First, thank you everyone who contributed
I have an update as to what’s happening
We have now found out the condition to which she arrived from the mental institution and it was lithium toxicity. That means the institution overdosed her to a toxic state. She had 1.6 ml lithium in her blood and 1.5 ml is the level for lithium toxicity
She has no meds currently in her system and she is still in this state. It has improved but only slightly. Today she has some hand and leg movement which is new but still no talking and eyes only barely open but no focus.
The hospital says that it is a medical condition now and something somewhere is causing her to be in this state like a stroke or blood clot for example
They had done 2 cat scans and showed no stroke previously, The hospital is calling it a “puzzle” and they will be keeping her from r the time being and she won’t be sent back to an institution right until it’s medicslly figured out and she can “walk out” of there.
I’m kind of reeling and don’t know what to do think. It’s very clear the institution is at fault and that needs to be addressed, But my first priority is her well being and how to best get her out of this state if it’s even possible.
She is being feed via tube, she has IV, she breathes in her own, she has slowly regained some functions so she is not in a coma. She has opened her eyes but there is no talking, no focus, etc. This seemingly happened Friday night as far as we know at the Institution and she was brought to the hospital and has been in this state since then for 4 days,
Any relevant experience, thoughts, insights are appreciated.
More recently she was hospitalized for months. She seemed to descend in to a semi catatonic state, similar to what you were describing. I was able to witness her behavior in the hospital and I even tried to reason with her that she needed to talk and communicate with the hospital staff if she wanted to leave. It was bizarre and something I have never dealt with before.
It seems that many psychiatric patients are given a cocktail of medicines and I felt it was almost like an experiment to see what effect each medicine would have on her. Unfortunately I guess that is the nature of the field. The human brain is amazing in its capacity to either help or harm us.
The end result is she eventually began speaking and was released and seemed to have reached a balance of medications that allows her to work part time. I think this is what I would consider a win at this point, in our case.
First the patient should be in a unit with specialized nursing care of these type of patients. Such units go by different names but are available in most modern referral hospitals. Experienced nurses with good leadership are the key to good patient care anywhere, but especially in complex and critically ill patients as you briefly describe.
Second is a “neurological” consult by a neurologist who has specialized in the evaluation and care/plan for patients with these medical Conditions, of coma and its causes, drug toxicity especially that of psychiatric drugs/sedatives which can cause reactions that result in damage to upper “new” brain, and the interpretations of CAT and MR scans, and need for special evaluations of neuro muscular system.
Third is a specialized in hospital physican who is specialized in directing evaluation and care of patients like this.
If this is not available where she is hospitalized than immediate transfer to a tertiary care “university” type hospital where such specialized care is a “routine” matter should be undertaken “yesterday” so to speak.
Last I wish you good luck in navigating a complex medical system which is generally patient unfriendly which is a fact that effects care of all patients. BUt be strong and persistent. In today’s horrendous so called medical system, every “in patient” requires a bedside advocate. Be that for your loved one and do not be afraid of what so called caretakers think.
Sorry to hear the bad news re the lithium overdose to the point of toxicity. You will need an attorney to address the malpractice of the institution that overdosed her. Maybe you should ask BBI for recommendations for medical malpractice attorneys, too, but whatever else do your homework on any attorney you bring on.
Many are just awful and almost all seek their own interests above all else.