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This has to be a "worst nightmare" for most people. I came across a guy a very long time ago who had been in a long term care unit after an auto accident for so
by hestipod 7y ago
This has to be a "worst nightmare" for most people. I came across a guy a very long time ago who had been in a long term care unit after an auto accident for something like 15 years at that point. The story I was told, and I don't know it's veracity, is that he was resuscitated against his stated wishes and the hospital was paying for his care forever. His eyes would open but he didn't respond in any way to any stimulus that I saw. He had a feeding tube if I recall, and breathed on his own without ventilator support. He was a swollen belly with stringy arms and legs as atrophy did it's thing. The nurses moved him around to prevent ulcerations and tended to his "survival". It was terribly disconcerting and I hope to god he wasn't aware because that sounds like hell.
As @ggm mentioned the documents...everyone should get an advanced directive. Anyone can do it and you don't have to have a reason, unlike a DNR which has more restrictions and requires a doctor's approval. A living will/advanced directive is a 5min bit of paperwork you can get done free at hospitals and doctors offices in most places. Submt it for your medical record and keep a copy in your emergency papers. Unsure how much it would have helped the guy above as I don't know the full story, but it's easy to do and important to have. I've seen loads of cases where people were strung along barely or not even "alive" by any metric other than "technically". for months and years and families fought over care etc. Don't put it off as tomorrow might be the day you need it.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoI suspect after enough months of no stimulus you just go unconscious. Your brain learns to be conscious why wouldn’t your brain learn not to be. It’s normal mode is to stop caring about noise.
- jimmaswell 7y agoLearn morse code so you can communicate with any action you can do, like in Johnny Got His Gun (the basis for One by Metallica)
- baddox 7y agoThat only works if anyone is “listening.”
- felipemnoa 7y agoSOS is pretty recognizable even by people that don't know morse code. It has a very distinctive pattern to it. You can use it to get someone's attention.
- collyw 7y agoAs someone who was in the boy scouts then the air cadets as a kid, this seems true. Is it the same for people who have not had an upbringing that involved outdoor activities?
- neuronic 7y agoHow many weeks of entertainment will it provide when you are trying to make people notice that your left blinking eye is morse code?
- jimmaswell 7y agoIn the movie, he was signaling "kill me"
- hestipod 7y agoThe guy in my story had no voluntary movements so Morse wouldn't have helped. But memorizing: .-.. . - -- . -.. .. . Could be useful. *Cannot format it properly sorry.
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- collyw 7y agoSensory deprivation tanks would suggest the opposite happens - they are supposed to be similar to the psychedelic experience.
- flukus 7y agoThere are also cases where an advanced directive isn't possible like with children. An ambulance driver friend of mine had a patient a few weeks ago, a newborn that had been abandoned, was deaf, blind, thought to be mentally retarded (not sure why) and suffering from heart failure. Apparently there was quite a bit of ethical debate at the hospital that night. A DNR might be good for people in specific circumstances but an advanced directive should not be required to be allowed to die.
- redis_mlc 7y agoSounds like measles.
- jrnichols 7y ago> unlike a DNR which has more restrictions and requires a doctor's approval this varies upon states. Definitely check with the state that you're in. I'm a Paramedic and sadly, we experience these situations rather often. End of life issues are tricky and it's a conversation that people want to avoid, but it's a conversation that I believe they absolutely must have.