The stories of stroke survivors are what drives our fight at the World Stroke Organization to achieve our goal of a world free from stroke. Welcome to our stroke survivor stories series, which we'll pop up on the blog every Thursday, you may wish to contribute to this poignant narrative of stroke globally. Please contact Sarah.Belson@stroke.org.uk
My wife,
Youko Yamaguchi, was travelling with her friends 17 years ago. While chattering
at a night club after dinner she had a subarachnoid haemorrhage at the age of 53. The hotel manager called an ambulance, and she was taken to an emergency hospital
Could you access
hospital?
A phone
call at 11 pm asked me to come to the hospital soon. I drove about 440 km all
night, and arrived there at 7 am. After I approved the surgical operation, it took place
immediately. The shrinkage of blood vessels occurred 7 days
after the operation and my wife suffered aphasia and became right side
hemiplegic.
What expectations did
you have for treatment, rehabilitation, recovery?
We didn’t
know anything about aphasia, so we couldn’t imagine anything about treatment,
rehabilitation and recovery. She murmured “I am sorry, sorry, I made a serious thing! How should I manage many tasks to be
done”. She couldn’t recognize that she
couldn’t continue these tasks. One month
later without any special
rehabilitation, she left the hospital.
What was your
experience of treatment and/or rehabilitation?
Two days
later, after we returned home, my wife was admitted to a rehabilitation hospital cerebrovascular center. Here physical therapy, occupational therapy
and speech therapy took place. She was positive about the physical therapy
because it was carried out in a large gym and she could connect with other patients. On the other hand, occupational therapy and speech therapy took
place in a small private room, and
therapists sat down side by side without noticing the appearance of my
wife. They executed the curriculum
without any advice or instruction from
their superiors. During three months stay, my wife’s communication didn’t improve clearly. But, she could stand up and walk by herself
and use a spoon and knife with her right hand.
What has helped in
the recovery?
Three months
later she moved to the another rehabilitation center in Yokohama for two months, which mainly
focused on language rehabilitation. The
speech therapist sat face to face with my wife, greeted and talked about easy
topics. Then, the language rehabilitation curriculum started.
This speech therapist advised us to make a Japanese syllabary table. Each Hiragana was combined with each Chinese
character which was easier to remember than Hiragana for my wife. Using this table, rehabilitation was carried
on. Also, this speech therapist advised my wife to
join the calligraphy circle which was open next door to the hospital. After my wife left the hospital, we visited once every week for language
rehabilitation for two and half years.
The speech therapist advised us to install specific software to my wife’s PC, and advised my wife to write and send a short mail to the
therapist about any
topics. A few days later the return mail
came back without fail. Video conversation through IPad and Facetime with daughters
and grandchildren was also a great help for her rehabilitation.
What have been/are
your fears?
When my wife has
to live alone, how she can manage to live daily life without my support. This is the most serious matter to us.
How did your family
and friends feel and respond?
Our two daughters
were at a loss when the accident happened.
They lived apart from us and were too busy to help their mom due to
their office works. But they afforded as much time as possible to talk,
encourage and go shopping with mom in their holidays. To close relatives and friends, I explained about aphasia and asked
them to talk slowly and clearly and write on paper. Now, the situation has improved. She can walk
and use both hands, and conducts most housework.
My wife doesn’t hesitate to talk to close friend and relatives and goes shopping or enjoys chatting with them.
My wife doesn’t hesitate to talk to close friend and relatives and goes shopping or enjoys chatting with them.
