Cardiac arrest

[Daddydave]

had a cardiac arrest on Christmas eve. I was resuscitated for over 2 hours. I was in hospital for 7 weeks and returned home in February. I am reaching out for anyone who has had something similar. I am struggling to walk without aid and feel off balance. I have pain in my groin amongst many other ailments. I was an athlete prior to this too so the struggle of a sedentary life is horrible.

[sturon]

Hi.

My husband suffered a SCA now nearly 6 years ago. His progress, at first, was very slow. We have come to terms with how our life changed and now live life to the full. Changing to a more slower way of life isn't easy but we take the view each day is special. You may find this site helpful.

suddencardiacarrestuk.org/

We have travelled extensively and have a big trip planned to South Africa in January. Try to remember you survived so that you can enjoy life.

Good luck.

[sca2013]

Next month it will be 10 years ago that I experienced cardiac arrest, grand mal seizure and anoxic brain injury. You mentioned pain in your groin. Is that possibly connected to having an angiogram or as they like to minimize it now a heart cath, where they inserted the camera through artery in the groin?

Yes, the sense of balance and walking challenges can definitely be affected by what you've been through. What kind of therapies have they had you do, if any, to address those issues?

Regarding the change of lifestyle due to the after effects of what you went through - I fought to return to how life once was for about 3-4 years after the event. That was very frustrating and I wasted so much energy being angry about not being able to do that. I finally was able to accept that it was no longer about returning to how things once were, but about creating my new life. And making it ok that there were simply things I could no longer do, other things that I figured out compensating strategies to do and then there were new things I learned to do. My main goal through it all has been to make each day better than the day before, no matter how small of a change it was. And yes, there have been plenty of days that just sucked. Then I knew I'd have another day to work with for something better.

I hope you're able to find what works for you.

[BAJM in reply to sca2013]

hi, would you mind sharing more info on your diagnosis of anoxic brain injury after your cardiac arrest & seizure. I assume you were placed in a coma, for how long, how long did it take to wake up , did you wake up fully straight away , I’m struggling with My partners diagnosis of hypoxic brain injury after a cardiac arrest . Dr’s have said he is inbetween diagnosis and does not have a good prognosis. His body is functioning independently but not on command from the brain . He opens his eyes bit not for long periods, and is not responsive /aware of his surroundings. He responds to pain, light, touch and sound . We are at werk 5. But end of week 1 of no sedation n pain drugs.

[Daddydave in reply to BAJM]

HiI was in a coma for about a week. They slowly bought me round but I have no recollection of this. In fact i don't remember anything before my cardiac arrest and until i really came home. I was in hospital forv7 and a half weeks. I was also on life support too when i was in icu.

They told my wife I had no brain activity at all, but here I am talking and trying to deal with daily life. My wife got all of our friends and family to send voice messages which she played. My favourite music and even our close friend played guitar to me. My wife was told that they would turn all the life support off but for some reason she persisted and kept explaining to me what had happened. Eventually I responded with blinking...

My wife said being off the sedation made a huge difference to me. Even I didn't respond to anything at one point. Stay strong , my wife said if you need a shoulder she is willing as being on the other side is incredibly hard and exhausting.

Keep in touch

[sca2013 in reply to BAJM]

Fortunately, they did not place me in a coma, as I regained much of my functioning straight away. In fact I was in a state of hyperarousal and was highly cognitively functioning for the first about 24-36 hours. Then over the next 6-8 weeks my abilities declined tremendously. Short term and some long term memory was very poor. My ability to figure things out, plan things was mostly non-existent. My ability to convert oral instructions into understandable, executable actions also was very poor. Neuro fatigue, hyper sensitive to lights, sounds and motion. There is much more. You are very early in the process. Think in terms of months and years. That has helped me to adjust my very unrealistic expectations.

However, here is the main thing to remember the doctors are giving you their best guess or opinion. That does not mean their opinion is going to be correct. With brain injuries everyone is different as to how one creates their new life post injury. Stay with you gut instincts. There are many many stories shared of people who were told to pull the plug on who turn out to lead productive lives, in spite of the doctor's opinions. Another thing to be aware of is the time to improvement can be very long compared to healing from a broken bone or from a surgery. I'm talking months to years. Patience is a virtue. I say this as I am one who tends to be very impatient.

If you haven't already you may find the information here of high value regarding brain injuries: headway.org.uk/about-brain-...

[TracyAdmin Partner]

Thank you for sharing your recent message on the Forum. I am sure the experience is weighing heavy on your mind as the anniversary of the SCA approaches. Your body has been through a huge ordeal and we all recover at different rates, it may sound like a long time ago, but the effects can last much longer than you initially thought. Have you been able to discuss your feelings with your doctor? have they referred you onto any further support services such as Occupational Therapy to offer support with balance and mobility? If you have any questions or just need a listening ear, our Patient Services Team are here to help.