Medical Question (my uncle is in the hospital).

[Wheezebucket]

Yesterday my uncle was admitted to the hospital. He was having intense headaches for a couple days, then yesterday it got so bad they called 911. When the ambulance arrived he had already started going into seizures. All the info I have is what I got from my mother, so I was hoping I could spill it out here and someone might be able to help me figure out more about his condition. As it stands what I have here is all I know for sure, and I'm close to my uncle but I won't even be able to get to the hospital for another couple of days, so hopefully I have enough here so that someone can at least point me in the right direction.

Ok, here's what I know -

When he was admitted to the hospital his blood pressure was through the roof and apparently his brain was filled with fluid, so they had to attach a cathader to his head to drain it. At first they thought it was a brain aneurysm, but later decided it was more likely a "vein bleeding in his brain". I guess I don't know the significant difference between the two, or what that difference might mean in treatment. While they were getting him situated at the hospital they asked him a series of questions, like "where are you?" and "what year is it?" to which he had various, all wrong, answers. At one point he apparently thought he was back in Vietnam.

This is where I get confused. They have to keep him sedated heavily because when he's awakened he goes into a fit of rage, and last time it took four men to hold him down so they could sedate him again. Whenever his wife or daughter are in the room talking to him, his blood pressure spikes, but when it's the nurses or doctors, it settles. The doctors also apparently said that there's nothing they can do surgery-wise, and that it has to "heal on it's own."

I'm sorry if some of that seems odd, I wrote down and repeated what I was told from my mother (who could not possibly be further from being a doctor), so that's as accurate a description I can get so far. But if you know what this *might* be, or even be related to, I would love some information.

Thanks in advance.

[TobiasTheViking]

*hug*

Sorry, no medical knowledge.

Best of luck.

[Complexity]

:rub: *hug* too

Let us know how his situation develops.

[Kopji]

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encephalitis.html

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cerebral_aneurysm/cerebral_aneurysm.htm

Note the similarity of symptoms.

Offhand it sounds like he is being cared for well: "Needs Brain rest so he can heal".

Major events like this can be very stressful on other members of the family so you take care too.

[LibraryLady]

Take care of yourself and your Mom. Are you in the same city?

[Dogdoctor]

My understanding of these are an aneurysm is a dilation of a blood vessel which may then rupture. If the blood vessel ruptures spontaneously (without an aneurysm) then it is a stroke unless if it bleeds into the cerebral spinal fluid which is what it sounds like. I am not really sure of these definitions since I rarely diagnose any of these conditions in animals. They may need to keep him sedated to keep his blood pressure down (high blood pressure might cause more bleeding) and to relax his brain (keep it from seizuring) and allow it to heal.

[Wheezebucket]

Dogdoctor - between you, Kopji, and Boo, I think I have a much better understanding of what is going on now, and I can't thank you enough. And thank you to everyone else for your kind words. I have a big family that I happen to be very close to, so when this kind of thing hits, it hits hard. And that says nothing of the confusion generated by such a big group of ill-informed people. I may love this family, but MAN is it difficult to manage sometimes!

I guess for now I'll just have to sit tight and read up on this stuff. It's all fairly new to me so it'll be an ongoing process. Oh and LL, I'll be seeing my mom on Monday, and I've talked to her on the phone consistently since she told me. So far she's holding up well. Unfortunately I can't say the same for all of my other aunts and uncles, but then who can blame them?

Again, thanks for the help and kind words. I'll keep you updated.

[Bud Fox]

When he was admitted to the hospital his blood pressure was through the roof and apparently his brain was filled with fluid, so they had to attach a cathader to his head to drain it. At first they thought it was a brain aneurysm, but later decided it was more likely a "vein bleeding in his brain".

A bit tough to say from this info alone. A "vein bleeding in his brain" would make me consider a subdural hematoma. These often occur in older patients after trauma (e.g. a fall). This could cause his blood pressure to be very high. Could also be an "intraparenchymal hemorrhage", which are often the result of high blood pressure.

[Zep]

Any pressure on the brain, either from bleeding or cranial fluid buildup, causes issues with brain function. Also, bleeding sometimes deprives parts of the brain of oxygen, etc, leading to death of the affected brain cells and thus potential loss of whatever function of the brain those cells provided.

Fortunately this can be managed in various ways, and the outlook may be favourable. Read the story of Derek Colanduno at Skepticality (http://skepticality.com/p_aboutus.htm) - he suffered and recovered from a similar brain trauma.

[Physiotherapist]

An aneurysm is found in an artery rather than a vein.

When cerebral bleeding occurs in this way it will cause raised Intracranial Pressure. This can then cause seizures and cerebral irritation generally, hence the anger and memory loss when not sedated. Sedation will rest the brain and give it a chance to heal.

It is possible that high blood pressure was the cause of this in the first place or the other way round.

Sounds like he is getting good care though.

[Mojo]

You could try asking Tim (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=52197) about this sort of thing.

ETA: Now I've gone to the end of the thread I see you've already seen it.

[HopkinsMedStudent]

wheezebucket,

sorry to hear about your uncle. There a number of different cerebrovascular or neurological conditions that can cause complications. Those questions your uncle was asked were part of a mini-mental status exam, which is part of a standard neurological workup.

I dont think anybody can give you precise answers as to what is going on, because there are too many different scenarios. However, do you know any of the information below?

1) Any head trauma?
2) What about whiplash or any kind of head jerking (i.e. rollercoaster, etc)?
3) Is this the first time he's ever had these kind of headaches?
4) Can you describe the seizures? There are several different types
5) CAn you describe the headaches more? Any triggers or palliative (relieving) factors?
6) How is your uncle's cardiovascular history (any heart attacks, previous clots, heart valve disease, arrythmias, etc)?
7) Any fainting, hallucinations, dizziness, nausea, vomiting?
8) Was he on any medications before the incident?
9) Any signs of infection such as stiff neck or fever?