Dad fell and hit his head. CT was clear & he was sent home. Now he is confused, delirious...?My dad is 65 years old and has been on dialysis for nine years. He recently received a kidney transplant and had been weak from the surgery. He tripped and fell on tile floor and cracked his head open. He spent a few days in ICU at the hospital and was discharged to my elderly and disabled mother. She was instructed to watch him 24 hours a day, which he slept most of. He was using a walker to get to the bathroom and back to bed. He was alert and able to communicate as normal. Just tired and no appetite.
By the following Monday (he was sent home Friday) he couldn't walk and was "out of it" mentally. He was readmitted to the hospital and the diagnosis was that he was dehydrated and his calcium levels were high which was causing the dimentia and confusion. At this point when he was in ICU, there was just CT scans done, which were "fine" and the hospital told my mom he could discharge to a rehab facility/nursing home to begin physical therapy, etc...My dad could not even feed himself and now was bedridden, didnt know my mom or the day, he was holding his hand to his chest like he had cerebral palsy or bad arthritis, his eyes were blank, and he was rambling on about nonsense. He was being treated for the calcium and dehydration at this point for several days and should have been getting better, not worse. He lasted two days in the "nursing home" and between the nurses there, my family, and my dad's own doctors we all agreed they were not equipped to take care of him there. He hadnt eaten in over a week, now was in diapers and looked like a strung out drug user! My dad was completely functional, brilliant and "normal" a few weeks ago and now he is this person who thinks dreams are real and paranoid, confused, and slowly getting worse.
Back to the hospital and now they do MRI and EEG, not just a CT scan, Found fluid in the brain (doctor said image of my dad's head was unlike any he had ever seen) and they found a tumor on his parathyroid (which explains the high calcium and PTH levels) Now he is so frail and weak nobody wants to take responsibilty for another surgery and there is the new kidney to keep in mind when trying to do anything because he is on all the immunosuppressant meds. He had a transplant a long time ago but the kidney had to be removed due to BK virus. My dad was prepared for the anti-rejection meds and knows he gets a bit "manic" but this is something unlike anything the meds would cause.
Now he is back at the hospital where he got his kidney tranplant two months ago and they drained the fluid (and blood) that was in his brain. He appeared to be trying to find words and made some sense of things but then just complete nonsense rambling of weird things, and he was very scared and paranoid the hospital staff was going to kill him. He thinks he already ate so he turns away all food usually. He will show small improvements and will do or say things that are like my dad used to be which gives me hope. But then he takes two steps backwards for every small step forward. The hospital is already buzzing about discharging him to a rehab again for PT! He is near vegetable state and they are scooting him out the door. Worse yet, the tumor is still there and nobody can tell us what is going on in his head and why, They say the tests are normal. Are there any other tests they can do for my dad? I know if he goes to the nursing home again he will worsen and die there. There are too many unknowns and my mom and I dont have anyone to turn to for help. Shouldnt the hospital offer a psych evaluation so they can see how he is completely delirious despite the brain drain they did? If that didnt work why would they release him? Shouldnt they keep going until they find out why he is the way he is and if it is reversable or permanent? Calcium levels have been stable for a while now and they are working with the transplant doctors to make sure all the labs for the kidney are being analyzed (or so they say...its like pulling teeth to get anyone to answer any questions) I am so frusterated and need answers as to why if the brain is "fine" is my dad the way he is all of a sudden? Please any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Saucy
-Siver C
you need a good neurologist.
Hopkins
Mass General
Mayo
get a REAL neurologist because you are correct this is NOT right. They should continue to seek an answer for your dad.
Don't let them off the hook you keep pressing them until you get answers.
-DesiDogg
I'm not sure what your question is specifically but based on your last few lines, I think it is about the CT scan.
A CT scan which is "fine" doesn't mean that your dad is ok. All that it means is that there was no acute stroke , bleed, or large mass causing the brain to shift to one side... all of these problems can require emergent neurosurgery. Your dad has dementia which is not picked up on a CT scan. Also based on his multiple medical problems, it seems like there are numerous but SEPARATE issues going on, none of which has a simple explanation.
Also make sure that your CT and MRI's are read by a neuroRadiologist, not a neurologist.
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