StevenM

Stroke Caregiver - male
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About StevenM

  • Birthday 09/08/1971

Shared Information

  • Stroke Anniversary (first stroke)
    07-08-2014
  • How did you find us?
    Google Search

Registration Information

  • First Name
    Steven
  • State
    West Virginia

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  1. Happy Anniversary StevenM!

  2. Happy Birthday StevenM!

  3. Happy Anniversary StevenM!

  4. Happy Birthday StevenM!

  5. On July 9th, 2014, I did not think when I woke up that I would and up being a stroke caregiver. My day started out like any other day going to work coming home helping my wife with any activities or anything events going on around the house. That day she had been outside in our high heat high humidity day painting the house climbing a ladder to get to the area above the front of our garage. I got home helped her out with painting the front of the garage, taking care of rolling the large areas while she finished cutting in the edges. When we finished with that we went inside to fix dinner. I told her to go shower while I got dinner going, and we sat down in the living room to eat. She had only taken two or three bites when she fell asleep. Not thinking anything was wrong I let her sleep. She had a bit of nausea but seemed to be okay and I let her sleep for three hours. I knew something was wrong when I tried to wake her to go to bed. She was having problems trying to stand up. Her leg was not wanting to work, so I tried to help her stand. I took her by the arm and waited for her to try again, but she asked me if I was going to help her. I asked if she could feel me holding her arm and she said "where?" At that point I called an ambulance for assistance and four hours later we find out she had a stroke and was transferred to a specialty hospital. My mind was realing as I tried to come to grips with reality while starting to call the family. The next two days were a whirlwind of doctors, nurses, therapists and phone calls. Christina was a trooper as she managed to improve significantly, gain some control of her right arm and leg and start to understand what had happened to her. Now one week out of the hospital she is able to walk with help, but is still learning how to scan her surroundings since she has lost part of her vision. She has taken to the physical therapy well but is trying to push her recovery. I think she considers this to be similar to the back surgery she went through three years ago, and I keep reminding her that time is her friend not her enemy. It is frustrating for both of us when she is not able to do some of the things she used to be able to do. My frustration comes when she gets frustrated with her arm or leg or vision. I try not to let it show but don't know how successful I am. I find that I am watching her movement much more than I used to but don't know if this is normal or me just being a loving husband of a wife who is in a recovery stage of an illness. Keep getting told to take care of myself but not really sure what that means. We are still in a learning stage and researching everything we can. Getting kind of anxious as Monday I have to go back to work which means leaving my wife alone until her friend can get here to be with her until I get off work.
  6. Welcome to the forums StevenM :)