Hypoxic brain Injury

[Beth26]

Hi I just joined this group today.. On the 17th August my mum who is 46 suffered cardiac arrest in her sleep ,I found her my husband carried out CPR until the ambulance came. She wasn't given a good prognosis and was told to say our goodbyes after 5 days on life support. She woke up after 36 hours off the machine. It has been 8 weeks since it happend and she is able to mumble ( but can't understand what she is saying) she can move her head side to side follow us around the room and her one arm she can move but that is it. We have just found out she has a bed on a rehab ward which we are so grateful for. I was just wondering if anyone has a similar story and how them or loved one progressed?

[cat3]

Welcome Beth. What a shame about your mum, especially since she's relatively young. Sorry I've no experience of Hypoxia except to say I've heard that progress is very slow ; I hope you'll hear from others with first hand experience soon.

I just want to welcome you and ask whether you've contacted the Headway helpline on 0808 800 2244 ( free call-office hours) as they can provide you with all the relevant printed information on your mum's condition.

I hope that with rehab you'll begin to see a marked improvement in your mum but please be prepared for slow progress. Do please keep us updated.

Sincere best wishes, Cat xx

[Beth26 in reply to cat3]

Thank you for your reply my sister has contacted the helpline and they have kindly sent the information which we have read. It would be really nice to hear some first hand experiences with the injury my mum has obtained. Thank and will keep you updated. Beth x

[TiredNan in reply to Beth26]

Hi Beth, i am new also. sorry i have no direct experience of this. But sending good wishes to you and family and mum x

[Beth26 in reply to TiredNan]

Thank you for your kind wishes. Xx

[lcd8]

Hi Beth. I had a 'stroke mimic' in February this year. I had all the symptoms of a stroke but brain scans revealed that I didn't actually have a stroke. So spookily something caused the symptoms of a stroke without me actually having one. i am only 42, but do have a long-term neurological condition. I know this isn't quite the same as what your poor mum has been through. But I was also left with one-sided weakness, inability to walk unaided and vision problems. With help from (1) hospital, (2) a community occupational therapy team and (3) a physiotherapist I am proud to say I am now back to 'normal'. I can hardly believe what I went through now and I'm not saying it wasn't a very slow process. I was off work for about 6 months and suffered depression and anxiety. I also spent inordinate amounts of time doing the exercises I was given and trying my best to stay positive. I think this really helped. I so hope your mum has a similar recovery. All the best.

[Beth26 in reply to lcd8]

Thank you for sharing your story it is nice to hear such positivity. Well done on your recovery. I hope my mum Has a positive outcome like yourself. Thanks Beth x

[fred59]

Hi Beth

My partner had a hypoxic brain injury over three years ago. I know that no two injuries follow identical paths but please feel free to message me if you would like to chat about the various stages that seem common to most. I hope you are seeing gradual changes and that your mum is improving.

Take care

Jane

[GardenRose]

Hi Beth. It sounds like we are going through similar experiences . My partner suffered a cardiac arrest 8Aug and has severe hypoxic injury. He is 35 fit and we have a three year old daughter. I'm still struggling to get my head around the injury and what life might be like for us. The unpredictability of the situation is so frustrating. We received a very grim picture six weeks ago but he seems to be defying the medical opinion and has recovered some movement and more recently there are some fleeting times when he can manage a few words. If you'd like to chat more I think you can message me.

[JSparrow]

Hi Beth, My dad is had 4 cardiac arrests early July. My mum gave him CPR and he also suffered from lack of oxygen to the brain. It's a very slow progress, my dads brain damage was only slight but he is still in recovery. He was moved to a rehab unit mid august and has come on leaps and bounds since then although he still has a long way to go. While he was in the stages your mum seems to be in we found the variety of people visiting made a difference, although its not nice to see them in such a vulnerable situation recognising the different voices really helped which brain stimulation. Feel free to drop me a message if you need to.

[Beth26]

Thank you for getting in touch it is so nice to hear about your dad improving and making progress. It gives me hope. Good luck to your dad for he rest of his recovery. Thanks x

[CJDA94]

Hi Beth, sorry its taken so long to reply but it sounds like you have had some help from Headway now which is what I would recommend and if she is in the rehab facility then hopefully they are supporting you too. How is your Mum doing now?

My husband had a cardiac arrest and resulting hypoxic brain injury and we have gone from me being told to 'prepare for the worst' to him being back at work and driving. His recovery was very slow to start with but picked up at a rate of knots and now we just cope with the short term memory issues and changes in his character etc. No 2 brain injuries are the same though so I understand it can be a frustrating and incredible stressful.

Also - well done to your Dad for doing CPR - its an amazing thing for him to have done - I've learnt that you can never be prepared to do that on someone you love and seeing a relative so poorly can be so shocking. I hope you have been able to talk to someone about it too.

Take care and any questions - feel free to ask