Doesn't have the capacity

[Devaiur59]

Hi, my dad had a cardiac arrest 14 months ago now, and although he has definitely improved, he still is described by the docs as completely not having the full capacity due to sometimes throughout the day not being aware where he is.

Has anybody on here gone through this, and in years to come improved so much that they went on to having full capacity in later years, or have they stayed confused forever?

We never imagined he would improve as much as he has, but I'm just praying on our lucky stars that it is possible for his sake to be more independent again . Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[sca2013]

I also survived cardiac arrest. I about 4 years post event now. Did your Dad sustain any brain injury due to the cardiac arrest event? The reason I ask is I did and it has affected me in plenty of ways. One being the confusion sometimes. Have I improved over time? Yes, in some ways and then for other things its been more of figuring out compensating strategies to deal with what doesn't work the same anymore. Please let me know if brain injury has been considered as it can happen due to the lack of oxygen during the cardiac arrest event and I can give you more information about all of that.

[Devaiur59 in reply to sca2013]

Sorry I thought I'd replied to this, my stupid phone must not of sent it. Yes he has got a hypoxic brain injury

[Devaiur59 in reply to Devaiur59]

He had no oxygen for 19-20 mins

[sca2013 in reply to Devaiur59]

Ok, so I'm guessing you may have already visited the Headway website that has plenty of information about hypoxic brain injury, if not here is a link to it.: headway.org.uk/about-brain-...

At some point you'll probably want to get a neuropsych test done as this measures his brain function abilities currently. Then you'll have a better idea what particular things he may have trouble with long term. The one thing that is true about brian injuries is this "When you've seen one brain injury, you've see one brain injury" as they affect everyone differently. Except that most experience mental/emotional and physical fatigue quite quickly. Little to no filter on what comes out of their mouth. Quick emotional reactions. Slower thought processes.

He may or may not become independent in the future. The biggest thing I've found that helps me is pacing. Not trying to push myself and take plenty of breaks. Rest and rest often.

See if you can make it ok if for whatever reason he doesn't get better. It will help you to deal with it easier.

And finally you may find this private Facebook Group "The Personal Side of Traumatic Brain Injury" very helpful and you may want to post your questions there too as there are plenty of people in that group going through very similar things.

[Devaiur59 in reply to sca2013]

Thanks for all your advice, much appreciated 😊