feefifofum
Active member
My mum was on a ventilator in an induced coma for 6-7 weeks in 2007 (partly why she wasn't a candidate later on as they knew she wouldn't come off it again), and the stuff she could remember happening in the ICU was incredible! There was a girl who had attempted suicide (and sadly ultimately succeeded) which my mum remembered and later verified with a nurse (no personal info given of course). She remembered a lot of her time in the coma as being peaceful and she knew she wasn't afraid of death after experiencing that, but she also suffered terrible night terrors for the rest of her life. She was an ex nurse herself so I think she was surprised by how it affected heri have never seen a known terminal cancer patient ventilated. My clinical practice was in critical care and trauma. All patients were in the ICU bc they needed ventilation and other advanced support. They were taken off of it if they were deemed brain dead with no chance of survival without mechanical assistance. There is a very designed process for medical assessment of this. The family is consulted yet some insist on continuing in hopes of a miracle. One such case went to the Canadian Supreme Court and the family actually won. Once a patient goes on a ventilator the medical team cannot remove it unless the family agrees. It has changed the way this intervention is implemented in the first place. There are very specific guidelines for it. Being a known terminal patient is one of them. I don't think Jenny’s family would keep her on it for long if they actually knew what was involved. The patient is put into a medically induced coma so that they don’t fight against the machine or grab at the breathing tube or other lines. They can hear you though, its like your foggy mind is floating around in a body that is totally paralyzed. I’ve had it described to me many times by recovered patients. Some actually came back after recovery to thank us for their care and they recounted hearing our conversations to them during their stay. They remembered our voices and could identify us later. That was the good thing about it bc they recovered and their loved ones were encouraged to speak to them or to provide headphones for them to listen to their fav music to allow them to rest their minds. I really hope that Jenny doesn’t have to endure this bc she has no hope of recovery. Comfort and hospice care is the moral, ethical and humane treatment at this point. Sorry for the clinical detail but it is often not known by families in advance. Outwardly they see a patent seemingly resting peacefully but inside their mind and body they are anything but at peace
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It's so traumatic isn't it...she only passed in December 2022 and for months after I definitely had PTSD with flashbacks constantly. She knew she would never be a candidate (you can probably see my comment above explaining why), but when she realised it was the end of the road it was heartbreaking. To make matters worse, my sister was heavily pregnant with her first kid (born a few days later) and that was what my mum was most sad about before she slipped into unconsciousness. She was so sad she never got to meet him. My sister even asked if they would do an emergency section so my mum could meet him but the HDU nurse shut it right down as we all had RSV at this point. Such an awful time. This is like therapyI'm very sorry that you and your family had to witness this. I have been through it myself and its actually very traumatic (I am still affected by what I witnessed now).
Being told a family member isn't a candidate for ventilation is heartbreaking. Logically my head understands that and the reasons behind it, but its very heavy on the heart.