Im writing because my dad has been in the ICU because of COVID-19 for 2 months and 2 weeks . He has a tracheostomy and is in the process of weaning off the ventilator and with dialysis every 2 days. After a lot of ups and downs he has been getting better this past weeks but im very worried about something. My dad has bad days and “good” days, and although he cannot talk, he seems conscious, he tries to move his lips to talk and he answers with yes and no with his head. He had a scan and the brain seems Ok. The problem is that apparently he doesn’t remember my mom. When he is asked about other family members like his sisters or daughters from his first marriage he seems to remember but not his second wife ( my mom to whom hes been married for more than 20 years) who visits him everyday in the ICU. Do you know if this is common? And most importantly, if he could recover from memory loss like this one?
Thank you so much!
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Amtmc95
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When I woke from coma - I wasn’t even sure that I was human - the sedatives were that hallucinogenic- later I couldnt remember which wife I was married to, I had no idea how long I’d been in hospital. I didn’t trust the medical staff, nor did I wish to appear stupid or ignorant of why I was how I was. I was trying to extrapolate info from nurses by cunning - not realising I couldn’t talk.
The nurses kept saying “Your wife will be in soon”, which was no help since I’d been married twice but I didn’t know which one was current - if only they had used her name!!!
Next I could gauge how long I’d been there by how old my wife looked - imagine my surprise that whilst my wife looked tired, she hadn’t aged at all.
Memory comes back better over time - have a look at pdfs on delirium, cognitive dysfunction etc - everyone’s metabolism works at different rates, kidney function plays a part, the sedatives are so heavy duty they can take weeks to leave system
“A patient who has delirium may still recognise friends and family but they will not believe it when they are told that they are imagining these frightening situations. They feel in danger which they can’t escape from, so they may try to get out of their hospital bed or demand to be taken home.
Patients with delirium can find it very difficult to understand or remember information – so even if they appear to understand what is happening, or may be joining in a conversation, they may not remember what has just been said to them. Delirium can also change quickly, one minute you will be having a normal conversation and next they will say something that makes no sense to those listening.
Patients with delirium often cannot talk about it......”
Sepsur I just wanted to say how helpful I find your posts. You take so much time to provide detailed answers and your responses give me hope for my mum who has not fully come round properly from her ventilator/coma 2.5 weeks ago.
Sometimes she’s conscious and talking and explains her memories are muddled but sometimes she’s in her own world and won’t talk/doesn’t understand.
I hope this is just her slow and windy path to recovery.
It really is a slow and windy path, that was my husbands journey, you don't think it will end do you? It's glorious when you see a lot more of themselves breaking through xx
I think a lot of the issue is that medical staff have had to resort to using deeper sedation often because of the need to prone patients. Apparently one needs to sedate more heavily so that a loved one synchronises with ventilators better. This means a patient takes longer to come around, especially if one’s kidneys aren’t working well ( a common issue with critical illness). It is important to stress that although there appear to be novel elements to Covid 19’s affect on a person, many issues are really usual for extremely prolonged ill critical care patients - hence my experience mirroring many of yours ( and your loved ones).
Because of the massive high demand for sedative drugs caused by the pandemic - medical teams have had to resort to older generation sedatives - these have ‘nastier’ side effects. Patients are slower to wake, much greater levels of delirium, myopathy, neuropathy & cognitive dysfunction. Not all of these legacies have disappeared for me but most have lessened considerably from where I was at 4yrs ago ( for me - I was now only 2 wks into being awake after coma - just learning to stand and walk).
And I was exhausted my the smallest exertion!!!
I have to put a big leader comment here - I am not a medical professional in anyway - so please take what I say within this limitation.
It would appear that Covid is not only a respiratory illness but infects the blood system too - hence all the cardiovascular issues, clotting, strokes & heart attacks - I understand this is fairly unique for a virus.
It could explain why ventilation isn’t enough, if patients have lung blood vessels full of clots then the full benefits of mechanical ventilation might be thwarted. If it’s also a vascular infection - this may also explain the diverse head to toe symptoms that have emerged.
I happen to be on a clinical trial at present for a blood cancer - one of its features is that it is an anticoagulant & surprisingly some people on this drug have been infected with Covid and fared pretty well. I learned first hand having cut my head open this weekend - it took 40hrs for the bleeding to stop!!
I left hospital last night have had a series of new tests for me - just when I thought I’d experienced every joy of examination 😀.
The staff are all PPE’d to the hilt, but they are as kind and compassionate as always - and incredibly aware of how much this separation & quarantine is hurting families. Your loved ones are in good caring hands.
My mum also has memory problems and although we aren’t allowed visitors at our hospital we are speaking on FaceTime (but my mum is now blind either due to stroke or brain swelling) so she only has our voices but she has said a few times her memories are all mixed up and she doesn’t know what’s real and what isn’t. We get small moment of clarity in it all though. It’s a slow process from what I have read. My mum is 2.5 weeks awake from her coma.
I wrote a very similar post less than 2 weeks ago. A month after coming off the ventilator, my Dad was often still confused. He even wanted to call my mom because he forgot she passed away 8 years ago. I was very worried his confusion and memory issues were going to be permanent. The responses I got on this site were to give him more time.
Almost 2 weeks later and his confusion and memory issues seem to be slowly improving. He is still confused or forgetful at times (for example, we have to keep retelling him how he got to the hospital.) The rehab facility nurses have also noticed that he seems less confused, although they say he’s not quite there yet. It is a very slow process. Best wishes to you and your Dad.
Hi. Sorry to hear about your Dad's illness and the distressing effect it is having on your whole family.
I was in hospital ICU with ventilator with covid and came out on 18th April.
To answer your question memory loss is common and I am experiencing it now. It is the result of being on the ventilator and the disease too.
Please see attached a link to an article on it by a UK charity. Scroll down pdf and you will see described exactly what you are experiencing. best wishes to you, your father and your family, Pete
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