Post-hospitalization confusion: Did your parent ever bounce back?

[Anonymous]

Well, now I know this is a known risk. Not that we had any choice. However, the mental status drop is both frightening and complicating post-discharge plans. If your parent dropped, did they ever bounce back? If so, how long did it take?

[Anonymous]

In the case of my dad, no. Not really. Despite the doctors' assurances that he would. But he had early/mid Alzheimers when he went to the ER with a mild issue.

He was physically fine, would have been discharged the same day, but wound up spending 6 weeks in the hospital, mainly because of delirium. I didn't know that was a thing until it happened, but apparently it's pretty common. It can either manifest as mania or just a kind of vague, fugue-like state which is what happened to my dad.

In the end, he went from living independently (with a ton of aides & family help) to being in
a wheelchair, incontinent, and relegated to pureed food. He did recover some speech and lived a mostly content life in skilled nursing for about 2 more years.

[Anonymous]

Not a parent, but an elderly aunt. It took a few weeks, but she did regain normal mental functioning (for her).

Sorry you're facing this too, OP.

[Anonymous]

Thank you.

What we’re seeing is the fugue-like state. I thought he’d been drugged, but evidently this is fairly common.

[Anonymous]

My FIL has suffered this a few times. Yes, he has always come out of it, but he really needed to come home in order to fully come out of it. It is super common and really hard to deal with because often, the hospital can't/won't discharge because the patient is so out of it, but without being discharged, the patient stands less of a chance of coming out of it. It's an impossible situation.

[Anonymous]

My dad has Parkinson's. It took about 2 months for him to return to baseline the first time (spent 10 days in the hospital and then 3 weeks in rehab). The second time (only 5 days in the hospital and then home) he never fully returned to baseline. He's at about 90% now

[Anonymous]

Yes. My aunt was seeing kittens and puppies all over her rehab room for weeks after hospitalization, and at times thought I was her mother. Yikes. Fast forward a year - she’s reading Tolstoy and whupping butt in rehab center bingo. So complete bounce-back. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Been through this with my grandfather and then both parents. I am convinced it is the stress and trauma of the surgery and the heavy sedation.

Grandfather - no did not bounce back but accelerated his minor cognitive decline and maybe beginning of eventual Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Mom had open heart surgery at 72 and did bounce back rather quickly. Doesn't miss anything and is now 82. Lives alone, travels, drives, keeps active.

[Anonymous]

No, and it progressed into dementia.

[Anonymous]

In the case of my mother, who was in her 80's, yes. She was confused during several hospitalizations, but returned to her rational self after returning home.

My MIL, however, was having significant memory loss and signs of dementia when she entered the hospital, and being there only exacerbated her issues. She was completely confused and hostile to staff members during several hospitalizations. She would get back to her own level of "normal" when she returned home, but each time she went in the hospital, the hostility, etc. happened again.

[Anonymous]

Yes , enough to be fine but not enough for me to feel comfortable with him driving.

[Anonymous]

Father went in to evaluate leg weakness and possible stroke. Rapidly lost mental capacity. Mediocre hospital suggested risperdal. Immediately got him transferred to a good hospital. They diagnosed an infection and as soon as the antibiotics kicked in so did his brain. Remained competent till he died several years later, thank God.

[Anonymous]

One time he did bounce back and that was because the behavior was due to a UTI. After that, no.

[Anonymous]

80 yr old father experienced delirium after surgery while in ICU. This is very common among elderly as their brains are not as protective against the anesthesia affects as a younger persons brain. Once he came home he was better within a week. However, it can take up to 90 days to get back to normal self. I have read that delirium can help set of dementia but thankfully this did not happen to my father.

[Anonymous]

My grandmother, who lived with us, experienced hospital delirium after bypass surgery in her 70s. She did bounce back quite a bit almost immediately, and we got another decade with her. However, she was never 100% as sharp as she was pre-surgery, and it did appear to induce dementia.