Hi me again, my partner is recovering from a massive haemorrhage from a ruptured avm. He had a 12 brain op to remove the avm on the 13th June. Medically he is doing amazingly and hopefully will be moved from high dependency this week. His physio is also doing really well.
The main concern is how confused he gets and he is so convinced what he is saying is true. He would argue black was white at the moment, I’m finding it so hard. I just don’t know whether to correct him or to go along with it. This morning at 5 am he called to say he had been kidnapped and was in a cafe in the city centre!
Does anyone know from a patient or carer point of view how best to deal with this? Also is this normal after a brain injury and is there a chance it will pass?
Thank you again
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PinkBubba
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Hi. This must be very difficult for you. I think the Headway helpline could help you a lot, both with information and support. Their number is 0808 800 2244.
I rang them earlier today and they are always wonderful.
Hi again Bubba. After a ruptured aneurism my family feared I'd have a permanent mental disorder owing to my bizarre notions and behaviour ; all wildly out of character and frightening to my son & daughter.
I was agitated and disruptive and was obsessed with the 'Filthy ceilings' (in the state-of-the-art, pristine HDU ward) which I intended to scrub once I'd pulled out all my tubes and found ladders to tackle the job ! .......and SO much more.
My family were assured that unpredictable, often chaotic, behaviour isn't unusual after any type of brain injury whilst the brain searches for alternative areas to compensate for those damaged.
I remember hardly anything of those 2 months but apparently they arrived one day to find me lucid and fully compass mentis ..... and the rest is history..........
Hang in there m'love ; whilst the passage of time is exasperating, remember that time is an essential aspect of the painstaking process of healing and recalibration of a poorly brain.
Just an afterthought on behaviour...... my next door neighbour had a heart attack (plus hypoxic brain injury) 3 years ago, and whilst in hospital he thought he was being kept against his will in his local pub !
He repeatedly tried to walk out saying that his wife would be wondering where he'd got to (even though she visited constantly) and a security guard had to sit beside the door permanently to keep him from absconding and attacking staff.
A more gentle and amiable fellow I've yet to meet and although he had some fatigue and word recall issues, it was so good to see him striding off into town a few months later (and it's been good having someone to compare notes with over the garden wall ! )
Stay strong Bubba .....it's still very early days so keep the updates coming... 💐 x
It is early days... believe me! My husband suffered a different brain injury - hypoxic - after a series of cardiac arrests - but in the first few weeks he was aggressive (not his normal behaviour at all) and he talked nothing but rubbish. Gradually things got better and after rehab he has now been home for 4 years. We have a good life, even though his executive functions are well below par and will remain so... but his personality has not changed.
I would like you to think of his brain like a filing cabinet that has been turned upside down and he is now trying to sort everything out. It will take time and you will need to be patient, and every brain is different, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! Just make sure you look after yourself because you need resilience for some time to come. Take care!
I can't add much, to what has been said above, except to re-iterate the 'time' aspect. Yes time patience, love, time, careing, time, devotion..... and did I mention TIME?
Some years ago now, 'my' Headway, became involved in a Poetry 'initiative'. A number of us. either wrote, or quoted, Poetry from a number of different sources. One lady, who I don't think I have ever met, wrote about My Overcoat. The 'Overcoat' in question was her Husband, who suffered a Brain Injury- I believe from a RTA (Road Traffic Accident).
She described, in some detail, how her Overcoat had been damaged- in 'all sorts' of ways. The lady, went on, to tell how- with much Dedication, Patience and Time- she found that 'In The Pockets, Of My Raincoat'.... was ALL the love, memories, affection of their 'Lifetime' together.
This was a beautiful, and entirely true, story of love, patience and re-discovery... and it almost 'raised a tear', when I first read it.
I just thought, that I'd, share this story, of love- and time (yes 'that' again)- along with Caring, love and dedication- finding a way.
By all means, please do speak to the Headway 'help line' PinkBubba and also the Hospital, there might well be some other 'Support' available from there. Beyond this I can't 'say' much except that... We are ALL here, for you- and your Husband. Most, if not all of us, have experiences Brain Injury in one form, or another- So we have a great 'Collective' knowledge.
A number of the folks in my local (Headway) group have various stories of just complete confusion, and telling family/staff various fantastic things.
I apparently did this to a small degree in that would just believe, my accident was December by April’s fools day, I spent a day attempting to convince my wife that to change the time at Avebury they where moving the stones!
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