Because he was not in a coma, Mr. Charles C. remembered his ICU stay.

Poiché non era in coma, il signor Charles C. ricorda molto bene il suo soggiorno nel reparto di terapia intensiva.

I: Quello che ricordi, è davvero quello che ricordi tu stesso o è quello che la gente ti ha detto dopo? 
E: No, è quello che ricordo io stesso. Di solito scrivo queste esperienze e prendo nota di ciò che devo ricordare. E poi dopo, naturalmente, un anno dopo hai ancora le impressioni di quello che è successo, che è quello che ti ho dato per cominciare. Ma è quello che ricordo io, non quello che mi dicevano gli altri. 

I: E così mi hai detto che hai preso degli appunti. 

E: Sì, li stavo leggendo stamattina per le cure intensive che ho avuto nel 2012 nel (nome dell'ospedale) e lì, è, ho fatto delle note più precise. Questa volta, in (luogo 1) non era davvero necessario perché non c'era molto da scrivere. Si trattava solo di tenere sotto controllo i monitor dietro di me ed era quel genere di cose che stavo facendo.

Il signor Charles C. è rimasto sveglio in terapia intensiva e si ricorda bene.

Da er nicht im Koma lag, erinnert sich Herr Charles C. sehr gut an seinen Aufenthalt auf der Intensivstation.

I: Woran erinnern Sie sich, ist es wirklich das, woran Sie sich selbst erinnern, oder ist es das, was die Leute danach zu Ihnen gesagt haben? 
E: Nein, es ist das, woran ich mich selbst erinnere. Normalerweise schreibe ich diese Erlebnisse auf und notiere mir einfach, was ich mir merken muss. Und dann, ein Jahr später, hat man natürlich immer noch Eindrücke von dem, was passiert ist, und das ist das, was ich Ihnen für den Anfang mitgegeben habe. Aber es ist das, woran ich mich erinnere, nicht das, was mir andere Leute erzählt haben. 

I: Und Sie sagten mir, Sie hätten sich Notizen gemacht. 

E: Ja, ich habe sie heute Morgen für die soins intensifs gelesen, die ich 2012 im (Name des Krankenhauses) hatte, und dort habe ich mir genauere Notizen gemacht. Dieses Mal, in (Ort 1), war das wirklich nicht nötig, weil es nicht viel zu notieren gab. Es ging nur darum, die Monitore hinter mir im Auge zu behalten, und das war es, was ich gemacht habe.

Mr. Charles C. blieb auf der Intensivstation wach und erinnert sich gut.

Comme il n'était pas dans le coma, M. Charles C. se souvient très bien de son séjour dans l'unité de soins intensifs.

I : Ce dont tu te souviens, c'est vraiment ce dont tu te souviens toi-même ou c'est ce que les gens t'ont dit après ? 
E : Non, c'est ce dont je me souviens moi-même. En général, j'écris ces expériences et je note ce dont je dois me souvenir. Et puis après bien sûr, un an plus tard, vous avez encore des impressions de ce qui s'est passé, c'est ce que je vous ai donné pour commencer. Mais c'est ce dont je me souviens, pas ce que les autres m'ont dit. 

I : Et vous m'avez dit que vous aviez pris des notes. 

E : Oui, je les lisais tout à l'heure ce matin pour les soins intensifs que j'ai eus en 2012 à (nom de l'hôpital) et là, c'est, j'ai pris des notes plus précises. Cette fois-ci, à (lieu 1), ce n'était vraiment pas nécessaire parce qu'il n'y avait pas grand-chose à noter. Il s'agissait juste de garder un œil sur les moniteurs derrière moi et c'est ce genre de choses que je faisais.

M. Charles C. est resté éveillé en USI et se souvient bien.

I: What do you remember, is really what you remember yourself or it’s what people have said to you after? 
E: No, it’s what I remember myself. I usually write up these experiences and just keep a note what I need to remember. And then afterwards of course, a year later you still have impressions of what happened, which is what I gave you to start with. But it’s what I remember, not what other people were telling me. 

I: And so you told me you have taken some notes. 

E: Yes, I was reading them earlier this morning for the intensive care that I had in 2012 in the (name of the hospital) and there, it’s, I made more precise notes. This time, in (location 1) it was really not necessary because there wasn’t very much to write down. It was just a matter of keeping a check on the monitors behind me and it was that sort of thing that I was doing.

Mr. Charles C. remained awake in the ICU and remembers well.

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.

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

Mr. Charles C. remembers very unpleasant hallucinations of smell and taste.

And there, it was a more difficult thing. I was in a coma for four days and I was losing weight and it was difficult to feed me. And I was on morphine quite heavily. And that gave me all sorts of problems: one, the most severe, was the sense of smell and of taste, which I reckon was augmented a hundred times. So, one little grain of sugar in water was impossible to drink. Smells, I could / I felt I could smell like a wolf smells. I could / I knew what was happening around me, not from a directional point of view, but that was very difficult.  And,  the only problem I had there then, was getting over to the people who were dealing with me:   that I couldn’t eat these things or drink these things, because the taste was too strong. And each time I would take a glass of even water, or orange juice, I would be vomiting, because of the strength of the taste. That was something that I found in, you know. It was I guess about a day and a half before I really managed to convince someone that I wasn’t exaggerating. And we think that the reason was the morphine, but it may not have been. It may have been swollen mouth or whatever.

Mr. Charles C. suffered from an olfactory hallucination.

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.

Despite the constant noise of the ICU, Mr. Charles C. felt safe and was impressed with the efficiency of the clinical team.

I remember unfortunate! No,  I remember the efficiency and the ease with which people operated. You felt that you were in very good and safe hands. That’s one impression that I have. The second impression is, it was frustratingly,  difficult to sleep at night because of the commotion going on,  because of the discussions outside the room and,  you know. I commented about it a few times. But. So two impressions: one, they really take care of you. Two, sound doesn’t seem to be an important thing. Because they got lots of things to do. And therefore, at night when you’re supposed to be asleep, you can’t be asleep, you know so two little things.

Mr. Charles C talks about the efficiency of the ICU

Patients generally have a good impression of the clinical team, which they consider professional and very active. They are often confused about what is going on, and tired because of the severity of their illness. Noise and lights may bother them, but they usually feel safe in this intensive care unit.

Patient’s typical perceptions

Mr. Charles C. used headphones to avoid being bothered by the noise.

E: And the only other negative that I have was  that a hospital functions 24 hours a day. Everyone is working and doing things 24 hours a day. The norm is that one tries to sleep during the night, but the people who are working 24 hours a day carry on as if there is no day and night. So noise disturbance is quite frequent. And I found that particularly in (location 1). And in the end, I would put on noise cancellation headphones if I was trying to sleep at night. Because, you know, whether it was two people outside in the common space who were talking at a distance and giggling and joking about things, the noise disturbance was there. And I mentioned it a few times and, you know, I got the feeling that I was just being a grumpy old man and maybe I was.

Mr. Charles C. used headphones against noise.

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.

Charles C.

Mr. Charles C. remained awake in the ICU and remembers well.

Video Interview

Related experiences

Other experiences by Charles C.

Charles C.