my dad is in intensive care with meningitis

[nowwearefour]

he was rushed in an ambulance on friday and they diagnosed yesterday. he is in a drug induced coma, on life support. it is horrible. i dont know if he will live or die. i am up this early as we are staying at mums and the babies arent sleeping as well here. anyone else been through this??

A friend of ours was like this for weeks, nwaf - it was really scary for a while, but he did pull through and except for a reduction in eyesight is now as good as new. So fingers crossed for your dad. X

RubyRioja and everyone thanks for your posts. All previous experiences are relevant and helpful- just people knowing what you are going through is so reassuring. i know the road is a long one but amazing how people's kindness can help

Me and ds had meningitis i had it when i was 12 and stayed in for a week i can't remember much about it as i was halucinating when i was taken in and was out cold for a day after that.
Ds had it when he was 7 weeks old it was so scary they didn't know if he would make it he was in for 10 days and made a full recovery.
My neice had it straight after ds and was out with in a few days because we caught it early.
My nephew had it in 2002 but sadly passed away within 2 hours of being in the hospital. The fact that your dad has made it through 2 days is a very good sign that they have caught it in time. hope he gets better soon.

anyone know what they 'should' be like as the sedation wears off? dad is talking a bit now but clearly confused. is this likely to be temporary or permanent or just too early to say?

My Dad spent 3 weeks in coma few years ago after contracting MRSA after having 60% of his liver removed. It took him a good few days to come round fully. sometimes he would seem quite alert, other times he was very confused. I think it is quite normal. What was amazing was the dreams he told me about while he was in his coma, he felt like he was living in a different dimension. Even when he came round, he recalls this period very vividly, and thought he was some where else entirely. The brain takes a lot of recovery. we had a few weeks before he was fully fit again. It was terrifying wondering if we would ever get him back, but we did.

nowearefour my son was definitely confused about what had happned. When he was recovered he could remember nothing about being ill at home prior to the admission, or (mercifully) the lumbar puncture or anything. All he could remember by the time he got home was the Thomas The Tank Engine food trolley and the playroom at the hospital.
We were told there was a 'significant' risk of temporary or permanenet brain damage and also deafness but they waited til several weeks after discharge to conduct the tests on ds. Mercifully he was fine.
We were also warned that he might suffer from mild changes in temperament afterwards (mood swings, anger even mild depression) and headaches)

The Meningitis research Foundation gave us a booklet about what to expect in the aftermath which was very helpful - and contained more information than we were given by the hostpital.

nwaf, our friend was def v confused and slow for a long time - DH used to visit him and come home very worried about him, thinking he had brain damage or something. But he did come back completely - he was always heavily involved in amdram, singing and dancing (star roles mostly) and he still is, but he produces now because he doesn't have quite the energy he used to (he is older anyway!)

If you like I can ask DH if he remembers the time scales involved?

he is so much better now. still confused. but they are considering moving him to high dependency unit over the weekend. grateful for all the thoughts.

Everyone comes out of sedation very differently. There are classic symptoms, but not every patient reads the list, so they don't all react in the same way!

The drugs do very odd things to people, nevermind what the illness does as well. Also, you don't sleep deeply when on sedation.

contact the Meningitis Trust

I wish I knew about them when my DD was so ill with Meningitis

they can provide fantastic support for you all and also for when your Dad is out of Hospital

RubyRioja your big post is amazing.
So well put and so well thought out, brilliant.
Confusion is unfortunately part and parcel of recovery, especially after a "brain" type illness Iyswim.
Sedation can hang around the system for quite some time, but be reassured that it is temporary and will get better and luckily many people dont have any recollection of that time.
Scary stuff but good news that your dad is bieng moved to HDU, that is one step closer to home.

i have found men trust to be aways engaged but will keep trying. dad fell out of bed last night as so determined to get up and go home!!! wendyweber if you are still lurking and able to find out the timescales that would be wonderful thanks. you guys all s so helpful at a v hard time

time scales are very much an idividual thing tho.
Every one takes a different amount of time to recover, some weeks some months and some years even.
Just take it each day and as it comes is the best advice.
He is lucky to have made it this far, he is recovering from a very serious episode, it will take time.

my dad is doing so well. he is now free of the meningitis and pneumonia and they are considering rehab for him. Anyone any experiences of this they can share? High dependency has been rubbish- he has been really really dehydrated and losing weight and they only got a dietician to see him because we asked if they could. ANyway i am hoping things will start to get better- dont get me wrong we are delighted with the fact they have saved his life we owe it completely to the staff in intensive care who were fantastic. but high dependency care much much worse.