EnableMe | enableme - stroke recovery and support

I'm writing this post on behalf of my brother Georg. He suffered stroke in July. He was administered cloth dissolving medication which caused massive bleeding in his brain. Craniotomy followed. He spend a month in ICU. Then tracheotomy followed. He is paralyzed on his right side and has what is called aphasia. He understands but is unable to reed, write, speak or translate thought or instruction into physical action. He has to learn all of this again. To what degree nobody knows but he is already progressing. Speech therapy made big difference for him because now he can swallow and because of that, finally breathe on his own but still has feeding tube. That is slowly improving too. Last week he ate first 5 tea spoons of mashed apple since stroke. Then is still waiting for him cranioplasty operation. Can any one write to me about rehabilitation hospitals in NSW and if patients like my brother could get in for intensive speech and physio. Our family would settle for any progress Georg can make.

Hi, I am sorry to hear about your brother's stroke and glad to hear that he has been making some gains and improvements with his current therapists. Have you spoken to his treating team about the plan for Georg after his acute stay? I would strongly encourage you to speak to the medical and allied health team about whether they are planning to refer Georg to inpatient rehabilitation.

You or your family can request afamily meetingwith the stroke team at any time. This would usually include a medical and nursing representative and the allied health team (therapists) who are working with Georg. It’s a chance to share information, ask questions, talk about any concerns, and discuss next steps. This would be a good opportunity for you all to understand what the team recommends and the plan they have for Georg, but also for the family to ask questions and get your views and wishes across. If the team recommends inpatient rehabilitation usually they would make the relevant referrals to the rehabilitation ward linked to that hospital or discuss an appropriate one that would be close to where your brother lives.

When you meet with the stroke team, it helps to prepare a list of questions you'd like to ask, and to take notes. For suggestions on what to talk about, see ourQuestions to ask or you can use the HealthDirect Question Builder.

You should receive a copy ofMy Stroke Journey, which will help you to know what to expect. If you do not get a copy, give StrokeLine a call on 1800 787 653 or email

strokeline@strokefoundation.org.au and we can send a physical copy to you if you prefer. For more information about rehabilitation, you can go to our websites Stroke rehabilitation | Stroke Foundation - Australia and Rehabilitation | enableme - stroke recovery and support.

For more about self-advocacy, see our blog onHow to get the health care you need.

All the best,

Bec - StrokeLine