Patients who've seen photographs of themselves in... - ICUsteps
Patients who've seen photographs of themselves in ICU often find it helpful to see how ill they were. Did you have had a photograph taken when you were critically ill and how do you feel about that?
I think that it would have helped a great deal because except for the dreams I do not remember any of my stay on the ICU, or even the first 4 days on the Coronary care ward. The nurses and doctors on the ward kept on telling me I had been very ill, but that is about it. My wife cannot really even convey what I was like.
I too have very real memories of things that didn't happen and hardly any that were real in a period where I have 8 missing days. For a long time afterwards I asked everyone I saw for information as I tried to fill that time in, but eventually you realise that no amount of people telling you things will ever fill that gap. I really wish I had photographs (which my husband asked to do but wasn’t allowed) and a diary, as I found out other ICUs do. I agree that it's very hard for one's partner to convey what you (the patient) were like, and often they are too uncomfortable and distressed themselves to want to remember it.
You so hit the nail on the head with respect to spouses. While I don’t share the experience that so many people seem to have had of remembering things that didn’r Happen, I have twelve days that are completely missing, including the hours before my emergency surgery when Apparantly I was totally responsive and even writing emails that were totally coherent and sound like what I would rewrite now.
But my husband has not been able to answer a lot of questions because he was so stressed living through what was going on that he was overwhelmed. There are many things that he just doesn’t remember when it comes to details that I have questions about.
I don’t know why, but today is the first day that I really have been wishing there were pictures, although my surgery was Nov 21, I woke up Dec 3, and I have been back to work since mid January
I have photos and video footage and it helps. Helps show the people that didn't visit me to see how poorly I was and most importantly, me. To make sense of the disorientation I felt and the hallucinations I experienced - one of those is captured too. I couldn't look at this straight away but often refer to it in my own time as yes, most are relieved to see me out of hospital but the psychological recovery is a little further away than my physical one. I am a member of an ICU ex patient support group and the general consensus if most would have liked to have a photo.
Where is this group or how do I find one?
Hi CindyLee, you can see the our member groups here: icusteps.org/support
I would have loved a photo and even video for all the reasons already mentioned. I believe it would have helped me deal with issues.
Hi all.
I was in icu coma for a month and have no recollection whatsoever....I have seen a couple pictures of me literally but weirdly I cannot feel anything just numb.
But I am.glad they are there definitely. My family weren't allowed to take pictures apparently so those 2 I have were sneak captured.
My mum asked if she could take a picture but was ingormed that it was a breach of privacy. Her reasoning was that I wouldn't believe that I was in a coma or how sick I actually was. She was right when I woke up I told her that she was full of it. Hubby did manage to sneak a few and only after seeing them i realised just how ill i was and glad that he took them or still would be thinking they were pullibg my leg.
Can't believe it happened to me. Picture brings it home. It did happen.
