Hello @Mrs5K,
It is now over 5 years since my severe stroke left me with significant sight and hearing loss and foot drop.My wife formed an old pillow into a “V” shape and rested my foot into it (I sleep on my back since stroke) and that helped considerably at zero expense. Yes, physios are expensive - but they are mostly very good - if you can afford them. Mine are brilliant - but they have cost me £2000 per month for 5 years. And my carers have cost almost the same, so my retirement and “rainy day” fund is now exhausted! So I face the future financially unsupported.
Keep up the effort to improve your foot drop - it takes ages, but is worth it in the long run. Best wishes,
Bob Isle.
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Thank @bob.isle I have tried pillows with minimal success so far but no reason not to try again. I am a side sleeper generally mainly due to the pain in my leg & foot if I sleep on my back.
Glad you have found a physio that works well for you especially after all the money you have invested.
I have my splint now so going to give that a try & see how I get on.
Best wishes
Ann
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Hello Ann,
Good to hear you have your new splint; do keep us informed of your experience with it !
Best of luck for the future.
Bob Isle.
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Hello Ann,
My foot-drop splint was supplied by NHS and I gather it cost them about £150 - it is a lightweight carbon fibre job that is VERY comfortable (I don’t even feel it is there) !
Best of luck with yours.
Bob Isle.
Hi @bob.isle I too had an AFO supplied by the NHS but it didn’t help and actually made it harder for me to move around. I also tried Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) but all that did was make my foot turn inwards which was a big disappoint to me. The orthotics team decided there was nothing they could do for me after I had seen them multiple times and nothing made any difference. I still have the AFO they supplied but I don’t wear it now as I find it makes me trip more and it makes descending stairs even more hazardous than it already is. The difference with the splint I have just purchased is it is a resting one (which can’t be walked in as I found out on Saturday when I almost fell over). The idea is to try and get my foot
into a more natural position which I suspect will take a long time. This is only part of the puzzle though as this won’t help me lift my foot off the floor and won’t help with me being able to lift my leg which I can’t do either. It’s all very bizarre but I keep trying and will take it one stage at a time. As they say where there’s life there’s hope and I won’t ever give up trying. The first time I get my foot lifted off the floor you’ll probably all hear my shout for joy
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Hi Ann. Re a Physio. Just thought I would tell younwhat I have done. No neuro physios round here and even if the cost would be astronomical. I enquired at our local hospital if any of theirvneuro physios would be interested in working privately. I was lucky in that one of the physios who came with the community team when I left hospital was interested and she has been coming twice a month. Obviously there is no magical improvement and I must admit Im not good at doing the exercises as much as I should between visits especially in this hot weather but feel its worth a try. Good luck x
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Hello Ann (I hope you don’t mind my addressing you thus),There are a couple of issues I can comment on (I am now over 5 years post-stroke, so I’ve been through the mill a bit !). After my discharge from hospital after 5 months, my Physio mentioned a Perching Stool which I had never heard of !It is height adjustable and I can sort of drag it around behind me, then just sit back on the sloping seat when I get tired, I bought it on Amazon for about £50 and it has been very useful: I can stand at the sink and do some washing up, then sit down on it, when tired. Well worth exploring !
As for foot-drop, I stood holding a rail at the bottom of my staircase and practised lifting my left leg over a small piece of 2" x 1" wood on the floor. It took a great deal of effort to get my leg over it the first time, but it gave me such a buzz to succeed and now (3 or 4 months later) I can do it easily, to everyone’s amazement! I know it’s not hard to please a fan club !!! My walking is much improved at the same time.I now wish I could find a cure for my E.D.! Any ideas anyone?
All the best,
Bob Isle.
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Thank you @Apple glad you have managed to find a physio who is prepared to help you. I am sure you are making progresss even if it is slower than you would like.
I don’t blame you for not doing as many exercises in the heat we ha e been having. It’s been hard enough just getting through the day without adding exercising into it.
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Feel free to call me Ann. A perching stool is an excellent investment. They really do help when you’re tired but still want to get involved in things like washing up, cooking etc.
Great minds obviously think alike as O have a piece of wood that I have been trying to lift my foot over too. I snaffled it out of my hubbys woodstore. The benefits of being married to carpenter. 
So far no joy but we keep trying. Good to hear your walking is much improved.
As for your ED. I’m afraid I don’t have any suggestions.
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Ah, yes, I remember your earlier post on the subject.
As I recall, a couple of suggestions were offered and so I’d like to ask if you were able to follow up on those before we rule them out.
Assuming you have followed up on the above, I would like to suggest that you do indeed follow up with your GP but present is as just that i.e. ED and not relate it to stroke.
The reason why I say that is because this is not exclusively a stroke related problem and in fact most men occasionally fail to get or keep an erection.
There is some information on the NHS website.
Erectile dysfunction (impotence) - NHS
Hello @ManjiB,
I am sorry I did not respond earlier but the issue is very complex for me, as I can’t (for very personal reasons that I cannot discuss here) discuss it with my OH - or my GP as my OH is always there. My hospital Consultant said there was something they could possibly do - but he then discharged me before it could be taken further.I am not into non-prescription medications,btw.
But thanks for your kind suggestions.
Regards,
Bob Isle.
Oh dear Ann, I’m so sorry!
@Mrs5K, it seems we’ve gone off topic. I feel I might be to blame!
Still if anyone is reading this, I am sure they will understand.
I’ll blame it on a senior moment! Oh, no! I fear I might be creating yet more trouble by using politically incorrect phrases 
I think I better shut up 
No apologies required. I don’t mind at all 
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Hello Ann,
It may be worth your while looking at the website of ALLARD CO; they make a huge range of devices. My AFO is NOT suitable for wearing in bed, but I have had it for several years and it is VERY comfortable. It was supplied by NHS and I was told it cost about £150.If I had to pay that for it I would have been happy. I hope you are successful in your search. Best of luck !
Bob Isle.
Thank you I will have a look.
Hello Ann,
There is another device I use in bed - and which is so comfortable. I had forgotten about it !
It is an fancy inflatable plastic bag device, inflated with a simple pump which they supply and in which my weak leg rests, in a sort of “V” wedge, so my ankle does not rotate inwards or out. You should find it on Amazon but I have no idea of cost. Maker is Frontier Medical and it is called Repose Foot Protector.
Regards,
Bob Isle.
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I shall have a look at that one too. Might be just what I need.
I have been using my new splint for just over a week now. @pando I was wondering how long it was before you started to notice any improvement when you used it? I’m not expecting anything yet as it is still very early days but was just curious as to when things might start to happen (accepting that it will be different for everyone). For now, I have been wearing the splint of an evening when I sit down after my tea to watch a bit of TV and haven’t worn it overnight yet. Perhaps for 2 – 3 hours at a time. I have noticed that when I put it on my foot goes cold and my toes and top of foot starts tingling. Not sure that’s supposed to happen. The cold might be because I’ve taken my slipper off I have watched a video on how to set it up so pretty sure it is set up ok. It isn’t too tight, so I know it isn’t that causing the tingling. But just to check I have loosened it right off and that didn’t make any difference. Did you have any issues with yours initially?
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it’s pretty horrific I put it on overnight and there were some nights that stayed on and some nights when I had to rip it off because my foot simply had to point. At the moment I’m not using it but I think just the other night I did think my foot was pointing too much and I need to get back to doing it once a week. what I found is that every morning when I woke up I could walk better if I had had it on even just half the night but as I said I’ve not had it on lately and I hope my wife hasn’t thrown it out!!
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thank you. I have had to take it off some times too. Some days it just irritates more than others. I’ve not noticed any difference yet - my walking is about the same as is the pain level first thing in a morning. I’m going to try it at night on day when it isn’t such a big deal if I have a bad nights sleep….a work night probably isn’t a good place to start.
Hopefully your wife has just put yours away in a safe place
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