Hpoxic brain injury 8 week on

[Dales-story]

Hi my partner suffered an hypoxic brain injury 8 weeks ago after being in cardiac arrest for over 40 minutes the ct results say it is catastophic brain injury and at first the doctors gave us worst case scenario with not much hope, but since dale has been making very slow progress but is making progress

Dale was in icu for 3 weeks and has since been put on a respiratory ward as he still has his tracheostomy, he squeezes my hand and turns his head towards me, the hospital have agreed to send him to the royal hospital for neuro disability for an initial 12 weeks rehabilitation and are assessing him now.

I would like to hear from people in similar situations as information is quite vague and although I ask all the hospital staff everything all I get is brushed off answers.

I feel like ive lost my soulmate we have 6 children together and in the long term I would like dale to be able to come home regardless off his needs but im lost at the moment and would like to hear from people in a similar situation there stories help and guidance I dont know if im coming or going

Tia x

[Judithba]

Hello Tia. I'm so sorry about your husband. I would recommend that you contact your local Headway co-ordinator and they will help you. The o.t. assigned to me has even spoken to my consultant for me when I asked her to.

I hope he continues to make a good recovery. Best wishes

Judith

[Jennifer35]

Hi Tia, Firstly I'm so sorry that your family are going through this. 2 years ago my family went through the same thing when my husband had a cardiac arrest, he was down for 70 minutes and spent 12 weeks in hospital. It has been an uphill battle of recovery but there has been recovery and Tim still continues to improve. He had to learn to walk, talk, eat ect again but he did it. My Husbands vision has been effected due to his hypoxic but we have also seen improvement in that. You will probably have heard this a lot and you will hear it a lot more but its very early days for a brain injury so patience is the key here, you will need lots of it. Your partner wont know what's going on so this is all going to fall on your shoulders so please try and look after yourself and get as much rest as possible. Feel free to private message me if you want to ask any questions about anything. Sending strength to you, Jenn x

[dedicated_daughter]

Hi Tia, I'm really sorry this has happened to you and your family. My Dad suffered a severe hypoxic BI in September last year following a cardiac arrest. I remember how difficult it was when no one would tell us anything useful. I can tell you about Dad's recovery path which might give you some idea of the sort of things you might expect and I know there are others on this forum whose partners have had hypoxic BIs and have younger children who perhaps can be even more helpful than I can. You're doing the right thing by reaching out for whatever help and support you can get. Best wishes,

[Angie1968]

Hi Tia.

I can understand your pain and frustration. My husband is 5 weeks into recovery following a suicide attempt.

At first the doctors seem to give you the worst news, but the problem is that they just don't know. I was told that Paul would probably not wake up and they were preparing to switch off his life support. But he did wake up and now he can sit up, nod or shake his head in answer to questions and has recently been able to give me a kiss.

Paul's family and me were quite pessimistic about his recovery but in these few short weeks he has amazed us, he still has a long way to go and it's frustratingly slow.

Please use this great community to talk about your feelings and to gain information and support as you need to look after yourself.

Feel free to contact me as it's good to talk to people in similar situations.

Warmest Regards

Angie xxx

[millie67]

Hi Tia, I am sorry to hear about your partner. My partner suffered a hypoxic brain injury in November 2012 following a cardiac arrest after a motorcycle accident. I totally understand where you are coming from when you say that you get brushed off answers from nurses etc, after 3 years I have come to realise that they do this because they don't actually know the answers....no two brain injuries ever have the same outcome, everyone's brain is so individual and special that even medical staff who specialise in that field can be amazed at what it is capable of. I think for you it is a waiting game, all you can do is be there to support your partner and fight his corner for him while he can't, get him the rehab he needs and make sure he is looked after properly. In my experience it's the patients that shout loudest that get the first attention whereas in my opinion it's the ones that can't shout that should take priority.

Remember though in all this you need to look after yourself, we have four children and they have coped remarkably well and I'm sure it's down to the fact I didn't crumble! You need to make sure you don't neglect yourself and make sure any help that is offered you take. Sending hugs and best wishes. Feel free to message me if you need a shoulder. Xx

[mp3mills]

Hi

11 years ago when my children were 11 and 13, my husband had a cardiac arrest while in hospital undergoing heart investigations. The doctors fought for over 30 mins to get him back. Initially we were told he was so weak that it was unlikely he would survive the night. 11 years later he is still with us although he has a short term memory of less than 5 minutes. This means that it is unsafe for him to be left alone.

Social services provide me with support to enable me to do things like go to an adult education class, shopping, voluntary work etc, which has helped to keep me sane. When the children were younger they also had help from a Young Carers group, where they could offload their fears and frustrations. Headway has provided untold support both to my husband and also to me via their supporters group. It is only recently that I realise that we were grieving for the loss of the husband and dad that we once had.

Although it is still very early days for you, please seek help before your partner is discharged. You need help in place from day one if you are going to care for him without doing untold damage to your own and your children's mental health.

If there is any more advice I can offer please feel free to contact me.

[Dales-story]

Thank you for all your comments and replys we as a family have read them together and they have helped us to feel more positive

I have a very good relationship with the staff at hospital which is helping and I see improvements daily from dale hes showing more progress the stronger he gets and im constantly reassuring him yet again thankyou for your replies and when I have more time I will thankyou all personally xxx

Annemarie (tia) is thankyou in advance