Mrs. Evelyne E. slowly woke up and was confused between hallucination and beginning perception of reality.

Mme Evelyne E. se réveille lentement et est confuse entre hallucination et un début de perception de la réalité.

Alors,  je ne me souviens de toute façon pas quand je suis entrée;  alors,en cours de route, je ne sais pas quand, je me suis réveillée et j'entendais de la musique très fort et dans ma tête je me disais, il y a une fête au village à côté de moi. Mais c'était bizarre, moi j'étais là dans mon lit, suspendue; en fait j'étais droguée je pense et puis j'avais des visions. Puis, je voyais du monde;  et puis tout à coup, j'ai reconnu ma fille et mon fils. Puis j'ai dit: "tiens, ils sont aussi à la fête", mais je les voyais avec distance quand même, ce n'était pas clair ma vision non plus. Puis. après ma fille s'est approchée de moi, puis elle m'a dit tu aimes cette musique? Puis j'allais répondre, puis elle m'a dit tu ne peux pas parce que tu as un tube dans la gorge. Je ne me suis pas posée de questions par rapport à ça. Alors je lui ai fait signe de non, enfin avec la tête. Et puis qu'est-ce que je me souviens de ce passage? Que j'avais envie de communiquer quelque chose et j'ai demandé si je pouvais écrire;  et puis là, ils m'ont passé une ardoise où je pouvais écrire dessus. Mais je ne me rappelle plus du tout ce que je demandais, ce que j'ai écrit,; alors c'est que j'ai oublié depuis. Ça c'est mon premier contact que j'ai eu avec ça, c'était cette fête au village, je pensais qu'on était dans une fête. Ça devait être un peu euphorique, je ne sais pas.

Mme Evelyne E. se réveille lentement et dans la confusion.

La signora Evelyne E. si sveglia lentamente ed è confusa tra l'allucinazione e l'inizio della percezione della realtà.

Allora, non ricordo quando sono entrata comunque; allora, mentre venivo, non so quando, mi sono svegliata e sentivo la musica ad alto volume e nella mia testa pensavo, c'è una festa nel villaggio vicino a me. Ma era strano, ero lì nel mio letto, sospeso; infatti ero drogata, credo, e poi ho avuto delle visioni. Poi ho visto delle persone e improvvisamente ho riconosciuto mia figlia e mio figlio. Poi ho detto: "Bene, anche loro sono alla festa", ma li ho visti da lontano, anche la mia visione non era chiara. Poi mia figlia è venuta da me e mi ha detto: "Ti piace questa musica? Stavo per rispondere, poi lei ha detto che non puoi perché hai un tubo in gola. Non mi sono posta alcuna domanda al riguardo. Così le ho fatto un cenno, beh, con la testa. E poi cosa ricordo di questo passaggio? Che volevo comunicare qualcosa e ho chiesto se potevo scrivere; e poi mi hanno dato una lavagna su cui potevo scrivere. Ma non ricordo affatto cosa ho chiesto, cosa ho scritto, quindi da allora ho dimenticato. Quello è stato il mio primo contatto, era questa festa nel villaggio, pensavo fossimo ad una festa. Deve essere stato un po' euforica, non so.

La signora Evelyne E. si sveglia lentamente e in stato confusionale.

Frau Evelyne E. wachte langsam auf und war verwirrt zwischen Halluzination und beginnender Wahrnehmung der Realität.

Also, ich weiß gar nicht mehr, wann ich reingegangen bin; also, auf dem Weg dorthin, ich weiß nicht, wann, bin ich aufgewacht und habe laute Musik gehört und in meinem Kopf dachte ich, da ist eine Party im Dorf neben mir. Aber es war seltsam, ich lag in meinem Bett und schwebte in der Luft, ich glaube, ich wurde betäubt, und dann hatte ich Visionen. Dann sah ich Menschen, und plötzlich erkannte ich meine Tochter und meinen Sohn. Dann sagte ich: "Nun, sie sind auch auf der Party", aber ich sah sie von weitem, meine Sicht war auch nicht klar. Dann kam meine Tochter auf mich zu und fragte: "Magst du diese Musik? Ich wollte gerade antworten, da sagte sie, dass Sie das nicht können, weil Sie einen Schlauch im Hals haben. Ich habe mir keine Fragen dazu gestellt. Also nickte ich ihr zu, na ja, mit dem Kopf. Und woran erinnere ich mich bei dieser Passage? Ich wollte etwas mitteilen und fragte, ob ich schreiben dürfe, und sie gaben mir eine Schiefertafel, auf die ich schreiben konnte. Aber ich weiß überhaupt nicht mehr, was ich gefragt habe, was ich geschrieben habe, also habe ich es seitdem vergessen. Das ist der erste Kontakt, den ich damit hatte, es war diese Party im Dorf, ich dachte, wir wären auf einer Party. Es muss ein bisschen euphorisch gewesen sein, ich weiß es nicht.

Frau Evelyne E. wachte langsam und sehr verwirrt auf.

So, I don't remember when I went in anyway; so, along the way, I don't know when, I woke up and I was hearing loud music and in my head I was thinking, there's a party in the village next to me. But it was strange, I was there in my bed, suspended; in fact I was drugged I think and then I had visions. Then, I saw people; and then suddenly, I recognized my daughter and my son. Then I said: "well, they are also at the party", but I saw them with distance anyway, it was not clear my vision either. Then. after my daughter approached me, then she said to me you like this music? Then I was going to answer, then she told me you can't because you have a tube in your throat. I didn't ask myself any questions about it. So I nodded my head and said no. And then what do I remember of this passage? That I wanted to communicate something and I asked if I could write; and then they handed me a slate where I could write on it. But I don't remember at all what I asked, what I wrote, so I've forgotten since. This is the first contact I had with it, it was this party in the village, I thought we were at a party. It must have been a bit euphoric, I don't know.

Mrs. Evelyne E. wakes up slowly and in confusion.

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.

Waking up in the ICU.

With the technical and medical possibilities on intensive care a patient can be able to survive life-threatening illnesses. These experiences of critical illness and intensive care medicine are challenging for patients and families. Often experiences made on intensive care unit (ICU) can be life changing.
In small video- or audio-sequences we would like to illustrate the experiences made by patients on ICU and how they handled their stay in this critical situation.
Many patients share their experiences on intensive care unit and show how these experiences influenced their life.

Grazie alle possibilità mediche e tecniche offerte dalla terapia intensiva, oggi un paziente può sopravvivere a malattie gravi e precedentemente 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 scoprire come altre persone hanno vissuto il loro tempo in un’unità di terapia intensiva. In brevi video o estratti di testo, i pazienti raccontano la loro permanenza in terapia intensiva, il modo in cui hanno gestito questo periodo delle loro vite, ed il modo in cui 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

Ms Evelyne E. describes the confusion, between perception of reality and moments of joyfull hallucinations.

Well, talking like that, like they were talking to those two girls, I think that - and not talking to me; I thought I was next to them, but I wasn't involved in their discussion at all. I thought it was weird. I thought, "What am I doing here? They were doing / talking about their classes, their stuff and I was following. And I thought to myself that it's true that even people in a coma can hear. So I don't think I was in a coma, I don't know. I was just waking up, you know. 
But I don't have a bad memory. 
I: So you always think that people, even with their eyes closed, can hear? 
E: Yes. And then I got confused because I thought, what am I doing here? But what am I doing here? I don't know, I didn't understand. 

I: And afterwards, did you understand what was going on with the famous picnic, what it could be, that it was just the people doing their work in the next room? 

E: Afterwards, but not at the time, I was convinced that they were having a picnic, then that they were going to eat, then that they were going to leave. But I thought they were partying too long. To me, they were partying; I was at parties.

Evelyne E. recalls a confusion between reality and happy hallucinations.

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.

Ms Eveline E. listened to the private conversations of the nursing staff, who acted as if she was not present and sometimes felt unnoticed.

I felt like I was next to everybody, not really in the middle. I saw that I was put in a chair, but I don't remember when I got out of bed for example; I was in the chair, and then there were two girls talking to each other.  They were obviously students because they were talking about their classes, their teaching; they were saying that you have to practice to repeat. Then I'm thinking but what am I doing here in between? I didn't understand what I was doing. 

I: Do you feel like people thought you couldn't hear? 

E: It's possible, because I could hear them, but I couldn't see them. So did I have my eyes closed? I don't know. I think I had my eyes closed.

Mrs. Eveline E has memory problems and feels that she was sometines unnoticed.

The intensive care unit is bustling with activity. Clinical teams are busy with intensive patient care and emergencies. The environment is dominated by machines and modern technology that enable survival in critical illness.  In addition, there are team conversations and sounds from neighboring patients. This leads to noise, light, which can be disturbing for the patients.

Evelyne E.

Mrs. Evelyne E. wakes up slowly and in confusion.

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Evelyne E.

Evelyne E.