Ever been in a coma ? What did you remember ?

Question

I just don't understand how people can live while being in a coma ? I mean, basically your just laying there unconscious. I've heard of people laying in a coma's for months, yet once they wake up, they seem fine. How do they get fed ? How do they use bathroom...etc

It must be difficult for family and friends, to watch a loved one living through a coma.

Regards

Jordan

Answer 1

"Coma" is a Latin word which means "sleep of death". However, that is not always the case.

I was once in a coma for 8 days. I don't remember anything. I was fed via IV (I lost a huge amount of weight), I had a urinary catheter for bathroom purposes, I had an endotracheal tube attached to a ventilator to keep me breathing and various medications to keep me alive.

It was a medically induced coma, where I was kept under with the use of anesthetic drugs. This was to actually help my body recover from devastating injuries caused by a car accident.

Yes, it is difficult to watch and wait. I can only imagine what my family went through. I recovered well but I have absolutely no memory of the car accident or first 2 weeks in the hospital. When I was finally brought out of the coma, it was a few days before I was once again coherent.

EMT

Answer 2

My husband was in a coma for several days after a serious car accident and head trauma. He was fed through a feeding tube and had a catheter for going to the bathroom. He doesn't remember anything about the accident or being in a coma. He has blocks of memory for what happened after he woke up. When he woke up, he wasn't "fine", he was very confused, and it took him a long time to get back to normal. However, considering how close he was to not making it, he was great and it was a miracle that he is here today, with no permanent damage other than some scars.

Answer 3

No, I haven't, but have known of people who lived through a coma. There is a catheter for kidney functions. Yes, it's extremely difficult for family and friends. They are fed by feeding tubes in the arm veins. Once they wake up, they can't remember the "accident" that put them in a coma.

Answer 4

I wasn't in a coma, but I had a grand mall seizure in 5th grade during lunch. (I still remember and I'm 50 now. The school called and told my mom I was "sick". She arrived as they were putting me in an ambulance, unconscious.) I could hear all my friends talking to me and calling my name and I could see myself going under the table. Turns out I had viro encephalitis from a mosquito bite. They say that people in comas can hear all that goes on around them but they cannot let people know. The hospital uses catheters for the urine and usually put in colostomy bags for the bms. They are fed through feeding tubes, a liquid diet. My mom had to be fed that way for many months. My sisters wanted me to let "mom go" and tell her she could die. I don't know why people think any of us has that power over another. It is difficult to watch but the hope that they will come out "fine" is overwhelming.

Answer 5

They are put on ventilators which breathe for them, pumps their lungs, etc. They have a feeding tube inserted in them which feeds them (it pumps nutrients into their stomachs) and they have a catheter put in their urethra's to solve the bathroom issue. I was in a coma for 10 days back in 2005. I don't remember anything about what they were doing to me. I woke up and was still on the ventilator and with all the tubes still in me. Basically, when you're in a coma, machines are living for you since you can't do it for yourself.

Answer 6

First Lady is right. I've been there to. I was on the ventilator for a month. I remember nothing. I only know what family members have told me. It's just strange to have lost that time.

Answer 7

i develop into very close to to going right into a Diabetic coma approximately 15 years in the past! I remember waking up in the wellness facility with my relatives watching me & being like WTF is going on? it is humorous now!