WHILE some people may have given up hope under the circumstances, Yik Cho Fatt is confident that he would be able to live a normal life soon.

The 44-year-old believes that he will be able to regain the motor sensation on the left side of his body after suffering a stroke last December. For the past five months, he's been undergoing physical therapy sessions at the National Stroke Association of Malaysia's (Nasam) centre in Petaling Jaya almost every day.

"I've seen stroke patients walk properly again after undergoing therapy. I know that I can do the same. It's only a matter of time."

Yik said he was diagnosed with hypertension a decade ago and was on medication. However, two days before he suffered the stroke, he forgot to take his pills as he was busy with work.

"On the morning of the stroke, I woke up with pain in my neck and a headache. I could not move the left side of my body. At the time, I had no idea that I was having a stroke. My family rushed me to the hospital but I had no idea what happened next."

Waking up in the intensive care unit (ICU) 10 days later, Yik was told by his family that he had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke - when a blood vessel bursts inside the brain. As a result, he lost all sensation on the left side of his body.

Initially, Yik was confident that he would be able to recover fully within weeks. He had seen a friend who had recovered from a stroke in three months and believed that he could do the same.

"But I did not know that my condition was different from his and that it would take longer for me to recover. I was upset and depressed because after three months, I still had little sensation on the left side of my body. I was also worried about my family as my wife had to take over as the sole breadwinner."

But the father of four boys bounced back and once in therapy at Nasam, he was determined to recover so that he would not have to depend on others. His main aim is to walk well again and go back to work.

For someone who used to cycle to work every day, being unable to move his body now must be torture for Muniandy Portorajo. His speech is slurred and he has to force himself to sit stiffly on the wheelchair for fear of falling.

Four years ago, Muniandy suffered a major stroke following a coronary angiogram. The simple procedure had caused bleeding inside his brain, which led to the stroke.

The former aircraft technician, who was 48 years old then, spent months at the hospital. Due to the severity of his condition, doctors had to perform a tracheotomy, an incision in the windpipe to place a tube to enable him to breathe.

It was not an easy time for the father of three as he was a very independent man. He even cycled alone to the hospital for the angiogram, telling his wife and children not to accompany him because it was a minor procedure and that there was nothing to worry about.

"He has become moody, restless and depressed. Because the stroke has weakened his upper body, he finds it difficult to do even the simplest things. He hates having people do it for him," says Muniandy's daughter, Hema.

She says it was even more difficult for her mother to take care of her father as she had to do it on her own for the first few years. Hema, at the time, was studying in Perak, while her two younger brothers were still in school.

"In the first year, I would send him to therapy, which helped him regain some movement in his upper body. But when I had to go back to college, there was no one to take him there. My mother tried to help him with the therapy at home but she couldn't."

"His condition did not improve and he lost all hope of getting better, of getting his motor skills back. But now that I am back home, I am pushing him to go for therapy. He was reluctant at first, but I insisted on bringing him to the therapist."

Hema says despite being upset at having to go for therapy, her father is making an effort to do the exercises and is now determined to recover from the stroke.

"Now that I have finished my studies and am back in KL, I will make sure that he gets the therapy he needs. We just want him to be able to talk and take care of himself again."

Nasam's physiotherapist Tracy Chan says that therapy is the essential part of the recovery process for stroke victims but this will only work if they want to get better and have some semblance of a normal life.

"The first barrier to recovery is depression, which is normal. But they cannot be depressed forever because this means they will never get better.

"That is why it is important for them to do group therapy so that they can be with people who have been there and can support each other. It will make them realise that all is not lost and that they can eventually get their lives back."

"We can learn new things because the brain is flexible. If one part of the brain is damaged by stroke, three things can happen: part of the brain can heal, you can grow new nerve cells, or you can use the cells that had never been used before.

"Stroke patients can 'teach' their brain cells to find new pathways to communicate, but they have to stimulate them first. It's not impossible but it involves a lot of hard work and patience. At the end, we want the patient to regain motor sensation in the parts of the body that have been affected by the stroke. We want them to become independent again."

She said one of the problems faced by stroke survivors is finding a therapist who can help with their rehabilitation. Most people cannot afford private therapists, who charge between RM80 and RM100 per hour. At government hospitals, the waiting list can be long.

"At Nasam, we provide free therapy sessions. Although we're facing a shortage of physiotherapists as well, we will never turn anyone away, as long as they do not have other medical problems."

Set up in 1996, Nasam's main objectives are to provide rehabilitation services for stroke survivors and to promote stroke prevention by raising public awareness.

The non-governmental organisation also offers free therapy sessions at its centres in Ampang, Penang, Perak, Malacca, Sabah and Johor.

Chan said stroke is preventable as it is caused by "lifestyle diseases" such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking and obesity.

"We are at risk if we have these diseases, which can be controlled by opting for a healthier lifestyle, eating right and exercising."

Stroke is the third largest cause of death in Malaysia. It is considered to be the single most common cause of severe disability.

In 2007, it was reported that there were six new cases of stroke occurring every hour in Malaysia and that 52,000 Malaysians suffered strokes annually. That year also saw 17,909 stroke victims admitted into government hospitals and of these, 3,245 of them were fatal.

By 2020, this figure is expected to exceed 25,000 every year.

The New Straits Times

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