Delirium advice for long stay in hospital

[Bexsieh]

Hi all,

I'd posted about my mother in law last year, she potentiality has an anoxic brain injury after her heart stopped for 10mins and bleeding into her lungs in June last year.

She was in an induced coma for 6 weeks then a natural coma for another few weeks. She was then in a vegetative state for c.4 weeks. In October they tried to wean her off the trachey but she started being sick so she was in a very frustrating state from then until Jan where she was trying to speak but couldn't, most of her attempts weren't pronounced enough for us to lip read. In the past 2 weeks they have started to put the passy-muir valve on so she can speak which has been really good for her.

However in the past 4-5 days we think she is having delirium in the evenings. She will get really upset and say she won't be here tomorrow, they've told her she's going up tonight etc. she also talks about being in people's houses etc and has said she's seen the nurses kill a man! It's very hard to calm her down and very difficult for my partner to watch.

I've seen a lot of people posting about their delirium only getting better after leaving hospital. Is there anything we can do to help this while she is in hospital?

She still can't walk, control her arms, eat etc. so she will likely be in hospital for months, then probably rehab, so the thought of her going through this for months to come is awful!

Thanks,

Bex

[Sepsur]

do the staff think she is experiencing delirium?

Ways that appear to work with delirium is orientation - things like familiar voices around you, wearing hearing aids or glasses if needed, getting into a normal sleep routine and doing light exercise/mobility - tell staff that you feel she struggles in the evening - you know your Mum better than the staff and know what is normal for her.

[Bexsieh in reply to Sepsur]

Thanks for your quick reply and the advice. The nurses have said it's 'probably' delirium and it's normal and to just reassure her. It's frustrating as she's physically improved loads in the past 2 weeks but now this is happening!

My partner will bring it up with the nurses again.

[Sepsur in reply to Bexsieh]

royalpapworth.nhs.uk/our-ho...

[Estrella2020]

hello

I’m sorry that you’re all faced with this journey. I was also in a coma for 6 weeks and 5 months in ICU, and what helped me was weaning off the morphine… having some control and being grounded on reality. Everyday reminders of what day it is, wearing my glasses as Sepsur has recommended, listening to my favourite music, and eventually having some convwrsations about familiar things and people. I’m 4 years on and ocasiónalos still have a noughts and flashbacks to the nightmares and dreams, and although I know they weren’t real, at the time I remember struggling with what was real and what wasn’t so be patient and explain this to her if you can. Wishing you all the best x

[Bexsieh in reply to Estrella2020]

Thank you so much for this and glad you are doing much better now x

[Shellmonkey]

I'm still on a long path with my husband who had cardiac arrest in JulyAt the time he came out of acoma he saw lots of things and believed he was both doing and going or had saw things

He went to rehab but we had an horrendous time with his care in there and I brought him home

Since home he has been better with lots of improvements but 6 months on still memory problems and needs looking after although can do some things for himself.

He was a very fit 60yr old prior to his cardiac arrest and I believe his good health and strong mind has helped him lots.

Still don't know how much he will recover or what the future holds but he is here with us thankfully.

I will keep you in my prayers x