anyone have any experience with strokes???

Perhaps ask for a rehab consult. Ask the nurses for info. Best wishes for your dad..

I have a question....not looking for medical advice at all.......it's about my dad....I think he had a stroke, but no one knows for sure. He had emergency surgery for his appendix, and didn't wake up from anesthesia for like 2-3 weeks.....I am not kidding. He has had to be trached & vented , and has a feeding tube now as well. He finally woke up but has never been the same. It's really wierd. He will follow you with his eyes, and mouth words (can't talk due to trach) so it's hard to understand him..and I'm sure it's frustrating for him as well. He moves his arms & hands ok, but I tried to get him to write on paper and he says no when I ask him if he can write..It's really bizarre...and his legs..he moves them a little but if you tell him to move them or his hands/arms it's like he doesn't get it & he doesn't do it. I even gave him a card yesterday & he looked at it but it was like he couldn't put it together to actually open the card,..it's really weird....He even patted the bed for me to sit on next to him & he grabbed & held my hand tight.....

and he grabbed my coffee and drank it when I was holding it......he is apparently NPO pending a swallow eval...however the stupid place he is at has a sign over his bed that says "encourage sips & small bites of food, hob up 30 degrees, bed low etc etc"......one of the docs or nurses says to me yesterday ....you are aware he is npo, right?...so I said well the sign there says encourage sips, etc and pointed to it......she was like that shouldn't be there blah blah blah....... well I saw the sign & let him have sips....not knowing until after when they came into the room for their daily rounds.......he never choked thank God!! He was coughing and I was a bit nervous but it was because he needed suctioning & I did it and it was clear, his lungs sounded awesome because I listened to be sure...clear as a bell!...thankfully....... I just couldn't believe they have a sign saying encourage sips but say he is npo, I would of asked if there was no sign up or anything saying he could or couldn't.......I just pointed that sign out & left it at that. Now I haven't seen my dad in many years until he got sick this past march,then my cousin called me to tell me because she said it wasn't looking good for him..and he did almost pass away in ICU about 4 times, them recovered. He was septic & the whole 9 yards.......He has lost alot of weight too but I think it's just from all the stuff he has been dealing with being sick...... I say by my gut feeling he had either a stroke or something went wrong with anesthesia....like lack of 02 from tube placement or too much anesthesia.....just my gut feeling...... He did have a clot in his leg that they took care of, and they said they did a ct scan which showed no brain damage but he is just not the same as before .........has anyone ever had an experience or seen something like this before with any patients? I told my aunt & cousin who are his healthcare proxy people that they should ask for an MRI &/or a Neuro consult & eeg or something....... Again I am not looking for any medical advice......just want to know if anyone has had any patients like this & what was found to be a possible cause .............we are just puzzled.....thanx!

Sounds like you aren't getting the full story here. It's my experience in the ICU that we don't just let people go for weeks on end on a vent post surgery without finding out why. (ie - no diagnostic testing). I'd look into it further - ask for a sit down with the docs and his healthcare proxys.

Hope he is feeling better soon.

Blee

Ok everyone..thanks! I am definetly going to tell my cousin to talk to my aunt(her mom) about getting a meeting together with all the people involved in his care. He was moved to rehab from the ICU he was in...and he was there for a long time....I think, like a month or two, no kidding. I am not involved in the decision making because I haven't seen him in very very long time...so I get updates from my cousin by email & phone calls about what's going on.....I also don't feel it's my place to open my mouth about what I think should be done with his care etc, even though I'm his daughter because we haven't really been involved in each others lives.....my aunt & cousin are the ones that have been there...not me....I will let you all know what happens because I even ,mentioned something isn't making sense here, and that was when he wasn't waking up after surgery..........anyway thanks again..will post updates....

hi i work on a stroke ward and we had a patient come to us because he went in for a knee replacement and he was pre warned when he went in that there was a chance a very small chance he could have a stroke due to the anestetic weather he had past medical problem which could of contributed to it i dont no, but when he came in to use the diagnosis was the stroke was due to the anestetic used which affects very few people apparently it was just not fair for him the poor man he was only 53 im not saying that could be the cause but could be something if he has a clot in his leg that may have contributed to it they can use clot busting drugs betta blockers but they dont always work the brain could have gone in to trauma so many things strokes are very hit and miss but he has all the signs of a stroke cognitive inpairment which goes with him not being able 2 write asphasia and dsphasia with the speaking writing and swallowing does have all the signs dealt with alot of stroke patients seen lots of horrible things because we get medical patients as well love my job but i dont love the outcome a stroke has on the individuals and families life afterwards i hope this helps it may not at all but u said if u have had any similar experiences and this is one of those hope it helps need any help with anything else then drop me a line bye for now. my thoughts r with u.