Please help my dad

[Daniela S. Apap]

Dear all,   I'm a 4th year OT student from Malta.  In the past two weeks my dad (57 years old) has had three strokes.  The first two have affected his occipital lobe and now his visual field is really limited and he can only see what is directly in front of him.  He has also said that he cannot recognise written letters but is able to write.  I suspect he might have alexia without agraphia but being his daughter I don't feel i should assess him as when I started asking him questions he got very worried and kept on asking me why I was asking such questions.  The third stroke, which happened last Thursday, was not yet visible on Thursday's CT scan so I don't know what happened exactly.  At first the right half of his body was numb and very weak but in a matter of hours he regained movement in his upper and lower limb and now is complaining that half his face his numb and that his fingers are not back to normal (but he is able to move them).   On my phys. dysfunction book (Trombly 4th edition) fresnel prisms were described as being of use in visual field probs. resulting from stroke, however, these prisms or any other kind of prisms having the same function are not available in Malta.  I've asked OTs, opthalmologists, doctors... and no one has ever seen anything of the sort.  Yesterday I managed to contact a neurologist and she said that last November one of her clients with a similar visual field prob. to my dad's went to America to get special spectacles with prisms done.  She said his life has improved drastically since.  She told me I should wait at least 6 - 18 months before we start thinking about getting something of the sort done for dad to see how much he improves.  However, I think that he does need something (at least something cheaper and provisional) at this stage.  18 months is such a long wait.    Do you have any information about these prisms?  America is definitely too far away (Malta is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea), is there anywhere in Europe where we could get these prisms?  Did you have any clients who went back to driving or to work with the help of these prisms?   My book also mentioned 'stimulation' to improve the visual field, however, there is no description of what kind of 'stimulation' is done.  Do you know what kind of stimulation is required and how it is done?   As regards the fact that he cannot read as he is not able to recognise letters what can I do? My dad has been a teacher for almost 30 years, an assistant headmaster for about for years and he is an Education Officer now.  He is in charge of the finances of all primary and secondary schools in Malta so the fact that he cannot read has been such a hard blow on him.  If things don't improve he'll have to leave work, won't be able to drive, and give up on his greatest hobbies - reading and woodwork.    Please help!!!  I'm so worried that I cannot figure out how I can help!  So many things have happened in the past two weeks.     I can't concentrate on my course work.  I was meant to finish my thesis and start preparing for my final exams but I can't even start the Discussion Chapter because I can't think and I have been practically living in hospital for the past two weeks.  The same day my dad got his first stroke two weeks ago, my tutor (of my thesis) had a terrible accident which left her with a spinal cord injury (complete transection T12 - L1).  She's a great friend and a great OT too - the only one in Malta who had an M.Sc. in Neurorehab.  Please pray for us.   Thanks for reading this email, I would really appreciate your help,   Daniela Sarah Apap   39, 'Lyall', St. George Street, Naxxar NXR 03, MALTA   email - [EMAIL PROTECTED]