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Question: Accident
| wesley_rachelle
- Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:34 am |
Female 23 years old
my sister sustained in a car accident the injuries:
Subdural hematoma
SubArachnoid Hemmorhage
Occipital Fracture
Secondary Trauma To the frontal lobe
Hemmorhage
she has had 2 surgeries to remove dead tissue in the front and back
A surgery to stop the bleeding
A tracheotomy and feeding tube
Her Glasgow Coma Score is 7 under sedation, but she couldn't talk because of the macine in her mouth.
Her pressure in brain (ppi?) is 13 it was like 60 (I think thats what they said)
she now responds to siple tasks like squeeze my hand or give us a thumbs up.
She is very active in her movements.
Her accident happened only a week and 2 days ago
they say she is progressing tremendously.
But once it is good it goes bad
My question is what would u think her chances of survial are or chances of a normal life and also how long with injuries like this do we have to wait to be out of the clear for death and do you have any good usefull info on any of these injuries that we the family might be interested in???
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| a_medico
- Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:26 am |
| Quote: | she now responds to siple tasks like squeeze my hand or give us a thumbs up.
She is very active in her movements.
Her accident happened only a week and 2 days ago
they say she is progressing tremendously.
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Thats very encouraging. Hope she progresses well.
My question is what would u think her chances of survial are or chances of a normal life
Its virtually impossible to comment on anything without actually examining the patient. That too daily examination, as you must have already noticed in such situations, health status of the patient vary everyday, if not every hour.
also how long with injuries like this do we have to wait to be out of the clear for death
Again...this is very vague. For a moment lets say 15-20 days. Your doctor is the most appropriate person to comment on this.
| Quote: | | and do you have any good usefull info on any of these injuries that we the family might be interested in??? |
Few things you should know :-
Any injury related to heart or brain is very critical. There could be some neurological deficit because of the injury/surgery/involvement of brain...or she could be totally normal. Only time will tell.
Long term ICU stay has its own set of complications. So lets hope she comes out of ICU as soon as possible. Ofcourse, her doctor is the best judge of this situation.
Distant possibility - Once she is at home and at any time happens to have convulsions, don't panic. Just make her lie on either side (to prevent secretions from going into the airway) and put a piece of folded cloth in between her teeth (to prevent tongue from getting bitten). Call hospital services for further help.
I know all this sounds scary, but you should be aware of the probable dangers. Thankfully this does not happen in each and every case. But in few cases these things do happen and in such situations, appropriate measures you take could be live-saving.
Positive thing is, she is responding to commands (moving thumb etc). Thats very encouraging.
Wish your sister comes out of it healthy and fine :)
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| wesley_rachelle
- Fri Jan 12, 2007 2:35 am |
today they took her out of ICU and moved her to the TRACU and took her liffe support off she is now breathing on her own
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| a_medico
- Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:09 am |
Head injury will take few months to heal. Its a slow and gradual process and requires a bit of patience by the patient and the relatives. Slowly but surely she will come out of it :)
Coming out of the life supports is one of the most important milestones reached.
Kindly keep us updated. We wish her all the best.
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| a_medico
- Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:43 am |
| Quote: | In a reply to your new thread :
first her feeding tube hole was too big for the size of tube they used and her stomach acid was coming out and eating skin on her stomach it is now all bloody and raw. |
Feeding tube itself is an injury. Every injury has its own side effects. But with feeding tube, advantages far outweigh the side effects. I am sure they are keeping a good eye on it even though you are not aware of it. Just make it a point to tell the doctor regarding the feeding tube. Leave rest to him.
| Quote: | | There was also a note in her file saying she was blind in both eyes , the hospital social worker read that and then when her mom said : no one ever told me this, when was that determined" the lady looked up and saw no notes on who wrote it and no eye doctor had looked at her yet so she just got a sharpie and crossed it off! |
I assume that lady is not a doctor. Also I'd like to know the extent and type of the blindness. There seems to be a lot of miscommunication amongst everybody - Doctors / Staff / Patients / Relatives / Social Workers / Their Moms. Well, these things do happen even in the best of the hospitals.
Had there been an acute emergency demanding a call to an eye doctor, he would have already examined her by now. As I can recollect, there was no direct injury to the eye. So the cause of poor vision seems to be the head injury and pressure symptoms itself. There was an occipital fracture, below which lies area of brain concerned with vision. Also there was a pressure built up around the brain because of Injury/bleeding/swelling - and these all seem to be the pressure symptoms. The accidental csf drainage tube removal might or might not contribute to it.
| Quote: | Latley we have been having some problems witht he hospital
The other day I was with her for 8 hours her nurse only came in twice.
her mom was there for 14 hours and no one came in to do any rehab with her just vitals and feeding and that stuff.
we waited to talk with the doctor until 6pm he never showed up, he later called and said the next day at 9am but he realy didn;t answer any questions. Is this kind of stuff normal problems to have?? are there things we should be doing to find out more info on her care and well being???
Besides that no one ever is in there when she wakes up and is alert to see her follow the commands she does with us. |
You sister is out of an acute emergency which was life threatening. I am sure they tried their best to save her. Infact she was out of the ICU in itself was a big achievement and the proof of their sincere efforts.
Now the difficult part starts. Recovery and rehabilitation. As a patient's relative, its natural for you to expect everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, things don't work that way even in the best of the institutes which does bring frustration. Add to this, miscommunication leads to misunderstanding and chaos.
In such cases, whats required is the trust. The recovery time is very long. So the patients day to day parameters hardly vary. The attending doctors are aware of it. So they tend to spend less time with the patient as against earlier. But that doesn't mean they ignore. They do keep a watch on things they are supposed to see. The patient/relatives might or might not realize it. If they don't, it leads to frustration.
All you need to do is pen down your queries on a paper so that you don't miss any point. Discuss every point with the concerned doctor in your next appointment. Try to be as polite as possible as misunderstanding might complicate things further. I am saying this cause in such circumstances, its natural for relatives to get frustrated and show a bit of distrust.
Last but not the least, its a combined effort of your sister, her relatives including you, doctors, staff and the people concerned. If you all interact well, your sister will benefit the most. All this will need a lots of patience on your behalf.
Wish you all the best.
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