Brain Surgery after massive stroke

[Lynn1980]

Hi Dr., my father has a brain surgery today because of the blood clot in his left brain due to massive stroke. He is 69 years old and its his 2nd stroke. The Dr said he will be bed ridden even if he is already operated. I would like to know if its really true that he will be bed ridden for the rest of his life? What we will expect after the surgery, is ther a chance of recovering back to normal? How long does it takes him to respond after surgery because right now we are still waiting him to respond. Your ideas are much appreacited and will enlighten us on what to do. Thank you.

[Lynn1980]

Hello Dr.,
Thank you for the reply. My dad had a massive stroke affecting his left brain to be totally damaged as per the neurosurgeon. Its been 3 days in the ICU since his neurosurgery was done. Yesterday, the Dr told us that he has little imrpovement, he could move a little his left leg and he was yawning. But he further said that he is still not safe unless he could open his eyes and breath on his own. Because right now, he breath with the help of a ventillator. Just now, the neurosurgeon told us that if he couldnt breath on his own still, they might puncture a hole on his neck so my dad will not have a pulmonary complication. Is this the right thing they should do? How much assurance that my dad will survive with the improvement that he showed? Thanks

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How is your father? It would be very hard to evaluate the recovery time and outlook without direct clinical examination of the patient. There are many factors in determining the recovery of a stroke patient after a surgery. This includes the type of stroke, severity of symptoms, how much the body is involved, medical condition of the patient ( presence of diabetes, hypertension, heart conditions), age, over-all health and even the type of surgery done. It is best that you discuss this with his attending physicians for proper evaluation and to clear any worries.  Take care and do keep us posted.