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(Niagara Resources for Stroke Survivors and Caregivers, 2010 Edition)
If you were able to get to the hospital quickly and they limited the damage to the portion of the brain affected you were one of the lucky ones. Congratulations. You made it through the acute phase of stroke management. Now, what happens? You can walk, talk, and function, but it has all been impaired and everything has changed.
Each stroke is different and how well you will recover from a stroke will depend on a wide variety of factors. These factors play an important role in your recovery, just as much as the contributing factors that led to your stroke. The most important being how much damage was done to your brain and how poor or vital your health was before the stroke.
Obviously, you want the best achievable outcome from the impairments that you sustained. It is very important to focus on rehabilitation following a stroke. Providing care for a stroke patient can be an overwhelming and very emotional experience. One of the first tips is to except all the offers of help from anyone, family and friends alike, but the primary source of any stroke information and limitations of rehabilitation should always come from the patients’ doctor.
Often, all these sources of information can be and will be too abundant, so do not be afraid to ask as many questions as possible, write everything down, even journal, never feel foolish to ask the same question twice or ask for clarification. Your pharmacist can also be an extraordinarily important factor in understanding what medications you are taking and when you are supposed to be taking them and in what dosage.
The early signs and symptoms of stroke that we mentioned above were noticed by Rick Gorham’s partner and colleagues at Barron Roofing and even his wife in the earlier morning. He didn’t exhibit all the signs at once, no one was thinking that he may be having a stroke and therefore no one immediately attributed the changes that were happening as a stroke. That is until they got him to the hospital.
Rick was one of the lucky ones. His stroke by all accounts was mild, with a great recovery prognosis and his stroke could definitely be labelled as a warning sign of what could have eventually led to a much more severe episode or even a heart attack.
I met Rick a week or two after his hospital stay and this typically happens. The trainer gets called in, not as the more effective, preventative function, but in the “I’ve had a stroke? Now, what do I do?”
Rick was much like the average person, eating whenever and whatever to fit in with the hectic work schedule, ending up with only 1 meal at home.
So what were the contributing factors that lead up to his stroke?
Some key factors included;
Change in lifestyle is first and foremost the best natural healer, but can only be initiated when your physician gives the all clear.
Rick was much like the average person, eating whenever and whatever to fit in with the hectic work schedule, ending up with only 1 meal at home. A choice at that point is either based on convenience, with fast food being the culprit or guilt steps in and forces you to eat healthily. By now it’s too late! Your metabolism is not working with you and what you eat will be stored as fat and retained as our body isn’t sure when the next time it will get food. Workouts. How many guys out there use the excuse; “but my job is physically demanding, I don’t need to train.”
Wow! Congratulations fellas, because you are the person that needs to train the most. Even though the job is physically demanding, your body is an amazing machine and will recognize the repetition, build tolerance and do it quickly. What Rick did day in and day out at work was becoming progressively stale and in order to grow muscle strength, size or even lose weight, he needed to get his butt into the gym and start lifting some weight and move in ways that were not the same as his physically demanding job. At this point, Rick is susceptible not only to high levels of stress and anxiety but injury to his joints. The muscles are taking a beating and are not protecting the joints.
Going from 0 to 60km can be fast but, as long as each gear is shifted in succession everything runs smoothly. With Rick, we turned his eating habits around almost overnight, from taking the one to two meals a day and changing it to five to six wisely counted macronutrient meals options had him eating every three hours. Having a stroke means that your blood pressure has to be drastically reduced and the sodium that was Rick’s best friend and the devil in disguise were the first things to be monitored.
Second, came the increase in protein, with the new training regime and wanting the rejuvenation of muscle tissue for repair, protein was introduced into every meal, proportionately balanced to carbohydrates and fats for energy. A huge factor was the caffeine intake. Rick, like all other true blooded Canadians, enjoys a good Tim Horton’s coffee.
Unfortunately, a double/double should not be in our lingo on a daily bases, and especially, not four or more times a day. The cream at Tim Hortons which makes the coffee so delicious is a whopping 18% milk fat, that’s whipping cream! Rick was encouraged to quit the stimulants as they were not only adding wasted calories but attacking his central nervous system which, in these stages of stroke recovery needs to be repairing as well. These changes are not labelled as diet, but more as a healthier and a proper lifestyle way of eating.
With permission from his physician, we started implementing an exercise routine into his lifestyle.
People who have sustained a stroke will tell you that afterwards, you can feel like a weak little child. Not being able to hold a simple plank position for more than ten seconds or do a pushup and even perform fast feet where cognitive and motor skills are put to the test. Rick was really discouraged.
On a daily basis, we set up a program that would challenge both his motor and cognitive abilities, progressing forward by strengthening his core and overall functional strength. It was after an astonishing fast eight weeks that we saw the cognitive skills start to improve where his fast feet exercises could be performed quickly and in a repetitive manner on a designated spot on the Bosu ball.
Soon Rick’s core strength had improved tremendously, he is losing one to two pounds a week, lowering his cholesterol -blood pressure, gaining lean muscle, looking fitter, younger and above all else, his overall health is now compounding forward. Rick is on his way to a long, healthy and sustainable recovery.
While focusing on your recovery, as a stroke survivor you need to be aware of some other factors.
Studies have shown that there can be an increase in diabetes, further strokes and even heart attacks if the risk factors are not taken into consideration.
Using all the information and knowledge that you have gained through your recovery process will help prevent secondary strokes. The idea is that if there is something that can be done to reduce the risk of stroke recurrence, do it!
It is important to realize that patients who address the risk factors and implement a preventative program, such as a regular, sensible workout and healthy lifestyle in conjunction with a combination of a reduced caloric and cholesterol intake can reduce the risk of a secondary stroke by up to 60%.
The above should never be attempted alone or without consultation and recommendation of your physician.
All information can be found at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Website, www.heartandstroke.ca
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