Brain Aneurysm Recovery

[butterflybee1218]

Hi everyone,

I made a post on here about a month ago regarding my father who suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm alongside small strokes and seizures on the left side of his brain shortly after. A month ago, he was pretty much out of it and would barely even open his eyes. He has made great improvements over the last month. He is fully off of the ventilator and is breathing completely on his own with the help of oxygen that they have on the lowest setting. Once he gets rid of his secretions they will begin weaning him off of his trach tube. He is more awake and alert and is getting better at responding to his environment. He keeps his eyes open for the most part, when you ask him to give you a kiss he puckers his lips, and has even mouthed “I love you” to where we could hear his voice just a tad!! He will squeeze my moms hand when she asks, and has been moving his limbs a lot more, he’s even scratched his belly a few times. Although these are amazing improvements, they seem inconsistent which is normal, right? Some days he is more tired than others which I know fatigue is an extremely common side effect of brain injuries. Others he is wide awake and is more responsive to his environment. Thankfully his doctors and nurses are recognizing his small accomplishments and they are all amazed how well he has been improving.

I just wanted to update you all and make sure that his inconsistencies are normal and he is in the right direction towards recovery, and see if anyone has been through anything similar with themselves or loved ones and how their quality of life was after. Thank you all in advance! xx

[cat3]

Your dad's progress seems pretty much the norm. I think it was around 6 weeks after a haemorrhage before I showed signs of cognizance, and from myself and others here on the forum I've learned that inconsistency in progress is very common. The process of reconfiguring and compensating for damaged areas will be punctuated by periods of respite.

Normally our brains shut down to enable sleep (apart from dreaming) and they re-engage for waking hours. Injured brains work around the clock intermittently, and rest accordingly, so it's very much a case of one step forwards and a few steps back.

I hope your dad's progress goes from strength to strength Butterfly..... Best wishes, Cat x

[123Bereft]

Your father sounds like he is doing really well. I am constantly told that neurological output fluctuates. All the best and take care x