He had a stroke in April of 2010 and seems to have plateaued in his recovery. He can't feel his feet and walks with a cane. His hands hurt. He has some trouble with numbers. He worked pretty hard at rehab for the first year, but hasn't since.

He always tries to be chipper around me, but a friend who lives close to him says he is sick for days at a time. I have been around him when he throws up. He takes lots of medicine, which I suspect may cause trouble.

Is general "sickness" where you stay in bed for days and throw up a consequence of stroke? I've mentioned he needs to let a druggist analyze his prescriptions, but he hasn't done it. I know a great internist where he lives I would like him to see. I'll probably spend a few days with him before spring. Should I ramrod a trip to the druggist and internist? Does anyone have knowledge of the aftermath of a stroke?

He's probably on blood thinners and may need the kind and dosage re-evaluated. My dad's doctors had him on a combination of blood thinners after his stroke and we had to do our own research to find that this particular combination -- while popular a decade earlier -- was contraindicated in most patients and responsible for several bad side effects.

If he's still suffering a bit of paralysis, he may need to be catheterized and frequent caths inevitably come with frequent infections. Vomiting is a surprisingly common side-effect of urinary tract infections. He should get blood and urine cultures if he's throwing up and he should check into the hospital (and probably get on IV antibiotics) if the vomiting is so bad that it keeps him bedridden or if he has a fever for more than a couple of days... or if the fever is high.

Well, I've decided to get him to the internist I mentioned. He has only seen a small-town family doctor in the past year and a half and hasn't had any workups.

Def need to get that guy to a specialist ASAP.

I work with stroke survivors, and except for the numbers thing, I don't think the problems you describe are typical of most of them.

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. — Oscar Wilde

His original doctors and neurologists are 500 miles away now. I should have done this long ago, but he had 3 other people who were going to do it but never did.

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Chakravartin
He's probably on blood thinners and may need the kind and dosage re-evaluated. My dad's doctors had him on a combination of blood thinners after his stroke and we had to do our own research to find that this particular combination -- while popular a decade earlier -- was contraindicated in most patients and responsible for several bad side effects.

If he's still suffering a bit of paralysis, he may need to be catheterized and frequent caths inevitably come with frequent infections. Vomiting is a surprisingly common side-effect of urinary tract infections. He should get blood and urine cultures if he's throwing up and he should check into the hospital (and probably get on IV antibiotics) if the vomiting is so bad that it keeps him bedridden or if he has a fever for more than a couple of days... or if the fever is high.

Kind of what Ammo said; however it sounds from your description that the stroke affected some pretty basic centers in his brain, so the regulation of basic physiological functions may indeed be affected by the stroke. Still, internist can't hurt.

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He is possibly experiencing depression.

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btfc
He is possibly experiencing depression.

He is. He also has a problem with alcohol. I'm sure both are factors, but my hunch is there is something out of kilter that is causing nausea. To me, the most obvious place to look and easiest to fix if it is the case, is his medicine.