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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI was just wondering about ventilators
How many of us have actually experienced being put on a ventilator?
I have...twice....
The first time I remember nothing as I was sedated and it was decided that I should be after heart surgery...
The second time was after the surgery....within 24 hours I was gasping for breath and it was decided that I should be intubated...
I was sedated and put back on the ventilator.
Several days later the decision was made to remove me from sedation...but removal of the ventilator tubes doesnt occur until you're conscious...
Take it from me...being conscious with tubes down your throat is one of the most panic inducing feelings you can experience....do much so that your wrists are restrained so that you cannot remove the tubes on your own...
As you slowly regain consciousness you become aware of the fact that your breathing is dependent on a machine
You have no control of the rate of breathing or the amount of breath you can take
..the machine decides.
But prior to the ventilator being hooked back up I vaguely remember trying to breathe...I felt as if I was drowning...and the ventilator was a relief.
I've been a lot of scary positions in my life...some by chooce... but in retrospect that period of my life defines helplessness.
tblue37
(65,490 posts)bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)I'm a veteran...dont ask me how I know....just believe me when I tell you how terrifying it is.
The only advantage you enjoy as a veteran is the knowledge that you will not die...
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)At one point apparently he woke and fought like a demon. Thank god he never remembered that episode. But I have it in my living will never to be put on one. Just no.
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)Unless you have a reason to live....
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)No need for snark. These are hard times for us all.
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)If that's what you got out of it I apologize...
MH1
(17,608 posts)I have never experienced it, and most people haven't.
I'm glad you made it through those experiences and hope you are doing well now.
Doing ok now but will never forget...
Delmette2.0
(4,171 posts)He was in bad shape from sepsis. Of course he couldn't talk, but a nurse brought in an alphabet board. He could eventually spell out questions and comments with a pointer. I could only stay for a week but it helped him a lot to know that his two sons and I knew what was going on, that even though we lived 1,000 miles apart he was not alone.
He died shortly after he was weaned off. The experience haunts me 11 years later.
The boys knew I never wanted to go through that and they didn't want to see me like that either.