My son went into cardiac arrest and suffered hypox... - Headway
My son went into cardiac arrest and suffered hypoxic brain injury, he is 46 years old and at present is in a neuro unit in Plymouth, HELP!
Im the sister of whom janet131941 is talking about and my mum needs to share, talk with other people who are in similar situations to us
Hi Dotty1971, I am in a very similar situation to yourselves, my partner who is forty now suffered a Hypoxic brain injury due to a cardiac arrest, I know what you mean about needing someone going through the same to talk to. Please feel free to get in touch any time, I am sorry it has taken so long to reply, I have been busy trying to sort out care etc for my partner. I hope you and your family are doing ok. xx
we live in newton abbot Devon and would appreciate any help,services to help
Hi Dotty. I'm sorry to hear of your son's illness. We're mostly brain injured through accident, haemorrhage or stroke here, but I have heard this problem mentioned. Trouble is,like most people here, I have a damaged memory and I can't remember from whom I've heard about Hypoxic injury.
I hope you'll hear from someone here soon, and there are a couple of things I'd like to suggest in the meantime. Firstly, a few more details about your son's condition, and the treatment & prognosis from his doctors might be helpful for members to hear. Secondly, whilst you're waiting for responses I suggest you phone the Headway helpline on 0808 800 2244......you'll get real help from people who care, and can provide you with accurate information and support. They're available 9am-5pm mon-fri.
Best wishes to you all, Cat x
So sorry to hear your family is having to deal with this. I would suggest you ring the main Headway helpline and they should be able to point you in the right direction for any support and information in your area
Take care
Hi Janet, my 41 year old partner also suffered hypoxic brain injury following a cardiac arrest in September 2012. The prognosis was not good but a year on he is doing remarkably well. It is a long and difficult road, find all the support you can and stay hopeful. There are wonderful people on this site who have made astounding recoveries and even more wonderful people who support those in recovery who are always willing to offer words of comfort and support.
Best wishes to you and yours x
Hi, I've had so called mild hypoxic brain damage after falling into an awkward position and compromising my airways. I have a friend at Headway who had a cardiac arrest and was down for quite some time. Recovery seems to be very variable as do symptoms, she's recovered well. It seems very difficult to predict recovery as some people do well. I guess it depends what caused it, how promptly you get treatment, CPR oxygen etc. Did they suspect hypoxic brain damage at the start ?. The Doctors are going to give relatives a worst case scenario if it's early days. Are you in contact with Headway?
try and get hold of the Headway support nurse for your area. She helped me amazingly
when my husband had his head injury. they think he suffered a hypoxic brain inury as well but stay positive
as he is now 18 months down the line with a few memory probs, slurred speech but i would say 90%
his old self. As stardrop said The hospitals do tend to give you a worse case scenario and i remember sobbing each night after i had spoke to staff. Remember everyone is different and recovery is slow. All the best x
Hi. I have just put post on. My sister is 47 and in same position. We are about 10 weeks down the road. We were told she had considerable hypoxic brain damage at the start and did we want to switch life support off. However 10 weeks later she sits out in wheelchair, is awake and talking. However I am finding it really distressing at the moment as she still has no engagement. She seems to be in her own world. Talks constantly but we can't understand much and she gets so upset and distraught with what she is saying. But as there is no engagement there doesn't seem to be anything we can do to help her to be less distressed. I am really hoping this is a passing phase as it is heart breaking seeing her so upset and not being able to do anything.
My husband had a cardiac arrest aged 37, three years ago. Although I gave cpr immediately- we were out running at the time- he had no heart beat for 29 minutes which caused his hypoxic brain injury. He has been left with spasticty, weakness in his left side, slurred speech. The hardest thing though is the behavioural change. He didn't get seen by a neurological psychologist for 12 months so wasn't diagnosed with executive dysfunction till then. He thinks differently, acts differently, has apathy, no motivation or problem solving skills. 10% of the time he's 'old' D, the rest of the time he's the new version. Headway are an amazing support.
I am caring for him as well as trying to hold down a very demanding job.
Initially- post coma, he was almost paralysed and it took 3 months to get him walking. I was also given the option to 'turn him off' as he was suspected to be vegetative.
His speech was non existent or slurred and words were hard to think of. He was able to use a light writer.
It is awful, but once I accepted it was a marathon not a sprint I was able to cope a bit better.
It's so hard but 10 weeks is such early days for brain injury. I kept a diary to show D WHEN he got better. At 10 weeks he was only just out of ICU, not walking, or talking and sleeping for 14 hours a day.
Just being there will help her by the way- and I promise you she will not remember much of this time either. I would go and just read to D from his music mags. Or take him for a walk and keep explaining what had happened. The distress could be because she cannot communicate or understand situation. Her short term memory is likely affected so keep reminding?
Can she write?
It's soooo hard- I'd be all perky all day then cry for 2 hours when I left the hospital. He was 'inside' for 8 months- I swear he cannot remember most of it!
You aren't alone x
Hi, I sent a reply to Pinkmum about her situation with her sister. My dad suffered an hypoxic brain injury following a cardiac arrest at the end of September. He is improving, very slowly. I believe the doctors when they say this is very early days still and that recovery will be slow. I think it's really important to stay positive so I can give him the hope and courage he needs to give him his best chance. I tell him repeatedly in a calm, clear voice that it may take a while but he WILL get better.
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