TACHS Stroke

[Ariadne43]

Hi all, my 80 year old dad had a TACHs stroke 11 days ago.  He has had 2 heart attacks previously and underwent a triple heart bypass.  He has no movement in his left side at all.  He is still being hospitalised and receiving physio most days.  I see no improvement at all.  I grieved deeply the first week as I know I will no longer have the father I used to have.  I pray that he will slip away as he was such an independent man and lived very happily on his own and it is so hard to see him lying there just sleeping.  A previous bout of pancreatitis a week before brought on the stroke so he was unable to have any clotbuster.  For our family it is torturous watching him and he sleeps most of the day.  We have been told that his personality has been affected and he is incontinent.  Can anyone tell me anything about his prognosis?  I know it is hard to predict but maybe someone has had a similar experience.  

[Ariadne43]

Thank you bp for replying.  I think I know deep down we have a tough time ahead of us and there are no answers.  My thoughts are with you at this difficult time too.

[bphil]

Hi, I've researched strokes heavily. If he was diagnosed with a stroke he has suffered hypoxia, meaning is brain was starved of oxygen. This can be due to a clot most likely blocking a blood vessel leading into his brain ( I think you know all of this. I am sorry to hear this has happened. The thing is he is 80 years old, in the U.S. the average male life expectancy in 2011 was 78.7 years. So he is somewhat on borrowed time. None-the-less he is your loved one and what can be done now to help him? It seems they are doing everything they can, sadly he is in a difficult situation. I think he will be different in the coming time you have with him, there is a chance he can recover but a careful analysis of the data gathered from scans, bloodwork and other means would have to be analyzed. Good luck, and btw I'm going thought he same thing, my grandfather that I live with is 83 and has been diagnosed with brain cancer, he is unfortunately fading very quickly.  -best bp