my brother had surgery on 4/16 for an avm in his upper spinal area. just prior to being diagnosed with the avm, he lost use of his legs and had a very difficult time going to the bathroom. on wednesday, 4/22, he was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital. he has feeling in his left leg, uses the bathroom (for the most part), but cannot feel his right leg. he said it feels like 6 inches of meat/ like something doesn’t belong.
unfortunately, he is not a patient person. he’s always been very active and thinks he should be further along. has anyone had a similar experience?
Well friend, meat me, another not patient person. I had a brain bleed on 12/24/07. I DID not want to go to Rehab…I thought I could go home and fix myself. And maybe I could have…because I’m a hard worker and a total Type A person.
I do not remember anything about being in the hospital after my brain bleed and remember very little about Rehab, but I got to go home from Rehab after being away from home for 2 months.
Once I go home, my daughter spent 6 months of babysiting her Mom. It’s been 1 1/2 years now and I’m doing great! I can cook, I can clean the house, I chose my own medication. To me, that’s a miracle. The only problems I have are that I can’t read (am at 3rd grade book level) and can’t spell words. The strange, strange part is that because I was a Computer geek, I can spell better on the computer than on paper. AND thank God for spell check.
For the first six months, I was upset that I could never work again…I was a total worker bee…Although it will take a long time to be “normal” (what’s normal anyway?) we can be happy…I am. I bought a new bike so I can go bike riding. I am not supposed to drive because I have a visual problem, I do anyway…I am very careful and go slow…like an old, old lady. And I just go down the street to CVS or the market. It would be very hard for me to drive to places I don’t know.
Your brother will not understand yet, but I know how my daughter felt at this point in time your brother’s… Because you love him, you need to be patient, help him as much as you can. My daughter get’s agravated at times, but she makes me do what I need to do so that I can learn and not depend on her…It’s the best thing you can do.
Good Luck!