Advice about coming off sedation

[zoe1zoe1zoe1]

It is now 2 weeks since Richard suffered an SAH. He had it coiled and doctors performed a craniectomy to remove blood clot. He came off sedation on Saturday so nurse said there is no sedation in his body now. Been to see him tonight and got really upset. It looks like Rich lying there but it isn't Rich - almost like his mind is working but his body isn't. He is starting to talk in a very slurred fashion, his one eye is open but is staring vacantly and he is still not moving his left side. Just got really upset as I thought what if this is Richard for the rest of his life and there is no improvement. When do you think we would be able to start seeing improvement, eg. him recognising us as we walk in, etc. Thanx xx

[paul99]

zoe

it took lin over a week before the sedation wore off because the brain is slow to get rid of the residue from the tissue .

the brain now needs to wake up and to start functioning on its own it has taken a heck of a battering . by talking to him and holding hands is all you can do for him now does Richard look at you directly when you go and see him because i know it was over a month before lin focused on me and thats when i knew lin was back with me what you are going through now is all to vivid in my mind its the uncertainly that kept knocking me back please have a little more patience zoe he will come back to you in his own time remember please take one day at a time and there will be days where things seem to slip back but richard will do his best is he in ward 23 yet take care sweetheart thinking of you both

[zoe1zoe1zoe1]

Thanx Paul - it is very hard seeing the person you love lying there isn't it. He moved to Ward 23 on Monday. I guess I am worried about the kids too. They are desperate to see their daddy and at only 3 and 8 they will find this very hard. I told Xara that as soon as he can acknowledge her I will take her but that now seems so far away. I'm not going to see him tonight as the ward has retricted visiting due to a virus so his parents are going but I will go tomorrow night - hopefuly by not going every day I will see more improvment. It will be hard not seeing him today but I've got to keep some sort of routine for the kids.

[paul99]

yes zoe

that is one thing i found very hard but you will see him improve in time .i don't think xara really understands whats happened to dad and it sounds as if she Miss's dad quite a bit if Richard dosnt have any tubes and is sleeping most of the time it might and i mean might help if xara went in it might give Richard something to to come back to by hearing her voice try a recording of xara's voice and play it back to Richard when you visit do you have a cd player or a tape player i used one for lin and left her listening to it when i wasn't there its just the pits i know but things do get better do you know what class the bleed was by any chance there is so much i could offer but im not sure but it will get better zoe take care love to the family chin up one day at a time

ps if you dont have a cd player let me know and i will drop one off for you

[rod123]

Hi Zoe, hope you are well, I can remember back to about nowlast year,when merrill was exactly the same,the eye the slurred speech and when she did speak it was'nt anything that made sense,and when they did eventualy get merrill out of bed,one day i went in and the physio came and got merrill out of bed for about the third time and the 2 previous times she had walked okay but this time she could'nt remember how to walk and we were going left leg, right leg and she could'nt get it right, i went home that night devastated and felt just how you said you feel, each night i rang the hospital at 10pm and that night i rang a bit earlier because i was worried and when i asked how she was the nurse said oh fine she's gone for a walk around the ward, when i told the nurse she must be wrong as merrill could'nt walk she said well i can see he from here theres nothing wrong with her walking now, a year on merrill has good days and bad days sometimes she slurs when she speaks her walking is'nt great but she manages and on bad days she has a wheel chair, things just change hour by hour at first and it is alarming, but comparing it to merrills recovery this to me is pretty much how it goes but it does get easier for both of you, Best wishes Rod

[kempse]

Just to let you know that I am thinking of you and hope you manage to get through today without visiting Richard. I know it will be an upsetting time for you, not at all easy having young children to care for too. I hope you get some comfort from being on here and seeing how people can and have progressed, unfortunately the slowness of progress does not help when you are the one who has to wait and watch. I think Paul's suggestion of taking a tape of your children's voices in for Richard to listen to is a good idea. I wouldn't like to judge whether they should see their Dad at the moment, but just to say that when my 9 year old son saw his uncle unconscious last weekend, he has since had trouble erasing the image from his mind, so it may be better to wait a while. That does not necessarily mean it will be ages away though - I think you will know when the time is right.

I would just ask at the hospital whether they would actually allow your children on the ward, as I was told 12 was the minimum age when I was on the neuro ward. When my son came to see me I was put in a wheelchair and taken elsewhere to see him. He got upset at seeing me in the wheelchair - we had not even thought to warn him, so that was a shock to him ,yet the adults thought nothing of seeing me in one. Children do see things differently.

I do hope you manage to get some rest yourself Zoe, although I know that won't be easy. Take Care,

Sarah

[Super Mario]

Kempse, I was in the same ward as you and my grandson visited me because he was asking to, he was 6 at the time. His mum did ask though and they said yes. Apparently they covered all the equipment and tubes as far as possible so as not to frighten him.