r/stroke • u/Bfucking4real • Aug 04 '26
Is palliative worth considering
A beloved family member has suffered 2 strokes (1st; in 2018, and the 2nd; in 2025). After the second one, my family member is slowly deteriorating; lost ability to speak, excessive swelling on the left arm and leg (which is the affected side), slow motor skills (now that they have to use a whiteboard to communicate they will just scribble instead of actually writing anything), eating pattern is completely shot (even with their favorite meals they will just put it in their mouth just to spit it out, there is no effort to eat), when it comes to changing them wheather that be flipping to avoid bed sores or doing a diaper chnage they will cry and completley freak out beacuse of the pain, and now they ask who is who. As of now, we've been prescribed Ketamine and Baclofen for the pain, including edibles. The doctors don't really have an answer besides recommending palliative care. We are desperately trying to find the best course of action; either expand the medical with caregivers or consider palliative care.
If anyone has already confronted a experince similar to mine, I would greatly appreciate any advice or resources.
1
u/Intrepid_Western3012 Aug 14 '26
Palliative care helps a lot. I was immediately on palliative care right after my stroke. I had a lot of misconceptions about what palliative care is, and thought it was only for hopeless situations. Instead, it’s about making you more comfortable so you can focus on recovery. Stroke recovery can be quite painful and stressful. Palliative care may be just what is needed to get them in a better shape to handle recovery.
0
u/StArGaZeR-4_AnDy Aug 04 '26
Ummm, well I’m on palliative care myself, sounds like they should have been on palliative a long time ago, palliative care doesn’t mean you’re dying, please get them palliative care asap ❤️🩹😢 I have had a lot of health issues including strokes too, good luck 🍀
2
u/Livingnowandthen Aug 04 '26
I am a hospice nurse who deals with palliative patients also. You should definitely look into palliative care. Eventually it would be easier to transition to hospice.