My 72yo mother has lung cancer and had been receiving treatment (chemo & radiation) for a week when a neighbour found her in the garden and called an ambulance. A week later and after 2 MRIs, we have been told she had 2 strokes, probably at the same time. Mum has jumbled speech, loss of vision and limited use of her right hand and remains in hospital. Cancer treatment restarted on Monday (3 treatments ago). Is there a chance she will recover fully from the stroke? Or is this out of the question?

Hello,

It sounds as though your mum has had a really tough time with her health lately – I’m sorry to hear this.

There is certainly a chance your mum will recover from the strokes, however it is very difficult to say how much recovery she will make as each person recovers differently after a stroke. Some people do go on to make a full recovery or very close to 100 per cent, whilst other people may continue to have impairments. Have a chat to her medical team (for instance one of the neurologists) to find out more information about how she is likely to progress – they should be able to give you more guidance however it is unlikely they will be able to give you a ‘definite’ answer as stroke recovery is very individual.

To give her the best chance of recovery as possible, it’s important that your mum has rehabilitation. This can be started by therapists in the hospital as soon as she is medically stable to participate in therapy. Time spent doing therapy will need to be balanced with rest, particularly whilst she is still undergoing cancer treatment. Rehabilitation aims to stimulate neuroplasticity after a stroke (neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt). The brain can learn to use other parts of the brain to help recovery.

If you’d like to discuss your mum’s recovery further, please call us on StrokeLine on 1800 787 653 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm).

Best wishes,

Katherine (StrokeLine) 1800 787 653