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How long is recovery after open heart surgery on an infant?

Heart surgery gone wrong. PLEASE HELP IS RECOVERY POSSIBLE?

  • My mother went into the hospital with chest pains on july 10th of this year. She is 48 years old The doctors said she would need heart surgery asap. . I came form out of state right when I heard. The docs said everything should go routine and she should be out in a week. When the heart surgery was over we waited for her to awake. We asked her doctors if everything went okay they had no answers. I stayed in town for a month and she still wasnt waking up. We were soon told she was allergic to the heparin and one doctor said she may have suffered one or two strokes. The next day we were then told by her main doctor that she had atleast seven strokes on every part of her brain, and had to go on dialisis for weeks. I had to get back to work so I left after a month so depressed. She awoke after a little over a month, and was almost immediatly sent to a nursing home. About a month into her being in the nursing home I came to visit her in the home. I was very kind to the staff and grateful, but I was also shocked at her condition. She had bedsores everywhere, her feet were stiffened from the lack of mandatory physical therapy. She cant move because of the strokes. It would take even when I was there atleast 20 minutes to get a nurse there when she would start choking one time they never came. She had finally been given a trake so we could hear her slightly and she would complain about pain in her chest trouble breathing ect. They said her numbers were fine. When I took a look at her chest where the surgery was performed I saw a bone deep wound and it looked so painful. They would not give her pain meds if we werent thier either. I begged that they look at it, finally they let a doctor look at it and he found mrsa numerous infections and blood once again filling her lungs. He said she would have to go back to her hospital. I was so greatful I was there or they might never have checked. The hospital is great so I was happy that they were taking her again, thats the only place where recovery seems possible. When she was brought back to the hospital they could not believe the neglect from the nursing home. But after a few days they said there was nothing more they could do for her she would have to go back to the nursing home. They let her go to another nursing home thankfully. Right after the paramedics who brought her to the new nursing home left, blood began pouring from her mouth. The new nursing home could not believe the hospital would bring her here in that shape. They said her shape was so bad and only a real hospital could help her, her lungs were filled with blood. The the ambulance ride alone irrated things. She was rushed right back to her hospital. After a few hours the hospital rushed her right back to the nursing home, not even letting her get a good nights sleep. This new nursing home is a little better, but I know that a recovery is only possible in a hospital. At the first nursing home her roommate said that she would press her call button and the nurse would come and take her call remote away and never ask what she needed since she couldnt talk. Even at this nursing home when I am there and the nurses dont know I am there when I press the call button it takes forever and sometimes they turn the call light off and never come. This last visit I had with her at her new nursing home she was worse than ever. She we learned can barely see or hear now. Her vocal cords are paralized and so is her stomach. She cant even have water so when I wipe her face with a wet rag she bites the rag sucking any water she can get out of it. It is so sad I cant believe this happens to people. The hospital is great and there seems so much hope when shes there. Any advice would help, things get worse now everyday for a while things would get slightly better every week not anymore. I just know one of her wishes long ago was to never be in this shape and living till she dies is so important. DOES ANYONE KNOW IF SHE WILL FULLY EVER RECOVER? I dont mind visiting her or bathING her but it breaks her heart and her spirit. If this is how she will be forever I sometimes wonder if she should have went quick from a massive heart attack that would have happened if the surgery wasnt performed. i WOULD TAKE HER OUT OF THESE HOMES BUT I DONT HAVE THE MONEY FOR A FEEDING MACHINE, A TRAKE, OR A BREATHING MACHINE.

  • Answer:

    Your situation with you mom is heart breaking. Like everyone else my advice is to contact a lawyer first thing Monday morning. I don't think a law suit should be limited to the hospital but in the nursing homes that did not give her appropriate care, and the nurses who did nothing to prevent these complications from occurring as they are equally as negligent. I love my own mother so much I called her after I read your question, I couldn't imagine what I would do if this ever happened to her. Your mom hasn't received anything that even resembles rehabilitation so you do not know what her full potential is for recovery. The cost of her care is going to be enormous so please sue everyone, take care Donna

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Im sorry to hear about the extensive complications and neglect from the nursing home. As a physician I can tell you that complications related to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are relatively high. The strokes and renal failure that your mother suffered are likely a result of inadequate perfusion to those critical organs which can happen while the patient is on a bypass pump. As the time on the pump increases so does the risk of complication. Wound infections are also fairly common and can be severely debilitating. Once the bone (sternum) is heavily infected treatment becomes very difficult and the infection can spread into the chest. The mortality is then significant, but not unrecoverable. Unfortunately, once a person suffers a massive stroke, they never recover that function. Once a portion of brain dies it does not heal or regrow. This unfortuantely will be the most significant roadblock in your mother's recovery and she will nearly certainly require a lifetime of high level nursing care. The lack of mobility will ultimately lead to recurrent pneumonia and decubitus ulcers (bedsores) which become infected and that is often the cause of death in a stroke patient. Abuse in America's nursing homes is staggering. The reasons are multifactorial but the staff in those places often do not have the same work ethic (excuse my generalization) that a hospital R.N. does. Many times PCFs are providing all the care and the nurses simply distribute medication. The result is unfortunately that our parents are treated with great disrepect and cruelty. You do however have legal recourse for the neglect and legal precedents have been set in the past for many of the resultant conditions including decubitus ulcers. I am sorry to be frank, but with the multitude of medical problems superimposed on a massive stroke her prognosis for recovery of significant quality of life is poor. As physicians and children caring for our patients and the ones we love we are often faced with challenging decisions. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that your mother finds comfort and receives the care that she deserves.

KC

What happened to your poor mother goes well past negligence.You have received alot of good advice from many kind and thoughtful people .I read your previous questions and 1 month ago you write in a question about your mother's death. Is your mom deceased? It does not change the fact there was alot of negligence and alot of abuse in her care, God Bless you, you are a very good son, you are in my thoughts and my prayers.

Lloyd G

Get a 2nd opinion and hire a lawyer. It sounds like your doctor screwed up. Sue them!

Triple 6

Sue those bastards.

The Jester

That's incredibly negligent. I would hire a lawyer.

Melanie B

I would have a law suit against the nursing home,you need to talk to social services to see if you can take her home if you can do for her and they might get you some help with these machines.Also look into the hospital surgery and stay more than heparin happen to your Mom.

Dr who

I think you may have a good case for malpractice against the doctors who performed the heart surgery. Something is fishy. I would have a second and third and fourth opinion about 1) what exactly happened during the surgery, 2) your mom's condition now, and 3) how to proceed from this point. Nursing homes generally suck. I would do a little homework and find out if there is a good one near you and transfer her there. I would file a complaint against any nursing home that abused or neglected your mother. I wish you and your mom the best of luck.

G.V.

It's hard to say who messed up here, but it sounds like somebody sure did. About the nursing home business... hospitals will no longer keep any patients that don't actually need a medical procedure. They just can't afford to be a rehab hospital. Further, most nursing homes are no longer what they were meant to be. This kind of nursing takes a lot of time and a huge amount of money. The truth is that your mom needs a 24-hour private nurse to tend to her. I doubt that you can get this or even afford it. I know you love your mom, but the truth is she is fading and will probably never come back. There are many Seniors who opt out for forced feeding and a respirator when they can no longer care for themselves. You need to do an evaluation of what you think your mom would want in these circumstances. Also, does your mom even have mental ability to make decisions now? Sad to say, but you may be better off to take her home and call the Hospice nurses. Take her off forced food and respiration and just let her go. No, It would take a miracle for her to get any better. It's hard to say whether the surgery was just botched, or whether the patient just didn't respond. But you now must deal with the situation AS IT IS, not what you wish it was. Just love your mom while you have her, then let her go. She might be living between two worlds right now and would want to go on to the next one.

Smurfette

I am just a 15-year-old concerned kid. But I am very well-read about this type of things. I think it is a good idea to take some legal actions against negligence. You could petition to a mayor/governor/senator for help through letters... they can really help you. How about joining a group of people like you with their parents having the same condition as your mother. About recovering, i think it is possible ( i think okay! based on my own family experience) because my maternal grandmother has suffered in the past diabetes, kidney problem, two heart attacks i think , two heart operations, breast cancer in the past.... and she is still very very active although she is on the wheel chair now--she's around 75 right now, she can still go to church everyday! with her nurses(btw she lives at her house), even do some food-making... so based on my own experience recovery even after a significant decline in health is possible about financial aid? uhmmm we never had to get some money besides from our own pockets..... so the best thing that a 15-year-old guy can say is to petition to some politicians... they can really help you a lot and you know what, why at 48 years old? she is very young! she'll be okay! Hopes and Prayers

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