ischemic stroke after 12 months

It will be 1 year at the end of October and I have not recovered my old life either. My biggest problem is extreme dizziness which stops me from exercising or doing anything useful and trouble with my eyes. I am not giving up although I know healing slows down and I am a slow healer. I do not know if I can regain my old life or not. But it could be wotse.

I,too, will be 80 this month, and experience much dizziness . MY BALANCE is not good either, so both of these limit what I can do. I realize it could be so much worse, so try to focus on what I can do instead of what I can't. Has been 10 months since moderate right PCA stroke with left side weakness.

I'm disillusioned. This is not the Canada our forefathers fought for in two world wars. Our Health Care system is completely fractured.

My one year stroke anniversary will be October 25. I did not know what to expect in recovery so I feel like it’s so much is still new to me or being figured out. Due to 2 PCP’s leaving our Insurance network, I’ve not had anyone consistently watching over my recovery. The upside is that I just got too very good referrals. One is to a physiatrist who specializes in the neurological recovery for strokes, and one is to a new neurologist who has just been brought to our county. She works specifically with stroke recovery. This is very encouraging to me, but I’m sad that has taken 11 months to get on the right track.

My days have to be paced very carefully. If my system becomes fatigued and overwhelmed, it takes a day or more to recover. It’s better to be proactively careful than to have to reactively calm my system down. The effects of my stroke are all invisible. Cognitive fatigue, and every kind of sensory overload, except smell. Sensory input hits me all the same, and my brain can’t sort it out well. The “gate-keepers” have been broken.

There is an upside. This stroke has slowed me down. My life before the stroke allowed for my blood pressure getting out of control. I was running around, even out of state, taking care of my parents and my kids’ families as they all had serious health issues come up. I can’t do that anymore. Now they have to make allowances for me. I’m learning to be OK with that.

@ionashepherd
You are like my twin. I too suffered a stroke 11 months ago and am struggling to get the care I need with no one overseeing my case. My doctor retired and it was late summer before a replacement came on. Like you I always took care of everybody else and when I needed care there was no one. To make matters worse i live 2 hours away from this doctor and a neurologist and it has been very difficult to get anyone local even though they recommended PT locally. I went the ER several times because of this. Your symptoms sound like mine too and you are right about proactively assessing if I have done enogh....I have a tendency to do one more thing rather than stopping. It has taken a long time to learn what "tired" means a nd stop. Any advice about finding a doctor to oversee my case would be appreciated.

Do you know if we are able to contact each other separately from here? I would love to chat more. Also, about a month ago I found a group of women scattered across the US who have a video chat with Google Meet every Monday at 3 PM Pacific time. We span the ages of 28 through 71. I’m 71. So far there has just been anywhere from 4 to 6 of us. It has been such a blessing to just “get together” and talk during that hour each week. We share about our recovery journey, our individual strokes, and where we are in the process.

@winjki no advice about finding doctors, having moved to Texas and after year still am struggling to find medical care. But one thought, wherever you are in U.S.: most counties, cities, towns or townships/villages have a senior center(s). Or an elderly care non profit (although those are targeted for funds reduction or elimination). Should provide you w/resource info re: available no-cost trips to scheduled medical appts. Some may need date two weeks ahead for scheduling. Most provide accessible transport round-trip, many volunteer drivers will escort you in, wait for you, escort out/then home. Good luck, best wishes.

It's going on eight years for me.

Still very limited use of my right side.

Plus, I'm getting to the age when the body naturally starts falling apart.

I'll be honest: It sucks. I hurt all the time, I sleep poorly, I'm isolated and lonely, I miss doing just about everything.

My consolation is that my wife still loves me and wants me around.

I carry on, because what choice do I have?