Your mother drove herself to the hospital after a stroke? That should tell you something right there!

I am torn between giving you cheerful, if somewhat vague encouragement, peppered with good humor and camaraderie, and writing you an instruction manual--I guess I'll settle for giving you a little advice--

First, get an Edirol R-09 digital recorder, if you haven't got one already, and make a habit of recording every conversation with doctors and nurses. Then load everything onto an iPod and listen to it, taking notes and stopping periodically to think. This is important, because they communicate everything verbally, and bright as you are, you'll miss about half of what is said, forget most of the rest of it if you don't.

Next is to look up stroke, and, particularly, stroke rehab, up on the internet, and read everything you can. It will help you to understand what the drs are telling you, and not telling you, and it will help you to consider options for dealing with a variety of possible situations--strokes are a bit like snowflakes, in that they are all different--

Beyond that, there is no standard procedure for recovery--there are a variety of things that may or may not present themselves, and you deal with them as the appear.

Last, you have to have to take care of yourself--there are drs, nurses, therapists, and many others whose job is to take care of your mom--no one will be provided to deal with the effects that this has on you--

I am very sorry that this all has happened and I wish you, your mom, and your family the best in dealing with it.