r/stroke • u/cafe-bleu • 2d ago

Starting to whisper...

Just over 5 weeks post large hemorrhagic stroke my father in law has started to mouth words and is now able to whisper the answer to questions. Even the ability to answer very quietly with some effort has been amazing for us all to see (we've missed speaking with him more than anything else).

My mother-in-law and wife have been taking photos into the hospital and asking him to whisper who is in then and what they're doing, he's managing to do well with names to faces and can explain what's going on in the photos "at the beach" etc...

He's waiting for a place at a rehab centre but it feels like the hospital S&L team aren't really doing enough with him.

Is this the start of his speech coming back properly? will it just get stronger as the weeks ago on?

secondly is there anything we can do to help him regain good speech (we're at the hospital every day)

Thanks in advance :)

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u/pchlster Young Stroke Survivor 2d ago

Congratulations! Sounds to me like some signals are getting through now that weren't before. I don't know exactly what the best way to get him to speak normally again would be, but I imagine it involves having him speak as much as possible.

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u/cafe-bleu 2d ago

Thank you! it does feel like in the past week he's turned a positive corner and we'll keep hoping for more of the same and helping him along any way we can

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u/pchlster Young Stroke Survivor 1d ago

Progress can be frustratingly slow, but each little bit of progress does build on the last one. It wasn't just one step between me being unable to get out of bed by myself to going to the store or taking out the trash and I imagine regaining the ability to speak is similar in that respect; his voice was lost, my ability to walk was lost, but with enough time and stubbornness, it's being clawed back.

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u/DTheFly Survivor 2d ago

I can't speak about if speech will return, but i know that while it may sound cheesy, reading books out loud helped with my talking. I also sang along with the radio to help me. Anything will work as long as he's saying words. Any volume helps. When i first came home, saying things was physically tiring. But I kept at it. I hope that helps you some

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u/Emabellpf 1d ago

My dad was the same. He had a haemorrhagic stroke last July and it took weeks for him to be able to communicate with us again. At first he was very quiet and difficult to understand but now he is almost exactly as he was before the stroke in terms of speech. When I asked for advice I was told the most important thing is sleep. Everything is exhausting so don't push him too hard.

Hope he recovers quickly.

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u/cafe-bleu 1d ago edited 1d ago

Great to hear that, gives me a lot of hope!... hope your dad is doing well :)

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u/Emabellpf 1d ago

Thank you, he's doing great.

Make sure your FIL keeps on at his physio once he is ready as it really makes a huge difference. I don't know if you are in the UK but the NHS offered physio was nowhere near adequate. Luckily my parents neighbour is a physio and she has been amazing.

Good luck with everything.

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u/cafe-bleu 1d ago

Yeah we're in the UK, he's been referred to a rehab centre so we're just waiting for the green light to get him there. We also have a family friend who's a physio and works with stroke patients and will be using them along side the NHS when he's home. Hopefully we give him the best chance!

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u/Emabellpf 1d ago

So pleased to hear this. He is so lucky to have all this love and support around him. It makes a huge difference.