Last Saturday my partner suffered a cardiac arrest whilst out on a run. I was running separately and came across him getting CPR, luckily from an off duty cardiac surgeon, with the ambulance on the phone. He is 29 and very fit, we moved into a new flat a week ago and we were lugging stuff in no problem. He has no preexisting conditions and they haven’t been able to ascertain why the arrest happened.
He was in a 48hour cooling period before they warmed him and tried a sedation hold. He didn’t wake up properly (no purposeful movement) so they did an EEG & MRI, which showed his brain stem is in tact but he sustained a lot of hypoxic brain damage. They’re hesitant to state how he will wake up as they say it completely depends on the person. They’ve done a tracheostomy on him as he was biting down on his tube whilst on sedation hold, so they’ve been able to have him on and off sedation for the last day or so. He’s had some abnormal arm/leg movement and has gone from opening eyes when they do suction (chest infection) to trying to spontaneously open eyes.
I don’t know what I’m asking, but I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice or experience with wake up times and recovery. It’s Christmas Day today and I am in pieces-I’ve been with him since I was 21 and we are engaged with a plan to be married next year. I am just hoping and praying he wakes up.
Sending all Santa's helpers to you on Xmas Day. Thoughts are with you. Trust that he has the best care looking after him where he is now. Look after yourself. Organise to chat to family and friends on a regular basis to act as a support during this uncertain time. There are many posts about different time frames within this early stage. He has his age working for him and he has your love. He is in the best place being looked after by some clever people. The fact he is opening eyes already is a good sign.
Doctors tend to give worst case scenario predictions and never offer optimistic outcomes. But if you care to use the search tool for terms such as hypoxic brain damage, you will find instances where people surprised doctors and progressed better than expected. Hold on to that for now. Do keep us posted with updates and I will repeat, look after yourself.
Do reach out to the Samaritans if your support networks are not as robust as you would like. Sometimes it helps so much just to talk stuff through with a complete stranger so that you can get a nights sleep. He will need you to be strong. xx Best wishes.
Thank you so much, your words have really helped me during this very dark time. Luckily I am with family, and friends are being extremely supportive, though I am struggling with some dark thoughts that can be hard to ignore. I will of course keep you updated and am so hopeful for his recovery. He was born extremely premature and beat the odds on many occasions-he is an incredible man and I have strong belief in him. Merry Christmas to you xxx