Thank you for your best wishes. To people that have been through this it really is a roller coster but I think there are three things that help considerably. One is shear determination. My Wife's grandmother had a strole 14 years ago and hasn't recovered on little bit as she simply gave up. She once said to me Wife "we can be invalids togther now". As much as she loves her gran she would have slapped her across the face (if she could have moved her arms...) Two is good medical care. We were talking in bed when the stoke hit so I was able to tell the paramedics an exact time line for the stoke. We were rushed to hosptial which is described as one of the leading stoke reserch centres in America. The head ordeprtment was on duty that night and stopped at nothing to ensure fast, high quality care. She had tPA and ultra sound and MRI and was in intesive care in under 4 hours from the onset of the stroke. She then underwent 6 weeks of very intesive therapy (courtesy of our travel insurance) Three is good luck. We had wanted to go to Mauritus or the Seychells on holiday but ended up in Florida. I know that without the quality and speed of medical intervention she recieved she undobyed would have died. The doctors in the States prepared us for the worst and were all fairly suprised when three days after the stoke she was still alive. Apart from unexpectedly getting pregnant she was just about to do the London marathon (had to pull out with 3 weeks to go) only 1 year and 4 months after the stroke. Never give up hope on stroke victims. The encoragement of those around them is what kept my wife going though the seemingly impossible times.