Severe brain bleed.

[hichar]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice. Friday afternoon we found my dad had fallen back and fell into the bath. He was taken by ambulance to a&e and we were told he had a severe bleed on the brain. He was transferred that night to addenbrookes. He is waiting to have surgery. He is nil by mouth and on IV fluids and this has been since Saturday morning. He was supposed to have surgery on Satursay afternoon but it was cancelled as a emergency come in.
I'm worried that the delay in having surgery is going to impact his recovery. At the moment he is confused, agitated (trying to get in and out the bed), lost mobility and in and out of consciousness but all vital and observations are ok according to the nurses. The nurses said he did fall out of the bed and now they have alarms on. Has anyone been through this? I'm worried what he will be like after, will he be able to speak? When we have visited wnd spoke on the phone to the nurses they seem very vague about everything. We have asked when the sirgey will be happening. They say they are waiting on theatres to contact them.

gosh I’m surprised his surgery was pushed back on Sat, it doesn’t feel right that he’s still waiting to me. Have you been able to speak with the medic responsible for his care to understand why they do not feel he is an emergency? Keep pushing for that until you have a clear answer would be my advice.

Bumping for you OP. So sorry to hear about your father. x

I manged to speak to the nurse today who is assigned to him. She didn't offer much reassurance. Said the dr had seen him on their rounds this morning and they are just waiting for him to be called for surgery but no indication of when this will be. I asked when they will next see him and she said tomorrow morning. The hospital he has been transferred to is a hour from me, I wasn't able to visit today but plan to tomorrow. I'm so anxious and thinking the worst.

This happened to my DF. He had a small fall the bleed was mainly caused by the Doctor over prescribing blood thinners. Anyway his surgery was cancelled everyday for about 5 days for emergencies. After the surgery he improved quite quickly. Not 100% but he was already a bit compromised because of a minor stroke beforehand so its a bit tricky to tell how much is caused by which event if you see what I mean.

I hope you DF gets his surgery soon and you see some improvements.

What symptoms did he have before his surgery @Littletreefrog ? Thank you that gives me some hope. Everything we phone, I think we've called the ward around 5 times today, they seem to vague. He was so unsettled. Feel so awful seeing him so confused and agitated

Agree with pp you need to push to speak to an actual doctor to understand what the plan is

Confused and agitated pretty much sums it up. Constantly trying to discharge himself and being quite hostile to the nurses etc which is completely out of character. His speech definitely suffered although he could talk it was not at all clear.

My Dad had a bleed on the brain at the end of last year, he suddenly couldn’t stand up properly. He was fortunate that it was a very slow bleed, probably from when he fell when he had a UTI about 8 weeks before, so his symptoms were quite subtle until the pressure built up. He ended up having a second bleed as the first op seemed to have gone well, but after a couple of days at home, he couldn’t use his hand, so went back in and got admitted. They delayed his second op by a couple of days due to emergency admissions. It was a success though.
He was very weak and wobbly when he came home the second time, eating a sparrows portion of food, but my Mum persisted with feeding him up and when we visited in Feb (2 months after the previous visit) he looked back to his old self. I would say he his still a little wobbly on his feet, but other than that is doing brilliantly.
All the best to you and your Dad, it really was a worrying time, but my Dads recovery has been incredible. We call him the medical marvel now!

I would say you want to speak to a doctor and you want to understand the risks to your father from delaying the operation. If you don’t get to speak to a doctor, then email PALS at the hospital. Say your father is distressed, behaving out of character and you are concerned that delaying the operation could carry risks for his health. Ask them to state what the risks of delays are.
you can be polite, but I would definitely put this in writing to PALS so you have an email chain. Delays to healthcare cost lives and lead to poorer outcomes generally and they know this. Therefore it’s good to ask about the risks caused by delays.
i hope he gets surgery quickly and improves

I hope everything goes well for your Dad. I don't have anything to contribute regarding outcomes, but I did think that they might have considered delaying things until the blood thinners have left his system (I presume they have taken him off them for now), as there is a possibility of further bleeding during surgery when on them.

Just a thought and it might be a reason. I was taken off blood thinners prior to a colonoscopy/endoscopy, so maybe for a significant surgery like Dad's they have done the same. Although if that's the case, they could have told you!

Edited to add that I think I mixed up your posts with another poster, and your Dad May not be on blood thinners at all. Sorry for the mix up.