lack of oxygen to brain

[sonny30]

My father-in-law had surgery in April.  He is diabetic and they operated on a clogged artery on the side of his neck.  He did one side two years ago and was fine.  This April they did the other side of the neck.  The doctor gave him anethesia and operated and sewed him up.  After sewing him up, he realized he forgot a certain section and gave him more anethesia and opened him up again and sewed him up again.  All on the same day.  

He has yet to fully recover from this operation.  We feel that because of the double dose of anesthesia, he had a lack of oxygen to the brain.  Is that possible?

Well, what he says doesn't make sense, he doesn't remember us most of the time, we have to remind him to eat, at times he throws up his food, he has seizures sometimes, etc. (all symptoms of having a loss of oxygen to the brain).  My question is this:  Is there any hope of recovery?  Is there anything we can do for him to remember us, to help him keep his food down, or to respond to our questions?  Well this be a form of life we need to get used to.  In the archives I read that patients like these have about one year to recover from this and after that that is the best that he will be.  Is that true?  If so, what can we do to help him recover to the best of his abilities?  Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Sonny30

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[Fed Ex]

I am a 38 female now. Since 1999 to July 2004 I have had 4 seizures. They all happened right after I finished eating. I would like to know if there is a connection with eating and having seizures. I have taken MRI, CT Scan, EEG, and 48-hour EEG. They all came back negative. I usually have grand-mal seizures. Right now I am on Lamictal, Klonopin, and Desipramine. Sometimes I still feel like something is going to happen after I finish eating. I mentioned this to my doctor but he does not know of any link with eating and then having a seizure. Please if you have any idea about this let me know as soon as possible.. Maybe there is a test I can take to find out my problem. I am always scared in the house even though I have had 4 seizures so far, I'd like to find my problem and get off the medication because I have tried several different medications because I am sensitive to them and I would like to get off the medicines, once I find out my problem. I am sure there has to be a reason for these seizures. I hate to be taking medicine and not knowing the cause. I also had to stop working and I am at home with 3 kids, so it is difficult to do much. I do very little and lay around because I am tired from the side-effects of the medications. Please help me. Thank you kindly.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

I assume the operation you are referring to is a carotid endarterectomy, which was recommended due to a carotid stenosis. Without reviewing your father-in-laws medical and surgical records I cannot determine what happened. However, when performing this type of operation (if it was a carotid operation) ther is a risk of stroke. If he had a stroke, this can be investigated with a MRI of the brain. If he had a stroke the optimal time for recovery is before 6 months. This is not an absolute, but a general observation.

To have this properly evaluated he should see a neurologist. The proper treatment and recommendations can then be made. Good luck.