Lack of Oxygen to the Brain leading to a Coma

[Shadi's Rachie]

My Father-In-Law had an ulcer in his stomach which caused his stomach to rupture causing severe pressure which cut off his oxygen supply and he went unconscious.  My husband tried to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation until the ambulance arrived approx 15-20 minutes later.  He has been in a coma for 2 days and is on a life support machine.  The only sign of any brain activity so far is that he is taking some independent breaths.  How long can someone go without oxygen before there is brain damage ?  If someone has been without oxygen for 15 minutes is there any hope that they can wake from a coma without any brain damage.  If there is brain damage, is it always severe or does it depend on each patient ?

[MeekMeek05]

My 28 year old friend was driving and suddenly felt sharp pains in his chest.. He asked his girlfriend to take the wheel and pull the car over he was able to control the pedals... He then had a heart attack its said he has 1% brain activity he's on a vent and they put him in a medically induced coma ... His girlfriend had their first child that next day . Do anyone know if he'll regain brain activity? We've been praying and praying

[dizzdi]

My brother has been in a coma for 13 days after being attacked and left for dead.  He suffered a heart attack I believe it was 10ins before cpr brought him back. In ctu they put him in an induced coma and kept his heart etc cool. The doctors are not holding out much hope as they say that he has minimal brain activity.
He is breathing on his own and eyes flick open and is on minimal drugs and has a feeding tube. We don't want him to be in a vegative state. Should they really be giving him a ct scan or mri scan to be certain about brain activity? Has anyone been told this and the patient recovered?

[niccijoe22]

after reading your post I am wondering how all went? on Monday a friend of mine had the same thing happen, it has been 5 days now, she is in ICU, and the swelling of her brain is still so severe, is there any hope?

[Jessgirl1029]

Hello, I had just read your post about your uncle.
I deeply apologize,  was he ever able to come out of it?
And if so what state was he I'm when he awoke. I'm sorry
To have bothered you but the same thing has happened with my father
Any answers will help. I thank you for sharing your story.

[AmeliaL]

Hi
I cannot answer your questions about whether your brother will be OK.  I am looking at this site as I have a relative who is in a medically induced coma due to a serious motor bike accident.

However, my 12 year old son hung himself many years ago.  We had no idea anything was wrong.  We believe it was a spur of the moment impulse action and he didn't fully understand there would be no coming back from what he was doing.  I don't know how old your brother is but he may have just been feeling upset or depressed about something & just thought he would do that.  They are not really considering other people only how they are feeling at that moment.  It is hardest for the ones who have to deal with what has happened afterwards.  We live a long way from the hospital & the air ambulance got lost, everything that could go wrong did go wrong & it was too late for my son by the time he got to the hospital.

I really feel for you as I know what you are going through as my son who died had a younger brother.  There are people who can give you some support if you need it like the "compassionate friends" though I am not up to date on these groups now.

Don't blame yourself or any other members of your family.  It was just how your brother felt at the time.

It is a terrible path you and your family are traveling up and you will need to find a lot of strength to keep going on some days.  My youngest son was a quiet shy little boy but he had to come out of his shell.  He is now a very strong & confident person.  I cannot say what has happened has not affected any of our family as our lives were changed forever.  It is not something that we can ever get over, but it is something that with time the pain grows less. Your family needs to support each other & be strong.  

I wish I could wave a magic wand & make everything better for you but sadly I can't, so i will just send you my best wishes & hope things will turn out well for your brother.

[lostbrother]

I've read almost all of your stories and it makes me have even more trouble understanding how this could of happen, why this has happen. Why couldn't he ask someone for help, why couldn't any of us see what was happening.  My brother hung himself 3 days ago,and by the time the ambulance got his heart beating once more, he had been without oxygen for 25 min. I'm losing my brother and i don't understand the **** why. I'm scared and i don't know what to do. I'm scared for my brother, and my mother because i don't know how much more of this she can take. pleas if there is any hope of him coming out of this without being a vegetable tell me.