ICU after cardiac arrest

[Ituhelp]

Hi - My mom had an out of hospital cardiac arrest following a heart attack last Friday (it’s now Saturday). CPR was started immediately and a stint was put into her artery within 2 hours. She is fit and healthy with no prior medical issues, apart from hypertension that is controlled through a prescription so it was a massive shock for us all

She has been in ICU for 8 days under sedation. When they try and reduce the sedation, her heart rate and blood pressure increases as she gets agitated and bites on the ventilator tube. She is receiving minimal support from the ventilator. Yesterday her eyes were open and she was much more responsive towards us - opened her eyes when we called her name and blinking. The nurse also said she was responding to pain.

They did an MRI and in the doctors words “there is no evidence to suggest brain damage” which is positive and the EEG came back normal.

Is this just a case of waiting for her to wake up in her own time? They have tried different sedatives to reduce the anxiety so it feels like trial and error. We know how lucky we are to still have her with us so each day is a massive bonus.

[sonyahmaree]

Hi Ituhelp. What is happening to your mum is totally normal. Your mum has been through a horror story. Imagine if you can, remembering the last thing you consciously did, then all of a sudden waking up groggy as, somewhere you don't know or recognise with people you don't know. No idea how or why you're there, can't talk and hurt all over. Tube in your throat and things in your arms and other places. Maybe have trouble moving because of muscle degeneration so your weak. The drugs make you so confused and you can't wake up properly, you can't seem to focus or even truly take in what people are telling you, so it must be a nightmare. For her even though it only been a week or so, the drugs can still give her hallucinations as well. It is called ICU delirium. She could of been having terrible dreams while she sleeps and whilst shes awake. She maybe relieving those things as well as being frightened of what has happened. With my daughter last year, she was in a coma for a month and was terrified once she began to wake. When she became too unstable, they would give her more sedative to calm her. They eased it from her. Dropped it about 50% originally and gradually over the 2 weeks down to small amounts to control her ICU delirium. She was in a coma for a month but we were told you can still have difficulty even after a few days. It sounds like your mum will be fine if they have found the reasons for her heart issues. They will give her meds to help control her BP etc. Each time she wakes she will take in more and more. Just be with her as much as possible and keep telling her where she is and that she is safe and loved. And that she is getting better everyday. She should come out of it soon and be much calmer. I hope she has a full recovery. Sending positive thoughts to her. Please keep us up to date on her. Good luck.

[Copse77]

This link helped me to understand when my brother was in an induced coma. It took a month for him to wake up and then I saw icu delirium though I didn’t know about it at the time. It’s hard and traumatic to witness. Thankfully my brother doesn’t remember most of that and has made a good recovery. I visited him every day in ICU and CCU for over 60;days and he was so strong and resilient.

intensivecarehotline.com/qu...

There is also a radio 4 podcast that you can listen to by a man who was in a coma, and a clinical psychologist and the man talk about ICU delerium. I will find the link and post it. Wishing your Mum a good recovery and thinking of you and your family.

[Copse77]

healthunlocked.com/icusteps...