My mother is 51 and suffered a stroke about a month ago which caused massive bleeding in her brain, the doctors said she would not respond again, but thankfully she did, she has been responding quite good, they were able to drain out all the bleeding, she is now breathing on her own without the help of the breathing machine and she is now out of ICU. She was doing ok the last week but all of a sudden she has started having these episodes in which she gets really agitated, her breathing and heart rate go up, her blood pressure skyrockets, and she sweats so much, they have been giving her medications to lower her blood pressure and heart rate, but they seem to only work for a little bit. These episodes last 2 to 3 hours. They say that this is due to the brain damage caused by the stroke, the doctor said that everything is irregular because her hypothalamus was damaged severely, which is the part of the brain that controls a lot of our functions like our breathing and temperature. However he told us that with time these episodes should become less frequent and her brain should start normalizing these functions, but now one of her nurses is saying that her condition is permanent and will not get any better due to the damage in her brain, but I refuse to believe that, has anyone had friends or family who had the same condition as my mom after a massive stroke? Did they get any better, were these episodes less frequent?
Talk to the doctors, not to the nurses. Nurses want to prepare you for the worst, and while that is perhaps kind, it is not appropriate in every situation.
From what you say, your Mother has had a very serious injury, and may not see much improvement, but stroke is still a mysterious business, and some people recover far more abilities that predicted.
It makes sense that as the inflammation and swelling from the recent injury subside the episodes you describe could become less troubling.
Have one person get all the questions from your family and write them down. One of you talk to the doctors until you feel all the answers have been covered. Take good notes. Ask what you can do to help her.
I had a friend who suffered massive head injuries and regained a great deal of his abilities. Not exactly the same, of course.
Spend as much time with her as you can, she may know you are there, even if she can not respond. Ask if you can talk to her about family, read the newspaper or books to her and so on. This may be calming to her.
Be sure to wash your hands before you see her, and don't visit if you are ill. Infection in the hospital is a big risk.
Good luck to you.
2 comments ↓
Talk to the doctors, not to the nurses. Nurses want to prepare you for the worst, and while that is perhaps kind, it is not appropriate in every situation.
From what you say, your Mother has had a very serious injury, and may not see much improvement, but stroke is still a mysterious business, and some people recover far more abilities that predicted.
It makes sense that as the inflammation and swelling from the recent injury subside the episodes you describe could become less troubling.
Have one person get all the questions from your family and write them down. One of you talk to the doctors until you feel all the answers have been covered. Take good notes. Ask what you can do to help her.
I had a friend who suffered massive head injuries and regained a great deal of his abilities. Not exactly the same, of course.
Spend as much time with her as you can, she may know you are there, even if she can not respond. Ask if you can talk to her about family, read the newspaper or books to her and so on. This may be calming to her.
Be sure to wash your hands before you see her, and don't visit if you are ill. Infection in the hospital is a big risk.
Good luck to you.
References :
Personal experiences.
I don't know how long your Mom has been having high blood pressure prior to the stroke. From the symptoms have you've described-episodes of agitation, her respiratory rate, HR, and BP increase, she could be having pheochromocytoma (a tumor in the adrenal glands) and the tumor is responsible for the resistant elevated blood pressure. There could be other causes besides it. Most patients should recover after a stroke with mild residual motor and sensory deficits, but should not have those episodes that you described, unless the bleeding from the stroke affects the hypothalamus, which is very rare. I would highly recommend you discussing this issue with your Mom's physician.
Good luck!
References :
Physician