Stroke
Social support
Many individuals spoke about the importance of social support as they recovered from their stroke. They spoke highly of family and friends who rallied around to assist the person as they adjusted to new routines and environments.
When social support is limited or non-existent
In some cases support from friends, family or a significant other was not available. One man commented that formal care providers should not assume that families and friends are available and that this should be taken to account in an individual’s care plan. On the other hand, a woman who had been divorced felt that the absence of a partner forced her to do more on her own which helped her recovery and regain independence.
Ralph feels that care providers should not assume that family and friends are always available.
Ralph feels that care providers should not assume that family and friends are always available.
Jackie explains that being unmarried forced her to do more for herself and be less reliant on...
Jackie explains that being unmarried forced her to do more for herself and be less reliant on...
Initial impact on family and friends
Individuals who had social support noted that the initial impact of the stroke on family and friends was nearly always shock, disbelief and fear, particularly as the stroke was often unexpected. Some people felt that they had been very close to dying and that this had been upsetting and difficult for their family to come to terms with.
Most people said that families and friends rallied round and were a tremendous support. A few, however, took some time to adjust and where initially reticent to visit the person in hospital. One younger woman felt that she needed to protect her parents from the stroke and found it easier to 'cry on the shoulder' of a social worker rather than worry her parents.
Her parents were badly affected by the stroke and didn't initially come to visit her. She wanted...
Her parents were badly affected by the stroke and didn't initially come to visit her. She wanted...
And your mum and dad came in to see you eventually?
Yeah, they did. Yeah, they did. But they were, quite overwhelmed by it all, really. Mmm. And I, I tend to be, or tended to be trying to look after them, to not, and that's a difficult thing when you're an ill person, because you know you're upsetting people, well, that's how I see it, and so you tend to want to try and' make sure that they see that you're alright. I know if I can make them sure, they can see I'm alright when I'm paralysed, I don't know, but I would try and do that. That's what I'm like. But things, I mean, the social worker in the first hospital I was in was brilliant, absolutely superb. Fantastic woman.
Tell me about it?
Well, she, she was the one, I mean, she was the one that, I felt I could really cry in front of because I wasn't going to hurt her. She wasn't my parents, she wasn't, you know, I mean, she'd say to me, '[own name], your parents have told me how well you're doing, yeah, and they need to know that doing well isn't about being brave and stoic all the time because what you've happened to you is, is serious and very bad and it is OK to cry but it was her I used to cry in front of, [laughter], sometimes. Yeah.
Visits in hospital
Visits from family and friends in hospital were invaluable to most and several people commented on the huge time commitment and sometimes long distances that people travelled to visit every day. Some people had not wanted to see anybody for the first few days after the stroke or had been concerned that young children might be scared by slurred speech or appearance.
Impact on young children and grandchildren
The impact on children and grandchildren caused considerable concern particularly to those who had young children. The daughter of one woman had not wanted to visit her in hospital which she found upsetting but totally understood. Some noticed that their grandchildren were more wary of them because of changes in their voice or appearance although they usually came to accept the changes with time.
Their daughter's son was initially wary of her husband because his voice had changed by the...
Their daughter's son was initially wary of her husband because his voice had changed by the...
Two women with young babies had been eager to continue caring for them as they were changing every day and they hated missing out.
People often worried about the long-term impact of their stroke on their children, on top of the usual life changes young people go through, and made huge efforts to try and make their lives as normal as possible. Whilst some felt that children had come through relatively unaffected a few noticed problems months and even years later which had required counselling.
She tried to keep things as normal as possible for her daughters but worries that they have been...
She tried to keep things as normal as possible for her daughters but worries that they have been...
A few years after her stroke her son needed some counselling because the experience had caused...
A few years after her stroke her son needed some counselling because the experience had caused...
Did he find it helpful seeing the psychologist?
Yeah. He was fine once he, it was, it was quite strange listening to him tell the psychologist about what had happened and how he felt about it because I think we were too close to what had happened to have noticed what was going on, not, just hadn't realised how deeply it had affected him. You tend to think, 'Oh, you know, he's very young, he's 8, he's fine, he'll get over it' and you just don't realise how much they've taken in I think.
People often felt that their impairments interfered with their roles as a parent or grandparents, for example being able to read or help in education because of communication difficulties or worrying about holding a child because of weakness and numbness.
Worries about holding her young grandson because of loss of sensation but hopes that things will...
Worries about holding her young grandson because of loss of sensation but hopes that things will...
You were saying when you hold him it's...?
It's, well I don't feel safe because I can hold him in this hand for a wee while but as soon as he starts to wriggle I feel like I've, you know if he's going to fall, I can't support him and I feel like I'm missing out an awful lot with him, you know. God willing it will all come back a wee bit at a time.
Hopes and aspirations for children and grandchildren often spurred on recovery or kept people going when they were feeling down. Events like seeing a child or grandchild married were important goals.
Set himself a goal of being able to speak and stand for his daughter's wedding and got a standing...
Set himself a goal of being able to speak and stand for his daughter's wedding and got a standing...
Wife' And say 'I do'. That was in the rehab unit. He went to the rehab unit at the beginning May, May the 11th and she was getting married on May 31st and he said, 'I want to be able to stand up and say I do', so that was his aim for the first 3 weeks.
And did you manage to do that?
Husband' Yes. It's the only wedding I've been to where somebody gets a standing ovation for saying I do.
Changes in roles and responsibilities
Regardless of age a stroke can have a huge impact on people's roles and responsibilities in the family and on their levels of independence.
Most of the people that we spoke to returned home after their stroke and many of these had a partner at home to help out. Those without support sometimes temporarily or permanently stayed with or got help from relatives - younger people from parents and older people from adult children. Care was sometimes provided through the social services (See 'Continuing care at home and institutional care after a stroke').
People who had had a stroke found it difficult that their spouse had to take on extra responsibilities - they felt guilty sitting by and watching them struggle although said they were very grateful for the support. Men in particular found it difficult to see their female partners doing manual tasks or dealing with finances.
Some partners had initially taken time off work although most eventually returned. One man felt guilty that his partner had to come home from work and start cooking and cleaning, tasks which they used to share. He was pleased to be able to get back to helping out. Another who could no longer work found it difficult to take on household chores while his wife went out to work.
He felt guilty seeing his wife go out to work and then come home and do the house work.
He felt guilty seeing his wife go out to work and then come home and do the house work.
Again, I didn't like it because with' to let you understand, how my job worked, I worked 4 days on and 4 days off. So the 4 days off, I have the house [laughter] I'm no saying tidy but I can do, I can do ironing, I can do the hoovering and all the rest of it and the meals were always made, you know. So when my wife was coming in, she had to start from scratch at 6 o'clock, you know, which meant we were getting our meals later, which, you know, it was, and my wife's had a hard day and she's coming in, as I said, normally the meals were made, and I felt, you know, it wasn't really my fault but it was my fault, you know, and you start to feel, you know, [makes snorting noise] I didn't like it. I felt guilty again. I didn't feel guilty because I realised it wasn't my fault and there's nothing I could have done about it, you know, about the illness, you know, that kind of thing. Hence the result of the illness was, it meant I couldn't do too much about the house and I know my wife realised that, so there wasn't any problem that way but, at the same time, without saying anything to her, I felt, I felt kind of, you know, I should have been doing more, you know. Normally I would have but, as I said, events decreed otherwise.
Many felt that they had lost independence because they were so reliant on help from others. This was particularly a problem when people needed help with washing and dressing or could not go out or travel alone.
Some had found it frustrating because they wanted to resume doing some of the things they used to do and were not allowed to by concerned or over protective relatives. Whilst this could lead to disagreements several people advised pursuing the things that you wanted to achieve as it helped with recovery and overall mood.
She had several disagreements with her mother because she was helpful after the stroke but was...
She had several disagreements with her mother because she was helpful after the stroke but was...
Awful because my mum had been very supportive when I first came home from hospital and she'd very much really taken over where the nurses had left off, so she would be cooking meals for me and a tray would arrive. At breakfast, she'd bring it up to bed. I mean, she's in her 70s and before I woke, she would bring it and I'd say, 'Mum, I want to come down and get my breakfast'. Really the first few weeks were hard because the first few days I wasn't well enough to do it and then gradually, as the stitches and such like from the operation improved, my health improved and I got the strength and I wanted to do more for myself and I wanted to prepare meals because I knew that in a finite number of days or weeks I was going to be back at home with my 2 daughters, not only did I have to look after me, I have to look after them.
So the sooner I started, the better and it was a constant battle towards the end with my mum and I had to upset her a few times because she would, she wouldn't let me do things and it was holding my recovery back, it wasn't helping me because I wasn't using my arm because she was doing all the preparation work, even things like washing up, drying pots, you are using it to some degree, every simple task you can think of and she, she was jumping in there and doing it for me and we, we had a few, a few weeks where the relationship hit rock bottom because, obviously, mum was very unhappy and I tried to say, 'I'm so grateful for what you have done, I couldn't have managed, I couldn't have got where I am without you but I need now to start doing things for myself and learning how to do them for myself and the longer you're doing them, the harder it's going to be for me to do them' and she didn't like that at all because she got into the little role of being sort of the carer and she didn't like it when I came back into my girls' lives after 4 months because they'd lived with her and I took back over but the mum role, so for probably about 6 to 12 months after that, we had a couple of little clashes which I feel very bad about but they happened because I needed to be independent again and I couldn't make my mum understand as much as I tried gently by dropping hints or by even saying outright, 'Mum, please let me do it, you know, this is how we did it before and we're going to get back to that' and mum said, 'Well, I'll do it for you, I'll get it, I'll pick it up, I'll do this' and I said, 'Mum, you, you really don't understand. Please I need to do it' and she would, would push and then in the end I'd have to say, 'No mum, please, leave it'. That was very hard because I know I was hurting my mum because in the goodness of her heart, she was helping and she was doing it for all the right reasons but it wasn't helping my recovery.
Have you been able to talk about it now?
Yes. Oh yes, I have now. She's, she's fine about it and she does understand that now and I think if it were one of my daughters I would probably have the same issues because you obviously want to look after your child and even though I was 42, I was still her child and I was still her daughter and that, that instinct to nurture and care for is very strong but I was very angry and very bitter and resentful that I should be doing it for them and I felt, they didn't make me feel it at all. Nobody, in a thousand worlds would ever have said anything. I felt such a burden. I hated, everybody must who is ill. It's not nice having to rely on other people to do things for you. It's very, very hard when you've always been the sort of person whose led your life independently and done things for yourself and run your own affairs, then to literally have to be, you know, spoon-fed, it is very, very difficult, as you can imagine. It’s not something that’s easy to accept.
Advises other people's families to not discourage the person from trying to do things for...
Advises other people's families to not discourage the person from trying to do things for...
To let them do what they feel that they're able to do. Not to restrict, well not to say, 'Right, you're definitely not' and stand over them so that they won't, if you know what I mean. Because I think you should be' cared about, yeah, cared of, think about and that, but' space. That's what I was looking for I think. A certain amount of space because, well, it's nice to be able to say, 'Oh look I've done that' See these? I was fair chuffed [laughs].
Was that putting the curtains up?
Yeah [laughs], Yeah. Which I've done for years and never thought anything about it but' Yeah. It was nice.
One woman said that her children were always suggesting things which she did not necessarily want or need.
Support for family members
Several people recalled that there was very little support for family members, although some said it was available but was hard to access.
They think that support is mainly given to the patient and should be more readily available for...
They think that support is mainly given to the patient and should be more readily available for...
Wife' Although there was if you found out about it but the social worker'
Husband' It didn't come looking for you.
Wife' 'told us about what was available for [my husband] but it was only really through the stroke club that I found what was available for me as a carer and the, the carers set up where we were. So I think it would have been helpful if, right from the outset, they could have said what was available for me as well as what was available for him.
Future concerns
One father commented that he is concerned about what will happen to his son (who had a stroke) when he and his wife pass away.
Friends
The support of friends had been important to many people particularly those without family support. Initially visits in hospital and cards and letters had given people a real boost. Later people valued trips shopping, days out and people that came to visit them. One man had been on a weekend away with friends, who had done everything to accommodate him including lifting his wheelchair. Whilst some people valued being able to talk about the stroke with friends others preferred to talk about other more enjoyable things.
His friends were happy to take him away for a weekend and didn't have a problem with him being in...
His friends were happy to take him away for a weekend and didn't have a problem with him being in...
Still very supportive. A friend of mine got married recently and for his stag weekend, he went over to Amsterdam, which is, which is something I would normally have been one, he was one of the people I used to play with football that night I had the stroke, so he just assumed that I would go. I said, 'Well, how are you going to be able to manage me in Amsterdam?' He said, 'Well, there's a gang of us going'. There was 10 of us and out of the 10, I think 9 were nurses and one was a, was a doctor, so he said, 'We'll be able to manage you, that won't be a problem'. So I said, 'Well, if you don't think I'll spoil things, OK' and he said, 'No, that'll be OK'. So we did manage to go and had a weekend in Amsterdam, which was really good and managed. It did mean sometimes they had to just all gather round and pick my wheelchair up with me in it and carry me up steps and things sometimes but we managed and it was a good break. So they've been very supportive and helpful, to be honest.
Not all people kept up with friends. Some said that friends reminded them of the active person they used to be and did not keep in touch. Others said friends drifted away and were not willing to make the effort to visit them. Older people found that their contemporaries also experienced poor health. Whilst this meant that they were sometimes understanding it also made it difficult to stay in touch.
Meeting new people
Strangers and less close acquaintances were sometimes unkind in the things that they said or did. Some people had been accused of being drunk because of a stagger or limp. Those in wheelchair had occasionally been ignored and some thought that people associate stroke with a mental impairment.
People with speech impairments felt it was important for them to explain that their problems so that people would be patient and speak slowly if necessary (see 'Speech and communication after a stroken').
Last reviewed June 2017.
Last updated August 2011
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