head injury

[Bluelegs44]

hi

My husband had a collapse back in may, and hit his head, when he was in hospital he had Af then just went back to normal rhythm, he was very confused and combative but when this resolved and he had his memory back he was discharged.

A month later he collapsed again, but luckily only had a slight injury this time, but again he was in af, he was put on bisoprolol and edoxaban

A week or so after that he was getting numbness in face and fingers and had a head ct, which showed bilateral subdural haematoma, which after a few more visits to a &e was operated on.

He is recovering well from this but is still waiting for cardiology tests, 24 hour tape, echocardiogram

His heart rate is being kept stable by 5he bisoprolol and is back on edoxaban. ( about 60 bpm)

Has anyone been through similar experiences? The wait for answers is driving him mad and he is not sleeping well and feels like he is losing body condition, and feels generally lethargic.

Should we try and go private to get the tests done, certainly couldn’t afford any procedures

thanks for reading and any advice

Kate

[jwsonoma]

Hello Bluelegs,

I and not a doctor but you should talk to your doctor about a rhythm control drug like Flecainide which may stop anymore Afib events. The Bis only reduces the HR when you do have Afib. From y understanding it doesn't stabilize the rhythm it keeps it low.

This is a great site to look up how other's felt with their Afib.

The other question is what kind of shape was your husband in before the Afib?

[Bluelegs44 in reply to jwsonoma]

He was in pretty good shape, he is 61 and was working and driving and riding motorcycles.

Not allowed to drive now since surgery

Still waiting to get tests and see cardiology, had one follow up phone appointment but no opportunity to talk meds

We are waiting to see

[Desanthony]

Chase up the tests by a polite phone call checking that the referrals have gone through. Don't just sit and wait as referral letters, e-mails or whatever can be mis placed and mistakes made so make sure that he is actually on the list. At the same time let the department concerned know that he can come in at a moment's notice so could quickly attend a no-show or cancelled appointment . At the same time ask what the usual waiting time is and then make a decision as to whether or not you can pay to go privately for one or more of the tests.

I managed to get an MRI scan within a week by doing that. I just told them I lived 20 mins drive from the hospital so could quickly be at the hospital for a cancelled appointment or no show - I was called the day before as it was a cancellation - not a no show but as I was driving to the hospital they called me again to say the person who had an appointment before the one I was going for had not turned up so to come straight in as soon as I arrived. It ended up I got the MRI done and I was out of the hospital before the actual time of the appolintment.

You will still have to go through your GP and get a referral to a private consultant. It helps if this could be one of the consultants you would see through the NHS in your area anyway as by getting an initial consultation with them - cost about £150 to £350 they may then put you on their NHS list and you will be further up the list that way.

Your husband should still be able to exercise. I never stopped - I took it easier for a while but resistance training was OK just take things slower. Walking is brilliant it's knowing when to stop especially if like me you are used to being very fit - I was a Physical Training Instructor for 37 years so do find it hard to take things easy. I wear a fit bit and a wrist worn heart monitor with chest strap when exercising so that I can make sure my HR doesn't go above 130 whilst exercising. My idea when exercising at the start of my Af journey was a little less and less energetic - of course I didn't always achieve that.

Also see if your husband can get on a Phase III BHF heart recovery class, or any other recovery class that your local gym has to offer where he will be in the case of the BHF class monitored by a physio and possibly a cardio nurse or given one to one assessment at the gym in the first instance by a qualified instructor ad then join the recovery class. Call your local gym or hospital to find out if there is any such thing near you.

[Bluelegs44 in reply to Desanthony]

Thank you for your detailed reply, I will try and chase up cardiology, and offer flexibility as you suggest thank you

[ozziebob]

You didn't mention your husband's age, which may be relevant to whether a CT scan was performed after that first head injury. You don't mention a CT scan at that stage, even with his obvious head injury. But not having such a scan at that time caught my attention and seems negligent, reflecting perhaps the overworked under resourced nature of the current NHS. There seem to be many personal stories about scans not being performed in a timely fashion that have led to more serious medical problems. I hope that was not the case with your husband, but you only mentioned a head scan after his numbness symptoms and another fall. When discovered, your husband's haematomas must have been still active (acute) and unfortunately needed surgery.

This concerns me because I also had a diagnosis of bilateral subdural haematomas a few years back, chronic (developing over an extended period of time) in my case, as there was no obvious injury or cause identified. Luckily I didn't need surgery as my bleeding had stopped by the time of the hand paralysis and CT scan. But I'm now very wary of starting anticoagulation because of my previous unexplained brain bleed.

Hope your husband's issues get resolved. Good luck.

[Bluelegs44 in reply to ozziebob]

He is 61, he did have a ct when he hit his head but it showed no problem initially ( they said) but after the second collapse when he was put on bisoprolol and edoxaban I think it must have exacerbated the original issue and caused bleed to worsen, that resulted in evacuation op.

[ozziebob in reply to Bluelegs44]

Thanks for fuller explanation, and your subsequent thoughts about the anticoagulant are interesting.

I also note your question about how accurate the original scan report might have been. I had 2 scans, and with the presumably different parameters used in these 2 scans at different London hospitals, I couldn't really see the blood deposits identified across both hemispheres of my brain after the first scan, but these blood deposits were easily seen (horrifying that!) in my second scan. Perhaps the same visual difficulties in identifying abnormalities can sometimes occur even for the well-trained medical staff who interpret such scans.

I actually refused a third scan to later check on the progress of my healing, as I had no symptoms then, and scanning your brain is not risk-free. My treatment was 10 days of steroids, and that was just horrible, but obviously preferable to surgery.