Double Bypass Surgery & Then Stroke?

My 51 year old father went to the ER on 1/13/08 with chest pains. They determined he had a heart attack and sent him to a hospital that could handle his situation on 1/14/08. On 1/15/08 they went in to do a stint, only to realize things were worse than they thought and he needed bypass surgery.

On 1/17/08 they did a double bypass surgery and cleaned up his coratid artery. Sometime during his surgery or shortly after in recovery he suffered a major stroke, affecting 1/3 to 1/2 of the right side of his brain.

As of right now he is paralyzed on the left side and not expected to ever regain use of that side. He is also still being sedated, when he is unsedated his blood pressure gets very high, as well as his heart rate and his oxidation levels in his blood drop so they have to resedate him. He keeps running a fever and his dependency on the respirator changes from day to day.

They went in yesterday to clean out his lungs, which should help some.

They havent figured out the fever.

We just found out yesterday that he may be suffering from something called HIT, which basically means the blood thinner they originally gave him is causing him to clot.

They confirmed a clot this morning by ultrasound in his left leg and are treating with another blood thinner, the result of which could be bleeding.

They keep saying they want to unsedate him, that he needs to be unsedated, however his aggitation when they wake him up causes his levels to become too dangerous for him.

My question is, has anyone else ever been in a similar situation regarding at least his levels? If so, what happened, did the patient eventually stay calm enough that they were able to wake them?

Whats your story?

We are growing tired of the waiting yo-yo game and the doctors really cant give us any answers.

Thanks in advance.

It sounds like he is aware something is wrong, and it agitates him tremendously. He needs a calming family member with him as, and before, he wakes up.

I have a very bad gag reflex. When coming out of sedation after my bypass, my heart rate and BP was spiking, and I was trying to thrash because I had a tube down my throat, and I was tied down.

My sister told me forcefully to calm down, the tube would have to stay for 24 hours. Things got worse, and the nurse took her out of ICU, told her she was NOT helping me.

My wife then talked to me to help me relax, and essentially gave me biofeedback on what my BP and heart rate were doing. She talked me into a very calm state, helped me breathe more deeply and increase my oxygenation. 15 minutes later they took out the breathing tube as everything came down to normal.

I do not remember any of this, as I was not fully conscious.

But you or someone else in the family, or even someone at the hospital, may be able to talk to him before he is fully awake so he stays calm.

These problems that you state can and did occur after his bypass and can then become an ongoing problem during the recovery phase. Eventually, as they get the drugs stabilized and the clots stabilized so that they are no longer a threat for causing an additional stroke, they will let him wake up. Every person is different and they cannot give you a date as to when they will try this. Also, another frustration will be getting him off of the ventilator but that too may eventually happen but may be frustrating for everyone involved and there is often the risk of re-intubation in order to keep his saturations up. They will probably cover the fevers with antibiotics. Expect this to be a difficult process for all of you. The doctors want the best outcome for your family member- remember that. Ask questions, keep all of the family informed, celebrate each small step forward.