A stroke survivor shares his baseline difficulties and documents his immediate observations during an evaluation following Perispinal Etanercept (PSE) treatment at the Institute of Neurological Recovery.
The video captures real-time updates as the patient and his family evaluate changes in vertigo symptoms, joint range of motion, speech articulation, taste perception, and overall energy.
Patient-Reported Changes Featured in This Video
- Relief from Vertigo & Head Heaviness: Prior to treatment, the patient experienced a constant sense of vertigo, feeling as though he was spinning out of control alongside heavy pressure in his head. Post-treatment, he reports that the vertigo sensation resolved, describing his head as feeling progressively lighter.
- Joint Range of Motion & Reduced Pain: The patient demonstrated freer movement in his shoulders, knees, hips, and ankles without the painful “popping” or resistance he previously experienced during movement. He successfully lowered himself to the floor to attempt a push-up—a movement he previously found uncomfortable and avoided.
- Speech Clarity & Facial Appearance: Family members noted clearer, faster speech articulation with less slurring or dragging. Observers also noted a brighter, less fatigued facial appearance.
- Swallowing Ease & Taste Sharpness: The patient reported that swallowing water became immediate and effortless, resolving previous issues with nighttime liquid pooling and swallowing hesitation. He also noted a sharper, clearer perception of coldness and taste.
- Visual Focus & Breathing Effort: The patient noted clearer visual focus (resolving fuzzy/double vision) and described taking deep breaths more naturally without having to consciously think about breathing.
Read Video Transcript
*Transcript generated by YouTube
When was your stroke? May 27th. 27th. Uh that was last year. 25. What kind of difficulties has it caused for you? My right side, the [clears throat] muscle uh contraction, the muscle um control, the dexterity, um the range of motion, limitations of movement. The big one is the sense of vertigo that I have. I feel like I’m going to spin out of control. Uh but I I don’t. It’s just a sensation that I have a heaviness in my head. Um my speech it’s improved. But uh when I get tired or when I get uh frustrated, it it uh changes, slows down. Um I have a limitation in in my thinking which I didn’t used to have. Uh I used to be a quick thinker. Mission’s changed a lot. Everything is fuzzy now. Fuzzy or I see double. I get tired easy. And I have a constant uh constant fatigue.
Better. It feels much better. I mean it feels [snorts] man it’s clear now.
That feels that feels so free, so ridiculously good. Yeah, that’s good. Even his speaking, his speech is definitely better. Yeah. But um you already it’s not slur, man. Or dragging kind of
Cold, [snorts] good, clean, clear. Tastes different. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know. It’s strange.
Like crispier or sweeter? It’s a sharper sharper taste. Cleanness, the cold. It’s all sharp. Okay, that’s nice. How about, you know, keeping the water in your mouth? It it it I don’t uh I didn’t think about it, so that’s a good thing. This it goes down so easy. Mhm. It looks a little bit clearer. Um how is the vertigo feeling? I’m wondering where it went.
felt norm.
Oh, that’s crazy. That’s crazy. There is no popping. It used to be like popping a piece of rope and you would when I was taught and um it’s not Wow. It’s free. Mhm. I used to notice that God was painful. This was real painful. It’s not anymore. Mhm. My knees feel free. The hips feel free. My ankles obviously feel free. That’s amazing. This feels really good.
God, that feels so good.
How about your fatigue? What fatigue? Mhm. Seriously, even the face already kind of has changed. You know, there’s just a tiredness on the skin and whatever. You look brighter and
you don’t need my help for that.
See, I wouldn’t do them because I couldn’t get I couldn’t get on the ground. Mhm. So, my ability to sit down on the ground Yeah. or get in on a push-up is really really uncomfortable. Mhm. And uh Wow, that was so easy. Mhm. You know, my breathing just like it’s easier to take a deep breath. Mhm. That was one thing I noticed that that was so strange that uh after the stroke that uh I had to I really had to think about breathing, had to think about swallowing. Mhm. U at night. I would lay down and uh my I would get all this liquid in my throat. Mhm. That I had to swallow and it would take forever to swallow it. It’s Mhm. Now it’s gone. That’s good. Wow. I think what I felt with the vertigo was that uh you can imagine when you’re uh your all your body weight is up on your head and it literally feels like my head is losing weight uh as I as the minutes go by. That’s amazing. That’s a That’s pretty stunning. That’s so funny that you’re you’re tuned in to all the uh autonomous uh features of your body. Mhm. Um that you don’t even pay attention to when you’re healthy. Uh you definitely pay attention to it when you have a stroke. I can just feel the freshness of u freshness of everything.
