Hope after cardiac arrest BI

[Heartbrokenmum]

My 17yo son had a sudden cardiac arrest on the 19th September and has suffered 2 strokes from lack of oxygen. He still hasn't woken up. Doctors have told us he has diffuse cerebral dysfunction and he may not ever wake up. I am absolutely heartbroken but am desperately trying to find hope. Can anyone help me?

[BrightRainbow40]

Morning,

I’m so sorry to read what you’re going through. It really is a tough time. My husband took around a month to emerge from coma. His EEG showed ‘mild diffuse cerebral dysfunction with sedatives potentially contributing’. That was back in the summer last year. He is still receiving rehab, but is walking and talking. He has executive dysfunction amongst other issues. We were incredibly lucky as his brain stem appeared unaffected.

It’s not over until they tell you it’s over. Hold tight. He has age on his side. Doctors have to prepare you for the worst. All we can do is to hope for the best. All I can say is that it is a very bumpy, horrible rollercoaster. Wishing you a positive outcome x

[gr33nmind]

i don't if it is too late, but inquire if they can put him into a controlled hyperthermic state. They use temperatures of 32-36 degrees Celcius, for 24 to 48 hours. This will lesson the amount of energy his brain is trying to use while he is healing. They use it today on cases of stroke and hypoxia. While they didn't treat my injury with controlled hypothermia when I had my hypoxic brain injury, hypothermia caused my cardiac arrest and severe hypoxia for 30 minutes. Know one knows why exactly I survived, w/o a more severe injury, but I am sure that the cold had something to do with it. I wasn't in the sweat spot though of 32-36 degrees, I was 30 degrees, so I froze to death, and had damage. A man actually froze to death in the swiss Alps under an icy waterfall, and was w/o a heartbeat for close to 9 hours. He was much colder, and was actually 0 degrees. Astonishingly he suffered no brain damage.

[Skulls]

Don't a give up hope. I survived three cardiac arrests and connected hypoxia at age 60 and my recovery was little short of miraculous after 17 days in an induced coma. The doctors could not say whether my intellect would survive. It did and I woke up with an extra language - Spanish. (I had never studied it or visited Spain/Mexico.). Six years on, after a triple bypass, paralysis endures - my core is paralysed - and no rehab was provided. But I overcame aphasia and have infrequent language difficulties. Do talk to your lad. He may be able to hear you. Give it time. Best wishes to you all.

[RogerCMerriman]

so sorry to hear! My wife who cared for me is in intensive care at moment and it’s a brutal rollercoaster of emotions.

Remember lot of these things are probabilities than certainties practically the brain which is really unpredictable with outcomes and so on, as ever for brain stuff it’s early days and youth as ever helps the odds.