8/13/2019 NEL 301

1/2

Catingub, Cherrielyn C.

BSN III C

NEL 301

DATE: FEB 06, 2014

I interviewed the clients grandson, and this is the data I acquired. Accordingly

his grandfather (In his 70's) got a very small stroke in his brain (blood clot). Its

located in HIS BACK RIGHT of his head. He got the symptoms of; Dizziness,

headaches and confusion. He is an Angry person and he is also a VERY heavy

smoker.

Anyway, he has been into hospital and got treatment. He got discharged about

3-4 weeks ago. (Still got medication).

BUT he has a bit of a memory loss. The doctors said this is normal and will

eventually get better over time.

The problem is that, he was already an angry person and recently he is showing

ALOT more anger. He is swearing alot more. We have asked him to stop because

its not good for him anymore but he won't listen. Well he listens for about half

an hour then he forgets - and swears and shouts again.

We are also telling him to cut down on ciggerettes because we read (and heard

from doctors) its not good for the blood. One minute he says he will quit slowly

and the next he says "I don't care, let me have my ciggerettes. Let me die.". And

this is just unbearable.

Also, BEFORE he got the stroke, he was incharge of all bills and things in his

house. With this memory loss of his, he seems to want to count his money all

the time - more than he ever did. Once he even counted all of his money he

earnt in his whole life :(. Nearly lost it all.

As he is likely to have some form of brain damage, which can

include brain cells, as well as blood supply - veins/ateries, that deliver oxygen to

his brain, as well as clear away waste products, then he needs managing withutmost care. Obsessive behaviour is common with people, where they are

anxious having suffered specific deficits in their functional abilities, especially if

they are repeatedly confronted with an awareness that things aren't what they

were. Again, specialist support can help him so much with this. Sometimes it's

important to understand more clerarly how something like this has affected us,

as well as knowing that there is support there for us to help erase the need for

8/13/2019 NEL 301

2/2

him to do everything.

Much of the functioning in our brains, although localised, can be met by other

parts of our brain - this is known as brain plasticity. There is generally a period

where spontaneous improvements occur, often referred to as being moresignificant within the first couple of years following brain damage. But,

improvements continue to occur for the rest of our lives. Good rehabilitation can

help to maximise our improvements, and never forces anything. There are some

people who will talk about brain plasticity not being present in the elderly, but

research strongly contradicts this.

There's a lot of evidence that indicates that remaining active, including getting

regular exercise, is good for our brains, so do what you can to help him keep his

activity levels at a good level. Do what you can to stop people criticising him, as

this is likely to lead to him getting more anxious, and potentially feeling worse

about himself and his future. Often there is a feeling of loss after someone has

such a major event in their lives as he has, to an extent, lost some of the person

that he was before his stroke.

The easier his life is made, with less things that stress his abilities, the better his

chances for managing things as well as he is able to. Emotional outbursts are

also common in people who have some damage to their brains. Our frontal lobes

functioning includes abilities such as organising, planning, decision making and

also inhibition. Whilst he may, under the surface, want to swear, shout and get

angry less, his abilities for self-inhibition may be somewhat diminished - so

please encourage no-one to blame him as a person for any of his outbursts, nor

pressure him to stop. The areas of his brain, more responsible for emotional

responses, may also have suffered some damage too. I'd avoid telling him off,

criticising him etc, as he is better perceived as no longer on an equal footing as

the rest of you to manage himself in these areas. Better to be understanding,

reassuring and offer a listening ear, whilst you're waiting to secure support from

him from the professional services out there.