Stroke recovery and rehabilitation

Hi!

As most of you already know, I'm Dan and with my wife Lucie we're trying to help her mum and dad with after-stroke rehabilitation.

We never imagined that we would ever have to ask for help from people who we know but now we don't have many options. we have to let go of my pride and hope that some of you can help us with this tough situation.

Lucie's mum, Ivana (56), suffered a serious stroke in November 2019, leaving her paralysed down one side of her body and unable to speak, read or write.

After her most intensive treatment in hospital, COVID-19 struck in full force and significantly reduced our access to Government-provided care and rehabilitation for stroke recovery. As a result, she was not able to obtain the help she needed in a timely manner (which is critical for strokes).

However, luckily, there are other options.

The best available treatment includes the use of an expensive machine that will help her learn how to walk again. This is a private treatment and very expensive, and there is no government support for this (or any other treatment now that the time-limit has lapsed).

Lucie's dad, Pavel (69) has been trying his best to support her, including exercising with her multiple times per day and using his life-savings to pay for her private rehab. Unfortunately, he also has health issues and is now struggling to maintain his income and his own wellbeing. It's simply too much for one man to deal with - this work needs professional support.

While Lucie and I can contribute, the cost of treatment is beyond us (we have a baby on the way very soon) and we don't want Lucie's dad to exhaust his retirement savings. Mum may be able to walk and talk better, but she will never be able to earn an income, and dad is nearing retirement age.

With your support, we can get her the care she needs to become more independent, and to regain her love of life. She was always a busy, active and extremely independent woman before this happened, and needing to rely on other people makes her feel frustrated and guilty.

You should see her doing her exercises! She's motivated, disciplined and willing to endure whatever pain is required to heal. She's doing her part, she just needs the professional tools and support to make progress.

With strokes, the longer you wait to get treatment, the less effective it is. She still has a chance for real progress but the window of opportunity is getting smaller.

Please, allow us to give her mobility and freedom back, and support Lucie's dad to take care of his family without burning himself out in the process.

Anything you can offer will go a long way to her recovery and reduction of stress, financial hardship, and fears for the future.

Thank you so much for your help..

Lucie and Dan Munro