Treatment
When a stroke strikes, every minute counts
Receiving treatment as quickly as possible can prevent or reduce permanent damage or death. Typically, a Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) can be administered within three hours of a stroke's onset.
Following a stroke (CVA), it is important to understand that you or your family member may have some resulting loss of function and/or speech/cognition that may be mild or severe.
During a hospital stay at Riverside Medical Center, following a stroke, you can expect to receive therapies from our rehabilitation services department to help regain lost function and restore quality of life. It is typical that following a stroke, a physical therapist and/or occupational therapist will come to your hospital room and complete a full assessment of your function. This includes tasks such as:
- Getting up out of a chair
- Getting out of bed
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Walking
Tasks that at one time seemed simple, may now be very difficult. It is our goal to restore function as soon as possible with early intervention of therapies in combination with your medical treatment. Likewise a speech therapist will evaluate your ability to talk, swallow, and complete verbal tasks. It is important to understand that the mouth is sometimes affected just as much as arms and legs.
After Stroke Care
When your hospital stay is over you may need more therapy either on our inpatient rehabilitation unit, at our skilled nursing facility at Miller Rehabilitation Center, at home with our home care therapists, or on an outpatient basis in one of our outpatient therapy clinics.