ARE YOU DEALING WITH THE EFFECTS OF STROKE OR BRAIN INJURY?
PERHAPS OUR STORY WILL HELP YOU
by Madonna Siles
Author, Brain, Heal Thyself
Before you even start reading, I want you to know that I am an ordinary at-home, caregiver of a hemorrhagic stroke survivor. I’m not a medical or rehab professional. Everything I tell you is based on my experience as the caregiver and rehabilitation facilitator for my best friend and roommate, Eve.
Eve is the survivor of a level 5 brain aneurysm that destroyed various parts of her brain. She nearly died several times during the first 48 hours. Then she languished in a coma for seven weeks, spent several months in a nursing home, plus in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation facilities.
Copyright © 2006 Madonna Siles
NOT MUCH HELP
The amount of time the medical community spent on training ME to deal with all of these physical/emotional/mental problems could be measured in hours – not days. Primarily, I learned how to keep Eve clean, exercise her weakened body, and ways to try to coax her to write things down, play memory games and vacuum. (She was very good at vacuuming.)
ALONE AND STRESSED
I was basically alone in rural Wisconsin with no family or friends to help with day-to-day care. Our “contact” with medical personnel involved an occasional phone call to her rehab doctor and a monthly visit from the public health dept. nurse. In desperation, I developed my own rehabilitation program for Eve – and for dealing with my own stress, fears, anxieties and frustrations.
Though I never thought my ideas would work – something happened. In the course of one year, Eve recovered nearly 90% of her ability to function physically, mentally and emotionally.
Maybe it was a miracle, maybe it was my program – or a combination of both. The results were so amazing to me that I had to write a book (Brain, Heal Thyself). As I said, I’m not certain why Eve recovered so well. I just know something worked. And medical professionals who have read my book agree . . . including Dr. Lawrence Beuret who wrote the final chapter of the book.AVAILABLE ONLINE OR AT THE LIBRARY
I invite you to read Brain, Heal Thyself. You don’t have to purchase it – you can borrow it from your local library. Or you can buy it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, my publisher Hampton Roads, or here on this website.
Because the book discusses creative visualization techniques that you may not be familiar with, I’ve also recorded a CD for caregivers. It’s available on this website, but if you have your own visualization/relaxation technique, it will probably work as well as mine and you could use that. It’s up to you.
I hope my book and caregiver visualization CD help you. Please let me know by posting your reaction on the message board. Thanks . . . and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
VIRTUALLY A “VEGETABLE”
When Eve was released to my home care, she was unable to care for herself. Though she was no longer paralyzed, her right arm was very weak and she had difficulty swallowing and talking. She was unaware of her own needs and a “danger” to herself. Her communication abilities were extremely limited. She didn’t talk much and what she said didn’t make much sense. In addition to the dysphasia, Eve suffered both long and short term memory loss.
