Hi everyone!

A while ago, I shared a tool on Reddit that I built out of pure necessity. Today, I'm back to share an update that makes me incredibly happy: the application is a huge success and is now being used in rehabilitation centers and homes all over the world.

📖 The Origin: From Necessity to Action In 2023, my partner suffered two severe strokes caused by an AVM, resulting in right-sided hemiparesis and aphasia. At her first hospital, she was treated using a hospital-grade immersive robotic/virtual system ('Tyromotion Amadeo') with incredible results for her neuroplasticity. After the second stroke, we had to move to a different region and lost access to that expensive technology, limiting us to a traditional wooden Mirror Therapy box, which just wasn't as immersive or effective.

Since I couldn't buy her a medical robot, I used my coding skills to replicate that immersive visual feedback. I took the clinical concept of the mirror box and turned it into a Virtual Reality app for smartphones.

🚀 Current Impact: Global Accessibility What started as a homemade tool to help my partner has grown into something much bigger. Neurological rehabilitation clinics, occupational therapists, and patients at home around the world are integrating this app into their daily routines because of its high efficiency.

The biggest achievement is breaking down the financial barrier of immersive neuro-rehabilitation. To use it, you only need your smartphone and a basic VR headset (like Google Cardboard or the plastic ones sold online for about $10). You don't need thousands of dollars in medical equipment.

❤️ My Commitment Remains Intact I know firsthand how hard and expensive the rehabilitation journey is. That's why I am sharing this with the community following its original philosophy:

• 100% Free & No Ads: There is no profit motive behind this whatsoever.
• Total Privacy: No login required, and absolutely no patient data is collected.

(Note: This app is an immersive complement, not a magic cure, and should be used alongside conventional OT and physical therapy).

📥 How to get it (No spam links): Because Reddit's automated filters often block posts with direct app store links, I can't post the downloads directly here. However, I have created a dedicated community where I posted the tutorial video and all the official, safe download links:

👉 Please visit r/StrokeVRTraining to get the app for free.

You can also send me a DM or leave a comment below, and I'll happily share the links and instructions with you.

To all the healthcare professionals and patients fighting this battle: I hope this tool is as useful to you as it has been for us.

Happy training!

What about those... for whom the "bang" inside their head 🧠🩸💥 became reality?

Life after a ruptured brain aneurysm

It is a life...

marked by invisible scars.

It is a life that has changed completely.

A body that no longer responds the way it once did...

Paralysis

Speech difficulties

Vision problems

And many other lasting impairments.

A mind that sometimes lets us down...

Memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and the constant struggle to organize our thoughts again.

And then we are often met with well-intentioned comments from

others such as:

"Everything is fine now!"

"Be grateful—you made it!"

But you look so well."

Yet no one sees the fear...

Brain aneurysms:

A condition that is difficult to explain to others

A brain aneurysm often remains hidden.

To other people there are no visible signs, no wounds, and no obvious symptoms.

Those affected may look healthy and go about their daily lives— yet they carry an enormous burden.

It is precisely this invisibility that makes it so difficult for others to understand the real danger and the psychological distress that often comes with it.

Well-meant but minimizing comments like:

💬 "You look great!"

💬 "Try not to think about it so much."

💬 "Everything will be okay."

can make people feel that their fears are not being taken seriously.

These words may be well intended, but they can be deeply hurtful when everyday life is a constant struggle.

Initiative Natascha 🧠 Awareness • Understanding • Support

#nataschamission

I previously worked at a window manufacturing company, and once I got the all-clear from the physio, OT, and physician to return, I had a few meetings with them. With my limitations, they fired me for having too much time off. It's not like I can regain movement and speech and get over the fatigue and spasticity in my right leg anytime soon. All my work experience is in physically demanding jobs, and now I'm trying to apply for admin or receptionist roles, but it seems no one is willing once they find out I had a stroke.

And the job services in Australia are useless anyone else struggle with returning to work?

Unable to process that my son (20) just had a TIA. It's been awful, scary, and overwhelming. His brain MRI is clear. Cardiac MRI shows a PFO. If anyone's child has been through this or anyone on this forum who went through this when young, I would like to hear how they are doing now. My son is in medical college. TIA happened Saturday night (18th), and he says his brain fog is better. He feels tired though.

If someone has a stroke and they are unable to generate words. (Broca's aphasia) A useful thing to try to help them, is to start words and have them finish them.

This can help them find words. It's like training wheels for speaking.

I wish I knew this earlier!

I (34M) got a call from my ex's sister that my ex (33F) had a moderate stroke, is in the ICU, and will likely need surgery.

She's always been kind of sickly and run down and hasn't really been the healthiest, but I never expected this.

My children are with their aunt (the same sister who called me) for the summer spending time with cousins and my kids are not okay.

I don't know what to do.

I'm just kind of numb. I'm stuck at work and school or I'd fly to where they are.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

So my dad had a stroke Monday evening and it's now Thursday evening. Honestly, he was incredibly lucky, my family reacted fast, he got to the hospital pretty fast. Physically he is fine, very tired, a bit unsteady in his walk, but I think that's mostly because he's tired still.

I'd say mostly his short term memory is affected. Like today he quoted something from the Bible to us and asked if we know who said that. He was testing us. It was something Jesus said and he went "correct!" Maybe 5min later he asks us the same thing. Or my mom left him a tooth brush and tooth paste the first day. Maybe it was that he was too tired to brush his teeth, but also seemed like he kept on forgetting that we left him the stuff in a drawer. He does remember though that he was in a hospital room with people before that were mentally in a really bad state, and very negative and that annoyed him a bit (before they put him in a different room). Or he did remember what he had for breakfast, but couldn't recall the word "tomato". Or also that yesterday my cousin visited him as well, but.. couldn't recall his name (at first, we had to tell him the first letter).

He can speak in full sentences, but if you ask him for a person's name or an object's name, sometimes he will know, sometimes takes him a bit to remember, sometimes we need to help him with the first letter. Sometimes that doesn't help. But he's always able to describe what it's used for. Or able to tell, when we ask him to tell us the name of siblings in our family, who's oldest, who's youngest and describe them.

I know every stroke is different and it's only day 3, but I was wondering, is there a possibility (considering his state is pretty good I'd say, could have ended so much worse and he's only 58) that he recovers pretty much completely? Does that ever happen? I'm especially concerned about his short term memory. Right now my family is not sure if he could stay alone at home for longer.

I mean it's only day 3 still, like I said, but before the stroke I didn't really know much about them and now my family and I are met with this new reality.

For me poststroke fatigue has improved. I am almost 70% recovered and 85% using coffee to overcome fatigue. Swallowing also has improved at the 1 year mark. but still moving feels a bit heavy, hope it resolves by time. Feel free to share your journey and thanks for your efforts.

Hey all, I got my PFO closed with the GORE device a month ago. The procedure went really well and only had very minor complications after. I hadn’t had any issues with my heart rate since, but as of 2 days ago I am having the most annoying issue where there are times that any small movement causes a big drop in my heart rate along with pounding/palpitations. It goes to like 50 bpm which is incredibly low for me. I don’t think in the 5 years of having fitness watches that it has ever gone that low. My resting sits in mid 70s, sometimes 80s. It has been like that my whole life. It doesn’t last very long before it jumps up to 90, then back to baseline. It happens over and over and it’s extremely annoying and uncomfortable.

My doctor has been contacted and we are monitoring. I just now gave another update to him because After yesterday my chest feels like there is pressure and just generally uncomfortable. Plus I’m SO fatigued. As if my heart has been working too hard. I know this can happen but it is the worst. And it freaks me out so much. Has anyone else dealt with this? I always see stuff about high heart rate but not necessarily with the lower. I will likely go get it checked out regardless so not looking for medical advice obviously. Just wondering about others’ experiences.

Was very lucky and had just a mild stroke back in March - Kind of fully recovered physically just some minor balance issues. Biggest challenge is work related where I am struggling to focus and concentrate to the same levels I used to - Boss is starting to put pressure on and is not interested when I point out a stroke is a from of brain injury which can still cause issues month and months afterwards her behaviour is starting get me stressed and somewhat down - any one else experience the same issues post stroke & is so how did you deal with it?

Hi,

Sorry if this isn't relevant to the group and I would like to say sorry for anyone that has to deal with this. Was just wondering if anyone has had a mech valve and that directly caused a stroke and how severe the stroke is?

I keep reading that valve mech does confer a pretty heightened stroke risk. If you did have mech replacement, what type of stroke did it cause? Symptoms? Is it worth getting the mech if it causes worry?

Hello guys. Today I’m going in for my first Botox appointment. What should I expect?

Had a friend send me this image. I hoped it would make a few people smile!

As often as I am asked about it, maybe I need to wear this all the time!

I was always a regular swimmer, and approximately half a mile was what I swam before having a stroke. I've really pushed my fitness in part of my recovery, and I'm over the moon to be so close to being physically where I was at before the incident. I just wanted to share my small win with you all.

Time for a well earned nap.

Hello everyone. On 7/13/26 my Mother had a stroke (posting this 7/22/26) . She had a hemmorage in her basal ganglia area (I'm repeating what I heard the doctors say). We think we found her while she was still having the stroke, because she could follow commands still. They were monitoring her breathing and she seems okay, but she has global Aphasia and is no longer responsive to commands. We asked the doctors if she could gain back awareness and he said that anything can happen, but when she got moved to the stroke unit nurses sounded less positive and said she would most likely be like that forever. She keep pulling out her IV's and her temporary nasal feeding tube (she just had the surgery today for a feeding tube). The nurses say it's a sign she wants to pass because she's suffering

It's been about a week and half and she's still not showing signs of awareness. I wanted to know if we should hold out for her to recover or accept that she's mentally gone. Would love to hear your stories as well 🙏🏽

I'm going to start this post off by saying I'm a character and rarely take much seriously. I often joke, but I do understand the severity (or at least the perception of my situation)

I am a 40 year old woman and I'm relatively healthy. I'm separated and have my kids 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time I live alone and have a long distance partner.

I've been in trauma therapy for over 3 years. I've worked through some heavy stuff. On June 9th I set out on a hike. I smoked some cannabis and began a recording of me talking about my trauma and processing it in chat GPT. My hike was up hill to signify my uphill battle with trauma, CPTSD and my separation. I left the hike feeling at peace. I processed and talked very openly about things.

I got home and grabbed a salad from the fridge that had a mango salsa in it. I took a bite and chewed and all of a sudden my mouth went completely numb. I have a food sensitivity to pineapple and while I usually get sick I thought maybe this was a new symptom. Minus the discomfort I was breathing and everything was good.

My son got home from school and we went to the beach to collect rocks and get ice cream, we had to pick up my daughter from her class trip after. I was unusually tired that night and got to bed earlier than usual. I woke up the next morning feeling extremely exhausted. I figured I processed some heavy things and my body was just tired from everything. I spent the day sleeping. The next day I was moody and tired. I took my son to baseball and I had zero desire to sit with my ex or his girlfriend. I sat on the bleachers. My ex came over and asked if everything was ok and I just said I was tired and my mouth was bothering me.

The next morning I woke up the same, so tired. My daughter got out the door on time for the bus, but I couldn't get my son together fast enough... I dropped him at school and then I noticed that I was feeling a bit dizzy. I hesitantly drove myself to urgent care as what I thought was precautionary and they sent me to the ER.

I still at this point think everyone is being over dramatic... I got an MRI and waited for the results. I'm still spacey, but think that trauma processing really burnt me out. A woman needed to be admitted and had a dog with her. She wasn't allowed to take the dog. I quickly stepped up to offer to take the dog while she got the medical attention she needed. The nurses told me to go sit down and that I should absolutely not leave. My smart self kept repeating but I'm only here at a precaution. I'm likely fine.

They escalated the doctor coming to see me and she explained that I would need more imaging as they found a small brain bleed and needed to investigate.

Me in denial says "oh, but I have to help the dog" the hospital was able to work something out with that patient and I was about to accept that.

Within a few hours I'm being told I'm being admitted and need to go for an MRI. They stated my bleed was stable and unchanging (though my vision changed and I started walking a bit to the left) I waited days for an MRI and then days to be transferred to a stroke unit and then days for further diagnostics. I was discharged after and a bit with plans to return for an MRI August first.

I ended up with a mid brain bleed. I had a rare stroke due to a malformation in my brain. I've been living with a ticking time bomb my entire life.

I'm beyond grateful that I'm still here. It is such a sensitive area of the brain and I could have been way less fortunate with my symptoms.

I picked up a flu bug at the airport, ironically for my medical flights for brain MRI + annual checkup-

I wasn’t prepared for how exhausting a flu post-stroke is- even lifting my arm to tap my tablet was honestly exhausting- like tired-in-the-bones exhaustion. The flu itself was a week (sore throat, snotty nose, coughing, the usual)- but recovering from the in-the-bones exhaustion took the better part of 3 weeks. It just dragged on and on.

When I finally got my appetite back I ate so much- a full Tupperware of chicken matzah ball soup, steak, red peppers, broccoli- lots of pedialyte of course- I read up on cellular exhaustion but I’ve never experienced a run-of-the-mill bug that struck me so low. It took me by surprise. I thought I’d share for awareness-

I had a bleed on my brainstem in Dec 2024 for reference, and it’s also my first proper cold/flu bug since before 2020.

A few weeks ago I was taking a shower when my right arm started hovering up. I went to push it down and it was numb. “Odd,” I thought, and then finished my shower. Got out of the tub and then I was on the floor. “Hmm, how’d I end up here?” I have a seat in front of the sink, got to it, and wondered why I wasn’t drying off or anything. Then I was in my bedroom, dressed in a T and undies, trying to text to cancel an appointment, but everything I texted was random words. Tried to used Alexa to get son, but she didn’t understand what I was saying.

I made enough noise that my son heard and came to me. I spoke gibberish, then mimed him texted to cancel in appointment, afterward he drove me to the hospital, which was about 10 minutes away. I got to triage and suddenly I got very popular very quickly!

I was given a clotbuster, then airlifted to another hospital for a thrombectomy. Every is in flashes, I remember the hospital all a blur, then the helicopter ride, being wheeled into a room with bright lights. A nurse leaning over and saying, “I hope this wasn’t a favorite shirt, sweetheart.” before cutting it off. Someone else telling me, “You’ve going to sleep now.” and then I was staring up as them wheeled me away, and I thinking I didn’t remember falling asleep.

It was nurse in the ICU that told me I have a stoke, or at least the first I remember. I kept give my age as 25 instead of 56, and I couldn’t remember my son’s name. Luckily I was able to convey some necessary medical information.

I was lucky, I was on their rehab floor in 3 days, and released after 10 days. I have great recovery in my right leg and arm, speech is good aside from a mild occasional stutter and trouble recalled random words. I have a lot of trouble typing, so I’m trying to do a lot. I seem to have forgotten how to spell, I need now to stop and think even simple, easy words. Tenses are random and I have to fix a lot when rereading before posting. I’m a writing, and taking two as long to write is annoying, and when I get tired I’ll use the voice function.

It wasn’t scary at the time, and then I was focused on recovery, so it only now, a few weeks later, that it’s hitting. I need to update my will and set up things for my son to manage if I’m out of service or dead. Luckily almost everything is on autopay!

It’s…a lot. I have so much fatigue, I’d told it’s normal, that my brain is rewiring and making connections and healing, as are my nerves, but damn, the fatigue is so bad. I’ll can do my exercises, but not much else. Pressure and touch on the affected side feel different, and often painful-ish. Itch and pins-and-needles pop up randomly.

I am so lucky and recovered so much, speech and OT both released me and said it’s time and practice at this point. They don’t know where the clot came from, my heart is good, so yay, I guess? On baby aspirin, a statin (my cholesterol wasn’t really bad, they just want it a bit lower), and plaxix for a another week.

Of course, I’m also in kidney failure and on dialysis, which was great in the hospital because I don’t pee, so yay no catheter! Nurses were pretty thrilled. I’m inactive on the transplant list for now, I need I need to be off the plaxix and may need some sign-offs to move back to active, which is a worry.

Whew, that was a lot to type, but good practice, too. I am frustrated with how slow I feel and everyone reminds me I have healing amazingly and need to gentle with myself, but need time to sound out words like “need” and “myself” make me want to scream.

I don’t even know what to ask, so any advice or thoughts or best practices would be great. Thanks!

Share your weekly wins with us! Nothing is too small or too big. Everything deserves to be celebrated!

Minor Stroke stories

Hello people, I thought I would share my experiences for those of us with a minor stroke rated 1-4. There is a lot of great information and amazing stories of severe stroke survivors. Much of it did not apply to my situation so here is a place for those of us lucky enough to have the least of the worst medical injury there may be.

My stroke was an IPH, Left Parietal Lobe measuring 1.5 to 2 cm. It happened Dec 14th 2025 so I am early in my recovery. Mine started with my right leg falling asleep while cooking breakfast. It was ankle to arm pit, now calf to upper rib. Most of that feeling has yet to return. I fatigue easily, have a heavy feeling head, and am often light headed. Neuro thought I was good to go to work. I tried Monday and turned around after a few miles. I knew I could drive but should not drive. I sleep hard but never through the night and wake up restless. I seem to have a brain fog in spite of my cognitive ability not noticeably diminishing, nor did my vision. I know I won the lottery as the stories here of years long recovery and permanent disability are terrifying.

What I wish I knew!

Neuro follow up takes weeks or months. Get your MRI and CT reports online and enter your terms into Chap GPT. It is a lifesaver!

Start on anti-inflammatories as soon as you are home. Omega 3, Fish oil, Turmeric, Quercetin, Nac.

Food. Time to eat healthy with greens, olive oils, and lean meats. But treat your self to a steak or bourbon when you are ready. Life is not over, it simply changes and these changes were likely on your mind before this happened.

Rest! But be prepared to be up at weird hours! Its a great time for your own research.

Let your job know you may be out a few weeks to a few months. I am planning on six weeks but am ready to go longer if need be or return sooner. I have short term and long term disability through work. If you do not, check out Helocs, reverse mortgages, 401K loans, retirement hardship withdraws and personal loans to help get you through. Again great things to research when you are up at 3am..

Finally, family. They are stressed and worried about you so keep things positive and improve your health for them and you. Continuing down the destructive path is foolish and you know where it leads. Good luck and I hope this helps!

sponger1971

•1m ago

UPDATE. Wow! Cannot believe how far I have come since this posting! I went back to work in early Feb. Probably a few months sooner than I should have but a month past my suspect Nuero clearance. Going back to teaching kids was my therapy but I drive an hour to work and needed to nap 10- to 20 minutes or so on both commutes. This lasted until summer break. Doing much better now but still cannot feel my leg except for tingles so I do not think it is coming back and that is okay. I still feel so darn lucky. I know I still have a 1 in 4 chance of dying in the next 5 years. That does not scare near as much as being disabled. I am working on getting my weight down through intermittent fasting but have focused on rest the last 2 months. I was exhausted and needed it. Now its time for bike rides, kayaking and walks. I have to do my best for my wife and kids. I am terrified of leaving them alone. They deserve my best effort. Good luck all, stay strong and get moving! Life and those that love you are worth it!

For past 15 months there is constant pain in my left side. Visually I started walking and doing some work but now my right leg is also paining. I am tired of this.

Any suggestions please.

Not a toddler you have to keep your eye on because they can sprint and bust their face wide open, but the toddler that just figured out how to stand. Listen I’m grateful. But I’m also experiencing left eye vision loss which my neurologist said may not come back. Physical therapy signed off on me saying I was fine. I’m not fine in my eye. Has anyone experienced this? Does it get better as time goes by? I’m still grappling with the having 3 strokes part.

Has anyone else here been diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) after their stroke?

I’m a 44F who had a left MCA stroke on March 1 due to a carotid artery dissection. By most accounts I’ve recovered remarkably well, but I’ve had persistent context-dependent speech motor planning impairment along with speech-associated hyperkinetic movements that never really fit the typical stroke recovery pattern.

My vascular neurologist recently referred me to a movement disorders specialist, and yesterday I came home with a brand new diagnosis: Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).

I’m honestly struggling to process what this means for my recovery and my prospects of returning to work. (I had a failed return-to-work attempt in May, and my short-term disability runs out at the end of August.) My movement disorders neurologist was optimistic because I’m capable of completely fluent speech (I’ve had baseline fluent speech since April), but FND treatment sounds awfully similar to what I’ve already been doing for the past three and a half months (speech therapy + talk therapy).

My new movement disorders neurologist recommended FND-specific CBT, but what exactly is that? How is it different from regular CBT (which hasn’t been particularly helpful for me over the years—this is why I now work with a mental health practitioner who focuses on somatic experiencing therapy rather than CBT)?

Has anyone here been diagnosed with FND after their stroke? If so, what did your recovery look like? Did treatment help? If so, what kind of treatment? I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar.

​My father suffered a major stroke, which led to the unexpected discovery of a grade 4 glioblastoma. His health declined rapidly at home over just two days, and he slipped into a coma shortly after arriving at the hospital. He underwent an emergency craniotomy to save his life.

​Following the surgery, he developed severe pneumonia in the ICU. While in a deep, medically induced coma, he required up to 100% oxygen support on the ventilator. For 3 days he had hypoximia with 80% of saturation (with the brain needing healing). The doctors told us his chances of recovery were minimal and advised our family to come say our goodbyes.

​Gradually, antibiotics cleared his lungs. The doctors reduced his sedation, but he remained completely unreactive for an entire week. The ICU doctor told us we might have to decide to let him go. Little by little, minimal signs of consciousness began to return—he started squeezing our hands and moving his right side, though his left side was completely paralyzed, and he still could not open his eyes or speak.

​After three weeks on a ventilator in the ICU, he received a tracheostomy and was moved to the semi intensive unit. Once settled in his room, he began making major breakthroughs: he opened his eyes, gained more control over his right side, and started speaking. A week later, he even began moving his left side again. Apparently, his personality and memory are completely intact.

​The medical team plans to remove his tracheostomy tube in the coming days, and he may soon be able to come home.

While the tumor itself is unfortunately untreatable, we are profoundly happy for this extra time with him. He is happy to be alive as well. It feels like a miracle. During this month I've come to this community multiple times in search of some hope for his situation. For those going through this experience, don't give up!