Jason,
I was placed in a medically induced coma on a ventilator for two weeks after my open heart surgery after contracting pneumonia. When I became fully conscious, a week after awakening, and was sent to an inpatient physical rehab facility, I realized that I could not lift my right arm higher than waist level, and that my hands and fingers of both hands would shake so badly, sort of like Parkinson's Syndrome, that it was almost impossible to feed myself.
The cardiologist and internist at the rehab facility had never seen this before and believed it was caused by what they termed "hypoxia of unknown origin." They may not have known, but I quickly realized that the hypoxia (low oxygen level that can cause organ damage, including to the brain) likely was a result of either the surgery or the ventilator.
In addition to cardiac rehab, my physical therapists started working with my nearly dead right arm and, gradually, I regained normal usage. By the time I left rehab, 3 weeks later, I could lift my right arm sightly above my shoulder and, within another few weeks, I had full range of movement again. Now, 3 years later, my right arm remains slightly weaker than my left arm but it's still strong enough to permit me to engage in strength training such as pullups.
My hand and finger palsy gradually got better and went away entirely after a few weeks. I believe that I cured this myself. I literally was missing my mouth when I initially tried to feed myself. Food was landing everywhere on the bed. I found myself trying to really concentrate on moving the spoon to my mouth, but things got even worse. At that point, I decided to try not thinking at all about the movement or the possibility that I would miss my mouth and it actually began to work. In the end, I think that new neural pathways developed in my brain and restored normal use of my hands.
Jason, I am not a doctor, and I have not undergone anything close to what your wife is undergoing, but what I did experience seems at least remotely similar. I suggest that, rather than seeking answers from cardiologists who admit they never saw this before, you should immediately get a good neurologist involved. As your wife is still in the hospital, this should be very easy for you to arrange. In addition to the neurologist on staff at the hospital, who may be a little defensive on behalf of his hospital, I also recommend finding an outside neurologist to provide a second opinion consultation if necessary.
What I'm trying to tell you and your wife is that you guys should not even think about giving up hope. If this terrible thing that happened was a result of hypoxia, the human brain has remarkable ways of finding alternative pathways to restore bodily function. This does not seem anything like, for example, a severed spinal cord from a car accident. Get the best neurologist you can find and see what he or she can do for you guys.
God bless the both of you and your family. Please keep us posted.
Ira
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Ira Reid
Hoboken NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-22-2021 17:34
From: jason kefalas
Subject: Paralyzed after open heart surgery
Mended Hearts Community,
My wife (42yo) had heart valve repair surgery done over a month ago (19th of January 2021)
The fairly straight forward and "routine operation "as the doctors called it went as planned,
as they were taking her to a room she had a heart attack, they revived her quickly but her heart was
in a state of shock ( as they named it) and would not function so they put here on life support (ECLS) and in intensive care.
A few days ago ( after 1 month on life support and in intensive care) her heart is better and
can do without the machine so the doctors were down dosing the drugs so she can slowly wake up.
Today the doctors announced that she is paralyzed from the neck down and they don't know why?
How could this happen?
Did the doctors screw up and are covering it?
If they did screw up they would know why and how it happened right?
I have so many questions that they can not answer.
So Im reaching out to anyone that can lead me to the answers and possible solutions on the internet.
Could you please call your cardiac surgeon ( if you have one ) and ask if they have heard of this before.
The doctors in the hospital have never seen or heard of this happening before.
Please.... I have 3 children together with my wife and we all miss her sooo much.
Or could anyone please recommend some highly experienced heart surgeons to
spread some light on what has happened and what should we do?
I have full medical reports to send ,
I don't know where to start or what to do...
Thank you and God bless you all through these hard times.
Jason
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jason kefalas
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