cerebellum stroke

[Luckylinn]

My 30 year old sister had a massive stroke on Feb 9, 2009. She had surgery on her cerebellum and was in ICU for 35 days. She developed an infection on her surgery (Mersa), and also got meningitis. She went to rehab for a week before she ended up back in the hospital having to have a shunt put in. She went back to rehab for a month, but we decided to take her home after seeing she was only getting 3 hours of therapy a day and nothing the rest of the time. We changed her to Outpatient and currently take her in 3 days a week. The list of things that she needs therapy with is long. She has lost her ability to walk, she has no balance. She lost her speech although it has come back slurred. She was on a feeding tube for 2 1/2 months and just recently started eating again, although very sloppy. She cannot fully swallow yet, still somewhat chokes on water. Her mind is sharp, her memory intact but her emotions are tricky. She has 3 kids who were her life before all this, but she now seems very unemotional towards them. There are many questions we have, will she ever walk again? will she ever regain her emotions? could we do something to help her that we are not currently doing? Hear stroke was determined to be caused by an abnormal vein formation which ruptured when she was lifting weights. Have any stroke survivors rehabilitated from such severe strokes, and if so how long can we expect it to take. We see some improvements in her rehabilitation although very slow which can be very frustrating. Any input would be greatly appreciated.  

[heavenlyitems]

I am sorry to hear about your sister.  I had a cerebellum stroke eight weeks ago and I believe I am truly blessed.  I do not have blocked arteries at all.  A blood vessel in my cerebellum burst.  

Therapy is good.  I made myself do things that I did not feel like doing and did not have therapy because I do not have insurance.  I am not back 100% and I still have to force myself to do things with my weak side.  

Hope she does get better

[sue_in_oz]

Hi again

I refer you back to my earlier response to your post

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Stroke/New-Member/show/705919?post_id=post_4491588

HTH

Sue