Unbreakable: A Journey of Healing and Hope | Episode 2: Surviving the ICU
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Welcome to the second episode of "Unbreakable: A Journey of Healing and Hope" podcast series. In this episode, join me as I delve into the first week of my life-altering experience in the ICU following a near-fatal motorcycle accident.
With raw honesty, I share the medical details of my ICU stay, shedding light on the intricate procedures, treatments, and challenges I faced during this critical period.
Beyond the medical aspect, I also open up about the emotional rollercoaster I experienced during those initial days. From fear and uncertainty to moments of hope and resilience, I share how I navigated the overwhelming emotions that accompanied my journey towards healing.
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Due to so many people sharing their stories and looking for community, I have launched the LTM Network on facebook! If you would like to connect with other people looking for encouragement/support or just want to share your story: facebook.com/groups/ltmnetwork/
Surgical technologist here! As far as the dura repair goes, he likely used Nuralon suture to close as much of the defect as he could. Then potentially used Duraseal (which is a polyethylene glycol hydrogel) and that essentially provides a water tight seal atop the Nuralon repair. You’re a rockstar, girl!!! From one medical professional to another: you are such an inspiration. I’m so thrilled that you beat all the odds and are here to share your story with us!
You are amazing and I'm so glad that you are here and you are special and ment to b here xxxx
❤❤❤
Your podcast caught my eye today as my son in law’s 20 yr old son was killed on a motorcycle accident 2 weeks ago. Today was his celebration of life. It was a comfort to hear you felt no pain during the accident. We have all wondered how much he suffered. He died with in hours of his accident never being conscious again. God bless you.
I’m so sorry for your loss- especially your son-in-law! Wishing you all peace and comfort during this time.
I was hit by a car a number of years ago while on a pedestrian crossing. My most vivid memory was seeing the car headlight and thinking “I haven’t made it.” At that moment it felt like I went to sleep, there was no pain on impact or any memory of being tossed onto the bonnet and then thrown onto to road. I am sorry for your loss but know there is a guardian angel that watches over us. You either go with them or they protect you in that moment.
Sorry for your and SIL's loss. Many prayers for the family and healing.
God bless you. It is so recent for you.
I'm so sorry for your loss. God bless you all in Jesus name 🙏
Thank you for this, I am a RN. It warmed my heart to hear you talk about the nurses who cared for you. Nurses wear many hats, we are secretaries, waitresses, therapists, plumbers, we do a lot of things and most nurses go out of their way to take care of their pts like they are family of their own. I know not all nurses are this way but anyways the point I am trying to make is. Often times you only hear the bad experiences people have with their healthcare providers, you don't hear a lot of the good stories. I would like to think there are more pts out there having good experiences. When a pt and their family makes it known how thankful they are of their care we really take that sincerely because we don't get many thanks. We get people watching every move we make just waiting on us to make mistakes, we take verbal abuse from patients, their families, and sometimes even the people we work with. Physical violence towards nurses and other healthcare professionals is on the rise and people act like we should just lie down and take it. We get yelled at by one patient for taking to long with their pain pill because in the next room we were dealing with a patient dying. We have to deal with traumatic events with patients that hurt us to our core and often times we only have time if we are lucky for a quick cry in the bathroom and we are expected to forget about it and move on. Im glad that you had such a great experience and awesome recovery and i think you are 100% accurate the healthcare team you have around you, nurses, techs, respiratory therapists, doctors can have a great impact on your overall outcome when you experience something traumatic like this. Thanks for sharing.
ICU nurse for 38yrs. This is intensely interesting for me. A lot of your odd, dream like thoughts are a result, at least partially, of the Propofol,Dilaudid, Morphine, doses you were getting. You're very courageous and well spoken about your ordeal! HUGS for you😊❤
Thank you for watching, and appreciating a patient's perspective!
When my sister was bed bound and on hospice, a very kind empathetic lady came to give her a bed bath a few times. I was so touched watching her gently bathe my sister. My thoughts were oh my gosh, that hospice lady is an angel here on earth.
Dignity goes out the window when it comes to being in a bedridden situation.. You obviously survived to really help me out personally not only for loosing my brother & nephew from a motorcycle accident. But also for the caring I’ve had to do for my own elderly mother & my brother in law who had bowl cancer & I was the only one who had a strong stomach to care for him. I remember one time when I had to sponge bath him & he started crying. I apologised to him & reassured him it was ok. He always said the only thing he never wanted me to do was washing him. And I have to say even though you have scars you are so pretty. Inside you are just beautiful but outside darn pretty. ❤❤
Yes, as someone who has been on both sides of it, it's just awful. It was awful for him and you, but I'm glad he has someone that loved him caring for him.
I'm a nurse and a Christian, and I firmly believe that God has a time for each of us to die, and when it is NOT your time, you won't die. This is an incredible story that you should not have survived. 1,000 things could have and should have killed you, but it was not your time. This is an incredible miracle. I'm glad you are alive.
I am a nurse and love how much you appreciate your nursing team! Also, you are an inspiration! My hubby is a retired firefighter/medic and we are amazed at your miracle story!
I could literally talk all day about how thankful I am for everything they did. Absolute angels on earth... I just really don't have the words to express my gratitude properly!
I just watched this video and wanted to comment on my experience as a caregiver and diaper changes. What surprised me was that I never reacted with disgust, ever. I had an Alzheimer's client cry and say she was sorry..and how can you do this. It's not just a job for me, it's an honor. I want the elderly, or any person needing help this way to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect. This person is a child of God. I am serving a child of God!! How wonderful is that. I'm not bragging, I truly feel this way. When I see abuse I let whoever knows it. If a person does caregiving just as a job shouldn't be one.
While I'm extremely empathetic to your entire experience, i just found myself looking at your bird who is so comfortable with hearing you speak and how therapeutic it is that he kept napping (or it seemed so) God Bless you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🕊️🙏🏼🙏🏼
Your story is so incredible. What an amazing team of providers, especially the nurses. It is so easy to complain about healthcare in this country but the ones who are in the trenches really are amazing and deserve our respect.
Grateful for the depth you described feeling when having diapers changed. Recently in hospital and had to have soiled bed and myself cleaned up by whatever nurse was on duty.
Wanted to scream over lack of privacy. Cleaning private parts was rough and painful.
So thank you for expressing how very awful that invasion
was for you. I felt the same.
❤️.
When you talked about dad and you writing ‘not his fault’ I started to tear up. My 83y.o. Father was diagnosed with lung cancer and after chemo it came time for him to have surgery to remove part of his lung. He asked me what he should do and I said he needed to get the surgery, he was afraid and didn’t want it but agreed. He recently had the surgery and it took nearly 3 weeks before he started to come out of anesthesia. Once he came around he aspirated and they had to sedate and intubate him I stayed with him in the ICU and there were times I just cried saying how sorry I was for making him have surgery. His surgery was 7/31 he’s in a rehab facility now and is getting stronger every day. I just pray he knows how strong he is and that it was all worth it because he is cancer free now.
You did the right thing though things didn't go as planned. They rarely do. =)
I’m just now seeing this, but I really hope he is continuing to improve!
as a nurses assistant whos changed thousands of adult diapers, it makes me so sad that you were so embarrassed and felt so bad about diaper changes. i really wish we as a society talked about and normalised these things more. no one should ever have to feel embarrassed and humiliated for needing that kind of help. 💔
I’m amazed you survived such a terrible accident, then the surgeries and then the extended stay in the ICU, which is a certain kind of brain-scrambling hell for those who are conscious and have no way to escape down the hall. And you emerged from it all with a positive and giving spirit? Quite a lot of amazing feats, right there! Thanks for sharing your story and for educating people about your experience. Having been an ICU patient, I can say there is no such thing as respect for a patient’s dignity or privacy among about 70% of ICU nurses/nurse aides I encountered. I was a cognizant patient (after they got done tripping me on too much dilaudid), and was riding their cases 24/7, some got the point that just because they’re used to seeing everything every day doesn’t mean I’m ok (or that it should be ok for any patient) to be on display like a carcass to any passersby in the hallway. I pointed at my phone and said “EXACTLY!!” when you said you felt you were being treated like “a sack of meat.” I told some nurses I felt like a side of beef. 😀 I don’t think anyone is asking for every nurse to hold hands and sing us to sleep; just remember this could be their loved one, or better yet, themselves in that bed. Handle with a bit more care and dignity, whether they’re conscious or not. I’m grateful for the good nursing staff I’ve encountered and always ready to tactfully enlighten the ones who need enlightening! Keep on keeping on, Christy. I’m glad you’re here to tell about it!
I was guilty, as a nurse, of not thinking anything about changing or bathing a patient. I wasn't mean or anything. Just seemed routine. Now that I've been there, I totally understand your point. Until one has been in that situation I don't think they can truly understand. KInd of like explaining to a childless person what it's like to have a child. If that makes sense
Hello Christy! Thank you so much for the recognition of care givers!💖 I worked as a nursing assistant for 32 years in nursing homes and also doing some home health care. When you spoke of helping your mother in law in her final days and how much empathy and pride it gave you really hit home for me. It was always extremely important to me when I was doing those intimate personal cares for people to keep them as comfortable as possible keeping their dignity intact. It is far from a glamorous job, however it is very important! So happy you are doing so well, and thank you for choosing to share your story!💖
Christy, you have shown the world that if it not your time to die, you can't will it. God knew people needed to hear and understands He is in control of when He takes us home. I stopped breathing as a month old, my mother said I was wrapped up in a blanket to tight in a small truck. When she brought me in the house and unwrap me l was blue and purple and not breathing. She rubbed my arms and legs and prayed, she said all of a sudden l took a breath. I have oxygen deprivation still today. It is a scary feeling when there's not enough oxygen in a room. I panic. I have to get to a door or open a window. I so appreciate you sharing your amazing story with the world. Enid thank you for being a compassionate caregiver. God bless you mightily!
Thank you so very much!🙏❤️
absolutely.......I'm a unregistered nurse and a senior HCA.....ur absolutely correct.
I took care of my dad the last 3 years of his life. I remember being terrified of having to change his diaper. He didn’t “seem” to mind in and I think in fact came to enjoy it because I’d always give his back a good scrub after his change. He loved it. The thing helped me the most were the gloves. Somehow it created some kind of separation. It started feeling to me the same as changing your baby. I think, I hope, through the many changes I did for him will help me if it ever comes to that for me. I’m so sorry it was so humiliating for you.
Just wanted to say your story and recovery is so INSPIRING and an a credit to you ❣️❣️❣️🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thank you for being so open about your experiences from the patient side. You radiate peacefulness from the inside out. Also, Bailey is an angel...how do you get him to sit so patiently?
I have no idea... I think he's just content sitting with me.
I'm currently suffering from depression and your videos are very healing and entertaining Christy
Clearly, your journey wasn’t finished😇
I'm glad your still here to tell your story. I've had 14 surgeries in my almost 30 years of life. I understand the pain with hardware. I have little movement in my left foot/toes. My Achilles is thickened and has little use. No muscle in my whole left leg. I am surprised that my leg can really hold some of my weight. I am glad I can call you a friend.
You are just a remarkable human being, ❤️not just for surviving your accident, but for how you have progressed through your healing process. Miraculous is just not even enough of a word…you survived all of this for a reason, and your story is so inspiring and humbling. Thank you so much for sharing your story.🙏🏼❤️
2:20 i feel that girl!! I was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and i have developed severe chronic pain and my mental state is sooo much better since joining social media, i dont have a channel related to my medical conditions but just finding people who have the conditions i do on social media like facebook and instagram has helped me so much to not feel alone (even though i always knew i wasnt but when you have no one you know that has it you start feeling like that).
Social media saved my life after a TIA and having to give up my career. I have Chiari Malformation with SB symptoms, Intercranial Hypertension, EDS, SFN/LFN and more.
Being alone a lot of the time and having health challenges is hard.
I literally discovered Christy's channel last night. I don't like that other people have to suffer with this crap, but it's helpful to know I'm not alone.
@@divineranch5705 yes absolutely. I don't want anyone to be in this team but also if we have to be it's helpful to know we are not alone and to support each other if that makes sense. I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that. I hope you're doing better! And welcome fo the channel
You and your story are helping more than you realize.
Prayers for continued healing and UA-cam success!
I am a Neuro nurse in the UK and have watched your videos with great interest. You have described things that I have often wondered and explained your experience so eloquently. I do think that you have and had the determination to recover and I have seen this in my own patients. You are an inspiration and I wish you every happiness in the future ❤
I appreciate your honesty and candor about your experience. Wishing you and your family nothing but the best going forward
*NEAR INNER DECAPITATION SURVIVOR HERE* N U perfectly described our recovery experiences! Also, *NEURO ICU NURSES* R 😇"s!
Thank you so much for being so honest and open about your experience! I can definitely relate to the feeling of helplessness...when I had my accident (a 25+ foot fall where I broke my left hip, femur, patella and tibial plateau and had a subdural hematoma) I obviously couldn't move much or get out of bed, so the nurses and techs had to bathe me and put me on a bedpan, ect...it makes you feel so exposed and vulnerable. UAB really has amazing healthcare workers and they really seemed to care and tried to make me as comfy as possible. They saved my life and I will forever be grateful! ❤ I was so happy when I was able to get up and go to the restroom myself, though...😂
You are truly an inspiration and a strong woman! ❤ I'm so glad you are here to tell your story and help others who may be going or have gone through a similar experience!
I got emotional when you got emotional talking about your mother in law! Your feelings are so real and raw!
As a nurse in a skilled rehab facility, I do my fair share of changing patients but we never call them diapers. Diapers are for babies. Adults use "briefs" or "underwear".
For my Mom, I called Depends her fancy pants.
I don't know how you do this. To be honest, I'd have wanted to just not survive. You are so brave.
Happy Belated Birthday 🎂 you are definitely a gem! Bless your heart for taking such great care of your MIL! That brought tears to my eyes & heart! God bless you 💖🙌🏼
Dural tears are repaired using microsurgical techniques - using a microscope and a fine needle. Small dural tears are sutured or stapled close, while larger ones are reconstructed with a patch or graft. Fat or fibrin glue may be used as a sealant to reinforce the repair.
Thank you very much for sharing such a personal yet important personal experience. I agree with you that medical staff are incredible care givers probably sent from up above. You are a miracle and extremely inspirational!! Thank you and God bless you and your family ❤
Mother in ICU. Student nurse put her on 2 bags saline open wide, to flow into a person suffering with bilateral pneumonia in respiratory distress. Mom gained 75 pounds through 10 days of this. They neglected to give her the at home medication of laxis diuretic. Even though questioned daily every staff and doctor. They Never missed giving the potassium though. My poor mother drowned in her fluids. ICU staff covered for each other. My experience was awful. Still hurt deeply over her death.
May you all have better staff.
You're educating me and bringing back memories of a traumatic surgery I went through, helping me process things. My brain wasn't working and I wanted to make it look like I was ok, so what's a sensible question? I asked what time it was over and over, sometimes many times a minute as i couldn't remember asking but to my addled brain it was a normal thing to say. I know this as my ex screamed at me to stop saying it. I'm so glad you had such good support as that was the worst part of my recovery, the ex left me after 12 years shortly after I had the surgery.
Christy, you’re doing so much good connecting with people from your small town in Alabama. I feel lucky to have and use your rainbow keychains and ice cream cozies. They make me smile, lots. Can’t wait for you to get high speed internet!
I just wanted to tell you that you are a beautiful woman! Inside and definitely outside. God certainly blessed you. He sure has a plan for your life!
I had to change my moms diapers while she was dying from lung cancer and I cried every time and my mom was embarrassed but she knew I took care of her very well….
Watching someone die like that is a special kind of hell. I hope you are taking care of yourself now!
Prayers for your continual healing prayers also for your family and their mental healing too.
I have been watching you from the beginning I just rarely comment. You are beautiful inside and out. Thank You for sharing your story and helping so many others ❤ God Bless you and your family🙏🏻
Can you explain why you did not end up a quadraplegic? I am confused about internal decapitation. Sounds like this would paral6ze you. Isn't that what happened to Christopher Reeves when he was thrown from his horse?
If you go watch the 1st part of this, she explains that she had an internal decapitation, but luckily, it was just extremely stretched. She didn't have a severed spinal cord.
Just a quick compliment: you have a great combo of intellect and emotion. This is evident in where your eyes go when you’re talking (up, down and side to side). Terrific balance in your approach to life and your personality. One other note about my injuries from birth (and other injuries) that I mentioned in response to your last video. I have an interesting artifact to my birth injury, the dura mater was caught up underneath my skull for over 60 years. I was able to release it in recent years but that caused an instant cataract!
I love that compliment! Thank you! I’ve tried to write stuff down before I film, but it just doesn’t come across nearly as sincere so I just try to pretend I’m having a conversation with a friend. That’s crazy about your dura!
@@littletraumamamaI’ve spoken to top experts in the world on the dura mater experience and they CANNOT explain it any better than I can. Basically I could not touch my head or barely lay my head on the pillow at night as a child. My ear is flat on the opposite side because it was the only way I could lay down. Of course as a kid, I thought all kids must experience something similar and I never talked about it. I started getting a lot of hands on body treatments as an adult and that is when I found out that I was nearly killed at birth. Still I didn’t know about the dura mater issue until I had a certain osteopath treat my head. After years of direct work and some other approaches, I finally could move my neck with more range of motion and that is when myself and another person felt something shift at the base of my skull. We actually heard a sound. This release stopped the pulling over my eye that I had felt all of my life. It’s a pattern in all of us that goes along the back of the skull and up over the top and stops at the eyebrow. We think that when this shifted, the filaments that hold the eye in place were compromised and allowed debris to enter - which caused the instant cataract. I have many unique parts to the various injuries I’ve had and some of the approaches I’ve used towards recovery. I have an affinity for unique cases as a result. You certainly qualify!
Oh wow I didn't know that could do that
@@peachxtaehyung mine is a unique combination of factors. You can’t just move your head and neck and cause something like this. Always be careful to check the research. You won’t find it. Of course if you do come across something that seems similar, let me know here.
@@ToddDouglasFox yes I will for sure!
Alexandra from Germany
Hi Christy
So good to see you.
I have had some troubled days and every time I watch you I"m doing better.
You have such a kind and somehow strait forward personality about you.
My injury is nothing like yours was but I have not been able to work ect for two years.
Everything bad with the head joints creates so many issues to the whole body, at least in my experience.
I hope you did understand me
Feel yourself huged by me
With great respect
Alexandra from Bavaria Germany
I understood exactly what you meant! Having neck and/or back problems affects everything and can really get you down mentally too. Hang in there, friend! 🫶🏻
I was in the hospital during covid. On the ventilator for 19 days. I’m ICU 30 days and in the hospital 70 days. I had Mercers pneumonia. I died 2 times. Yes you feel like a piece of meat! Can’t speak, move, communicate! Nothing! No family to check on you. I didn’t feel like I was treated very well at all. I had 1 little nurse though that figured out how I could point at A B C ‘s to spell to communicate some! It was horrible
Thank you for sharing. As a RN I feel every new nurse should hear you speak!!!! Talk to your patients people!!!
As an RN, with every patient I had who was non-verbal, I talked to them as if we were in a regular conversation... and explained what I was doing with every action, in case they could understand. And I'd explain why each action was taken. I thought that would be soothing. Of course, they couldn't discuss it with me or ask questions, but I did all I could to make the interaction as personable as I could.
It is SO wonderful and heartening to hear you speak well of your nurses. Thank you so much for sharing. ❤
I cannot say enough good things about my NICU nurses and RTs! They were absolutely amazing!
Greetings from Vancouver Canada. You are a wonderful human being. Brave, kind and beautiful. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It is very important to me as my sister was in a motorcycle accident and was in a coma for 5 weeks. She died. She was 20 years old and I was 16. In a few months it will be 54 years since that happened but it feels to me like it was just yesterday. I wish you all the best.
I think every nursing school should teach this ICU patient perspective to all students. Even to the point of the students being In a mock Halo and having to have things done… visualizing what it would feel like to be a patient.
I’ve also been in the ICU and I understand what you mean - feeling like an object. It’s unreal.
Thank you so much for this. I am a nurse. 28 yrs now and it is so very hard to be a patient. You are helping so many people whether now or people who watch this in the future. You are amazing!❤
You mentioned how your head fusion felt, " walking around with titanium plates and screws" It looks like C1/C2 are fused to the occiput (skull) so must not have no movement, up, down, side to side. How does this feel for you everyday? Do you feel pressure in the back of your head all the time? I'm fused more extensively, Occiput to T1. It's not pain but the pressure is always there. You're truly blessed for all you went thru.
Hi I am a RN since 1998! I have worked in many settings but the most loved was the PICU. I spent many years working in the PICU…I loved the children and families…. I think deep down I didn’t ever want to be in that setting as a parent. I am in tears hearing you talk about your experience with your nurses. All I wanted was to make a difference and you are “spot on” about emotions and the mental health as a patient. We as caregivers have to keep it “in-check” because it is extremely emotional for the loved ones. There were hard days but much more happy and amazing moments! I am happy to hear you had a good experience in the ICU. You are truly an inspiration and thank you so much for sharing these memories.
My husband also had a motorcycle accident and lost his left arm due to a brachial plexus injury. So, we have been through all of this ,he was only 20 years old, and his bike was hit by a drunk lady. We have just celebrated our 45 wedding anniversary. So, just keep moving forward. Enjoy all you have.❤
Yup as a healthcare worker humans in ICU are just biological machines that need help to keep running. It’s sad but it’s the only way staff can work without losing our minds. Thanks for this Christy! Your helping a lot of people!❤
There is a guy that is a science writer and had a NDE during a heart attack. He was highly skeptical, not religious, but still had it. You might like the book. But I think the working theory is that the brain releases DMT and that is what feels like a god is present, and the brain is still going on longer after the body is determined to have died. But I think in your situation, the swelling of your brain is a different situation that didnt allow for that same experience. But what you said that matches what this guy has found studying NDE is that it doesn’t hurt. I find that very comforting, and it’s exactly what you’re trying to communicate too.
Im so glad i came across your channel. Im going through alot medically and you have given me so much help . If you can get through everything you have been through so can i. I told my doctor about you and she is also watching your channel. Christy THANK YOu SO MUCH!! It dosnt help that i lost my Mom 2 months ago. Sending you so much ❤ & 🙏 ps i totally understand about the diaper changes😭💯
I'm glad you made it..I'm having sympathy pain just listening to the injuries and surgeries...You are a true warrior.
Respiratory Therapist. The unsung heroes. I made it through class but clinicals made me understand that I wasn't cut out for it. I could not disassociate with patients and their pain and treatments. I remember visiting a status asthmaticus patient in the ICU. I remember her apologizing about her vanity. Everything we had done to her and she was worried that she hadn't shaved her legs. I loved being that kind of a person that people could communicate with. But my best friend has made a long long career of being an RT and she is an incredible woman. There is nothing like not being able to breathe to put the fear of God into someone. I love that you remember your RT because people will remember her for years. She will be stopped in a store because somebody remembered her when they didn't remember anyone else. What an incredible credible person. Respiratory therapists witness so much just because their presence is needed. It doesn't mean their skills are utilized on the patient. Thank you for mentioning your RT. ❤️❤️
What you saw with Natalie was the normal world. A world with no injuries, no hospital. Ofcourse you wanted to join her in that car and drive away from yourself in that bed, your life at that second. And remember, your brain wasn't processing reality very well, I'll bet!
You would be a remarkable nurse - so intelligent, caring and compassionate - should an inkling of that desire ever reappear in your consciousness. That said, your story, in and of itself, is likely to be healing for anyone else facing traumatic life circumstances. Deepest blessings to you! 🙏
I am allergic to all opioid medicintions. I can not imagine how i would make it though what you had and do. The chronic pain i go through is managed best the dr's can with the limited meds that i am able to take. With my Nursing background i know the affects of medications over a long term. I do hope your pain management treatments do not have a long term affect on your body. Much love and bugs sent your way for sharing your story.
Hi, its very endearing to lisen to you. Yes im also got my eye on your parrot when you cried bless him he put his head to oneside so he could hear your change in voice monitone. So cute.
Your body has suffered so much
Im glad your recovery is continuing and you're going to do well. Im a Neuro ICUnurse who have seen patients like you. Its interesting to hear from the patients point of view. It must have been horrific.
I'm very glad that you can walk!
Nobody wants to be on display no matter their age. 😢
Thank you so much for sharing and being vulnerable! My husband passed away last year and I was his caregiver. Your talk is helping me to understand what he must have been feeling during those last few months. 😢
I'm so very sorry for the loss of your husband. Wishing you peace and comfort 🫶🏻
My husband passed 4 months ago after a long illness. I was his caregiver for the last year. At first it was very difficult for me. I was tired, emotional, afraid of the future & had insomnia which did not help one bit. 😢 I felt very guilty of how I felt in the beginning of his care giving. Then 1 day it all went away & I was able to give him the best care I could. We spent his last 3 months laughing, holding hands & living each day to the absolute fullest. 🙏🏼💙🙏🏼
So sorry for your loss! As much as you may prepare for the inevitable, you can’t prepare for that absence. I attended GriefShare which was very good for me…helped me process and walk through all of the emotions.
My best to you as you will get through this. ❤
God bless you. Thank you for sharing 🫶🏻
I am so thankful I was lead to your podcast! Yes, its very interesting, but very human. I lost my soulmate to pancreatic cancer. We rode motorcycles. Yes, I too had my own! I'm thankful you are healing! Thank you for your courage to relive it all again!
Thanks for sharing your story. You are very brave.
My dura was repaired using "cow hide" that's how the surgeon described it to my husband.
Hello from Texas. I want you to know what an incredible story of human survival you are bringing thru your podcast.
So glad I discovered your podcast and I am really enjoying your story.
I have seen parts 1 and 2 and look forward to all.
You are a walking, talking miracle and may God bless you and you family.
Wow this just has me so emotional to hear about your recovery in the ICU. When i was 19, i was pregnant with twins and a drunk driver crashed into me and my husband in the middle of an intersection. The whole experience was traumatic and the hospital stay was so hard but nothing compared to your story and it makes me wanna cry because i know some of the pain and the mental agony that comes with it. Im so sorry for your experiences but im happy you made it out. Hugs. ♥️
Hi Christy, thank you so much for sharing your story and for your vulnerability and compassion. I was a nursing assistant for a few months while in college recently and occasionally floated to ICU. I changed a lot of diapers and watched--and assisted--with horrible things like putting a catheter in a woman with dementia who couldn't understand why we were doing it. I completely understand what you mean by people becoming sacks of meat. I really appreciate getting to hear the patient’s perspective. Even though I've seen it, I can't imagine what that must be like to be helpless and trapped and to lose all sense of autonomy and privacy like that. I'm so glad you have come out on the other side. ❤
Best wishes from Perth, Western Australia . Your story is amazing xxx
Thank you for sharing your amazing story.
HI CHRISTY! YES YOU ARE ON YOU TUBE. I AM VERY ILL AND MOSTLY BED-BOUND . YOUR HONESTY IS PARAMOUNT, PLEASE STAY BRUTALLY HONEST. THAT IS WHAT HELPS OTHERS WHO SUFFER. I HATE CHANNELS WHERE THEY ONLY FOCUS ON THE GOOD. YOUR LIFE HAS TOUCHED ME DEEPLY. YOU ARE DOING GREAT WORK. BACK TO THE VIDEO. 🦋🔥💙💙
Hi Hun I'm sorry you're so ill! I am mostly bedridden too. I have Spina bifida and severe chronic pain
@@peachxtaehyung hey there thanks for your reply. I have no idea how Spina Bifida
affects an adult. But, being in serious pain I do understand, and I am so sorry it's a big part of your life. Being bed-bound also can suck. Do you live alone?
Do you have a strong support system?
Bless you, hang tight.
kavita
@@kavitadeva Spina bifida has made me stuck in a wheelchair since I was 16, my pain worsens as I get older. But everything else hasn't changed since I was a kid. But yes pain is horrible to live with but luckily I do live with my parents and they help and support me alot 💖
YOUR CAPS LOCK IS STUCK ON. Or are you screaming at strangers?
I was a nurse for 40 years and the best nurses are the ones who knew how the patients feel. You would be such an amazing nurse!
My nurses at UNC were just awful. I'll never forget how I was treated, without any kindness or humanity. It's time to leave the profession when you've lost any human feelings for your patients.
So can relate to feeling like a piece of meat.
I found the cold way I was tossed around by nurses really offensive.
I wasn’t in ICU but I was post-op major back surgery.
I was either morphined up or completely lucid. However always conscious of everything.
So I was aware I was not handled with the dignity a human deserves.
I like your bird buddy.
You said earlier you were divorced..did you and your husband separate after your accident? I have heard that relationships don’t often survive these types of traumas…so sad!
My first husband and I divorced in 2011. Lee and I have been together since 2012, married in 2017.
Hello Christy ! Another Kristy here 😊! You really touched my heart with this video. I lost it 😢 several times, you really got me talking about taking care of your Mother in law. I was my Momma and later my Husbands care giver. As I said in last video I was injured in 2 car accidents and can so relate to the not being able to speak or move and feeling like a bag of meat. Can also relate to the whole diaper change feelings and giving me you more compassion caring for your Mother in law. It surely helped me in caring for my Momma and my Husband until they passed in my arms. God bless you and keep you and yours !!
Caregiving is HARD! I'm glad you took the time to comment 🫶🏻
This I going To slow
Christy thank you for this. So far so good. Enjoy your trip.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks!
I am a Retired RN having worked for 40 years. My sister and I had a recent conversation about my emotional responses now. Years of having to be more impartial, yet still concerned about my patients care and well being, have left me a little remote in my feelings. It is not that I don’t care but I am more realistic. Stuff happens, people get sick, people die. Christie had a very powerful Guardian Angel watching over her. I’m so happy to hear her story, her survival, her care, and how she appreciates her nurses and other medical staff. Thank you.
I too am a fellow ICU-PTSD survivor. I was always under the impression that ICU nurses mainly just dealt with the machines and didn’t need to have a particularly good bedside manner. Boy was I wrong. One nurse said to me when I was having a bad day in ICU, “I’m an ICU nurse and I hope that you know that ICU (I See You)”.😇
Bless you ! My son was hit by a drunk driver. He is nonverbal and in a wheelchair. BTW, I am from Anniston and sold property close to Cheaha. Keep on keeping on.
I am SO incontinent. i developed an inner ear infection from vertigo from them rolling me. I had just garden variety "post menopause" incontinence pre-stroke but now it's Niagara Falls and I wet my bed frequently.
I ended up in the ICU on a ventilator and what naturally happens when you start coming out of a coma is.. when you begin to feel this very invasive tube jammed down your throat is you want to pull it OUT! So, the staff have to tie your hands down to the rails of the beds! So then as you are fading in and out of this half aware comatose state.. you're also beginning to realize..oh hell..I'm also tied down in this fucking BED! What's going on? Where am I? Because really at this point mainly you're just really so sick and confused.. you just don't know what's going on about how you got here? And as things kind of go back and forth for several days.. you just hover in a VERY confused state about how you even got there! Eventually, I spent about 8-9 totally in a coma and then I had to go through respiratory weaning because while you are dependent on the ventilator.. your lungs are getting weaker. So, the ICU nurses would haul me out of bed, dump me on a chair and tell me they're going to be back in 15 minutes and cut the doggone thing OFF. The whole time I'm just sitting there hoping that nobody else on the unit codes and the nurses have to forget about ME because remember..with that ventilator tube down my throat..I can't make a sound! It's brutal. Trying to learn how to breathe again. Not to mention I feel really terrible for all the other things that sent me to the ICU in the first place and caused me to be in a coma originally! Plus, I nearly died from pneumonia TOO. Overall experience 14/10 would not recommend!
I just came across your podcast and the ICU trauma really resonated to me. I experienced symptoms of PTSD after brain surgery, and when I returned to my neurosurgeon to discuss this, he acted like this was was a no brained, no pun intended but he says this isn’t uncommon after my brain surgery
Your channel caught my eye tonight. I was curious as to what internal decapitation is. I had covid in 2021 and was on a ventilator for 10 days in ICU. I still have PTSD. I still have some survivor's guilt. I want to tell you, God has something for you to do and I believe you're doing it.
Don't forget to tell us what happened to your liver 😊
They ended up putting in a drain to help the infection clear up.
**********Christy, we have the same birthday 🎂 ❤!! That is so cool! Happy birthday my friend and may it be as amazing as you are!***********
I so understand. I helped care for both of my parents and my adult children ended up helping with my dad. You just do it and it is not anything we ever minded doing. It was just body functions.
In 2001, we rolled a truck and my neck was broken. I have a lot of titanium and screws and cadaver bones in my neck. It’s a long story. But I was awake and aware of every blow. I wasn’t injured internally but I was black and blue from head to toe. I was never intubated, but I wore a halo for 4 1/2 months. The doctors who operated on me had no idea why I was still alive because it was a hangman’s fracture. I am sorry you went through all those awful injuries.
I’ve worked in the operating room for 8 years at a level 1 trauma centre, when I have seen dura repairs we do them with patches like Dura Guard or Dura Matrix, and lots of stitching under a microscope. Then a sort of “glue” like dura seal or vista seal to seal any gaps. This is in Canada so I’m not sure if the states is the same but that is what I have seen personally. I saw one person in a forklift accident who was also internally decapitated and “survived”, however they were basically vegetative for a few years until they passed. Your story is really amazing and I’m thankful to hear you share your experiences. I also love crocheting!!