confused

[melba77]

my dad is 64 yrs old, hx of smoking for 50 yrs and apparently a heavy drinker, which he managed to hide. he had a CABG and an aortic valve replacement on october 31st, he was very confused when he came out of sugery and seeing things and that was determined to be etoh withdrawl. but he hasnt been the same mentally since the surgery but he was improving daily well two days ago he started becoming more and more confused. what could be the cause of this?

[melba77]

his blood pressures have been good but he is on medication for that. we check it daily but he was so sneaky about hiding his drinking before and his smoking here recently that i am wondering if he is drinking again too.

[melba77]

they checked with an mri around the end of november, they saw a old one but nothing recent. he will have to be checked again. he has been sneaking around for the last two weeks smoking though. and we keep telling him thats what got him into this mess.

[skydnsr]

I hate to say it, but the possibility of a drinking issue should be considered.  Even if he stopped drinking after his heart surgery, relapse is a common occurrence with alcoholics in early abstinence.  I hope it's not that.  Another thing I hate to say is that even if he does remain abstinent from alcohol, the years of drinking had to have been hard on his brain, and open-heart surgery can also have lingering cognitive effects.  He's been through a lot -- both over the years and recently -- that could compromise his mental functioning.  Flycaster's first comment said it best, that he needs to be medically evaluated.  I hope he pulls out of this and does well.  

[ed34]

I'm not sure about a stroke. In nearly all cases, there are other symptoms which are very noticeable. A TIA wouldn't be lasting this long. I think a good place to start would be to check his medications for side effects. If these are not an issue I would then get the neck arteries scanned. What is his blood pressure like?

[Flycaster305]

This sounds like a question best answered by his doctors.  Conventional wisdom suggests that tobacco/alcohol withdrawal symptoms shouldn't present themselves at this late date after his surgery.  Has he been checked very recently for a stroke?
Keep us informed.