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Thank you again for sharing your experiences, it really helps to know that what mum is going through is 'normal'. SarahLou I am fine, I do cry sometimes but I have a wonderful husband and 3 lovely adult sons who are all very supportive and love their nan almost as much as I do We also have my sister who has a lovely hubby and family so there are plenty of us supporting each other for which I feel very blessed as I know not all families are as close. Penny we are hoping very much that the new meds will help with mum's mindset, she only started about a week ago and I think they take between 2 and 4 weeks to start taking effect. They arrive in Spain today and have I think 2 nights en route before they arrive at the apartment they are staying in till mid April, I am hoping to hear from my step-dad then and hoping they had a good journey, at least the shipping forecast for the Bay of Biscay was good It will be good to visit them in March and see how things are - new meds and hopefully plenty of sunshine should improve things for both of them!

Oh I would never give up on her I love her too much. It is really hard for us but especially for my step-dad when she keeps complaining all day and saying she wishes she was dead He copes with so much that we don't really see not living with her 24/7 but sometimes I know it gets too much and then he will ring me and let off steam! I am hoping the anti-depressants will help with this and will lift her a bit.....

Oh Louise that made me chuckle I really don't know how mum would cope if she was told, she keeps saying she wants to die on bad days, I'm never getting any better I may as well be dead I am hoping the anti-depressants will help with this...

Oh Louise I just wish mum would be like that! I am sure it goes a long way to helping you cope with life - yes there are things that you used to be able to do that you maybe cannot now but there are other things that you can do that you can focus on. I am sending you a big hug and my very best wishes - you are a very positive lady

Hi Mary - I hope your meeting goes well! Notebooks are vital to my mum too, when she cannot say the word in her head but she can usually write it down. Sarah Lou - I think you have a fantastic outlook on life, very positive at what you can do. Mum's biggest problem is acceptance of the changes to her life. What has come across to me from all your answers is there is no answer! There is no magic cure, life will never return to what it was before and we need to work with what we have. Mum is fully mobile, she can converse pretty well, she can read short items, she has a good appetite and gets out and about seeing things etc. In fact they have decided to go ahead with their annual trip to Spain. They are leaving tomorrow and will be back mid April. We are going to visit mid March. Thank you for your advice and experiences - it has taught me a lot. I have printed out the replies and handed them to my step-dad to read. All we need to work on now is how to how to get mum to accept her limitations and be happy with what she has

I read the first book before I saw the film and I am sure that I imagined Hagrid as Robbie Coltrane before he was cast as the character! The characters are mostly very memorable, but some of the names stick with you better than others

Sounds like you have been along the same lines as mum Louise! She has never read Harry Potter, before her stroke she used to read real heavy going books that I would not even pick up, I think she is struggling to get any interest in different types of stories As for having to re-read the last page or two, I find I have to do this if I have read it last thing at night as I've forgotten it next day so can empathise with you there! She has had quite a slot of speech therapy, not much occupational therapy - they decided she didn't need it. I am going to investigate Headway, I think they may be able to help even if it is only meeting up and chatting with other people in a similar situation. Take care xx

Thank you all so much for your insight and help. Penny I will definitely investigate Headway in Lincs, thanks for the link. Short stories, crosswords and other such games are a great idea, I am not sure she has tried these yet - my stepdad does word searches etc as it helps with his English (he is from Belgium and his natural language is Flemish!) I got a call from him yesterday evening - he has been speaking to their GP and she has now prescribed mum some mild anti-depressants which we hope will lift her despondency a little. In the meantime we will keep encouraging her to try short stories, poems and the word games

Thanks Penny, the hardest thing we are finding is getting mum to accept different help. She has had NHS and private speech therapy and both have helped very much. I will investigate Headway to see what there is available in Mum's area (Boston, Lincs) and will pass whatever I find on to my (sometimes desperate!) stepdad. Kate xx

Thank you for the replies It is not me worrying - I think mum has made fantastic progress! It is mum's frustration at her limitations that is giving us concerns, she is very demoralised as she was such an avid reader and cannot accept that she can't (for now) do as she did. She has had speech therapy and some occupational therapy but they have said they have gone as far as they can with her, this has upset her too We just wondered if there is anything in particular that has helped others in the same situation?

OMG Louise that is so strange - mum says "I'll tell you tomorrow" whenever she cannot say something too! She does keep trying but is getting disheartened, there's no way she can read a book like the HP ones. She has picked up the kind of book like a diary/memoir but I think she cannot remember what she has read previously. I think she is doing so much better than she thinks she is and that is probably the biggest problem, and why she is downhearted, no matter how we tell her she has improved she doesn't believe it. Honestly sometimes you do feel like you are having a normal conversation with her, we can nearly always guess what she is trying to say if she cannot get the right word. What is OT (sorry if it is something obvious:oops:) I am really happy for you that you have made such a good recovery, think you have age on your side too! Mum is 74 now, stepdad is 82 and mostly copes really well but sometimes he gets to the end of his tether with mum's negativity and other problems, it is a lot to cope with and I wish they lived nearer.....

I don't know if anyone can give some advice on the above? My mother had a serious stroke in June 2010 caused by a bloodclot in her brain. Prior to the stroke she was an avid reader and diary keeper etc. Physically she has made a fantastic recovery, however she has lost the ability to read more than a short newspaper article and although she can mostly write down a single word she cannot string words into a sentence. She has used a computer programme by Propeller called React 2 and this has been really useful but she is now very demoralised as she believes she will never get these abilities back. We have been told that it is unlikely she will ever make a full recovery, which we accept but cannot share this with mum as she lives in hope that she will. We just wondered if anyone had found some methods or a specialist that may help her regain a little more of these abilities? Also she says she cannot taste or smell food, and at first her weight dropped off. She has now come back to a more normal weight and seems to have a good appetite which would indicate that even if she cannot taste much at least it isn't tasting bad which I know can happen sometimes. Is it possible that these senses will return? Anything anyone can advise would be very gratefully received. Thank you