Hi, glad to hear about all the progress so far I am young too (haemorrhaging stroke at 32) and I am so much better than I was.
Another stroke peer group friend gave me a book by a neurologist called Jill Bolte Taylor, who had a stroke at 36 and completely lost the ability to communicate and even process the world normally. She considers herself to have fully recovered after 8 years, and writes a lot about what helped her during recovery and relearning, including what was helpful and not. Itās called āmy stroke of insightā, thought it could be helpful
Also - as other have said, recovery is very much possible, but itās probably going to take its time - and thatās ok. Iām 2 and a half years on and I still have significant fatigue. I know itās probably difficult, but try not to panic too much and push Emily to work harder/ improve faster. I know my mum worried (and still worries) about me and in earlier times it made me feel quite stressed, like I was disappointing her, or that there was something wrong with me for not improving faster (especially as everyone emphasised that Iām young). There will probably be a lot of frustration so I would encourage you to try and be gentle and compassionate with both Emily, yourself and the rest of the family
Thank you so much for your kind message I will actually look that book up now. Emily has actually been sent home today which is great but now the hard work starts, I have taken note about pushing Emily too much and I will mention it to the rest of the family. I am hoping she will eventually have a look at this site but I think its too early at the moment.
@Toystory2025
I came looking for news about Emily and yourselves and am delighted to see that sheās home.
You are right though, the hardest work starts now.
As a carer for my husband since his stroke I can confirm it can be a real rollercoaster and sometimes we have snapped at each other under stress.
Weāve learnt to move on quickly when that happens but I think the most important thing is communicationā¦ thereās a problem there because too much can be overload for the stroke person.
I have been too pushy with my husband in trying to get him to work hard at recovery and after some great advice on here I am now being careful to give him more time to rest, recoup and make progress at a slower pace.
Emily will be your guide.
Wishing you all well and remember itās not a race Ellie
Great to hear Emily has been sent home, I hope her recovery continues to go well and remember that the Stroke Association are here if you need any further support.
Wishing you all a great recovery. Remember, each journey is unique and your journey is yours alone. Yes, you will have similarities to others and you can certainly learn from others, but focus on yourselves.
Emily will know what is working for her and what is not and she will be able to tell you. She should listen to her body and act accordingly.
Plenty of rest, good nutrition and physical and mental activities.
Donāt be afraid or do not worry if you get any āset backsā - often this is when the body / brain is telling you to slow down.
OK, you know all this, so best wishes to you and Emily.
@Toystory2025 so good to hear that Emily is now home. She will be much better off in her own home. It does make such a difference. What an emotional roller coaster for you allā¦from being given little hope to her being home in a relatively short space of time (although probably felt like forever for you all).
Emily will guide you through her recovery. There needs to be a balance betwen woeking hard on recovery to getting plenty of rest. Youāll work it out in time. Speak to your GP about support for carers. It is just as important that you all look after yourselves too otherwise you canāt help Emily.
Itād be great to see Emily on here but oy if she wants to. Hope to hear uow she is getting on if you get the chance.
No worries, hope Emily arrived home safely I hope some of what I have shared will be of use! There is quite a lot of neuroscience in the book I mentioned which I found a bit heavy going, but I had an AVM too so was a bit more invested in understanding it. I think it would be very reasonable to skip through to the bits that are relevant and helpful to you!
I think peer support stories are amazingly helpful, but I agree it might be a bit early. I was convinced I would be going back to work within months, I had to readjust to my situation more than once! Even now I still find reading and typing to be tiring, and am not up to engaging with this site very frequently. Perhaps when she feels up to it you could read or summarise some stories to her, if a wall of text is a bit too intimidating! I found the podcast āstroke storiesā to be helpful too - I didnāt listen to many but there were a wide variety of experiences, including a boy who had a stroke at 11 while living in Greece with his family and having to navigate a foreign health service.
Finally neuropsychology was an amazing service that helped me come to terms with what had happened, and my current and continuing journey.
Again, all the best, I hope things are improving xx
I am young too (haemorrhaging stroke at 32) and I am so much better than I was.
Ellie
I hope some of what I have shared will be of use! There is quite a lot of neuroscience in the book I mentioned which I found a bit heavy going, but I had an AVM too so was a bit more invested in understanding it. I think it would be very reasonable to skip through to the bits that are relevant and helpful to you!