ruralgirl-

In my opinion, a second, third, fourth opinion is ALWAYS warrented....especially when you are dealing with a major disease/disorder.  You most definitely want to consult a MM specialist.  Where do you live?  There are a lot of doctors/surgeons listed on this board.

-Shari

Hi,

Welcome to our mm family. I have to agree with Shari and Rena 100%!! From our experience, we have to advise you to please seek a second opinoin, because although my niece is younger (21), she had four strokes and it effected her speech and complete left side and we too were told surgery would not even be considered for a long time. Nancy, her mom, sought a second opinion from a mm specialist, Dr Steinberg at Stanford, who deals with this disease on a daily basis and we were told by him, she needed surgery immediately. For many, time is not on your side with this disease and unfortunately there is not a set of guidelines yet. There is information on this website to contact the best doctors in the country, where you can e-mail them for a second opinion.

As far as recovery from a stroke at age 50, I really couldn't say. I only know, it's amazing how far they can come back from a stroke in time. My niece was in a coma and couldn't walk or talk. She now walks and talks and is doing beautifully. I guess it depends how bad the damage was to the brain from the stroke and how quickly they can restore the proper blood and oxygen to the brain.  Again, that's why an expert is so important. We believe she's doing well for that very reason.

Your friend certainly will be in our thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted.

God bless, Mar