hi Ashley:

welcome to wonderful world of blogging. I have found personally blogging very therupetic. I stroked at age 34 which left me paralysed on my left side in 2004. I thought my life ended in an instant. I thought I would never find living enjoyable again. but I did. I feel first 2 years are the hardest of all. All of sudden things you take it for granted becomes hard work. I mourn the loss of my old self & my job for first few years. It felt like fire devastated our life. but slowly we started rebuilding our life. Today after 6 years I am able to look stroke as bump in our life's journey. It brought me and my husband more closer, made me better parent. So I don't view my stroke that badly. I still have my family with me, yes so called friends are gone, but who cares made new & better friends here on this site & elsewhere. hope to met you more often in our blogworld & our chatrooms on SN.

Asha(now 40 year old survivor)

Thanks for blogging! I certainly hope it all come together for him and you. When you can, try to keep in contact with out patient therapy if the insurance pays. That's the one thing that will be needed for a big recovery. His brain needs the rest to recoup and now half the brain is affected on that side.

It takes time for it to reroute and grow different pathways to control parts of the body on that side that was attacked by the stroke! Be prayerful, have faith that he can, like all of us, recover and get better day by day!

I lost much of my income business when my stroke happened and wasn't eligible to get SSI. Finally, I accepted SS early for age with a penalty for drawing it early. Thank God my wife was employed!

Just remember, we are in this recovery process like you and we support you all the way. Ask question anytime, you'll get answers as best we know!

Ashley: welcome. You will find much support, advice and compassion here. Come often and read and post your questions. There are so many people here who have been doing this a very long time and are more than willing to offer their support and experiences. You and Dana have just begun your journey on the road to recovery. Sleep is the brain's way of healing, so it was good of you to think of a sleeping aid this early on. Bruce slept alot in the early months, but the past few months four hours a night with no nap was his norm. Sleeping aids do not touch him, but we have recently added Baclofen to his daily regime and that has given him another two hours or more a night and an afternoon nap. Let him rest. As a nurse you know what has to be done in the house and the financials will take time and a lot of reshuffling. Rest when you can-get those naps in. And as Fred advises into outpatient PT and OT soonest. Eventually you will get into a comfortable daily routine and that will give you time to figure out where you will go from here. Just remember it takes time and patience and you will do great. Best, Debbie

Hello, Ashley. If depression has been an issue for him in the past, I would make sure he is on an antidepressant because depression is very, very common in stroke survivors. As for him sleeping, I do hope it improves. I did a ton of sleeping for the first year. I had a brain lesion in the right hemisphere of my brain. I was a medical mystery for many months. As the lesion shrank, we discovered 2 tiny strokes. The docs don't know why or how it happened. I was 33 years old when it happened. I do understand what you're going through. My husband lost his job almost 2 months after I came down with my brain lesion. It was a total nightmare.

My husband found employment two months later and we've been slowly recovering, ever so slowly. We are very, very fortunate. Things could have been worse. I'm just grateful to be alive, even though I can't hold down a job. Though, I'd love to help my hubby any way I can. I try to help him as best as I can in my ability.