My partner is now 7 weeks post op after having an unruptured MCA clipped. We have been told he has delirium but I am wondering that this 'delirium' is going on for too long for 'delirium' I would be very grateful if anyone can share their experience of how they were post op after having a similar procedure. My partner is v confused, has hallucinations, vivid dreams that takes me all day to convince the dream was not a reality, has periods when he does not recognise me and talks to me as if I am someone else but then comes round. He is very vulnerable where I am concerned, we have always been a close couple but he now wants constant reassurance that I am not going to leave him. He has for the last 5 weeks been put on a low dose of resperidone, but I feel that this medication is making him worse. His bloods/tests all come back good. He was operated by an excellent surgeon who has not encountered this before but says he has a gut feeling that my partner's symptoms will peeter out and he will not remember anything about this episode. Please, please I would be so grateful for any input. The only other things maybe worth mentioning; my partner has a v painful bad back which we were hoping to have a procedure on at the end of the year; could this pain have anything to do with his recovery? His only bloods which is not back to normal is the thyroid; although saying that it does show improvement as time goes on, I have been told that this is normal after an operation. Also, we sit in the gardens outside the hospital for a couple of hours and he is much more himself, going back into his room he is not so good, I was wondering should I take him home at this stage.
Hello Colleen .............. just to update you.......
A few days after I posted on May 8 I decided to take a chance and take my partner home. As soon as he walked in the door, he immediately came out of the delirium - it was like a miracle and has been doing great every since. It is now 5 months post clipping and he is back to almost his former self; doing better every day.
May I take this opportunity to thank you Colleen for your prayers; hope you are doing ok?
You both keep taking care of each other...sometimes the caretaker (you) forgets to take care of themselve and you too must do this ...wonderful that he is doing so well...thumbs up...
Yes...I cannot complain...my 6mos...angio showed my coils are working and the other annie hasn't grown...will recheck with angio in June of 2012...
Hi, apologize for just meeting you now and your original post was May 8th. How time flys! I had my unruptured RMCA clipped in Feb-11. I'm so glad to hear that you and your partner are doing much better. What kind of issues is he still having at this point Dilys? And what side did he have the procedure done, right or Left?
As for me and my post op experience I can tell you that the first 3-4 days are a complete blur and I don't remember much of my hospital stay at all. I do remember seeing my family once while I was there and yet they never left my side. They took turns to take a break but always had someone with me. Except in ICU where it was very limited visiting. My family was told I had delirium when they had become upset and confused as to what was going on with me post op. I woke up and thought that there was blood on my pillow, I tried to sit up and I looked at the back wall directly behind my bed. I calmly rang the nurse apparently and then told her that there was blood all over my pillow and a 'weird pattern of blood splatter on the wall". They came running! What it was, was the iodine from my head on my pillow and the blood splatter on the wall was little nicks out of the paint on the wall. lol I had many incidents of confusion, hallucinations. I gave my family the what for because I didn't remember them being there and accused them of leaving me alone in this hospital 3.5 hrs from my home and they must have been out sight seeing. I can only recall two episodes, the ones I've just described but have been told of many others. Mine peetered out. Ironically, my thyroid levels were elevated as well, prior to surgery. I just had more blood work again last week and finally my thyroid is back to normal.
How are things going now, does he have any kind of deficits he's coping with? Memory, speech anything like that?
Hello Tina ..... many thanks for getting in touch. my partner's unruptured MCA was clipped on March - 11 and it was on the right side. What was the size of your aneurysm? My partner's was 11 mm and found on a routine MRI scan; he had been feeling lightheaded and that is why he had the scan.
It is good to hear from someone who also had delirium; how long did your delirium last? It is v hard for the person going through delirium and for their family. We too were very upset and confused as to what was going on and I was accused of all sorts by him! We did not leave him on his own; it was a 24/7 watch on him. I think we could write a book on the incidents!! The delirium hit immediately after surgery in the ICU. His thyroid levels were elevated after the surgery but I was told that this is the norm after surgery but all his bloods are now back to normal. The cause of the delirium we still don't know although I have read that 28% of people who are on statins have delirium after surgery; my partner had dropped the statins after taking them for 7 years; he dropped them 3 months before surgery as he has naturally low cholesterol. He was kept in hospital for 2 months because of the delirium; but I decided enough was enough and took the chance to take him home for a trial afternoon, as soon as he was home apart for one confused moment the delirium disappeared never to return.
He is fine now and does not have any deficits apart from being more tired than usual; having the surgery did knock his confidence a bit but now he is ok. How are you now Tina; do you have any deficits? or any problems?