Tiffiny
Hello. My father had a cerebral aneurysm 4 years ago. He died twice and was brought back both times. A year later, he had another one removed surgically before it could rupture. My family has accepted the fact that the man who went into the hospital 4 years ago will never exist again.. he has brain damage. He is not retarded. If anything, he is more intelligent than before... but his personality is altered. Physically, he's in the best shape of his life at the age of 42. Psychologically... he is different than most would expect. Considering that there isn't much physical damage, the new person we deal with daily is a surprise. He's very angry and depressed, and his sense of humor has all but disappeared. He may be having a normal conversation about his dog.. and in the next instant take off on his motorcycle with a .44 magnum to chase someone who was playing their music too loud on the highway. The change can happen in an instant. Within 2 years of the rupture, he was off all medication. The only thing he takes now is Doxipin. But he also smokes marijuana.. which has a very prominent effect. 3 weeks ago, his primary care physician (I can't believe he did this) prescribed Wellbutrin to help him quit smoking cigarettes. We immediately noticed a stutter and some twitching.. but he refused to stop taking the medicine, as he wanted to quit smoking for my mother's birthday on the 28th of November. Today is the 14th. For the last 2 weeks, we've noticed a definite increase in anger, anxiety, depression, and paranoia. He demanded entrance to the chemical plant where my mother works because he was convinced she had a secret life there.. because she works so many hours. He held a gun to his head, and my brother (22 year-old expectant father) had to wrestle the gun from his hands. We find him crying in dark corners often.. and he's started keeping a small derringer in his pocket. One of his so-called friends has also been giving him LSD.. 4 days ago, my mother came home from work to find him crying and angry. She left, and called my brother to go to the house because she said she just couldn't take it anymore. When my brother got to the house, he found dad in a fetal position in the middle of the bed, still crying. He told dad he needed help, and that he should get in the car with him. When dad said no, my brother said he would physically force him to go if he did not do it on his own free will. Dad threatened to shoot him. My brother then said he would have the police take Dad to a hospital for treatment, and stood up to get the phone. Dad fell into a seizure (triggered by the Wellbutrin), and died. My brother beat his chest until he started to breathe again, and called an ambulance. Dad had another seizure on the way to the hospital. By the time I got there (I lvie 2 hours away), Dad was drugged and sleeping. The next morning, the doctors came to transfer him from Emergency to ICU. When he realized the paperwork was for a transfer and not a release, he charged for the door. My brother held him back, along with 6 orderlies. In ICU, he was relatively calm. He hates hospitals and knows how to get out of them. The last time he was in a hospital and refused to eat, he was told he would not leave until he ate something. So he bragged to me that he would be out soon because he was eating all of his meals in the ICU. Only once did he lose control and demand to be let out, threatening to sue the hospital for keeping him there against his will. Later that night, he was transferred again, this time to the psychiatric ward. He has been through mental institutions before to be treated for alcoholism, and he also knows how he should behave in order to be let out. He displayed none of the anger and violent attitude he'd been keeping on display for the past 3 days. We knew he was simply manipulating the doctors so they would let him out.. we told them he needed to be provoked and not pampered so they could see who he really is and do something about it. Since he's been sober, he's been a Coca-Cola addict. They told us he could have coke, as long as he consumed it while we were visiting. When I brought him a coke yesterday, and they offered to pour it into a cup for him, he demanded the entire can. When told he could not have the can for security purposes, he began to yell profanities and ran to the wall, trying to jump over. The psychiatrist has said it is possible that Dad has multiple personalities as a result of the brain trauma from the aneurysm. He also believes he is manic depressive. He would not tell us where his guns or his marijuana are hidden so we can remove them. He's very uncooperative and refuses to understand that anything is wrong with him. This morning, he told my mother and brother (I came back home last night) where the guns and drugs are, that he wants to leave the hospital and continue to receive outpatient help, and that he understand something is wrong and just wants to get help and be okay. The last time he said that.. he was releases from the hospital, stopped going to outpatient therapy within a week, and was back to himself in less than a month. My family seems to think he is more sincere this time and really does want help... but I just don't know. Any ideas on what could really be wrong with him.. and how we can best help him.. or at least understand him?? Tiffiny