Advice on Stroke patient

nyny

New Member
could anyone advise me if there is any good rehab/health care centre in singapore for non-singaporean in terms of charges and services?
and any good chinese physician to recommend?

thanks a lot!
 


sakurasan

New Member
Hi nyny

You can try the nursing home website below.
http://www.hnf.org.sg/webtop/elderly.phtml

The list of also includes rehab centres where the stroke patient goes daily for exercise in Singapore. I believe that if it's a non-singaporean, there'll be no subsidy.

You can also try acupuncture. Is the patient your relative?
 

nyny

New Member
thanks for the help!!!
ya, the patient is my dad.
i have checked with Bt batok health care centre. normally the rehab that they provide is max 3 days, timing is 9am - 3pm. and i don't think i am able to pick him up at 3 'cos i end work at 6. do you have any idea that any health care centre take care of the patient from 8 - 7?
 

sakurasan

New Member
Hi nyny

I know some of these daycare centres provide transport - they'll pick up the patient and send them back. I'm not too sure abt the end time tho.

Have you gone through the list I gave you? My dad is also a stroke patient.
 

nyny

New Member
ya, the website that you gave me is pretty useful. but i haven't called them up. which one do you recommend?

is your dad's condition very serious last time? how's he now?

my dad got this 2nd time. the 1st time was very mild. this time is very serious. luckily he did the operation earlier, if not.... one of his blood vessel/arteries burst (paiseh, don't really know how to phrase it) and there is water retention in his brain now. this affect his right side movements and speech ability. and now, he can't really recognise us. i am so worried. 'cos stroke patient needs time for recovery and we don't know if we have time to take care of him. 'cos me and my siblings are working and my mum might be too weak to take care of him.
so happy that there is someone to share.
 

sakurasan

New Member
Hi nyny

Me too, I'm glad to have someone to talk to.

My dad had his first stroke 18 years ago. One of the arteries in the brain burst and like ur dad, the operation saved his life. It was bad but he recovered enuff to move ard on his own altho he walked with a limp. He got his second stroke exactly 1 year ago. This time, he just fell down and that was it. The X-ray didn't show any bursting of arteries and it took the doctors quite some time to figure out that it was a stroke. Altho it didn't affect his other faculties, his right leg has become even weaker to the extent that his good leg can't support his weight. So he can't walk now. He's extremely fortunate that nothing else was affected. We also had no one to take care of him so we put him in a nursing home for 24hr care. It's a bit sad but fortunately, he understands. So he reads books and newspapers, listens to the news, watches TV and plays mahjong wif the other residents. There is also physiotherapy which he does a couple of times a week. We visit him every week and bring him his fave foods.

You may want to check with the doctors regarding his recovery rate. For us, the doctors told us only 1 week before he was discharged from the hospital that he needed maximum care and we went into a state of panic. They said that physiotherapy was unlike to help him very much and he would take a long time to recover.

If ur mom is too weak to take care of him, you may need to quickly make alternative plans like hire a maid who wld need special training at the hospital - and this takes time. If his movements are totally restricted (like my dad who can't even move from the bed to the wheelchair on his own), you have to check with the doctor as to whether a maid can handle him at home. I also suggest that you communicate regularly with the physiotherapist regarding his progress to help you make plans as to caregiving.

Does ur dad have Eldershield? Coz that will give you $300 each month to help pay for maid or nursing home. But you only qualify if the patient can't walk, eat or clean himself on his own.

I understand the worry part coz I went thru it. Cheer up! You have ur siblings and mother to support each other.
 

nyny

New Member
my dad got no insurance coverage and he's a malaysian. so, the expenses will be even higher. he's now in private hospital in spore 'cos without govt subsidy, the charges of public hospital is equivalently as high as private hospital.
we foresee that this will take quite some time, so, we plan to move him out from the hospital and get nursing home which usually charge cheaper (i guess) for him.
i am not sure if there is good nursing home in malaysia or not. 'cos if he stays here, there will be some problems for his visit pass, too.
how long will your dad be staying in the nursing home? you mean he still can't take care of himself after 1 year of the stroke attack? will accupuncture help? my dad's doctor said it won't help. but i guess it's all because he's western educated doctor.
 

sakurasan

New Member
Hi nyny

I really dun know how long my dad will be there. His leg dun seem to be getting better. *sigh*
I know 2 persons who say that accupuncture helped their relatives who had stroke - but they also tell me it works only if the patient didn't have an operation.

Have you been checking the nursing homes in Malaysia?
 

nyny

New Member
i will try checking the nursing home in msia. but my bro and mum have the impression that NH or hospital provides better service. my opinion is the equipment that the hospital is using in spore is more advance. but 'cos now my dad needs attention and assistance in his daily life, NH in malaysia should be able to provide, too. but, the thing that i worry is the hygiene of the NH.

just now i asked a very reputable chinese physician and told him about my dad's situation, he said it can be done thru accupuncture. if your dad needs it, let me know. there is another one who provide 'xue4 dao4' massage is also very good. but, i wonder can my dad take it if there are too much exercise for him i.e. physio + speech + occupational therapy + accupuncture + massage. *sigh* any opinion?
 

sakurasan

New Member
Hi nyny

The rate of recovery is highest during the period immediately after the stroke. I think physio and occupational is most impt coz this affects his mobility the most. May be tough but the more he exercises, the faster the recovery. Really no choice abt it.

And the patient needs loads of encouragement. I understand that the medical standard in malaysia is quite high now?
 

nyny

New Member
i am not sure if malaysia standard is getting better. should be lah. 'cos the doctor here also said that m'sia is not that bad.

i am now trying to look for nursing home or hospital. they are charging quite high 'cos my dad is a non-singaporean....
 

ohmig0sh

New Member
hi nyny,

Depending on wat is the aim, eg is it for rehabilitation (physiotherapy, occupational therapy & speech therapy), or for daycare (eg cos' no one to take care at home)..
There are a few options for stroke patients after discharge from a hospital.

1. Community hospital, eg ang mo kio community hospital or st. luke's (at bukit batok). These places have facilities for more intensive rehabilitation. These places require application & approval based on medical condition and rehab potential.

2. Outpatient rehabilitation. Going back to the hospital for exercises to improve their function. Most restructured & private hospitals have this service. May not be everyday.

3. Home therapy. The therapist visits the patient at home & provides treatment (helpful if patient has difficulty travelling out of home, eg because of staircases etc). As far as i know, some hospitals have this service--including Tan Tock Seng, Mt Alvernia, Gleneagles, Mt Elizabeth. Not sure abt the rest.

4. Daycare services (not much rehabilitation). Provides care & supervision for patients while there's no one at home. Think timing is about 8-5.

5. Nursing Home. 24 hour care..also has therapy sessions (dunno abt how regular)

6. Maid. Can get maid to go to the hospital to learn (from the therapists & nurses) how to assist ur dad at home, and how to transfer him in & out of chair.

Then of cos can have combination, depending on wat the doctor or therapist have advised (eg to go back for therapy 2-3 times per week).. so can go daycare for the rest of the week.

U may also need to seek advice from the therapists regarding whether there's need for modification of home environment (eg handrails for toilets) or getting aids.

Hope this helps!
 

ohmig0sh

New Member
hi nyny,
no problems!
btw, there's acupuncture at ang mo kio community hospital (if i remember correctly).
if u need contacts of these places or more details, u can email me (just click on my username). or can try checking MOH website for the hospitals' contacts--> www.moh.gov.sg
hope i can be of some help!
cheers!
 

patty

New Member
hi nyny,

I saw from the thread that ur dad suffered a stroke. I would like to share my colleague's husband's experience with u and how he recovered from hydrotherapy. I am very confident tat ur dad's condition will improve after i have shared with u. Hope to hear from u ASAP.

Please e-mail mi: [email protected]
 

forumer

New Member
Hi nyny & verre
There is special tool developed by Japanese doctor, which is called Lip Trainer Patakara
My old friend who is over 60 years old and has been stroke for 3 years is recovering with using the Lip Trainer 4times (3 min each) per day.
According to doctors, this tool is developed for the patient of speech disorder, taking out the slaver and paralysis related with after affect of stroke. The main reason why work on those is stimulating nerves around face & neck
and making them quick blood circulations in the brain as well as face. Many stroke patients are using it in Japan. It is available in S'pore now. Please go to this web
http://www.liptrainer.com/main/7-rehab.htm
Hope this info. will be able to help someone who are bothered by stroke, swallowing disorder, dementia & down disease.
 

yokoyhf

New Member
Blood circulation can be improved by a few ways; acupuncture, massage, exercise and massage chair.
However, it really depends on the age of the patient before adopting anyone of them.
 

dd_4ever

New Member
From my understanding, stroke occur when the vessels are block by excess fats in the blood vessels. U shld try 2 clear the fats by detox, acupuncture, or massage. Hence, improving blood circulations.
 

zhen84

New Member
u can search for arginine health supplements.
it has shown to improve elasticity of blood vessels, improving blood circulation, esp. stroke pt.
 

elfrushi

New Member
my friend's father also suffered 2 strokes within half a year. He has always been taking pure natural supplements & that has indirectly helped him in a fast recovery for both times, esp the 2nd one.
 

beanniebean

New Member
Hi

Just like to share some of my experience about my dad stroke.

He has his first stroke 2 year back during mid autumn festive. Me and my ex brought my parent to chinatown for walk and dinner, and than a mid night show. We even discuss to go for supper after movie but end up my dad has a sudden stroke on his left brain. In the end, all of us ended in hospital waiting for his result. My sibling blame me for not letting my dad had enough rest that why he suffer from stroke. Doc has confirmed that for those who suffer from left stroke, it will affect his speech, consuming and walking. So he ended speechless, tube feeding and bedridden.

At first, I transfer him to Orange Valley (nursing home) while waiting for a new maid to come along. I spend so much money and stress because of this issue. Luckily my bosses very understanding, they knows my needs and allow me to claim time off and even offer their help in finance.

My dad is also a dialysis patient so there is a different between fluid and blood dialysis. Due to his bedridden he always went in and out of hospital due to low blood, low sugar, water in lung and kidney disease.

Throughout this two year, I did many things just hoping to gain some understanding from my mum and other sibling but thing doesn’t seem to work out. I believe they feel that since I'm the one that created this shit than I should be the one clearing it as well. My world almost collapses.

Now, my dad is at home but waiting for his time to up. Doc advises that they can't prolong his life span. He has suffer from a very bad kidney disease and we can't carry on his dialysis anymore so no choice but have to give up. No medicine and no dialysis carry out, just hoping that he can stop his suffering soon. We have got all his funeral things settle and what we can do now is to wait for him to leave us forever...

I hope my story isn't too boring it's a true story on what I'm going through. I need some space to release my stress out, hope you all don't mind.
 

newsjunkie

New Member
Dear Beanniebean,

Sorry to hear about your dad. You should not blame yourself for your dad's stroke in the first place - You can't have caused that stroke - It's build up over the years. FYI, I am a stroke victim myself and I just turned 41. Now I am on medication to keep my BP in check, to keep my stress level down and to reduce the thickness of my blood. I eat less cholesterol food and excercise more regularly of course.
 

sane

Member
Dear beanniebean

Sorry to hear about your dad too. I feel that u were already very fillial to bring your dad out.
take care and wish you all the best.
 

jam2009

New Member
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi , truly feel sympathy for all whose loved ones has suffered from stroke or other serious illnesses. My father passed away some time back when i was schooling due to internal bleeding in the brain after a fall..& it was quite traumatic.. I wont say I understand how each & everyone feels but it was terrible for me when it happenned.. now I have another problem & I hope someone can help me on it.. My wife's father is having some problems with a clot (based on a CT scan) near his brain, he is not Singaporean & my wife is a PR. we are worried & at a loss as to what to do & we are all worried he may suffer a stroke. we have tried to call up NUH & NUS but the costs of treatment is very very high.. one reason bcoz he is not local & he has no CPF, does any1 have any advice pls??
we would be truly grateful for any help (advice, not monetary) that any1 can provide..
 

zestyzan

New Member
I think the lesson we learnt from all these sharings is that we must take care of our health. Watch our diet, get enough nutrition ( we may need to supplement as we definitely couldn't get a balanced meal each day), go for the necessary check ups, exercise or lead a more active lifestyle and remember that health is our responsibility and not others, not even the doctors!
 

staybeautiful

New Member
I am also having a big headache too. My mum just got a serious and rare case of stroke. She is lying in the hospital now. Doctors say hers is not those straightforward stroke, her clot is actually at the Veins instead of the blood vessels(which i dun really understand the difference). She can't go for operation and is relying on Haeprin everyday. She is still unconscious and may have a high risk being paralyse and speechless.

I simply cannot accept the fact that her stroke can be so serious because we actually send her to hospital immediately when we see symptoms of strokes. Time is critical for stroke patients. She was able to talk, walk and even joke with us when she was in the hospital but only numbness in her right arm. She got her first medication after at least 12 hours of delay by the stupid hospital. Going through CT scan, MRI scan and she was only allocated with a ward only at 5pm(we reach the hopsital around 8am). Everything was so slow.

Initially, she was warded to medical ward(not so serious ward) but is now lying ICU and she is still unconscious and living on tubes to breath. (I really doubt the efficiency and responsibilities of certain hospital) I believe if they give her the medication earlier, she may not be lying in ICU now. Haiz...

It is just like toying with a life!!! Our whole family is so devastating now and moreover my mom is only 60 years old. Where is their stupid responsbilities?? I really feel like giving their staffs a tight slap and they should be someone who is more responsible and experience on the Emergency dept or rather there should not be so many training doctors around that dept.

Anyway, things had happened, there is nothing we can do now. Haizz....All I wish for now is to help her pull through this critical period. I really hope that her brain damage is reduced to the lowest, as long as she can still walk and even if her speech is going to slur, we will be more happy than anything.

I am just wondering if any of you will know where is the best doctor that specialise in stroke? No matter how much it is going to cost, I just only want to cure her. Even if it is going to be oversea, i also dun mind. I am already prepared to even sell off my house just to save her.

Any success stories of stroke patients using stem cells to heal brain damage?
 

zestyzan

New Member
Hi staybeautiful. I'm sorry to hear about your mom. ya, I agree that hospital staff can be quite irresposible. we are like at theier mercy...I'm sorry that I do not have any recommendation for a good treatment elsewhere..but will ask around.
 

joennachua

New Member
In fact Stayeautiful's mum is my mother in law too. This thing happen too sudden and she suposed to accompany us for holiday but now lying in bed. Anyone out here can recommend any good therapist or maid agency. Trying to get a maid asap but dunno what kind of maid (Phil or Indonesian) to look for.
 

yumi123

New Member
dear stayeautiful and joenna chua,
i am so sorry to hear that,hope your mum will recover soon.

may god bless her with a speedy recovery and good health.
 

yumi123

New Member
dear stayeautiful and joenna chua,
i am so sorry to hear that,hope your mum will recover soon.

may god bless her with a speedy recovery and good health
 

sharyn_koh

New Member
Hi, my dad suffered from a mild stroke last year. Praise the Lord that it was brought to our attention the second time when it happened. His CT scan showed that he had previously suffered from stroke before but no one noticed. I really thank my Heavenly Father for His Grace.

In any case, we started him on rehab treatments with AWWA at the beginning and also brought him for regular review with docs and ensured that he faithfully take his medicine and take heathly food and health supplements. He is still on medicine now but praise the Lord that the rehab had stopped. Though he is still exercising regularly. Note that it is impt as I have heard too many cases where the patients did not go for rehabs or regular exercise and suffered serious consequences.

There is this health supplements that my dad is taking. In fact, I started it myself to ensure that it helped before I passed on to my dad. No even my sister is taking. Health is important. It is colostrum from New Image (NZ listed co).

Colostrum is the first milk produced during late pregnancy and for a few days after birth, and provides essential nutrients and infection-fighting antibodies. Immunity is the foundation of wellbeing and colostrum is a natural immunity booster. It provides the antibodies which attack the microbes that cause illness.

New Image products are on direct marketing and I have gotten mine from Dr Kevin Ong who is now my weight loss coach as well. We take it as a breakfast product and it is like milk powder but its not milk. You can email him at [email protected] or call him at 9857 6512.

P.S. Note that Dr Kevin Ong is not my dad's doctor but rather a doctor who is now pursuing his interest in promoting health and wellness.

I know how it is like to take care of stroke patients. Even when my dad's stroke is a mild one, it was terrible at the beginning. I gave up my Europe secondment opportunity partially cos of this. I hope this information can help.

P.S. Think there are colostrum products on sale outside. If you are thinking of going and source, try to stick to sources from NZ and Australia. But I really think that the colostrum product that I am taking is good.

God bless.
 

jeslinelow

New Member
Hi I'm a new member and sad to read about all of the sad stories. I have actually read a book written by a doctor "What your doctor doesn't know about nutritional medicine may be killing you" Usually most of the doctor know is to give patient, medicine! medicine! medicine! Though it help on our illness but end up some part of our organ detoriated. From the book, this doctor experience what his wife suffer. Being a doctor, he supposed to have a healthy wife as what he thought. But no. By chance, his wife came to know someone who knows about vitamin and what vitamin her body was lacked off. That time, she felt she was like a sixty years old lady even though she was only thirty years old. She is unusually fatigued. After taking the vitamins, her health started to improve within a year. Even though she married a doctor, her health had never improved until the vitamins she took. Instead of spending many hours of every day in pain and weakness in bed, she now lives the full life of her dreams.

Regardless of whatever illness or sickness we or our surrounding people have, problem start all because of the vitamins our body lack of.

I used to have very weak body. Low blood and weak heart and sunken eyes. I source out for help from internet and by chance I came to know these two friends who helped me since last year November. My friends used an instrument to measure all my five organs. From there I started to take the necessary vitamins as what he suggested. Today, my health improved. Whatever, take my advise, we should look after ourselves before any problem start.
 

maylitte

New Member
my grandmother had stroke too. Lasted for more than 10 yrs.. At first one side onli so still mobile wif walking stick. Tried many things like physio and accupature bt not much improvement.. Then after a few yrs, condition worsen and had to be on tube feeding and completely bedridden . Dun even recognise us and no response too. Very sad to see her like that cos she took care of us since young thus quite attached to her..Had to put her in nursing hm cos no one to look after her plus quite difficult as the care giver must know how to feed her and change the tube.. She passed aay last yr. Its a relief for her too.. Had been suffering for so long...

Tking care of sic patient is nt easy. need a lot of patirnce and TLC. Salute to those who made an effort..

Btw, some nursing hm have subsidy. SHe was at Bright Vision and her fees is reasonable. around $400? Plus in good hands..think TTS has social worker who can help too..
 

Parween

New Member
Hi everyone,

Last monday my son whose 7years old went to school in the morning as usual, after 4hours he had a seizure in school... bought him to hospital after mri/mra scan n all doctor told me he had a stroke... he has a blood clot in his brain.

Im so devastated.... his so young only 7.
Now we are bac home, im searching for therapy center where I can send him regularly for exercise and all as hospital is asking him to attend therapy once a week which I feel is too less...his left arms and legs were affected from the stroke any suggestions.

Thanks.
 

chinleng

Administrator
Staff member
Hi everyone,

Last monday my son whose 7years old went to school in the morning as usual, after 4hours he had a seizure in school... bought him to hospital after mri/mra scan n all doctor told me he had a stroke... he has a blood clot in his brain.

Im so devastated.... his so young only 7.
Now we are bac home, im searching for therapy center where I can send him regularly for exercise and all as hospital is asking him to attend therapy once a week which I feel is too less...his left arms and legs were affected from the stroke any suggestions.

Thanks.
Hi Parween,

I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your son. Maybe you seek advice at singaporemotherhood forum as that's where the parents gather to post queries and share experiences.
 

Top