Diaphragm weakness/ paraysis post operative

[kim667]

My dad is 61 and has diatbetes. about 3 months ago he had a quadrupal bipass, as a cause from the Bi pass his one side of the diaphragm was damaged- He is still in the hospital in critical care and on a trech collar. Each day he is able to stay a little longer on the trech and less on the vent. Does this mean his diaphragm is improving? The doctors have been very vague in explaining how long he will have to be in the hospital. They said "time can only tell the damage of the diaphragm", is this true? My dad has been through so much and he just wants to get out of the hospital and be home.

[JOEY1943]

Kim , I had diaphram surgery 6 weeks ago. My diaphram was paralyzed 2/3 rd , I have had a lot of illness like your dad except I don't have diabetes ,I can tell you from my expierence , that the surgery isn't that bad . I have chronic pain so pain management was an issue,my surgeon had an epidural [ morphine ]  put in and it worked fine , I am sure your fathers case will be different due to his special issues but if  the surgery is your concern I believe your dad will do fine .???

JOEY1943

[Sunny602]

Maybe his other muscles are getting stronger (the accessories)....If he is doing more of the breathing work and the vent less, maybe that is the case. The diaphragm kicks in 70% of the effort while the accessory muscles kick in the other 30%. He has partial function of his diaphragm and those accessories...if he is getting stronger, then there is more effort. With any thoracic surgery, there is a risk of injuring the phrenic nerve that feeds the diaphragm. Sometimes it is permanent, sometimes it isn't from what I gather.
It is good that he is requiring less of the vent....I am vent dependent but that is because I have bilateral (both sides) involvement of my diaphragm which is a huge problem. When I was initially vented, I could not tolerate coming off of the vent for even minutes. 3 years later, I am able to come off for about a hour at a time and my vent settings allow for me to do quite a bit of the work. I was very weak when I was first placed on the vent but over time, I built up my other muscles that help drive my breathing.
I can certainly understand your father's frustration...he has been in the hospital for so long. Have the docs talked about going to a rehabilitation center for weaning and strengthening? That is what they did for me...after the hospital I spent nearly 2 months in a skilled nursing facility that could care for vents and weaning and then to home which is where I live now, even with a vent.
I pray that he gets strong enough to come off of the vent totally...a gain of even a few minutes a day more is great and going in the right direction.
Sunny