A Caregivers tale
Hello everybody my name is Jerry and I am a caregiver to my loved one Suzanne. Suzanne had a massive stroke a little over 13 years ago and was given 3- 6 months to live! I am so glad she proved the doctors wrong. Suzanne is quite a special lady and is such a caring and giving person. Suzanne raised 4 children including myself and she was at one time the only licensed Brick Mason in Florida. Suzanne is a published Author who wrote beautiful Sonnets and poems and played the Guitar, Harp and currently plays the harmonica in a group called the wheezing Geezers. Suzanne has such a Bubbling personality and everyone she meets just adores her. Suzanne gets frustrated about having Aphasia and really struggling with reading because she was an Avid reader and writer. Suzanne has to spell each word she reads and she can speak pretty well but she has problems with word retrieval. Suzanne plays harmonica with the group for nursing homes and the Senior center. Suzanne also has a service dog named Otto that is Rottweiler and Boxer that is very smart. Suzanne had to relearn everything all over again from knife fork and spoon to naming many types of objects correctly. It has taken some time but her brain seems to be getting better and better all the time. Anyone that ever says there is only so far a person can improve is wrong! I believe as long as the brain has time to rest and heal and is stimulated progress is continually made! I was with her almost constantly when she had her brain bleed which was 3 weeks in the hospital and about 2 months in the nursing home. It is so vital and important that a loved one or caregiver be present as much as possible because the stroke patient has a really hard time talking and expressing their needs by themselves and there are so many mistakes the medical folks make along the way. There was some really good medical folks as well but some did not deserve to be doing what they were doing. Please stay positive and have lots of patience with this new chapter of your loved ones life as things will get better but it take times. God Bless to all of you! :)
