Our story begins when I walked in our front door one afternoon and my husband was standing there, smiling, and had no idea who I was. We rushed him to the hospital and he came home to me 4 days later. Instantly I was caregiver to this wonderful man. He couldn’t speak, had trouble walking, and needed help with most everything. I found out later by checking the computer that he had Aphasia…our speech therapist apologized for not explaining it to us. As the weeks and months progressed he received extensive speech therapy, PT and OT. I am happy to report that after 2 years he walks quite well and manages his Aphasia with dignity. He looks to me for help in choosing the proper words and for help at times with walking. We are greatly blessed that he is at home living a quite normal life and that I managed to get through all the bumps/trials with minimal help. His Family Nurse Practitioner was only an e-mail away when we needed her. The therapists at our Therapy Center were supportive & encouraging. It would have been most enlightening if there had been a handbook for
caregivers after stoke…just the basics so we would know how to proceed. I say to all caregivers, “do your best, always be close by for the patient and ask for help whenever it is needed. Remember, you can’t be a caregiver if you don’t take some time to re-energize yourself.”