Mr. Dante D. describes the long road he took to get rehabilitated.

Il signor Dante D. descrive il lungo percorso della sua riabilitazione.

E : ...sì, certo. Ad esempio, non mi sono accorto quando mi hanno intubato, quando mi hanno curato, quando mi hanno indotto il coma artificiale. Non senti più nulla, poi ti risvegli e dici: «Bene, ho superato la fase più difficile, ora si va avanti, voilà, sta a me dare il mio contributo per uscirne completamente». E questo atteggiamento mi ha accompagnato soprattutto durante la riabilitazione, perché ero fisicamente molto debole, soprattutto quando sono uscito dalla clinica di riabilitazione: ho iniziato a fare passeggiate di chilometri ogni giorno. Prima 3, poi 5, poi 10 chilometri e poi anche un po' di bicicletta, e voilà, quasi ogni giorno.

Allenarsi

M. Dante D. décrit son long chemin de réhabilitation.

E : ...oui, bien sûr. Par exemple, je n'ai pas remarqué quand ils m'ont intubé, quand ils m'ont soigné, donc quand ils m'ont mis dans un coma artificiel. Là, on ne sent plus rien, on se réveille à nouveau et on se dit : « Voilà, j'ai passé la phase la plus difficile, à partir de maintenant on va de l'avant, voilà, c'est à moi d'apporter ma contribution pour m'en sortir complètement ». Et cette attitude m'a particulièrement accompagné pendant la rééducation par la suite, parce que j'étais extrêmement affaibli physiquement surtout quand je suis sorti de la clinique de rééducation où j'ai commencé à faire des kilomètres de marche tous les jours : d'abord 3, puis 5, puis 10 kilomètres et ensuite aussi un peu de vélo et voilà, presque tous les jours.

S'entraîner.

Herr Dante D. beschreibt den langen Weg seiner Rehabilitation.

E : ...ja, klar. Zum Beispiel habe ich nicht gemerkt, als sie mich intubiert haben, als sie mich kuriert, als sie mich also ins künstliche Koma versetzt haben. Da spürt man nichts mehr, man erwacht wieder und sagt sich: «So, die schwierigste Phase habe ich geschafft, ab jetzt geht es vorwärts, voilà, es liegt an mir meinen Beitrag zu leisten um vollständig da rauszukommen." Und diese Einstellung hat mich besonders in der Rehabilitation begleitet nachher, weil ich physisch extrem geschwächt war besonders als ich aus der Rehabilitationsklinik raus kam wo ich anfing täglich kilometerlange Spaziergänge zu machen: zuerst 3, dann 5, dann 10 Kilometer und danach auch ein wenig Velofahren und voilà, fast täglich.

Sich trainieren.

Silvia

E : ...yes, of course. For example, I didn't notice when they intubated me, when they cured me, when they put me into an induced coma. You don't feel anything anymore, you wake up again and say to yourself: “So, I've got through the most difficult phase, now it's time to move on, voilà, it's up to me to do my bit to get out of it completely.” And this attitude accompanied me particularly during my rehabilitation afterwards, because I was physically extremely weakened, especially when I got out of the rehabilitation clinic where I started to go for long walks every day: first 3, then 5, then 10 kilometers and then a little cycling and voilà, almost every day.

Training.

Leaving intensive care is not the end of the story. Patients talk about the importance of exercise, walking and rehabilitation to return to a (near) normal life.

Need to train to recover

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

Susanne

Corine

E : I experienced it in my own person and... So I had the feeling, even more, I really had the feeling - especially on the part of the nursing staff etc., motivated people who fought, who did everything to make us feel comfortable and especially helped us to get out of the situation. If you read the newspapers away, away / the electronic newspapers etc. the list of the dead and unfortunately also an acquaintance and a friend who had died... eh... you said: well, a switch flipped in your head, like: ‘Let's help them help us’.
I : And do you remember having nightmares or feeling pain or having near-death paralyses in those days?
E : No. No. No, it was always a positive thought. Confident in the people I knew, erm, confident, but really calm! I knew that I was in good hands and... confident in the very positive behaviour and commitment of the nursing staff, the nurse, one brought the food, the other....

Trust

Most patients praise the clinical team. It was a difficult time and they are grateful to have survived.

Gratitude and recognition for the clinical team’s help and support

Mr. Dante D is positive about the team and therapy.

I : How do you feel when you think back to those days in the intensive care unit?
E : Well, logically happy to be out.
I : Ok.
E : First of all, I hope not to go back in either. But I don't have any bad memories, I don't... Apart from the fact that it's clearly better to be healthy than ill, but if I had to go back into intensive care because of an illness, I would have no problem going. ... not afraid.
I : Ok, now the last question. Would you like to give any advice or feedback to the nurses, the doctors or the team in the medical department? 
E : Hmmm... well, above all I would like to give particularly positive feedback.  I am very happy about what I have seen, the commitment, the fighting spirit of the nursing staff. I saw the roommate at a certain moment (we were all full to the brim then), he turned at night and the needle of the vein falls halfway out, and to see the nurse fighting and swearing to be able to put the needle back in... that was a lot at that time. And all of that was very positive.... And yes. I'd rather not give feedback to the doctors, by now I know them.... and they know it!

Positive memories

Mr. Dante gradually comes out of the coma and complains of intense thirst and noise.

So: first it was a quick decision. As I told you, they told me the diagnosis was that, the infiltration to the lungs was there, the saturation was very low, "we assist you with ventilation, so we intuit you".  
And then, at that moment, there is the artificial coma, you are  curarized and then I was out for... 4 nights, 5 days.
Voilà. Then on the fifth day they woke me up, and they left me for two more days in a semi-conscious state, of awakening, etc., calm, just in intensive care. At that time my memories are bom first impressions a bit 'noise .
People who went back and forth at all hours, they were worried, regularly coming to measure my parameters, etc. .  
And the most unpleasant thing I had was that sensation of mouth dryness, tongue completely dehydrated, dry, probably due to the fact of oxygenation. 
With so much oxygen that tended to dry out the whole oral cavity. 

I: And he told me that he was hearing noises. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

E: Well, the noises are there quietly in sleep and it was clearly a moment of strong occupation of the intensive care, as it was in the period of acute spread of the disease, so nurses come and go, move materials, move beds, move trolleys, move here and move there and then ... there is a continuous background noise.

Mr. Dante D. remembers the thirst and the noise.

There is no typical way to wake up in an ICU after coma or sedation. In fact, patients are usually confused, have lost track of time and do not immediately know where they are.  Their unfamiliar surroundings take them by surprise and are sometimes unpleasant: In some cases, patients cannot speak, are thirsty and feel helpless.

Dante D.

Training.

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Dante D.

Dante D.