Posted by MuradM on 04/05/2020

Hi,

My mom had a CA two weeks ago at home. CPR was performed immediately by family members for 5 minutes until EMT arrived and resuscitated her to a pulse. She arrived at the hospital kicking and pulling tubes and had to be sedated. She was moved from the ICU to the normal unit 2 days ago and is currently awaiting the pacemaker installation.

What worries me is that for the past two days she doesn't remember anybody including herself. She cant sleep nearly at all and is constantly mumbling things from the past. Please let me know if anybody had any similar case and what should be done.

Unfortunately due to the COVID situation we cant always be at the hospital and the hospital has been very poor in communicating with us.

Thanks,
MuradM

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Submitted by iloveaSCAsurvivor on 04/25/2020

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Your story actually sounds very similar to my spouse’s. SCA and CPR at home until EMS arrived/defibrillated. He was restless but unresponsive after resuscitation initially and was treated with therapeutic hypothermia, which they were unable to continue because he would not settle. When he woke up, he had no memory of the week leading up to the arrest and no short-term memory. He asked the same questions over and over for days. He later got the ICD placed and went home without any guidance how to recover from brain injury. I made an appointment with a neurologist that saw him about 2 weeks later and he had recovered a large part of his short-term memory. The doctor recommended just giving more time for the brain to heal in his case. Between written reminders around the house, journaling daily, brain games, etc, he made a full recovery in a few months time. Of course, cardiology/primary care follow-up is essential, but recovery requires much more than resources survivors are typically given. If your mom can’t get a neurology consult in the hospital, I would arrange for one when she is discharged and do as many things to help recover her memory. Counseling for everyone involved and of course patience.
I hope she makes a full recovery and you all find the best way to heal together.

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