I could not sneeze for months and when I did sneeze my first time after the stroke, I was at home with my kids. They were watching TV and I was sitting at the computer...I had no force or strength and the scrunch of my face and the pathetic squeak I made had my kids question me what that was? When I identified it was a sneeze and I was OK we laughed together.
My kids were always so concerned about my well being and I could sense their fear that my sneezes or choking fits were experiences that would take me away again.
I had many choking moments in the first few months after the stroke. The swallowing tests I had in the hospital revealed that only half of my larynx worked. It has taken me some considerable time to adapt to this but hey I can swallow and eat now!
Initially I bit my tongue everyday as well, after the stroke when I stuck out my tongue it went directly to the right, it has straightened up as I get better so I don`t bite it as much...but it still happens! Speaking of the tongue, one afternoon I was with my father at his condo complex and he introduced me to a group of elderly people sitting on some benches. He introduced me as his son who had just survived a stroke and to my surprise one of the elderly gentleman asked me the most bizarre request, "can you stick out your tongue?" so I did and it shot out to the right and his response was "ya you had a stroke alright!" I don't think that they quite believed being as young as I was that I had a stroke even though I was walking with a cane and a gait.
Now I get emails regarding the tongue being another sign of stroke...getting help early can save your abilities as well as your life!
