The Road to Recovery: How to Come Back from a Stroke
Nearly 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year.
If you’re among them, you may be asking yourself, “Can you recover from a stroke?”
The short answer: yes.
However, it will require some serious tenacity and effort on your part.
From knowing exactly what to expect from stroke rehabilitation to understanding why in-home care might be helpful, this post will tell you everything you need to know about stroke recovery.
It won’t always be easy, but it is possible if you stay positive.
Read on to learn how you can get your life back after you’ve suffered from a stroke.
Understand what to Expect from Stroke Rehabilitation
Of course, one of the most important parts of stroke recovery is entering into a professional rehabilitation program.
This is designed to help you relearn how to use the muscles that were impacted by the stroke, as well as how to adjust to any limitations in mobility that the stroke has caused.
The process will certainly be challenging, and will often require just as much emotional strength as it will physical stamina.
In general, you should expect to do exercises that strengthen your motor skills and even help you to relearn how to swallow. You may be given a walker or a cane, and you may need to try forced-use therapy.
This is where your working limb is tied in some way to your body, while you learn to use the limb that was affected by the stroke.
You may even use more high-tech recovery treatments. This can include things like virtual reality, robotics, electrical stimulation, and even activity monitors.
You’ll also take part in cognitive therapy.
Usually, this means that you’ll have occupational and speech therapy that will help you to strengthen your processing skills and your overall memory. If your speech has been impacted by the stroke, you’ll also improve your ability to communicate.
In some cases, your doctors may decide that you stand to benefit from taking medications.
Remember that the faster you’re able to enter into stroke rehabilitation after the event, the better the range of motion that you’ll be able to recover.
You should expect to engage in some form of stroke recovery therapy for a few months, or even for a few years, after the initial stroke. Doing so can help to prevent you from having a second stroke.
Willpower, Psychological Issues, and Stroke Recovery
Now that you understand the more physical side of stroke recovery, we should also discuss the emotional and psychological side.
Only you can control your reaction to both the stoke itself and the ideas and activities presented to you over the course of your stroke rehabilitation plan.
Accept that there will be days where you just don’t feel like doing the exercises to help you recover. You may also deal with self-doubt, severe exhaustion, and even anger and sadness.
About 1 out of every 4 stroke patients deals with severe feelings of PTSD in the months and years following their stroke. You should be prepared to deal with “reliving” the moment of the stroke, nightmares, and even anxiety in the place where you had the stroke.
You may also experience feelings of paranoia.
If you feel that you’re suffering from the psychological consequences of having a stroke, you don’t have to go through it alone.
You should let a family member or caregiver know what you’re going through. In addition to behavioral therapy and counseling, they can also offer the emotional support you need.
You may be prescribed antidepressants or take anti-anxiety medication for a short term. This will help you to increase your self-confidence, and work to eliminate the feelings of panic attacks and self-doubt.
Make Home Care a Part of Stroke Recovery
If you’ve suffered from a stroke, going home after a longer stay at the hospital can initially feel liberating.
However, after a few days, you may realize that you need more assistance with daily tasks than you might have thought. Things like bathing, cooking meals, and even simple cleaning tasks may feel like they require an enormous amount of physical strength.
Sometimes, you may be too tired to even try.
You’ll likely also need someone to drive you to your appointments. You may also just feel safer knowing that there’s someone around to help you in case you suffer from a fall or have another stroke.
Professional in-home care will provide you with peace of mind in addition to the everyday assistance you need.
Compassionate caregiving companies like CareBuilders are here for you.
In addition to helping you to take care of yourself, they’ll also provide you with the companionship you may need. Having someone to talk to can make a huge difference in your self-image.
It can also give you the mental stimulation that you need to get well again.
Stroke Recovery Is Possible
We hope that, in reading this post, you’ve learned that stroke recovery isn’t only possible, but highly likely.
Though it will certainly be full of its own set of unique challenges, you can recover from a stroke and regain at least something close to your normal quality of life.
Stroke rehabilitation, psychological care, and in-home support and aids can help.
Of course, continuing to educate yourself about the healing process is also helpful.
However, sometimes laughter is truly the best medicine!
When you need to relax and look at something silly, check out our site. In addition to valuable information, we also offer posts, GIFs, and articles that are guaranteed to make you smile.