bessie

Hello, Having first thought the ventriculitis infection had cleared we are now told that she is still on vancomycin antibiotics as the last lot of tests showed a slight trace of infection. She was previously on gentamicin. She is on piriton for her allergic reaction but is still not allowed to eat or drink anything. Its still a worrying time and its not knowing the outcome day after day. She wants to come home and its breaking my heart seeing her laying there and I can do nothing (medical anyway) to help her.

The fever, high temp and rash are due to an allergic reaction to the antibiotics they were giving her for the ventriculitis infection. Thank goodness the ventriculitis is showing as clear and they have stopped giving her the antibiotics. She was a little brighter yesterday and is asking for food and water. I understood what she was saying alot more. I pray that she is (at long last) on the road to a complication free recovery. Fingers crossed.

Thats what the nurse looking after her that day said, but she wasn't sure.

Thank you for the reasurring posts. Mums been in HDU for about 4 days now and we have been told has had a fever and high temperature for about 7 days. She has now developed a rash across her stomach which has spread. The doctors don't know what this is? She doesn't actually have a lumber drain (my mistake) but has had 2 lumber punctures to drain off fluid and they have been tested and are normal. She is having a third lumber puncture today. Her ventriculitis infection is now clear, chest xrays are normal, bloods are normal and she had an eeg or ecg yesterday but we are waiting to hear back about that. She can hardly speak and we cannot understand what she says. Her tongue looks blistered but at least the cuts and scabs around her mouth have cleared up (thanks to liquid paraffin). Its as if she cannot move her jaw very much? She is still being fed and given fluids through a tube as she cannot eat or swallow properly. It helps to write it down, thank goodness I found this site

Thanks paul have replied to you. I have just phoned the HDU this morning to see how my Mum was throughout the night and if she is still on the oxygen. The nurse who answered said she is having a nebulizer at the moment. When I asked what this was she replied, to prevent panic attacks? Anyone ever heard of this?

Hello, I do apologise I seem to have posted in the wrong thread. The title of the threads are similar and my head is all over the place at the moment. Sorry.

Thank you for the info about shunts. Shes had her temporary drain removed and the doctor hasn't mentioned anything else about a permenant shunt so will see what happens. The worrying thing now, is that although her ventriculitis infection has cleared up, she now has a fever and high temperature and the doctor doesn't know why? He said all her tests are coming back as clear and they even tested for an embolism but thats not it. Has anyone ever heard of a patient getting fever and high temperature 27 days after an SAH? Edited to add: her breathing is also very shallow and she is on low level oxygen through a mask.

..................................................

Its been such a long week - my Mum is doing better and they are stopping the antibiotics for the ventriculitis infection on Saturday. My Mum woke up 3 days ago but is finding it hard to speak and is still very sleepy. She is back in HDU now. The neurosurgeon who did her coiling is back from holidays and he did mention the possibility of a permanent shunt? He did say that we will cross that bridge when (and if) we come to it, but just in case - what is a permanent shunt and what does it involve?

My Mums getting worse because of the ventriculitis infection. She is now completely unconscious and is being fed through a tube. She will have to have a tube in her throat to help her breathe soon we have been told. My Dad has booked an appointment with another consultant (as the one who did Mums coil surgery is on holiday) for tomorrow to find out exactly what is happening. Its so frustrating because she was doing so well until she caught this infection and now she is going downhill fast. Her lips are cracked and bleeding, she had faeces under her fingernails (which I cleaned this morning), so it makes me think she got this infection because of lack of cleanliness in ICU?? Maybe I'm being too harsh because I am so angry, sad, scared, frustrated and I want my Mum back. How would she have caught ventriculitis and can a person recover from it?

My Mum has ventriculitis and has had a new drain put in at a different site. Shes like a vegetable now and I don't know what to do?

Thank you for all your messages. I have just returned from the hospital and my Mum is not looking too good at the moment. She has an infection where the drain in her head is and its clipped off at the moment. She will have to have it removed and replaced with a new one. The nurse gave the usual medication and she couldn't even wake up to take them. She ended up chewing them and had a sip of water through a straw. She had some of the tabs in her teeth. Whats so worrying is that on Friday she had a scan and the consultant said she was doing really well and they would keep checking to see when the drain could be removed? Now the very next day she doesn't know who I am, cannot wake up and if she does wake up she just stares into space and then doses off again. The weekend doctor said she is like this because of the infection and she will improve but I'm so worried now. She is on IV antibiotics. I can't help but think the worse and my poor Dad (who is up the hospital now) I feel so sorry for him. Its such a scary time. Just found out that the consultant who did the operation on my Mum 11 days ago has now gone on his holidays so we are now having to have another consultant!

Thank you for all your replies. It does help to have a place like this to visit. I was feeling fairly positive until the mixup and now I have pangs of foreboding, even though she is back where she should be. I keep pushing them out of my mind. Is this normal? My Dad is going in to see her today and I'm stuck in work but I phoned the hospital and they said shes awake and having her breakfast.

Hello I'm new here My mum had a subarachnoid haemorrhage 7 days ago caused by a burst aneurysm. 2 days ago they moved her out of critical care and she was supposed to go to the high dependency unit, but instead she was put in a room, her drips taken out, removed off the heart moniter and left overnight. One nurse even made her stand up to sit on the comode, even with the drain in her head. On Monday, when the surgeon found out, he had her rushed to high dependency (this is where she is now thankfully) and put back on the heart moniter and her drip put back in. She is supposed to be having bed rest. The clinical nurse said this mistake wouldn't have affected her condition but when I visited her yesterday her memory seemed worse. She had the aneurysm coiled on Tuesday of last week. I am sick with worry and have a constant lump in my throat. I'm so scared for her. She is in Kings College hospital which I have been told is one of the best places she can be, but with this mistake happening I don't trust them now. Could her sitting upright have affected her recovery? :frown: