Waking up

[LittleFish79]

hi, I’m new here but I feel like I’m going out of my mind.

My Mum (79) ended up in ITU last Thursday following a chest infection, diabetic ketoacidosis and pneumonia. Her sedation has now been reduced but she’s not waking up. She has days when she will spontaneously open her eyes, and when I speak to her she will also open her eyes. However, she’s ‘vacant’. She’s still on the vent and is also having dialysis. I guess my question is, is it normal to take a long time to wake? She’s also not responding to any commands. I talk to her every time I see her.

she’s had a CT head scan which hasn’t shown anything concerning from a neurological perspective.

I feel like im going out of my mind with worry for her and I can’t even think straight.

[Sepsur]

the sedatives maybe taking time to leave her system hence her taking longer to wake probably as a result of dialysis and lack of kidney function

[Lycrawarrior]

Almost exactly a year ago I ended up in ICU and in an induced coma for five days following a bad accident. I had incredible dream experiences and apparently I took quite a while to 'wake up'. My wife was in turmoil. No one knew, or could know, what was going on in my head. Physically I am now well and back to cycling over 100 km a week. However, even now I have difficulty seperating what was reality and what was imaginary over that period. Even when I got home I was looking for things that my sedated mind had dreamed up. Over Christmas my eldest son showed us all a video of me after my release. The lights were on but no one was at home.My point is that it takes a long time to recover your mental capacities after such an experience. It is all a blur for me, and probably will be for your Mum. Time is the healer. I suspect that if she is still on a ventilator it is early days. Look after yourself and your Mum. Accept that when she does properly wake it will still take a while for her to fully recover mentally.

[Ladysurvivor1 in reply to Lycrawarrior]

I was exactly the same but was sedated for nearly two months after getting covid. I still find it difficult to understand what was real at the time from what was just apart of the sedation as at the time it seemed so real. To me I don’t want to dismiss everything as a part of what I went through was what pulled me through eventually 🥰🥰