flex - Arm Equipment.

Ness H200 – Arm Equipment.

Assistive Technology – Bath Equipment.

Ability Camp – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Special Clothing’s & Utensils.

Life With Ease.

Professional Fit.

Adaptive Clothing

Senior Care Clothing.

Active Forever. – Utensils and Aids.

Amvans. – Vehicles for the disabled.

For our fellow Malaysians, we have our National Stroke Association (NASAM) where you can get support, care and information. They have qualified Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapist to help a stroke survivor to exercise as well as providing a support group where fellow strokees can articulate their struggles and pain. Currently they have 6 Centers spread throughout the country and I have listed here for your info.

NASAM Headquarters. No. 12 Jalan 12/2, 46050 Petaling Jaya. Tel :- 603-79564840 Email : nasampj@nasam.org.

NASAM Ampang. 9 Lorong Awan 1, 6800 Ampang, Selangor. Tel : 603-42561234 Email : nasamampang@nasam.org

NASAM Penang. Kompleks Masyarakat Penyayang, CO-12-GF Jalan Utama, 10460 Penang. Tel : 604-2298050 Email : nasampenang@nasam.org

NASAM Melaka. C5458 Jalan Melor, Off Jalan Penghulu Abbas, Bukit Baru Melaka. Tel : 606-2881641 Email : nasammalacca@nasam.org

NASAM Ipoh. 9 Lorong Pinji, Off Jalan Pasir Putih, 31650 Ipoh Perak. Tel : 605-3211089 Email : nasamperak@nasam.org

NASAM Sabah. Kompleks Badan-Badan Sukarela, Wisma Pandu Puteri, KM 4 Jalan Turan, 88801 Kota Kinabalu. Tel : 6088-261568 Email : nasamsabah@nasam.org

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Road to Stroke Recovery

May 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Today, we met an elderly gentlemen at Rock's Physio Clinic. He was just discharged from the hospital after warded for 10 days for a stroke in his right brain. He is just like Rock having paralysis on his left side. The family of this gentlemen did the right thing by sending him for physiotherapy as soon as possible. The sooner the survivor starts physio the better it is, provided the Neuro doctors deemed that person fit to be discharged. After all, after a stroke happened, there is very little Neuro doctors can do except for rehab meaning Physiotherapy as well as Occupational-Therapy. Rock started her physio 6 days after she was discharged. Some people highly recommends Accupunture but personally I am not too sure about the treatment because most stroke survivors from my country go for both. In the end I am not sure which is the real contributing factor. Rock prefers physio.

Occupational-Therapy is basically learning how to manage yourself in regards to dressing, using utensils etc. This is necessary because for a strokee, doing things with half your body responding is quite a challenging task. Rock took more than an hour to get herself groomed, dressed-up and put on her leg splint and non-slip shoes! Initially Rock felt tired after doing all that but now she copes quite well. Physiotherapy is basically a prescribed set of exercises where a strokee goes through to stimulate the brain to develop nerve connections from the good side of the brain to the damaged side. As it progresses then, doing tougher exercises are required to improve physical strength and weight bearing thus improving walking gait and balance. Posted some pictures here helps to explain better the various exercises for different parts of the affected side.

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Rock Goes Cycling

May 4, 2007 | 2 Comments

Share with you friends, relatives and bloggers a video of Rock cycling! Well not really cycling on the road if that is what you are thinking but rather she's on a cycling exercise machine! Really, the great achievement is not the cycling although it shows tremendous improvement in her rehab but rather she allowed this to be posted! The greatest difficulty or hurdle for a stroke survivor to overcome is the journey from shock, grief, hopelessness and then hope and finally acceptance! Some take six months to a year but others much longer. Initially, Rock is so self-conscious of herself that she will get tense just by the stares and looks of passerbyes whenever we go out. Now she has gotten used to it and even permit me to video her and post it on my blog. This is a great encouragement to me for I know Rock is accepting her stroke and knows that she can recover with her determination to press-on with all the physiotherpy exercises and a careful diet. Three cheers for Rock! Also my apologies for the video is sort of clipped but will adjust it when I find out what to do!

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Rock is Rocking

April 19, 2007 | 3 Comments

Rock is on an upbeat lately! Perhaps it is the after effects of the grand birthday celebration she received from the family! Today, even after her tiring Physio Session, she rode the Bicycle for 10 minutes! While on the way home she suggested to drop by the Super-mart to pick up a few things because she wanted to bake a Date-Bread! Normally we used the wheel chair whenever we go shopping since there is quite a bit of distance to cover on foot but today she walked all the way from the car-park and walking up and down the aisle in the Super-mart. Incredible! This is the first time she achieved so many firsts!

As her caregiver, I am tremendously encouraged. It made all the hard work worth it all to see her trying so hard to be her normal self! Cooking is Rock's passion. Ever since the stroke, the first time she attempted to just fry an egg was to her such an enormous task! I felt so sorry for her seeing the sweat pouring from her forehead and turning green on the face from the sheer effort! One important aspect in the Rehab of a stroke survivor is to encourage him/her to try to do what he/she used to do. It is better to start with something simple and what the person loves to do before. It is not only therapeutic in nature but also a boost to the self-confidence. It also establishes a sense of normality in the person's life again. It is about 'living' despite of set-backs in life. This is definitely a positive step forward in Rock's journey in her recovery. Today is the furthest she went and she did so much in one go! Wow! After all that, of course she was tired and so was I but the fact that she tried and complete the chores speaks volumes for her progress. Shown here is the finished product and that will be for tomorrow's breakfast and I think we need help!

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Toe Curl

March 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Toe Curl on the affected side of a stroke survivor is quite a common experience. Rock’s left big toe still curls inwards and when it happens, walking is not only affected but painful. What causes the toes to curl is given below, an extract from Stroke Connection Magazine.

Because toe muscles are typically not very strong, the contracting muscle overpowers the muscles in the toe.
This tightens the tendons, causing the joints of the smaller toes to buckle or curl in an unnatural way.
Claw toe most often strikes the stroke-side foot.
Painful blisters may develop on the affected toes where their tips dig into the shoe.
Added pressure from the imbalance may also cause calluses or corns to form on the ball of the foot.
Claw toe also affects patients with joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cerebral palsy, nerve damage due to poor circulation, as with diabetes, and those confined to bed for a long period of time.

Although unavoidable when it happens, but there are ways and means to make toe curl less painful. As for Rock, her frequent Physiotherapy helps to improve her toe-curl very much. She is less prone to it now and the curl is less pronounced. Apart from Physiotherapy, I have to soaked her feet in warm water then massage her toes at least twice a day so as to relax the muscles. Below are some additional tips for toe-curl.

Stroke Connection Magazine readers offer these tips:

Stroke survivor Lillian Schwartz of Boca Raton, Fla., uses foam toe separators. Available at beauty supply stores for just a few cents, the separators are used by beauticians when giving pedicures. Schwartz recommends using two separators (one on top of the other) if your toes are long.
James Pribish, a stroke survivor from New Castle, Del., uses a pair of gel insoles with tiny magnets embedded in them, which he says have greatly reduced the curling.

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