My big brother - Update

[LindseyN]

John has been receiving physio for a while now and yesterday he managed to lift his head off the pillow very slightly but still no movement from any other parts of his body. Today they are sending him for an MRI scan to hopefully get some answers. His CT scan from last week where they put a dye through his blood came back showing nothing untoward. It’s so frustrating to not have any answers or reasons as to why he’s making very little progress. Doctors reckon it could just be that he’s been in ICU so long and has so much muscle waste that he’s just very very weak. I agree to some extent but he still doesn’t look like him. He’s very vacant and can’t seem to concentrate on anything. His mouth still twitches when he’s awake but the head twitching has stopped. He’ll still give us smiles and kisses when asked so I know my brother is in there somewhere. I’ll be back with an update on the MRI.

[Copse77]

Hi Lindsey

It’s great progress he is able to lift his head. A diary recording this progress will be something he might want to look back at later or you can see his progress to. Being lay flat in a bed in ICU will require him to rebuild muscle by physio, there are speech and language therapists who should be reviewing your brother for swallow reflex, speech, looking at pictures to identify things, along with Physio to help him to sit in a chair. These are all things to follow. From another sister. X

[Sepsur]

It took me eleven days to wake from a two month coma - even then I was all over the place mentally for weeks. I could barely lift my head at first, my forearms and legs - maybe an inch.

ICU acquired weakness is common. It is possible for someone to lose 40% muscle tone in the first 10 days of being ventilated.

It takes 10-14 days to recover physically from every day a patient is on ICU. It takes months for the drugs to leave the system too.

Your brother ‘may’ also be suffering ICU delirium. This is caused by a combination of being so ill, the toxins from the illness not being flushed out of the body quickly ( kidney failure etc) the side effects of the sedatives & medicines & sleep deprivation- remember your brother is not asleep - he is sedated ( a very different thing). There are two types of delirium, hypoactive & hyperactive. I remained unnervingly still because of what I was experiencing and it was all an illusion.

[Dianayvett12]

Can you please give me an update of how your brother is doing? I actually have a family member in the same situation. After they did the trach procedure under anesthesia he became very unresponsive and he is not moving his hands and feet (He was previously although he was in an induced coma for 2 weeks). He also has head twitches... Can you please let me know what happened with your brother? Has he been receiving physical therapy?