Srini's story
Srini Muralidhar approached life with caution and logic. Then he had a massive stroke and required a tube to breathe. As he laid in his hospital bed after becoming strong enough for tube’s removal, Srini surprised no one with undramatic words laced with optimism and realism.
“Fingers crossed,” his son, Roshan, remembers him saying, “I will be able to be myself again.”
Weeks later, Srini was edging closer to his prophecy. He’d returned to his home in Carlisle after weeks in intensive care at UPMC Harrisburg Hospital and nearly a month at Helen M. Simpson Rehabilitation Hospital. There a physician-led team of physical, occupational and speech therapists joined nurses and pharmacists to help him recover.
When he entered the rehabilitation hospital, Srini needed support from two people to stand. Stairs were out of the question. Severe weakness in his swallowing muscles made eating impossible, and his short-term memory was shot.
Now, after weeks of exercises, practicing with a walker and learning practical tips from his therapists, Srini can speak again. He can walk, and his balance has mostly returned. The double vision he’d developed is gone. His short-term memory is also improving.
“It is coming back,” Roshan said. “Some days are better than others.”
He’s miles from that day that couldn’t have been planned for, even for a meticulous planner like Srini. He simply fell walking through his house and hit his head. Doctors “aren’t sure if the stroke caused the fall or if the fall caused the stroke,” Roshan said. When he was rushed to the hospital, tests uncovered a subdural hematoma, or brain bleed, along with a stroke.
His medical team performed a craniotomy on Srini, removing a portion of his skull to relieve the pressure inside. They intubated him and eventually employed a tracheostomy to help him breath. Weeks passed with Srini in intensive care. His family ― wife, Kalpana Muralidhar, and two sons, Roshan and Raunaq ― stayed by his side. Friends from both the local Indian and business communities visited in an unending line of support.
Srini and his family are one strand web of friends that spans the globe. He moved to the U.S. from his home in India 14 years ago. After decades working as an executive for Volvo, Srini turned entrepreneur and launched his own Subway franchises. He recently founded another local, Susquehanna Skylights. Srini stayed fit with yoga. He and his wife had traveled the world, and at age 64, life hardly seemed close to being finished when the stroke came calling.
But as lucidity started to return, Srini found he had trouble remembering. The weeks in and out of consciousness had left him weakened. He was unable to stand or walk, relied on tubes to eat and breathe and couldn’t communicate with anyone. Slowly, he began to come around, waving to family and friends from as far away as India who talked to him via video conference, acknowledging the prayers that arrived from friends of differing faiths. But he still had difficulty swallowing and completing daily tasks like brushing his own teeth.
By the time the tube came out, Srini stood at the threshold of his comeback. His family chose Helen M. Simpson Rehabilitation Hospital – he has almost no memory of his time in the acute care hospital.
At Helen M. Simpson Rehabilitation Hospital, Srini’s occupational therapist helped him with his vision problems, with exercises that required him to practice focusing his eyes. The therapist also included balance exercises and other workouts to strengthen his core. The strength training helped with his activities of daily living strategies – like sitting when showering, brushing his teeth and relearning to dress himself.
Physical therapists used a special mat to isolate muscles that had gotten weaker – particularly in his left leg. In fact, Roshan said, Srini and his family were worried the strength in his left leg would never return. “They’d ask him to wiggle his left leg,” Roshan said. “He’d wiggle his right.”
They tried to build strength slowly in the limb, using weighted bands. Then they had him walk – first with a walker, then without one. Soon Srini was marching up and down stairs and over uneven ground and curbs, to ensure his balance would improve.
A speech language pathologist conducted tests to find the right strategy to improve Srini’s problems with eating and speaking. The therapist performed X-rays, tinkered with his diet and tested his cognition. Srini practiced chin tucks – nodding his chin to his chest. The exercise gently strengthened the muscles that has weakened in his neck. Also, he slowly improved in the cognition test and found he was able to remember more easily.
Progress was gradual, but with his family at his side helping with therapy Srini kept up a steady march toward his old life. The hospital calls the program where therapists involved loved ones to ensure patients’ recoveries the Care Partner Program. Roshan credits his mother’s “relentless patience, faith and courage,” he said. “It is truly her positivity and attention to detail that seemed to help when all other hope was scarce.”
In just under a month, Srini was ready to go home. He could walk for 22 minutes with a walker and go up and down stairs again. His vision had cleared and balance, memory and strength were continuing to return.
After leaving Helen M. Simpson Rehabilitation Hospital, Srini continued to receive outpatient care and help from professionals who visited him at home.
Roshan was inspired by the outpouring of support. As he watched and prayed, hard-working medical professionals joined his family to bring his father back.
No amount of planning and logic can save people from their inevitable trials, he said. But love can still work wonders.
“Just support your loved ones. Be there for them,” Roshan said. “Trust the system and ask questions.”