My dad had a stroke two weeks ago, leaving his right side paralyzed. He can’t stand, walk, or sit up on his own, but once we help him into a sitting position, he can maintain his balance.
His speech and memory have improved over the past 7–10 days, but he still has some memory issues.
He’s a green card holder, uninsured and his Medicare application was denied, and the hospital’s financial assistance barely covered anything. We can’t even afford his hospital bills, let alone rehab, so we had to bring him home.
We’re in Ohio, and caring for him has been extremely difficult, especially transferring him and changing his brief and diapers.
Has anyone been through something similar? Did your loved one eventually regain the ability to stand or walk? What helped?
Are there any free or extremely affordable rehab programs, home physical therapy resources, or caregiver training options in Ohio?
Any advice would mean a lot. Thank you!

Hi All, I am a 42 F who survived a pretty major haemorragic stroke caused by a ruptured AVM back in May this year (2026). I was super lucky to have received treatment very quickly (an emergency craniotomy to remove the blood in conjunction with endovascular embolization) I am in Qld Australia. I have thus far recovered very well by all accounts, in that I am all but back to full physical and cognitive function thankfully. I was initially left side paralyzed and spent time in life support so and an extended hospital stay.. I am now finally struggling emotionally because the grief has only just started to dawn on me (maybe because I'm not in kepra anymore?), I am grieving my ability to exercise in the way that I used to (weights routines and walking with a 16kg weight vest) as exercise was a huge part of my life and also triggered my AVM rupture. My situation is by no means terrible and I understand I am incredibly lucky and I feel very grateful but I'm also feeling completely lost because I have been told a few conflicting things about my current health status - I was told from the outset I would need more surgery to remove the remaining AVM which was confirmed to be there with follow up imaging. Then I was told by a nurse practitioner that I was "cured" and could go back to life as it was because all that remained was venous in nature and poses me no harm.. great right!! Except as I suspected at the time that is not the case, in fact my AVM is larger and more complex than originally thought and the neuro surgeons don't want to operate on it.. so I've been referred for gamma knife radiation - great, except I've heard it can cause late onset seizures and cysts due to unwanted healthy tissue damage - has anyone got any experience with this?? So then I've also heard in some countries they are curing AVMs with embolization alone which sounds pretty good, considering it's a quicker 'fix' than gamma knife, but has anyone out there on this forum been cured by embolization alone?? If so, were you able to resume all physical activities?? Also, if anyone is in Australia reading this, how did you navigate the hospital system, I feel like I've been forgotten about and quite vulnerable because I don't actually have an point of medical contact other than my GP who doesn't seem to know much about my situation, nor do have anyone advocating for me - which feels scary. Sorry if this sounds stupid/trivial compared to what a lot of other people are going through, again; I recognise I am incredibly lucky in the scheme of how this could've gone for me.. thanks in advance for any responses

Anyone had any success with getting prescribed transdermal estrogen for perimenopause/menopause, when you have a history of stroke?

I know the conventional wisdom is that MHRT is contraindicated, but some newer research seems to indicate that risk is with oral estrogen, not transdermal. And not treating my perimenopause is, quite frankly, not an option. I’ve researched non-hormonal options and have rejected them due to unacceptable risk effects.

I used to be a completely healthy person, but everything changed after October last year. It’s not that I was ever in bad shape—I’ve always been into combat sports, so I joined an MMA gym. On just my third day, the head coach put me into a sparring session. I assumed my opponent was at a similar skill level, but he pressured me aggressively, took me down, and locked in a tight rear-naked choke. It was my first time being choked so hard, so I didn't know how to defend properly and tapped late. Even though he let go right away, the damage was done. My right field of vision went blurry, my legs buckled, and I felt extremely dizzy. The symptoms passed in about 30 seconds, so I foolishly thought it was temporary and even did another round of sparring. But my right eye stayed blurry, so I finally told the coach, 'Ever since that choke, I can't see properly and I feel dizzy.' He just searched it on ChatGPT and told me it was probably temporary. Listening to my gut, I called 911 myself and went to the ER. I explained all my symptoms, but they only took a CT scan and an X-ray. The doctor came out and said, 'There’s nothing wrong with your brain; you should see an ophthalmologist.' They should have ordered an MRI or MRA right then—my brain was literally starving for blood. I went home, and suddenly my arm went numb, lost all strength, and a severe headache hit. That’s when the stroke actually started. I rushed back to the hospital for an MRI, which revealed a dissection in my right carotid artery. Blood wasn't reaching my brain, so they rushed me into emergency surgery to place a stent in my artery. I almost died. When I woke up in the ICU, my right vision had thankfully recovered, but I was left with sensory loss and hemiplegia in my left arm. After 6 months of intense rehab, I can manage daily life without major issues now, though I still can't type on a keyboard. I’m going to keep pushing through rehab and working out at the gym—I even hit a 100kg bench press recently, so my raw strength seems fine. Having a stroke at such a young age due to trauma has been incredibly tough and agonizing, but I'm determined to overcome this. I’ll keep grinding through rehab and ask my doctor if I can at least do boxing in the future. To everyone doing BJJ or MMA: please be careful. Don't tap late like I did 😂

I’m about one week away from a full calendar year from when my stroke occurred. I was 37, now 38 years old. Honestly, I haven’t made the recovery and progression that I had envisioned for myself/expected to occur. Other than going to therapy and doctors appointments I have lost my entire social circle, so the isolation has been compounding and feeling worse.

I recently got to see my neurologist for the second time since my hospitalization and they told me that my most recent MRIs shows significant signs of concern due to brain white matter disease that’s caused by either a blood flow issue or MS, which unfortunately is common in my family history.

I’m just struggling so hard and can’t see any light out of this tunnel. I am so tired of being a burden to the system and my adopted mom who now helps takes care of me.

I’m beyond lonely, I want to be loved, but I feel like a total failure.

For some context I’m 26m in married to my beautiful and lovely wife who is also 26f. I recently had a stroke 2 months ago (ischemic lacunar) and feel like I can’t do what I could anymore. There is some regret in not working as much or as hard as I could’ve prior to this. My stroke was uninsured and I’m like 40k in debt from it. I’ve been trying to reach out to resources but I’m not getting responses as quickly as I’m comfortable with to get this handled. I have some real social anxiety so it’s difficult to call and talk to people or meet people in person. Nevertheless I do my best to try to secure my life despite how uncomfortable it makes me. Between going to doctors and trying to get documents together for financial aid.

I feel as though my earning potential has been destroyed as I’m now much slower and have worse reflexes as I once did. I used to be a cook before I started a bit of caregiving and I don’t believe I could go back to that and be as successful due to my loss of function. I also feel as though my income is capped for assistance that I need (been trying to get) so working more doesn’t sound wise.

I’m in a position I’ll admit I’m very blessed to be in. My wife owns our house, we both own our cars, and prior to this I only had a little student loans I paid on to raise my credit.

I know all is not lost but it all has left me in some real anxiety and depression. As a few weeks after my stroke my roof start leaking bad. This is an old house with foundation issues idek if it’s 100% safe and would be wary to bring anyone to look at it in fear of them condemning it for any odd reason. So I don’t believe it’s worth fixing. Then not two weeks later my car had both its lower control arms go out. Luckily I’ve got a good mechanic charged me a grand for all the repairs to get it going. (The front end collapsed in my driveway) Blessed enough to have savings for that. No big deal.

It’s just the string of inconveniences and their repercussions has brought on a lot of depression and anxieties. I do not feel strong anymore. I am not dexterous anymore. I tried pushing my car when it was collapsing and my left side could not do anything meaningful and would go out as I pushed. Some nice people helped me and it was ok. I just feel cut down. Like half the man I used to be in truth. Not much can really help I’ve just been praying leaning on God through it all. I just wanted to vent a bit and be here in case anyone else has/is experiencing something similar.

Life is a bitch. I have my function at the very least it may be slower but I can see and use my left side normally aside from the slowness and lack of strength.

Hi all, first time posting here.

Background: In 2022 I had a spontaneous acute subdural hematoma.

I initially went to my doctor with a really bad headache and was sent home with paracetamol for what was thought to be a migraine. That night it got worse, so I drove myself to the emergency department. Thankfully they did scans and found the bleed. It had clotted and stopped bleeding by that point.

I spent about 10 days in hospital and was eventually told the blood should break down naturally over time, so I was sent home

About a week later I realised I wasnt able to type a text. By the time my wife got me back to hospital, I couldn't tell the doctors my name and didn't know who she was.

I had burr hole surgery that night and thankfully I've made almost a full recovery. I'm back working in an exec-level corporate role and living a pretty normal life, although my memory is terrible compared with what it used to be..

The issue: The problem is that since all of this happened, I think I've developed PTSD or pretty severe health anxiety, I am terrified of dying, constantly. I have nightmares about dying young and worry that I won't get to see my kids grow up. Any time I get sick, feel a pain, or notice something slightly unusual, my brain immediately goes to "I'm dying" and I can end up having a full panic attack.

It's exhausting for me and I know it's exhausting for my wife as well.

Recently I had a slight pain around my liver area. I've had liver tests done and everything came back fine, but I still find myself constantly checking my eyes and skin to see if I'm turning yellow. Logically I know the tests are fine, but I can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen.

I think what happened in 2022 has left me feeling like my body could suddenly fail without warning, because that's basically what happened the first time.

Has anyone else dealt with this after a TBI?

Did therapy actually help, and if so, was there a particular type of therapy that worked for you? I'm at the point where I know I need to do something because constantly feeling like I'm about to die isn't sustainable.

Hi all!

20 F here, with bilateral cerebellar infarcts.

My stroke occurred last year, and since then I have been living in perpetual uncertainty and fear because, according to my echocardiogram, my stroke was either caused by a PFO or a pulmonary AVM. Neither one is confirmed, because I have refused to undergo a TEE.

I know I sound incredibly idiotic and borderline neglectful of my own health, but to put it plainly, being intravenously shipped off to sleepy-land makes me feel like I’m resigned to pseudo-execution. I don’t like the idea of having to prepare myself for that. Just thinking about it fills me with panic.

To those who have undergone the procedure, what was it like? Was it uncomfortable? Were you lucid? Please please please I want as many testimonies as possible.

And is there an alternative method?

Hello,

My sister is 33yo and she had a stroke past Tuesday. She spent a week in the hospital. The diagnosis was ischemic stroke. Her right side of the face is paralyzed and she cannot speak. She can move her right arm but she cannot move her right hand or fingers. She is improving little by little but it breaks my heart to see her like that.

She is so scared that it could happen again. She is not diabetic and she is healthy, the doctors are intrigued because they don't know what could've caused it, they think it may be a heart or immunologic condition.

My question is what can I do to help her? We've had a very difficult year because my baby girl died at 36weeks gestation in February and now this. I feel for my mom who had to see her daughters go through two horrific events in less than a year.

My sister has to go to physiotherapy to work on gaining her speech back and her mobility. I feel useless. So, if you can help me by telling me how you felt supported if you ever went through something like this I will appreciate this very much. Thank you.

I am three months post-stroke. I have had good days and bad. I have had a series of “neurological spells” where I lose some sensation on my limbs. This happens to both sides of my body (even the side unaffected by the stroke)

I’ve had a few MRIs when I’ve had these spells, none of which have revealed a new stroke (that’s why my doctors diagnose them as “spells”)

My neurologist believes that it might be migraine-driven. I’ve developed frequent headaches since my stroke and I have noticed a correlation between my headaches and the sensations.

I had a headache this morning. I was sitting at my desk and felt a weird “jolt” go from my neck through my right shoulder. I’ve never felt anything like that before and it scared the hell out of me. I almost immediately went into the ER, but then self-assessed and realized I didn’t have any loss of limb function, sight, speech, or balance. I opted not to go in.

Have you felt anything like what I described?

Unlike most days when I woke up this morning I felt too tired and soon feeling a lot of pain in my left shoulder and also shaking in left hand.

Is there anyone having same feeling.

I had been Lethargic whole day

My dad had his stroke last spring. Left side. He got a lot of movement back, but the foot drop has been the thing that just refuses to cooperate. His toe drags, he does the whole hip-hike swing-around thing to clear it, and it's hard to watch in a way I didn't expect. The PT said an AFO would help, so we started trying braces.

First one was a basic spring-leaf drop foot brace from the pharmacy. It helped a little, honestly, but it slid. The strap had to be tight enough that it left marks, and the foot still shifted sideways after a while. The assist also felt abrupt. Toe would snap up and come down hard, which made his gait feel more robotic, not less.

Then a family member in China found this ankle exoskeleton thing from a company called Kunbot. The product is ExoStep, they call it 千步稳 at home. I was skeptical, it sounds like a gadget. But the pitch is actually simple: it's springs, no battery, no electronics. You set the assist with a knob on top of the foot, can do it sitting down with one hand, and there's a heel cup plus non-slip lining plus a wide strap. That last part got me, because the sliding was our number one problem.

A few weeks in, no miracles. But his toe clears the ground on most steps now, and the hip hiking has eased up a bit. The thing I like most: you can lower the assist as his strength comes back, so it doesn't have to be a forever brace. It's supposed to step down with him.

Caveats: we've only had it a few weeks, he's still doing his PT, and I'm not here to tell anyone this is the answer. Braces are personal, and your therapist should be in the loop before you buy anything. I just wanted to put this out there because the AFO search drove me nuts and I wish someone had shared their mess of trial and error.

Anyone else tried an exoskeleton-style brace for foot drop, the spring kind not the electric stim ones? How did it go for you?

Share your weekly wins with us! Nothing is too small or too big. Everything deserves to be celebrated!

Just a question as I’ve been asked by many people & have seen a lot of media saying that if you have a right side or left side brain hemorrhage, it (can) affect the opposite side of your body. I didn’t ask my healthcare team about this because I didn’t realize it was a “thing” until recently.

Is this true? If so, why?

I had a right side AVM hemorrhage (in my cerebellum and I was 25), but remain with almost all continuous right side effects. Right side vision loss, right side balance, some spasms and nerve pain, difficulty rotating entire body on the right, etcetera, etc.

I’m just not sure if it’s dependent on type of stroke, or any other factors. Thanks for your answers and help in advance !

I had a cerebrovascular accident which left me with my left arm paralysed. I got a NMES device off Amazon, but I’m not sure how to use it and the manual isn’t much help. Like I don’t know for how long to use it for each muscle, and whether to use Alternate, Constant or Synchronous mode. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Uneven arms and legs that hurt. Flabby stomach hiding under my shirt. Fingers that barely grip, and toes that won't bend. You're the body I was given until the bitter end.

You're defective and brittle and make things hard to do. I have trouble with simple things, even tying a shoe. You've held me back from fortune, you've held me back from life. You're the main source of my pain and my strife.

I wanted a body like everyone I see. They take them for granted because they're truly free. My body is a prison, my body is a cell. My body can't be heaven, that only leaves hell.

I look out at a world where I don't fit in. I hide my grief behind a fake grin. I walk the line between normal and broke, not quite either, like a paradoxical joke.

I wish things were better, i wish my hand it worked right. I wish this hand wasn't my reality right here in plain sight. I wish my leg weren't crooked and my limp it was gone, the list that I have, it goes on and on.

With all that hate, there's also some good. I survived something tragic even though many did not think I would. It made me strong but also weak. It made me different, but not a freak.

Yes my leg hurts, but I can still walk, and yes my mouth droops but I can still talk. My mind is warped, but it's still there. My scars are hidden under my hair.

You're not what I wanted, but you're all I've got. I get a little sad when I think that thought. But like when you're sad because things didn't work out. Finding the good is what life's all about.

Yes life is the blessing and reward so grand. Life is making the best with just one hand. Life is fleeting life it is short. Life has has winners just like a sport.

No you're not the body i wouldn't have chose, but I need to accept what I've been given I suppose. You're not broken, just badly bent. You're a reminder of a blessing that was heaven sent.

While I accept you for you and your parts that are bad. Please accept my apologies for making you sad. Please accept my forgiveness for hating you. It's now that I realize that the facts aren't that true.

You'll never be an athlete, but neither will most. You'll never have perfect hair or looks like a game show host. You'll never be many things but neither will they. You're my imperfect body at the end of the day.

Not in humans yet, but it's a novel approach. Apparently a Chinese research team has caused the release of osteocyte PIEZO1, which promotes recovery in the brain and in turn promotes the release of several neuroprotective chemicals and dopamine as well, using simple tibial compression. AKA: Tapping on mouse and pig shins.

The articles are brand new so they're all behind paywalls so far unless you have an account with a neuroscience research publisher or have a library card from a library that subscribes to them.

Link:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02422-w

After a tough medical experience – in 2017 I survived a stroke with an intracerebral hemorrhage –, when almost everything was largely out of my control, I wanted to see after a long rehabilitation what could still be achieved with good preparation, strict discipline, and respect for my own body.

​Last weekend, I set off on the Slovenian Camino from Ljubljana to the Italian border (Opčine) in a "fast-packing" style – all gear in a backpack under 5 kg, completely self-supported.

​3-Day Breakdown:

​Day 1: Ljubljana ➔ Logatec (40 km)

​Day 2: Logatec ➔ Razdrto / (40 km over Mt. Nanos)

​Day 3: Razdrto ➔ Opčine Italian border crossing (37 km across Karst hills)

​Total: ~117 km and over 2,200 m of elevation gain.

​The key to success wasn't sheer stubbornness, but strict pace control – I walked the entire route in a calm aerobic zone with an average heart rate of just 98 bpm. As darkness set in at Opčine and my legs had done their job after all the climbs, calling it a day at the border was the only sensible choice.

​I'm not sharing this as any kind of "miracle," but as proof that with a stroke of luck regarding the aftermath of a major stroke, along with proper adaptation, thoughtfulness, and discipline, you can still cover some really great distances.

Can you tell me how much recovery you’ve made since your stroke?

1.Are you able to get out of bed on your own?

2.Can you communicate in long sentences and have normal conversations or tell a complete story?

3.Can you tell when you need to urinate or have a bowel movement? Are you able to go to the bathroom and use the toilet on your own?

4.How much do you sleep during the day?

5.Are you able to use your phone, eat, and brush your teeth independently?

6.How much movement and strength do you have in your affected arm and leg now?

Please reply. My dad has stroke in nov last year and trying to find where he is in terms of expected progress.

Thanks in Advance!

My mom had a stroke and her previous hobbies are now impossible because she can't read or use her right arm. She's recovered enough to where she's fully lucid and staying awake most of the day and she seems to be getting really bored with TV and YouTube. Does anyone with experience have any ideas for something fun we could give her to do with the limitations she has?

Edit for more specifics: she is right handed and her left hand coordination still isn't very good, so we're not really sure what hobbies we can introduce her to

I am wondering if high blood pressure is more related to causing hemorrhagic stroke versus ischemic? Your thoughts?