Robyn in Texas

Thanks Louise

Hello – I found this site while searching for info on long-term prognosis after SAH. I had two strokes – one ischemic and one SAH on Labor Day of this year. My bleed happened after TPA and manual thrombectomy in attempt to remove the original clot. I am recovering as well as could be expected I suppose. I was very lucky to have been discharged from ICU directly to a high quality inpatient rehab hospital to their TBI unit, where I started rehabbing right away. They had me on a bike in PT one day out of ICU, even though my left side was paralyzed. We have video of that – pretty comical! Also my insurance paid for a month-long stay in assisted living specifically for neuro rehab patients, where I was able to practice independent living skills in a safe environment – like cooking my own meals, doing laundry, grocery shopping. etc. I came home from there just before Thanksgiving. I live alone and am making it one day at a time, with some daily help from a home health aide. I am in a day neuro rehab program now – 7 hours of therapy – PT, OT, ST plus counselling a day (exhausting!) I walk, cook, dress, bathe, etc., without help, but still struggle (I’m just four months into this) with terrible fatigue, and no use of my left arm or hand (working on that daily), poor sleep, cognitive impairment, PTSD nightmares, and overall working through the grief of loss of my former high-functioning self. I had plans to return to work in early December, but realized I wasn’t ready – cognitively or physically/stamina-wise. I’m now talking to my boss about a part-time return to a less stressful role in late March. My former job included 150 nights/year of travel and leading a team of 200 employees. Not going back to that life -depleting stress hole ever again! Hope to learn from other members of this group how to best manage my recovery as I work to get back my old brain. Thanks for allowing me to join.