Delirium, or brain damage?

[MKM1]

Hi so just an update, my dads had his tracheotomy fitted 2 days ago and they woke him up today, he’s still very confused but he is a lot calmer than he was! He was miming words to us like I love you which was nice to see but he had episodes of like blanks, like staring at the ceiling and like rocking like he was in pain, then if we talk to him he will like snap out of it for a few seconds then go back into the blank moment, does anyone know what this is? Or been in this position?

Because we don’t know if it is delirium or brain damage also his temperature is very high and they are struggling to bring it down, is this also neurological?

Any comments welcomed thanks

[Prada47]

Hi MKM1

Try to relax and let the Medical Staff worry over what may or may not be, sounds easy I know, but something I have learnt on this heart journey is

If you can't influence it don't worry about it !!

Hope it all turns out well

[Hedgehoglady07]

I agree with the last reply do speak to the staff about it. If it's of any comfort I had massively high temperatures with the endocarditis and I as spent two days in hospital burbling on about being in Sainsbury's and talking to the hedgehogs in the garden. I do hope everything is ok for you.

[Handel]

Hi MKM1. A high temperature will very often cause weird episodes. I'm just thinking of my dad when he was in hospital. The hospital staff were marvellous and finally managed to get his temperature within normal range. He then developed a urinary tract infection which in older people can cause very strange behaviour. Antibiotics soon knocked that on the head.

All the very best to you and your dad xxx

[Dickyticker26]

Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals have a useful information booklet on Delirium

They say "Up to one in three people admitted to hospital become delirious at some time during their stay"

This high incidence is not really reflected by the posts on this forum compared say with "Angina" or "Travel Insurance"

This suggests that it must be a common experience not much talked about-and even then it is by relatives and carers rather than patients

Without going into all the embarrassing detail, I can say that I had it throughout my 10 days in St Thomas' for a bypass and up to the day of my discharge I could not give the nurses the name of the hospital I was in-much of the time I was convinced I was in the USA

Passing doctors told me it was not surprising given the "massive insult" the body receives in major surgery and I think the Fentanyl had a lot to do with it

Thankfully the delusional episodes have gone and physically I am about back to where I was 3 months ago, but I still remember the Delirium more than the bypass

Hoping it works out for you and yours

[Roamie in reply to Dickyticker26]

I also had a short episode after my AVR and bypass where I didn't know where I was, or why I was there..the nurses at Papworth were excellent and coaxed me through it. It didn't last very long at all - perhaps less than an hour, but it did feel weird. I had it explained that it was a common occurrence, and not to worry, something to do with the heart being handled and being on the heart/lung machine?

Wishing all the best to everyone going through the process.

[Dickyticker26 in reply to Roamie]

Many thanks for the response-I linked my own episodes to Fentanyl

When the buzzing in the lines into my neck started up in the evening all the furniture in the ward started to move round like you see in some tv adverts!

[Darkshades in reply to Dickyticker26]

How strange you couldn’t remember the name of the hospital... I had that too!!! In the end they wrote all the answers to their questions on a poster at the end of my bed ... I also told them that the hospital was in Norway 😬😃.... took me about 6-8 weeks to remember on my own I was in Barts, London 🤣

[thetidders]

I had a triple bypass last year, this was followed about 3 weeks later by a severe electrolyte imbalance & I was admitted to ICU after collapsing at home, whilst in there I had delusions nearly all the time. They were nearly all about ICU & the staff there.

When I think back some of them were ridiculous but I believed them at the time.

6 months later we were invited back to the ICU unit to talk about my stay there. The senior nurse we saw said it was not unusual to have delusions after all the medication, drips etc especially combined with the open heart surgery I’d had a few weeks before.

She said I seemed to have recovered well & didn’t need to go back for any more sessions unless I wanted to. My husband & daughter has also been invited to attend & it helped them as well.

Jean

[Somehowhere]

I spoke crazy stuff and remembered nothing, like words were gone etc. Just blanking out and staring away trying to work out what was going on. When i was feeling better.. i had no filter at all. And apparently was hilarious.. i guess like a drunk person?? Im getting better now. I think the brain has a real shock after a ca.

[Gladwyn in reply to Somehowhere]

I was fine, quite my usual self in the chronic cardiac ward. I slept a lot and read a lot. It was 4 days before I saw in a mirror and I was shocked to see a dark haired woman looking back at me. I was convinced I was blonde. I had no idea about the dark hair at all. Weird lol

[Somehowhere in reply to Gladwyn]

Maybe it's time for a change?! Hehe

[Heythrop51 in reply to Somehowhere]

A Xmas theme maybe - red, green and silvery white?

[Gladwyn in reply to Somehowhere]

Lol I did make a change . 😀

[Heythrop51]

How's your dad a week on? Didn't want to ask earlier as these things need time.

[MKM1 in reply to Heythrop51]

He is doing so much better I was going to write a post but I just haven’t had chance to, as of today he’s just moved down to acute cardiac centre as he has made a massive recovery and he’s up talking had his tracheotomy out and he is now eating and drinking, He still says odd things and says he can see things in the room which out there so I do you still think there is a bit of delirium however we now know that there is actually no brain damage which is obviously incredible and he is recovering very fast we just want him home for Christmas fingers crossed He’s been in hospital for 4 weeks now WHAT A JOURNEY🙃

[Heythrop51 in reply to MKM1]

All seems positive!

[Curlyman83]

Delirium after coming round is quite common. I had no idea why I was in hospital, I thought I was locked in work and that the nurses were trying to kill me. I made repeated attempts to escape in nothing but my hospital gown and said some rather nasty things to the nurses...I got back to normal quite quickly and made some rather embarrassing apologies, but the staff there said it happened all the time and they were used to it. Hope this helps