Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where
we INSTANTLY improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making FAST, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!
This is another episode of “YOUR
QUESTIONS ANSWERED” and in last week’s episode I answered another question from our readers and the question last week was
“MY COUSIN’S HUSBAND IS DYING
IN INTENSIVE CARE AND SHE CAN’T LET GO. HOW CAN I HELP HER?”
You can check out the answer to last week’s question by clicking on the
link here.
In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to answer another question from one of our readers and the question this week comes from a gentleman who has been a Patient in
Intensive Care recently and he is trying to make sense of what happened to him while he was in ICU.
This week Graham asks,
"I WAS
IN INTENSIVE CARE VENTILATED FOR A WEEK AND I DON’T REMEMBER A SINGLE THING, IS THIS NORMAL?"
Hello Patrik,
I have been in ICU for a week and an half, that was and of January 2015. I'm 48
and I was diagnosed with acute Pancreatitis, which to be honest with you had an alcohol factor, as well as other factors. The ICU team put me under heavy sedation, and had to put me on a ventilator 2 times out of 7 days.
I do not have recollection of this. It was mainly for the night, I remember some sort of test like logic test when they woke me up the first time, there were strange questions, anyway they decided to remove the breathing tube.
Is it normal that I vaguely remember anything?
I do remember the second time they removed the breathing tube, but I do not remember either of the nurses face or even if there were people inside the room
Is this common?
Finally, I have only few
recollections of the ICU, to be honest I would not be able to describe you the ICU, I just remember waking up on the non ICU part of the Hospital (this is what I guess because it was at night and no one was there, and I did not even wonder what happened or what day it was. But it did not even register to me that something dramatic had happened to me.
Suspecting ICU Nurses and Doctors are not sedating someone to the point the have to put them on a respirator or ventilator...I just remember the Emergency Room and the nurse putting a catheter and a port for IV.
Is the fact I do not even register the week I was sedated normal ?
Thanks
Regards
Graham
Hi Graham,
thank you for your question!
I
am very sorry to hear what you have gone through!
It's rather normal that Intensive Care Patients who have been on a ventilator, who have been sedated and who have been in an induced coma don't have any recollection of events.
This is nothing uncommon at all.
You shouldn't be too worried about it and of course it's normal to think about your time in Intensive Care and try to make sense of what has happened while you were in Intensive Care.
The reality is that whenever a critically ill Patient needs to go on a ventilator with a breathing tube in their throat, sedation and induced coma go hand in hand with it! Imagine anybody with a breathing tube in their throat without sedation.
Critically ill Patients, generally speaking can't tolerate being awake with a breathing tube sticking down their throat, therefore sedation and pain killers are required in order to make this form of Intensive Care therapy bearable.
Therefore, you shouldn't be too worried about it, as long as you don't have any nightmares. I know that some former Intensive Care Patients have nightmares about being ventilated and sedated and I think as long as that's not the case you
shouldn't be too worried about it.
Finally, the last part of your question, it is once again nothing unusual to not have any recollection about your ICU or even
hospital admission. Some ex-ICU Patients remember coming to hospital/ ER and then the next thing they remember is "being back on a ward" and they can't remember their time in Intensive Care at all.
Of course as always, people are different and from my experience, most people have a similar experience and they can barely remember anything about their time in Intensive Care!
And no, Intensive Care teams don't sedate non-ventilated Patients to the point where they have to put somebody on a ventilator.
Here are also some links to articles that will help you to understand what has happened while you were in Intensive Care(click on the links)
You should also check out www.ICUsteps.org a UK based support website for ex-ICU Patients.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
I can also be available for a free 20 minute Skype consultation. My Skype ID is patrik.hutzel. Just email me to support@intensivecarehotline.com to set an
appointment!
Wishing you all the best!
Your friend
Patrik Hutzel
If you have a question you need answered, just hit reply to this email or send it to me at support@intensivecarehotline.com
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Your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
Critical Care Nurse
Founder& Editor
WWW.INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM