Knowing which muscles to build up!
After Mikes stroke he was released from the hospital with only a little bit of therapy twice a day for about 30 minutes. They taught us how to transfer him from bed to toilet and how to dress him but that's about all we got from them. Now most of you know he has issues with his left side where he can only do very limited movements with his hand and arm. Well if we had known sooner just which muscles needed to be built up and which ones needed to be stretched this could have saved him a lot of heart ache and maybe just maybe he could have regained the use of his arm and hand without all the issues he now has. We have been in therapy now for just over three months two times a week both ot and pt. We have thankfully found an ot that actually knows what he needs to do to regain some if not most of his arm and hand but it is gonna take much longer now. When we came home from the hospital we had inhome therapists that told him to build up the muscles in his arm called the bicep, this was totally wrong for the issues he had. Spastisity had caused his arm to draw up and kept his elbow bent almost to his chin! The more we worked the less he could do. The bicep became so strong that it was over powering the tricep and the tricep was totally lost! His therapist now says that the bicep is so short and the tricep is so weak that is the reason he can't reach out with his arm. He still can't reach out and pick stuff up yet but he is getting there. He has the ability to move the right parts, his brain is connecting with the right muscles and nerves to move them it's just that they are so weak and some are so tight and short that they have to be rebuilt! This wonderful lady has been in the field for 30 years and is so knowledgeable! I wish we had found her months ago! Anyway the reason I have posted this is because Mike has insisted that I let everyone on here know that you have to know the right way to exercise and just because they call themselves a therapist doesn't mean they know what they are talking about! This lady tells us what to do and why we should do it! She explains which muscles, tendons and nerves are suppose to be working and which ones are not. If your therapist can't do this then we suggest you find one that does! She has told mike with hard work she doesn't see any reason he can't do most of the things he use to do! I wish we could afford to see her 5 times a week!!! He may not like that but it sure would help him recoop faster! LOL. I know this has been a long blog but I just wanted to let you guys in on this. Just another reason why we have this site, to share the things we have learned and pass them on to hopefully help someone else in their journey through this thing called STROKE!!!!! Love you all and you are in our prayers!!!!
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