Dad has hypoxic brain injury after cardiac arrest

[Walton49]

My dad had heart surgery came out and then had a CA for 20mins. He has had a scan which is saying hypoxic brain damage. We are on day 3 and he is moving legs, responding to pain opening eyes but he is unconscious. He is not responding to pain. I am writing for positive stories as it all seems very bleak. 😞

[ipes2]

A close friend of mine lost oxygen to the brain for an extended period. He survived, but has considerable cognitive damage. A year down the line he is damaged, but every once in a while a bit of the old home re-emerges and makes me smile. Sometimes he even talks (1 hour a year.)

For me the key is to accept your loved one is damaged, but not gone. You cannot fix this injury, but you can keep your loved one socially alive by involving them in the world and being there for those brief moments every year.

[skydivesurvivor]

my dad had his heart attacks my garden, spent a week in intensive care. Arrived at hospital with only 3 heart beats a minute. After another 2 attacks go a pace maker fitted, initially delirious?! The last ten years thanks to the pacemaker, 90% of the old him, loved very much . Experience says theee will be hard times ahead, I choose to see it as time to show how much we loved him!! Good luck

[Walton49 in reply to skydivesurvivor]

thanks for reply, did he have hypoxic brain injury? My dad was out for 20mins and is unconscious still but opening eyes x

[skydivesurvivor in reply to Walton49]

unsure,

[Skulls]

Hi Walton,

Don’t despair! In October 2018, I suffered two cardiac arrests - one in the ambulance and one in the E.D. and was down (pulseless) for 15 minutes. My immediate condition was so critical that they placed me in an induced coma for 17 days. In a brief period of consciousness I found myself blind, paralysed and unable to speak. My first advice to you is to talk to your Dad even if he appears unresponsive. He could be able to hear you. They transferred me from the local district hospital to St Thomas’ in Westminster, London, where I remained for five weeks eventually receiving a triple bypass. When they woke me up, the nurses were so pretty I thought I had died and ascended to Heaven! I was also speaking several European tongues, including Spanish which I had never studied! My behaviour was, shall we say, odd. I was disinhibited due to the brain damage and proposed marriage to at least one nurse (though I was already married!). I was hallucinating, possibly due to the ketamine which was on tap and self-administered. Apparently it was preferred as a painkiller as it does not persist in ones system as long as morphine does. I had a rough time in intensive care - they documented it as delusions but I know what went on!

Despite having been abandoned by the NHS since discharge - no rehabilitation has been provided and zero nursing support to my Trouble - I have made a miraculous recovery. Though I have been affected by the brain injury - mainly causing a physical disability but also short term memory loss - my intellect survived and I am learning to speak Spanish! I suffered aphasia after being woken up - this is now much better though I have occasional problems recalling words and names.

So, I would say it is very early days and you should stay hopeful. Yes, your father may come back changed, as I did, but he may recover well.

Best wishes to you, him and your family.

Skulls

[Walton49]

Thanks so much for the reply the unknown is so hard 💔😭 this gives me some hope though. We just need him to start responding in some way 🙏

[Tired777]

Hi Walton49,

My partner had a cardiac arrest at home 2 years ago and suffered hypoxic brain injury after also being down for 20 minutes. He was sedated for 2 days but once they removed the sedation he was still unresponsive for another 3 days, eventually waking up on day 6. I remember very well how long and terrifying those 6 days were, and every day feels like a year. Once he woke up he couldn't speak, walk, swallow...it was very scary but over the next few weeks all of that gradually came back.

You will hear this A LOT but it is very early days. We were still being told that 18 months on. Hypoxic brain injury is so unpredictable and the outcome can vary hugely, it's mostly a case of 'wait and see' which is difficult to accept. In my partner's case he has been left with profound memory impairment, both long and short term, however we are learning to cope with it. Life is very different now but he is still very much here. He has made an amazing recovery physically and has been left with no ongoing health issues, in fact he's due to run a 10 mile race tomorrow snow permitting!

He is definitely changed from how he was before, however he's still 'him' in many ways, and although he remembers little about his life, day to day he's happy and healthy and we still go on holidays and enjoy life together.

I'm on a cardiac arrest survivors group on Facebook and there are lots of people on there with stories of long comas and grim predictions for recovery, who went on to defy the Drs and wake up and eventually get on with their lives.

Don't give up hope just yet x

[Walton49 in reply to Tired777]

Hi thanks so much for reply it’s absolutely devastating but these stories help so much. We are on day 4 after cardiac arrest and waiting is so hard, he is opening his eyes but still unconscious. Consultants are pretty bleak. He had EEG and we are waiting for results. Xxxx 🙏

[Snowflake178]

I had open heart surgery and I have a brain damage due been without oxygen for think my medical notes says over 10 minutes. My life is different but I am still able to do majority of what I use to. (I was youngest on the adult ward at the time when I had to have emergency heart surgery)

I think key is understanding as will admit my family been very supportive. Especially as it can be frustrating that I have weakness in my left arm and less feeling in my hands. Yes sometime i wonder why i survive on dark day.

No matter what he will still be your father and he will need support to deal with the changes in his life. Key thing is he not alone and I know there are courses run by headway that helped me realise that okay how i have brain injury maybe different but i have same issues. Also there are medical profesional that can help him out.

Hope this is of some help and hope your father get better soon.

[Weloveajigsaw]

hi there - so sorry to hear this. My husband suffered the same after CA last April. He was in an induced coma for 10 days, spent time in cardiac and neuro rehab. He had a moderate injury. It was a long recovery to home but he has been back with us since October. We have gone from where you are now to having gone out for a lovely Sunday lunch yesterday. Music helped in his early days and we built up slowly with speech and puzzles etc once he settled- it was a long road but I couldn’t have imagined then that we would be where we are now. Sending you all my love / the headway website is amazing for info once you know a bit more.

[Weloveajigsaw]

how are you all doing?