OT- Medical story ? Brain bleeds

[superjohn]

I was away and got a text from family that there is terrible news. I find out my uncle who is one of my favorite people on the planet was found on the floor in the hallway of his condo building in Florida....

Doctors performed an emergency surgery for a brain bleed and his wife and daughters flew down and were basically told he was going to pass away (they resigned themselves to life without him and were taking solace in that he would be reunited with his best friend who is also my dad in heaven.) Next, I was told he's hanging on but may have had a stroke in addition to the brain bleed and the fear is if he pulls through he will have significant brain damage...

The news changed and it wasn't a stroke but there was a second surgery performed yesterday to remove more blood clots from the brain....

Today my brother talked to a cousin and he put my uncle on the phone. His speech sounded different and his speech was slower because he's on drugs but they talked for 5 minutes and he was totally coherent. Amazing news!

It's been a rollercoaster the past 4 or 5 days. He's not out of the woods yet (still some bleeding) but this feels like an unbelievable turn right now...especially considering all these turn of events at the hospital and that he was alone in Florida when he had the brain bleed. We don't know if it happened inside the condo and he crawled out so someone could find him but he would have already been dead if someone didn't decide to walk down the hallway at the exact moment...

Boneyard Husky connection, this is the uncle who is friends with Bob Hurley Sr. He's a tough Jersey fighter and I need more prayers to help him pull through this one.

Weird sidenote. Doctors told him they think the brain bleed possibly could have been caused by daily baby aspirin which he's taken for years for heart health. I know there has been stuff in the news recently about daily baby aspirin maybe not being as good as previously thought.

 

[Crank]

Have dealt with similar issues in my family. Very tough, but cutting edge medicine is really amazing. Will wish him well.
Side note - aspirin is an anti-coagulation agent, and therefore helps prevent strokes. Down side is that it also facilitates bleeding. Cost benefit on anti-coagulation agents is not a simple assessment. Being on aspirin for many years may have prevented strokes.

I'm sending out a warm thought for your uncle now!

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Sending you and your family well wishes. Have been through similar stuff with mine, always keep a positive attitude for those who can’t.

 

[UCfor3]

Hope your Uncle has a speedy recovery. Scary stuff but your family must be so happy that things turned for the better.

 

[August_West]

I know there has been stuff in the news recently about daily baby aspirin maybe not being as good as previously thought.

Yup.

Looks like the aspirin regimen is not what they thought.


Glad to hear your uncle is doing ok,

 

[mauconnfan]

Best wished your uncle on continued positive recovery and health. Well wished to your whole family during his recovery.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Hope your uncle continues with his recovery. The news you gave was grave, then steadily better as I read on.

The neurosurgeons your uncle had were excellent, acted quickly and decisively. There are two types of strokes - ischemic and hemorrhagic. The first is usually due to an artery in the brain that loses circulation, or an embolus - a small particle in an artery, that drifts from the wall of the artery and clogs a smaller artery later. The second is a bleed, like your uncle had. (My dad died from the same thing). Often that's due to a combination of anti-coagulation and hypertension, or possibly at the site of an aneurysm (a weak spot in an artery wall). Aspirin daily is an anti-coagulant - it inactivates platelets permanently, and those are the first actors in the clotting cascade. There are lots of others in use now - coumadin, xarelto, eliquis, plavix to name a few.

If you get to the bleed soon, can decompress the brain tissue by removing the clot and control further bleeding, you can often see remarkable recoveries like you described. The later you get there (and the bigger the bleed) the worse the prognosis. The other thing that matters a lot is where the bleed is located. If the damage is to a critical area of the brain, recovery isn't as complete even if you control the bleed.

Hope that helps, and good luck to your uncle.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Hope things work out for your Uncle. Lost my Mom to the same thing.

 

[temery]

Yup.

Looks like the aspirin regimen is not what they thought.


Glad to hear your uncle is doing ok,

Possibly, but I kinda question the judgement of a doctor who tells a family of a patient in the ICU that the medical condition may have been self inflicted. I can think of a couple scenarios where it would be appropriate, depending on how it came up, but the timing doesn't seem right.

 

[August_West]

Possibly, but I kinda question the judgement of a doctor who tells a family of a patient in the ICU that the medical condition may have been self inflicted. I can think of a couple scenarios where it would be appropriate, depending on how it came up, but the timing doesn't seem right.

no argument there.

Terrible bedside manner.

 

[jibsey]

Glad your uncle has turned it around. The aspirin thing is perplexing because I was on 81 mg basically because my doctor and so many other doctors endorsed it but lately they have said there is no benefit to those aging like me without heart disease. I keep asking but there does not seem to be a consenses. For now I have stopped taking it until I hear more.

 

[superjohn]

Glad your uncle has turned it around. The aspirin thing is perplexing because I was on 81 mg basically because my doctor and so many other doctors endorsed it but lately they have said there is no benefit to those aging like me without heart disease. I keep asking but there does not seem to be a consenses. For now I have stopped taking it until I hear more.

I talked to my mother and it sounds like doctors flat out told everyone they are pretty confident this was caused from his aspirin regimen. From literature it sounds like the medical community is somewhat torn on taking daily aspirin or not and if you've been taking a daily baby aspirin for years you also don't want to quit cold turkey. You want to ween yourself off it.

He's still in ICU so not out of the woods yet but his memory sounds great because he brought up right away how he wants my brother to bring him my dad's putter. He's been bugging him about it for a year or so now and he remembered to bring it up right after two brain surgeries. This all feels like a bit of a miracle right now but to think this was all caused by baby aspirin seems crazy to me.

 

[superjohn]

Possibly, but I kinda question the judgement of a doctor who tells a family of a patient in the ICU that the medical condition may have been self inflicted. I can think of a couple scenarios where it would be appropriate, depending on how it came up, but the timing doesn't seem right.

I don't know how it came up but I know my uncle and family wouldn't care about the docs bringing it up.

 

[superjohn]

Hope your uncle continues with his recovery. The news you gave was grave, then steadily better as I read on.

The neurosurgeons your uncle had were excellent, acted quickly and decisively. There are two types of strokes - ischemic and hemorrhagic. The first is usually due to an artery in the brain that loses circulation, or an embolus - a small particle in an artery, that drifts from the wall of the artery and clogs a smaller artery later. The second is a bleed, like your uncle had. (My dad died from the same thing). Often that's due to a combination of anti-coagulation and hypertension, or possibly at the site of an aneurysm (a weak spot in an artery wall). Aspirin daily is an anti-coagulant - it inactivates platelets permanently, and those are the first actors in the clotting cascade. There are lots of others in use now - coumadin, xarelto, eliquis, plavix to name a few.

If you get to the bleed soon, can decompress the brain tissue by removing the clot and control further bleeding, you can often see remarkable recoveries like you described. The later you get there (and the bigger the bleed) the worse the prognosis. The other thing that matters a lot is where the bleed is located. If the damage is to a critical area of the brain, recovery isn't as complete even if you control the bleed.

Hope that helps, and good luck to your uncle.

Thank you. This was really helpful understanding some things. I'll send it along to family if you don't mind.

 

[temery]

Hope your uncle continues with his recovery. The news you gave was grave, then steadily better as I read on.

The neurosurgeons your uncle had were excellent, acted quickly and decisively. There are two types of strokes - ischemic and hemorrhagic. The first is usually due to an artery in the brain that loses circulation, or an embolus - a small particle in an artery, that drifts from the wall of the artery and clogs a smaller artery later. The second is a bleed, like your uncle had. (My dad died from the same thing). Often that's due to a combination of anti-coagulation and hypertension, or possibly at the site of an aneurysm (a weak spot in an artery wall). Aspirin daily is an anti-coagulant - it inactivates platelets permanently, and those are the first actors in the clotting cascade. There are lots of others in use now - coumadin, xarelto, eliquis, plavix to name a few.

If you get to the bleed soon, can decompress the brain tissue by removing the clot and control further bleeding, you can often see remarkable recoveries like you described. The later you get there (and the bigger the bleed) the worse the prognosis. The other thing that matters a lot is where the bleed is located. If the damage is to a critical area of the brain, recovery isn't as complete even if you control the bleed.

Hope that helps, and good luck to your uncle.

I've read that the daily low dose aspirin has a beneficial affect when it come to risk of colon cancer. Any idea why this would be? I get the platelet stuff for strokes, but I'm curious about the reasons it may reduce risk of colon cancer.

 

[storrsroars]

Best wishes for a full recovery for your uncle. Hopefully he's out of the hospital quickly. Not a place you want to hang out for long.

 

[UCDaveD]

Ts and Ps, Superjohn

 

[joober jones]

Prayers and thoughts to your family. That's how my brother died, so for him to be doing this well at this point is definitely good news. I hope the recovery continues.

 

[Chief00]

I was away and got a text from family that there is terrible news. I find out my uncle who is one of my favorite people on the planet was found on the floor in the hallway of his condo building in Florida....

Doctors performed an emergency surgery for a brain bleed and his wife and daughters flew down and were basically told he was going to pass away (they resigned themselves to life without him and were taking solace in that he would be reunited with his best friend who is also my dad in heaven.) Next, I was told he's hanging on but may have had a stroke in addition to the brain bleed and the fear is if he pulls through he will have significant brain damage...

The news changed and it wasn't a stroke but there was a second surgery performed yesterday to remove more blood clots from the brain....

Today my brother talked to a cousin and he put my uncle on the phone. His speech sounded different and his speech was slower because he's on drugs but they talked for 5 minutes and he was totally coherent. Amazing news!

It's been a rollercoaster the past 4 or 5 days. He's not out of the woods yet (still some bleeding) but this feels like an unbelievable turn right now...especially considering all these turn of events at the hospital and that he was alone in Florida when he had the brain bleed. We don't know if it happened inside the condo and he crawled out so someone could find him but he would have already been dead if someone didn't decide to walk down the hallway at the exact moment...

Boneyard Husky connection, this is the uncle who is friends with Bob Hurley Sr. He's a tough Jersey fighter and I need more prayers to help him pull through this one.

Weird sidenote. Doctors told him they think the brain bleed possibly could have been caused by daily baby aspirin which he's taken for years for heart health. I know there has been stuff in the news recently about daily baby aspirin maybe not being as good as previously thought.

@superjohn - Chief sends out his prayers to your uncle and family. Sounds like a roller coaster ride and hope the improvement continues - the next month is key.
Puts basketball in perspective but now Hurley and staff got to reel in a couple of recruits for your uncle.
Best Regards,
Chief

 

[PomonaHusky]

My thoughts and prayers are with your Uncle, you, and your family. Best wishes for a full recovery.

 

[Hankster]

Glad your uncle has turned it around. The aspirin thing is perplexing because I was on 81 mg basically because my doctor and so many other doctors endorsed it but lately they have said there is no benefit to those aging like me without heart disease. I keep asking but there does not seem to be a consenses. For now I have stopped taking it until I hear more.

I have been taking the 81 myself for years. I pray for a speedy recovery for SJ's uncle. Also thanks for mentioning aspirin as a possibility. Presently it is 3:45 am and I will start to make phone calls at 9.

 

[David 76]

Continued good luck!

 

[Doctor Hoop]

I've read that the daily low dose aspirin has a beneficial affect when it come to risk of colon cancer. Any idea why this would be? I get the platelet stuff for strokes, but I'm curious about the reasons it may reduce risk of colon cancer.

That I haven't heard, but it's not my area of specialization. I'll look into it a bit.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Thank you. This was really helpful understanding some things. I'll send it along to family if you don't mind.

Sure, go right ahead. It is true that aspirin can make you bleed more, but it doesn't cause the bleeding by itself. The underlying cause is usually hypertension or an aneurysm for a hemorrhagic stroke. Once the bleeding starts the anti-coagulants just prolong it.

There's also a thing called a sub-dural hematoma, which is a bleed outside the brain, rather than in the brain tissue. The proximate cause is usually a fall, hitting your head. Aspirin can make that bleed bigger also. It also has a better prognosis when evacuated early than a bleed into the brain tissue.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I've read that the daily low dose aspirin has a beneficial affect when it come to risk of colon cancer. Any idea why this would be? I get the platelet stuff for strokes, but I'm curious about the reasons it may reduce risk of colon cancer.

AMA is officially off the aspirin a day recommendation unless it is for a specific symptom.

Anecdotally, about 3-5 years ago when I went in for an annual check up and put down low dose aspirin as an OTC I take, the Doc said stop. She said more and more literature was showing little to no benefit and plenty of long-term side effects.

New heart-disease prevention guideline: What physicians must know