Recovery time?

[Lellynelly1]

This is probably a daft question. I was in ICU in December for 20 days and life support for 9 of those. It was after CAR-T treatment for terminal cancer. I had Cytokine Release Syndrome, Grade 4 Neurotoxicity, Seizures, Pneumonia, Encephalitis, Influenza A, Kidney damage, and sepsis. I was discharged from hospital on January 9th. I still am pretty fatigued some days. Although some days I can go for a short walk, cook some vegetables and tidy up. My upper arms are weak and the muscles painful (they were ok before) I am still trying to process both real and imaginary memories, and the fact that my family came to say goodbye on Dec 12th whilst I was in a coma critically ill yet here I am, alive and well. I have some word finding problems and some working memory issues, but other than that I’m ok. I’m just wondering when I can reasonably expect to be back to normal. I know it’s one of those things that varies but I thought I’d be ok by now - 4 months down the line.

[jojokarak]

It's usually up to a year sorry to say but they use some pretty strong drugs

Don't beat yourself up just do what you can a little at a time and you will gradually build your muscles up plenty of protein should help as well ☺️

Your memories will never disappear but they will fade x

[Sepsur]

Hi Lellynelly1

Take comfort that what you are describing is very common for people after critical care. Most of my symptoms have slowly diminished and they are a combination of chronic fatigue, ICU acquired weakness, muscle waste & cognitive dysfunction - what a load of crap we have to deal with after critical care. I was reliably told that it takes between 10-14 days to recover from everyday you are in hospital.

I was advised to keep up with my physio regime for atleast a year a-but that was me 😀. Patience & perseverance my friend.

[AKAICUsurvivor]

And - there is no such thing as a daft question 😀