mum isn't following commands, after an open heart surgery and minor strokes . Is there hope ? 🙏

[Melangel]

My mum is an outgoing person full of life however she was getting tired and out of breath going up and down stairs. The doctors did the full check up and found a leaky valve which needed operation before she gets too old. She is 76. The opeartion was a long and difficult one according to the doctors As they tried to fix it but unfortunately they couldnt and the leaky valve was replaced wıth a biological valve in an Open heart surgery On 17th Sept . They kept her on sedatives after operation due to high blood pressure. When she was stable they weaned her off but she didnt respond to commands and was agitated. They put her back on sedatives and replaced breathing tube with tracheostomy. Meanwhile they did Ct scan Which shows minor strokes. She has been off sedatives since Monday and today is day 6. She is still unresponsive. She opens her eyes but is not following commands. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Could the stroke be the problem of prolonged wakening?? I just want my mum back! Praying and Waiting for a miracle To happen 🙏🙏🙏

[FamilyHistorian]

Hi Melangel

I am 72 back in November/ December 19 I was admitted twice to our local hospital. I caught pneumonia and they discovered that my biological valve which was only 8 years old was rapidly failing. On my second admission I was eventually blue lighted to the Birmingham QE. After few days I was admitted to ICU and before Christmas after failing to replace the valve through key hole surgery they had to do a full frontal. I was sedated / ventilated for 6-8 weeks including a trachy and was very slow to come round. I lost a tremendous amount of weight, had to learn to swallow, talk and eat and walk. I also had hallucinations. I came out mid March this year and 6 months later I am still recovering.

If you have any specific questions I am happy to answer them here or through the chat.

[Melangel in reply to FamilyHistorian]

Thank you for your reply!! You have given me light and faith that miracles do happen🙏 I hope my mum is as strong as you are!! Wishing you a full recovery🙏🙏all the best 🙏

[Sepsur]

Hi @Melangel

I’m sorry that you and your family are experiencing this.

I took along time to come round after being intubated. My heart had failed a few times, I was on dialysis for 7wks & my lungs were described as resembling the consistency of liver they were so dense. Despite everything that happened, within a year, I was pretty much back to my normal self. People can recover fully from strokes too. Different people have different tolerances to the various drugs they use to put you in an induced coma. Sometimes they have to sedate some more deeply for a variety of reasons often around making the patient synchronise with ventilator.

[Melangel in reply to Sepsur]

Thank you for replying. Yesterday they tried to wean her off from the mild sedative however she was fidgity and still didnt respond to commands so they put her back on the drug. The waiting is so hard 🙁 i am happy that you made a full recovery . All the best 🙏🙏🙏

[Grant_za]

I can't really comment on much of what you describe but the stroke aspect.

I am a perfusionist, we operate the "heart / lung machine" during certain invasive procedures.

There is a syndrome known as "pumphead" which exhibits stroke like symptoms. It's typically caused by blood debris / oxygen getting to the brain via the heart / lung machine.

It is usually temporary by nature, but recovery from this syndrome varies from patient to patient.

It may be wise to examine the origin (which may be difficult) of the minor strokes before making big decisions.

See here

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pos...

[Melangel in reply to Grant_za]

Thank you for your reply. Mum had a ct scan Which showed minor strokes on both sides. They did A follow up A couple of days later but still the same. Doctors said the next step was eeg test . We are waiting for the results of that. 🙏 she was more alert on monday when they stopped the minor sedatives but had a setback on wednesday with Temperature and bloating in stomach İn which gas and fluid was drained. Her temperature has gone down and at the moment she is stable .

[Melangel]

Update! My mum was discharged from icu yesterday after a whole month. Mum is responding to commands by nodding and she said a few words to me on the phone although she isnt speaking to the nurses. I just spoke to the nurse in ward. He said mum has got 24 hour care. Shes sleeping and that she has been though a lot. İt will be a slow and long road! İ am so happy she is out of icu but dreading of the thought of what damage the stroke has done to her. Any sımılar stories? Just praying and hoping for her recovery 🙏🙏🙏