So I have 2 other posts for those who don't know me one is "he's a fighter" and the other is "post traumatic amnesia"
I thought I'd update in case anyone wants any encouragement or hope for their situations. On the 8th of November my father in law suffered a massive heart attack due to a blocked artery. He recieved CPR but it was over 50 minutes before they could get his heart going again. The Drs gave us a very grim prognosis for the first day. His chances of recovery/survival given the stats, were somewhere around 4-6%. He is 55 years old and very tall and strong. The first ten days looks very bleak. He went from artificial coma,to vegetative state, to minimally conscious... and today... here's where we are.
Another update for anyone who's interested;
So my father in law is physically going from strength to strength. He has had his trache out. He can now sip water and eat yoghurt. His physios and o/t are helping him walk daily and try things like brushing his teeth. (He picked up the toothbrush and began brushing but with the wrong end) he apparently told a nurse the names of our children when they looked in his photo album. Yet on other days/moments he babbles and seems very confused.
Does anyone know if hallucinating is part of recovery? He seems to occasionally reach for things that aren't there and saw a stain on my sister laws shirt that wasn't there. He has been sleeping awfully most night 1-2 hours but last night slept all night. There was some concern about him sleeping TOO much yesterday.my gut feeling is the poor guys isnjust trying to heal and he's having a lot asked of him physically. He asks for his wife by name and says "I love you"which is music to her ears. The anger and frustrations seem to have MOSTLY subsided since the trach has been out and he's been able to speak in small sentences.
The nurses also said he's been reading the credit of family guy and the rugby scores which is another positive. He still "zones out" a lot. The neurologist says that he's been over stimulated but I guess with all the physio etc and family visiting it's bound to.
There's mention of him leaving and going to a neuro rehab maybe next week as he's still on the cardio ward for now and they've been wonderful but aren't really equipped or qualified to help him as much as he could be.
So that's it guys. We're a million miles from where we ever thought he'd be 2 weeks ago. It's a long journey but on day 27 we're all hopeful