Mr. Henry H. learned to be patient because rehabilitätion takes time.

Il signor Henry H. imparò ad essere paziente perché la riabilitazione richiede tempo.

E : Beh, considerando che ero completamente paralizzato. Altri ci mettono un anno o due prima di tornare a funzionare più o meno normalmente. Sì, dopo due mesi riuscivo a camminare.
I : Fantastico.
E : Sì, ancora un po' traballante, ma riuscivo anche a disegnare di nuovo. Il primo disegno era una MINI Cooper. Era tutto tremolante. Ho disegnato un incidente d'auto. È stato divertente.

La riabilitazione richiede tempo

M. Henry H. a appris à être patient car la réhabilitation prend du temps.

E : Donc pour avoir été complètement paralysé. Pour d'autres, il faut un an ou deux pour retrouver un certain fonctionnement. Oui, après ces deux mois, j'ai pu marcher.
I : Super.
E : Oui, encore un peu chancelant, mais je pouvais à nouveau dessiner. Le premier dessin était une MINI Cooper. Il était tout tremblant. J'ai dessiné un accident de voiture. C'était vraiment drôle.

La réadaptation a besoin de temps

Herr Henry H. hat gelernt, geduldig zu sein, denn Rehabilitation braucht Zeit.

E : Also für das, dass ich ganz gelähmt war. Andere habe ein Jahr oder zwei, bis sie wieder einigermassen funktionieren. Ja, nach den zwei Monaten konnte ich laufen.
I : Super.
E : Ja, noch ein bisschen wackelig aber und ich konnte auch wieder zeichnen. Die erste Zeichnung war so ein MINI Cooper. Das war so verzittert. Da habe ich ein Autounfall gezeichnet. Das war noch lustig.

Rehabilitation braucht Zeit

Susanne

E : So for the fact that I was completely paralyzed. Others have a year or two before they can function again to some extent. Yes, after two months I was able to walk.
I : Great.
E : Yes, still a bit wobbly but I was able to draw again. The first drawing was a MINI Cooper. It was so shaky. I drew a car accident. That was really funny.

Rehabilitation needs time

So in order to move on with your life, you need to process and categorise what you have experienced. This is a long process and being discharged from intensive care can be a very stressful time for patients.

Learning from the experience of the intensive care unit (ICU)

Today's medical and technological advances allow patients to survive serious and life-threatening illnesses. Experiencing such a serious illness that requires intensive care treatment can have a profound impact on one's life.

In this section, you can learn how other people experienced their time in an intensive care unit. In short video or text excerpts, patients and their families share their experiences with a serious, often life-threatening illness and treatment in an intensive care unit. You can also learn about the changes those affected deal with after their time in the intensive care unit.

Grazie alle possibilità mediche e tecniche offerte dalla terapia intensiva, oggi un paziente può sopravvivere a malattie gravi che in passato erano mortali. L’esperienza di queste gravi condizioni di salute e l’esperienza della terapia intensiva possono cambiare la vita in modo radicale, sia ai pazienti che ai loro cari.

In questa sezione potete capire come altri pazienti hanno vissuto il loro periodo in un reparto di terapia intensiva. In brevi video o estratti di testo, i pazienti raccontano la loro permanenza in questo reparto, il modo in cui hanno gestito questo periodo della loro vita, e come questa esperienza li ha cambiati.

Esperienze in terapia intensiva

Les possibilités médicales et techniques permettent de plus en plus souvent aux patients de survivre à des maladies graves et autrefois mortelles. L’expérience par les patients de ces maladies graves et de leur prise en charge médicale en soins intensifs peuvent changer la vie d’une manière très mémorable.

Dans cette section, vous découvrirez comment d’autres personnes ont vécu leur séjour dans une unité de soins intensifs. Dans de courts extraits vidéo ou textuels, les patients rendent compte de leur séjour à l’unité de soins intensifs. Ils témoignent également des changements qui peuvent se produire dans la vie d’une personne après les soins intensifs.

Expérience en médecine de soins intensifs

Die heutigen medizinischen und technischen Möglichkeiten lassen Patient*innen schwere und lebensbedrohliche Erkrankungen überstehen. Die Erfahrung einer so schweren Erkrankung, die eine intensivmedizinischen Behandlung benötigt, kann das Leben sehr einprägsam verändern.

Wie andere Menschen die Zeit auf einer Intensivstation erlebt haben, können Sie in dieser Sektion erfahren. In kurzen Video- oder Textausschnitten berichten Patient*innen und Angehörige,  über die Erfahrungen einer schweren oft lebensbedrohlichen Erkrankung und einer Behandlung auf einer Intensivstation. Ebenso können Sie erfahren, mit welchen Veränderungen die Betroffenen sich nach der Zeit auf der Intensivstation auseinandersetzen.

Erfahrungen Intensivmedizin

Experiences in Intensive Care

Corine

Mr. Henri H had nightmares in which he saw himself lying helpless and afraid.

In every dream I was lying somewhere. I could not move. 
 I was lying in a room. I uh / so, mostly in a room or in a garage or where the dream took place. 
No problem. I just couldn't move. 
I: What did that do to you? 
E: Helpless. Fear. Not being able to escape from the situation. So, I was just lying there. Whether it was in a restaurant or in a hospital or in some other room, in a storeroom, in a garage, I lay everywhere.

Mr. Henri H remembers nightmares and fear.

Many patients report experiences that can be associated with hallucinations and confusion. These  memories are often present for months after hospitalization.

Delusion/hallucination/ dreams/anxiety.

Mr. Henry H. felt a little lost, and this feeling between real and unreal remains difficult to explain.

Yes. I had the feeling. Yes. It wasn't like that. They were trying to help me. But when you're yeah in a nightmare and so half and half awake / uh yeah. It's hard to explain. It's so real, unreal.

Mr. Henry H. was feeling a little disoriented.

Many patients in the ICU experience the state of coma or sedation. Coma can be caused by changes in metabolism, the severe illness, or sedating and pain-relieving medications. Thus, patients often experience their time in the ICU in a fragmented way and forget much of the experience.

Coma/Sedation

Mr. Henry H. explains how his state of consciousness oscillated between dream and reality when he came out of the coma.

I: That's right. How long were you in an induced coma? 
E: I was only in an induced coma for a few days. 
 But then they had trouble getting me out of the coma again.
I don't know. 
I: Did you notice anything about that, if. 
E: Yes.
I: Yes? Can you tell me a little bit about that? 
E: I had nightmares. 
Well, I had quite intense nightmares. 
I never had that before. 
And I haven't had it since.
They were such different stories and in between the stories, I heard from a distance, the doctor's voice. 
He said his name. 
And that came and disappeared again. It was like being caught in a / I was like being caught in a box. 
In such a / yes, when I came out of the dream, like in a goo. Yes, and from far away I heard the voice at the beginning. 
Then it disappeared again and I sank back into a dream. 
That's how it seemed to me. So, into the next one and this voice became louder and louder. 
E: And at some point it became bright. It was like when a box is opened. 
And it became clearer and clearer. 
And finally, at some point, I was awake.

Mr. Henry H. tells us about his oscillating state of consciousness.

For Mr. Henry H., the diary written by a friend was helpful to remember.

That's enough, I know even today except for one, two just these blankets, this sister or this aunt. Yes. Otherwise, I don't really know anything. Everything I know, I then got here from this text. That helped me quite a bit.
I: Did that help you? 
E: Yes, that helped me. It gave me a little bit of a sense of time, what was when. I was in a mess. 
I: Yeah. Basically, it's a diary of what your girlfriend kept for you for that time. 
E: Something along those lines.Yes.

Mr. Henry H. uses a diary to tell his story.

Our interviewees often have to deal with memory gaps. Their descriptions are a mixture of what they experienced themselves,what is added afterwards by relatives or team members, or feelings/emotions to which they give words afterwards. Regardless of these limitations, it is important to note that these memories represent real experiences for the patient.

Forgetting: remembering with the help of other people.

Mr. Henri H. explains that his aggressiveness, which was possible from time to time in intensive care, was mainly a manifestation of his feelings of fear.

E : That aggression usually arises from fear. I assume that most people realise this from their reactions. But there are also people who naturally get respect.
I : Mhm.
E : And I don't know how far that goes. I just held on tight or pushed people away.
I : Mhm.
E : I couldn't do much more than that. But I think that in most cases, people see it as fear and not as aggression.

Helplessness can make you aggressive

.Patients are aware of their inability to be and act autonomously. They suffer from the fact that the team often does not understand what they are feeling. This feeling of discomfort is accompanied by forced patience, often by fear or anxiety, and sometimes by aggression. On the other hand, they appreciate the clinical team's expertise in this area.

Henri H.

Rehabilitation needs time

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Henri H.

Henri H.