I'm new here and my grandmother is in CSICU.

[cammic]

My grandmother went in for heart surgery (replacing a valve) three weeks ago. There were complications and a lot of bleeding during the surgery. Once the surgery was completed they placed her in an induced coma and they had a balloon attached to help reduce stress on the heart. Once they lowered the balloon and were able to take it out they started to wake her up. She still had a breathing tube in and they decided to switch from the endotracheal tube to a tracheostomy tube. She had the trache tube in for about 2 days before they had to perform emergency CPR/compressions because there was a blockage. It turned out there was a blood clot blocking her trache tube. They had to quickly take the trache tube out and put the endotracheal tube back down her throat. For that procedure they had to sedate her again. She has been off of sedation for almost 2 days now.

When we speak to her she looks like she is completely out of it. She has no facial expression on her face. She just looks tired and has a blank stare. When I asked her yesterday if she could hear me she nodded. That was the only recognition we have received from her.

My question I guess is how long does it take to have the sedative completely out of your system? I'm aware that she can't talk with the breathing tubes in but I want her to at least try and communicate using her eyes or facial expressions. Is this normal?

[Lacemaker]

I suggest that you talk to the CSICU nurses as they would know how deep your grandmother was sedated and therefore how long it will take to fully recover. Keep talking to your grandmother as it will help.