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Bereavement

In reply to the discussion: It hasn't gotten easier. [View all]

MADem

(135,425 posts)
4. Doesn't it, just?
Fri Mar 25, 2016, 12:32 AM
Mar 2016

You never get over it. It does become less ACUTE over time, but to be frank, there is no timetable...and some people put off grieving if they're, say, in an operational environment and busy to the max (that was my experience, I made up for lost time, eventually).

Just don't beat yourself up, and if you find you cannot cope, ask for help.

I hope you are getting therapy for your strokes. I have a relative who was in your similar boat--massive stroke, slurred speech, no use of the right side at all. Hospitalized in ER, then in a rehab center for a couple of months. With aggressive therapy, we got him up on a walker after a few months, and he taught himself to write again by just practicing constantly (from scribbles to finally being able to write again) and he recovered his voice by (get this) SINGING (it was his pastime before he had the stroke). From the walker to a cane took probably another three or four months, and now he does pretty well getting around. He can drive, he can't walk terribly fast but he does manage to get about with a cane, and he has resumed most of his activities. He really loves swimming and that's a great exercise for him. It did take time, though--I spent a year helping him until he was able to resume a fully independent life, get back behind the wheel, doing his own food shopping, etc.

Anyway, strokes can also increase emotional lability and, as my great grandmother would say, it can make your "tear bag hang low." Emotions are close to the surface even if things are going smoothly, and when you've experienced sucha an important loss as you have, you shouldn't be surprised if you find yourself in the doldrums. Just don't stay there too long--you've got more living to do.

Hang in there.

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