Stroke,then violence,then self harm

[wonderstuff123]

I can't believe in writing the following but here goes.
My 75 year old dad was taken into hospital on Mon 12th April with a stroke. He came home last Sat for a few days and then went back into hospital for a procedure to clear a artery that was 90% blocked with plaque. Whilst he was at home he was massively confused and very unpleasant to my mum. I told her this wasn't uncommon with stroke patients and that hopefully he'd have his procedure then begin recovery.

He had his procedure Weds,all went well, physically ok.Confusion set in yesterday when ringing to ask my mum for clothes. Then this morning,when he was meant to be discharged,we got a phonecall saying he'd been violent on the ward,hitting staff with his crutches,accusing my mum of having affairs with the doctors. The doctors also assessed him to lack capacity and apply a DOLS to him. The nurse called mum later and she and they both agree that dad can't come home the way he is as mum is too scared of his aggression and that the best thing was for him to go to a care home for a period to see if his aggression calmed down. The doctor did say at this point he'd calmed down and was very apologetic but was saying a voice in his head told him to be violent.

My dad's always been quite unstable and abusive. But this a whole other level. I've often said I think he has mental health problems but they weren't talked about in our family and he wouldn't entertain the idea of even discussing them if it was broached. My family was a brush it under the carpet type when we were growing up.

The nurse told mum to call again this evening to see how he was. Apparently he asked to go for a walk around the ward to stretch his legs,but then returned to his bed and started to cut his wrists with a knife. My mum then decided to go and see him to see if she could calm things down.

I feel totally numb. Depression is rife in our family but never to this level. My dad is a staunch Catholic and I never would have dreamed he'd do something like this as it's so against his religion. I don't even know where to begin. They're talking about running tests for schizophrenia because the nurse said this is not a normal side effect of stroke.

Can anyone offer any support or advice. I literally feel like I'm in hell and just when I've reached rock bottom,this happens.

That sounds very scary and difficult, does he have an infection, could the artery procedure have causes another stroke, I imagine that the doctors will test him again for infection and a stroke, run blood tests, if they cannot find anything they may well ask for the elderly psychiatric team to see him. The ward staff may arrange for him to have a special nurse which would be 1 to 1 and remove anything from him that might be a risk. I wouldnt visit at the moment, the doctors might arrange something to help him feel calmer, what a horrible situation for you all, your poor mum must be very upset. Is she Catholic too would she get any peace from talking with her Priest.

Thanks for the reply. Unsure about another stroke,there was a chance with the procedure but it seems the doctor said it all went great aka mo stroke during or immediately after. The nurse did say she was checking for a UTI earlier today. She also said this evening when my mum called and she told her about the self harm that they would want to do some further tests but not sure what they'd be.

Mum has already gone up,I wasn't with her and I think she heard about the knife and just panicked. She is more Christian now but might find some comfort talking to a priest,that's a good idea.

I have just read that strokes can cause delusions and hallucinations so maybe that's it? It at the moment we're all just in deep shock and going through the motions. I'm really concerned the stress will make mum ill herself.