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Mom had thalamic stroke. Seeking advice.

Mom is on diabetic 2 meds and high blood pressure. She's not overweight for her height. She's in her 60s. Walks 30 minutes daily.

Back in April my mom started having sensory issues like numbness and muscle tightening on one side of her body only. Few weeks went by, it didn't get better, until one day the side of her face went numb. We rushed her to ER, they didn't find anything conclusive, and said follow up with a neurologist. Now, we're in August and her MRI results show she had tiny thalamic strokes that have been there for atleast 2 months. What caused it? They don't know.

Her options now are to have full blood panel, additional neck mri, and echocardiogram. The doctor said she might need to be put on baby aspirin but there's not much to help with pain management besides physical therapy.

Has anyone dealt with this? I'm very lost trying to navigate this for my mother. Her vision and memory seem to be okay. But Is there more to pain management besides aspirin and PT? Should she start Rehab right away? She's now unable to work due to the stroke symptoms.
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973741 tn?1342342773
That's really scary.  Does she medically manage her diabetes and blood pressure?  I'm glad she is the right weight and exercises!  The thalamus as you know is the inner chamber of the brain.  How strokes affect someone from this location are wide and varied. Not surprising she had some sensory symptoms! Does your mom have what they call 'central pain syndrome" ?  Is she in pain?  Does she have a clot there?  They need to find that out. This is sometimes removed through procedure.  And clot dissolving medication is often given.  I would imagine aspirin is just the first step in her care.  I'd personally get the rest of her testing done as soon as possible. There's ischemic strokes (blood clotting) and hemorrhagic strokes (from high blood pressure.  As thalamic strokes are a medical emergency, I'd really take the most aggressive approach.
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