My husband who is 52 experienced a cardiac arrest after he endured a seizure while he was in the hospital under observation for a previous seizure he had hours before. No one can tell me how long he was down before they found him but he was resuscitated with CPR and put on a ventilator to breathe for him even though he could breath on his own. He was put into a medically induced coma. I was told that his brain needed time to heal so until they were sure that he was able to respond to simple commands they would keep him sedated. After 10 days the sedation was reduced and my husband was able to respond to simple commands (squeeze my hand, wiggle your toes). He was removed from the ventilator on the 11th day and I was prepped that he would have a long road to recovery. That first day it was found that he had little to no muscle control in his legs. I was told that after 11 days atrophy had most likely set in his muscles. The nurses in Neuro ICU were wonderfully supportive and advised he would need further rehabilitative care in order to be able to come home. After 3 weeks in the hospital my husband was moved to a rehabilitation facility where he stayed for another 3 weeks and had physical, occupational and speech therapy. He made slow progress but we knew he still had a long way to go. When my husband came home he needed the use of a walker to get around and needed help with simple tasks such as cutting up his food and getting into and out of the shower. My husband continued out patient physical therapy twice a week and was able to regain the strength in his legs and arms after 3 weeks. He continued to have muscle tremors in his legs and arms and his speech gets sloppy but mainly when he is tired. We found that the miracle drug for him is Keppra. This medicine has made all the difference in his recovery. By staying on 500 mg of Keppra three times a day the muscle tremors have significantly reduced and he is able to walk without the walker and do simple tasks again. My husband is still not able to do many of the things that he is used to doing and his frustration is that no one can tell him just how long it may take him to get back to his old self. One person has told him that he may be as good as he will ever get but we refuse to accept that. My husband works out at home by using an exercise bike, treadmill and hand and leg weights. He was able to cut the grass using the riding lawn mower a few weeks ago and that is something he has always enjoyed doing. It has been almost 4 months since this life changing event for my husband started and while I fully expect recovery to take a good year my husband is becoming impatient and just wants immediate results. Keeping him positive in his mindset is key to his slow but continual recovery. My hope is that he will be back to riding his motorcycle by this time next year.
Comment Reply
My husband who is 52 experienced a cardiac arrest after he endured a seizure while he was in the hospital under observation for a previous seizure he had hours before. No one can tell me how long he was down before they found him but he was resuscitated with CPR and put on a ventilator to breathe for him even though he could breath on his own. He was put into a medically induced coma. I was told that his brain needed time to heal so until they were sure that he was able to respond to simple commands they would keep him sedated. After 10 days the sedation was reduced and my husband was able to respond to simple commands (squeeze my hand, wiggle your toes). He was removed from the ventilator on the 11th day and I was prepped that he would have a long road to recovery. That first day it was found that he had little to no muscle control in his legs. I was told that after 11 days atrophy had most likely set in his muscles. The nurses in Neuro ICU were wonderfully supportive and advised he would need further rehabilitative care in order to be able to come home. After 3 weeks in the hospital my husband was moved to a rehabilitation facility where he stayed for another 3 weeks and had physical, occupational and speech therapy. He made slow progress but we knew he still had a long way to go. When my husband came home he needed the use of a walker to get around and needed help with simple tasks such as cutting up his food and getting into and out of the shower. My husband continued out patient physical therapy twice a week and was able to regain the strength in his legs and arms after 3 weeks. He continued to have muscle tremors in his legs and arms and his speech gets sloppy but mainly when he is tired. We found that the miracle drug for him is Keppra. This medicine has made all the difference in his recovery. By staying on 500 mg of Keppra three times a day the muscle tremors have significantly reduced and he is able to walk without the walker and do simple tasks again. My husband is still not able to do many of the things that he is used to doing and his frustration is that no one can tell him just how long it may take him to get back to his old self. One person has told him that he may be as good as he will ever get but we refuse to accept that. My husband works out at home by using an exercise bike, treadmill and hand and leg weights. He was able to cut the grass using the riding lawn mower a few weeks ago and that is something he has always enjoyed doing. It has been almost 4 months since this life changing event for my husband started and while I fully expect recovery to take a good year my husband is becoming impatient and just wants immediate results. Keeping him positive in his mindset is key to his slow but continual recovery. My hope is that he will be back to riding his motorcycle by this time next year.
June 7, 2016 - 1:55pmThis Comment
Reply