My partner underwent an elected operation for a clipping of an unruptured aneurysm; on the MCA. The operation we have been told was successful but has left my partner with acute delirium; very scary and distressing and has now lasted just over 5 weeks. The delirium started soon after the operation in ICU. He did have a urinary infection after the operation but was given antibiotics and the infection cleared but he is still in a state of delirium. Please, please can anyone out there tell me if this happened to them after the operation for clipping. He has for the last two weeks been given daily 1.5 mg resperidone.
1 Like
Hi ... wish I could help...I was coiled and didn't experience delirium...
What r the Doctor's saying?
A prayer going out to you and partner...that some answers are found...
Colleen
Many thanks for your reply Colleen and for your prayers.
Surgeon says it is a 'mystery' and hopefully time will lead to recovery. All his tests come back good, no underlying cause has been found but I guess having the clipping in itself is the cause and as soon as that is healed we are hoping all will be well with the delirium. Do you know Colleen ....... or anyone out there how long the brain takes to heal after clipping?
Many thanks in anticipation.
I am not sure with clipping...but coiling of an unruptured annie...I was told brain can take 6 mos to 1 year to heal completely...so I imagine clipping takes at least 1 year of more...
This is a long journey...and takes time...sometimes people around us don't see the "little" improvements ... but they are there and happening everyday...
Many here, including me...find that having a Neurologist during this can help so much more with the post~op then the surgeons...if you have a neurologist, I would mention to him/her the delirium...and see if they can offer any input...
This site has made me realize ... that the brain is incredible and when someone touches it...they are touching our life...and that takes time to heal...
Lastly...I feel very strong about this, but those who take care of us when we are healing and going through this journey...are just as much "survivors"...that is you too...so be sure...(and this is really important) to take time out for You...
Cyber ~ Thoughts and Hugs... Colleen
Many, many thanks Colleen for your valuable input! ........... especially having a Neurologist on board at this time ............ it was something we had not thought of; addressing all to the neurosurgeons who I am afraid do not seem to have a clue and only frustrate us even more.
I agree that little improvements I do see every day even today, his voice sounds more like it did pre-op. I can see that this is going to be a long journey and hopefully with a good ending! I read different time scales on the healing of the brain after clipping; from 6 wks to 3 months .... but as you say it will be much longer than that.
The brain I agree is incredible; my partner walked in the hospital and into the operating theatre as himself but came out with this horrible complication; it is very upsetting and like the end of the world as we knew it; but we do get some 'flashes' back of who he was. I think it is going to take time and I have to be patient. I do hate what it is doing to him though.
I do feel like as if I am on a marathon; camping down on a mattress on the floor in his room most nights because I want to and he needs me there; we have always been very close. I am very lucky to have a wonderful daughter who takes over some nights and days to give me a break and as you say 'to take time out'.
I am now going to get in touch with the neurologist to try and make sense of this. I shall keep in touch with progress Colleen.
Many thanks and Hugs ........ Dilys
We are dealing with exactly the same situation - I would appreciate it if you would tell whether the delirium had passed or not.
Dear Chen
Do you have a private email address I can reply to you on? It would be useful also if you could give me a brief history of what exactly has happened.
regardsDilys
1 Like
XXXX@XXX
many thanks
(email address removed by Modsupport for the member’s online security. Please share contact information via private message by clicking on the person’s avatar, and then on the blue message icon)
This story makes me very cautious to repair my unruptured aneurysm. Mine is only 3.5 mm in the interior carcodid artery. This placement is the least likely to rupture with a 0 to 3% rupture rate in calculators online. The chance of serious complications including stroke is around 5% for even coils with no guarantees it will work?. So why would i chance it if the odds are worse to do a procedure?
Dear Wayne
Thank you for your message - may I please have your private email address so that I may write to you further?
I understand your reservation on reading our story however we would not have been put in that position if we had chosen the right surgeon. For the type of surgery my partner underwent it carries a very low complication rate - however only the very best surgeon (with proven track record & stats - which should be high in number with high success rates) should be allowed to undertake such a procedure. We are UK based so this is irrelevant for you but to anyone else out there that might be in a similar situation in the UK & I would strongly recommend you do not have an aneurysm clipping by Neil Kitchen of the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, London.
regardsDilys
Hi Dilly! I am as well based in Londo and had elective clipping 9 month still didn’t recover and experience a lot of dizzines after 7 month post op.How iz your partner doing?
Thanks Maya
Hi Maya
Sorry to hear you are still not recovering. Do you have a private email address that I can reply to you on. I am travelling at the moment but I shall get back to you as soon as I can.regardsDilys
XXXX@XXX
(email address removed by Modsupport for the member’s online security. Please share contact information via private message by clicking on the person’s avatar, and then on the blue message icon.)
Dilys,
I am going through something very similar with my husband, except we were pushed out of hospital at 9 days post op and unfortunately nothing improved when we came home. It has now been 5 weeks since surgery and I am losing my mind. He doesn’t seem like he is sleeping at all, which seems like it could be a big part of the problem. Did your partner struggle with sleep post operation and during the delirium? Thanks for any thoughts.