Mom: Son in coma heard everything for 23 years

[sabra]

Source: AP

BRUSSELS — A mother says her son has emerged from what doctors thought was a vegetative state to say he was fully conscious for 23 years but could not respond because he was paralyzed.

Rom Houben had a car crash in 1983 and doctors thought he had sunk into an apparent coma. Still, his family continued to believe their son was conscious and had sought further medical advice.

Dr. Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse said Houben's mother finally met Belgian expert Steven Laureys, who realized that the medical diagnosis for her son was wrong. Laureys then taught Houben how to communicate through a special keyboard.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hgsMsAOMKbccOJb8x-r1pkC1PPCQD9C5B9T00

[Lars39]

1. Hearing is supposedly one of the last senses to go.

This story is absolutely amazing.

[goclark]

14. It's real ~ my 90 yr. old aunt was

given about two days to live by the doctor.

I was so far away and I was afraid I would not get there in time.I just wanted to talk to her.

This very caring doctor told me that when I called the hospital ask the nurse to stand by her bed and put the phone to her ear.

I thought the Dr. was being "new age" but I still did it.

She only made it one more day but I spoke to her several time, along with my Mom who was with me.

Each time, those in the room at the time were shocked to see her reaction!

They still keep telling me how awesome it was to see her smile when we were talking to her.

I always tell the doctor when I am going in for a medical procedure to BE QUIET about my condition.

I can hear everything they are saying until the " I don't care shot" takes effect and after it's over, I can hear them talking ~ so DON't let them say anything bad when you are in recovery if you have ears like I do.

It is so frustrating to hear and not be able to do anything about it.

[KansDem]

2. I worked as a hospital orderly for a few years during the late 1970s...

We were told never, ever, say anything around a "comatose" patient.

Nurses would tell us stories about comatose patients who would be surrounded by family members bitching and moaning about this and that (usually money and inheritance since many of these folks thought their "loved one" would soon be dead), only to have the patient regain consciousness and immediately summon their lawyers to change their wills!

[hlthe2b]

3. Ahh, and some don't believe in karma!

LOL

[polly7]

16. Yes, that's what we were taught as well.

So many times I sat with people dying in the nursing homes through the night and would sing softly to them, hold their hands and if they were religious, read the Bible they had read themselves every morning. I don't know how much they heard, but it made me feel better. I hope it did them.

[orwell]

19. Bless you.

Thank you for helping those who are truly in need.

:hug:

[polly7]

26. Thank you. It's nothing we wouldn't all do in the same situation,

I'm sure. But I'll never forget a single one of them.

[Odin2005]

23. LOL!

:rofl:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. What a nightmare.

The first thing I thought of was the boredom. :scared:

[Fearless]

6. I dunno... I'd like several years where all I had to do was sit and think...

I think it would be enlightening.

:D


EDIT: Make it the last couple of years of life.

[JonQ]

11. 23 years though

with no sort of stimulus whatsoever would drive you insane I would think. I'd at least need to be able to read something.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

12. It wouldmake me mental.

I can do things like walking meditation or long periods of contemplation, but 23 years of immobility and little stimulus? Kill me now... :(

[Fearless]

18. Well I wouldn't take 23 years... how about a week. LOL.

[AnneD]

5. When I was a Nursing student.....

I had a patient that had recovered from a coma and he told me the same thing.

I took it to heart and have always spoken to my comatose patients and try to give them stimulation like touching their feet and continually talking to them, etc. One patient was ticklish at her feet. I would always tickled her. In fact, when I would enter the room and greet her...she would wiggle her feet. After many years....she came to. She could be very difficult or mean with some of the staff, but I never had problems with her. I think she remembered me being kind to her.

I always encouraged families to talk and include their comatose family members in their conversations when they visit and be careful what they say.

We hear in utero (a fact) and I believe it is one of the last senses available before we die (IMHO).

[Kceres]

7. Locked in syndrome?

I always thought that locked-in patients have a fairly normal EEG, different from persistent vegetative states.

[Warpy]

9. Not the ones I've seen

After any major insult to the brain, the EEG will show pathological changes.

The one way we knew for sure a patient was locked in was if his eyes would track people or objects. Some people also lose eye control, though, so some of them are undoubtedly missed.

[Warpy]

8. It's what we call "locked in syndrome" and it's well known

in major hospitals with good neurology departments. It's often missed in small hospitals in smaller towns.

A good article about it is at Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-in_syndrome

It's not uncommon in patients with major insult to the brain.

[intheflow]

10. Another link to the story with a quote from Rom: "I screamed, but there was nothing to hear."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/23/man-trapped-coma-23-years

"I had dreamed myself away," said Houben, now 46, whose real "state" was discovered three years ago and has just been made public by the doctor who rescued him.

...

The moment it was discovered he was not in a vegetative state, said Houben, it was like being born again. "I'll never forget the day that they discovered me, it was my second birth."

No kidding! Other reports go on to say he can now read via a screen that hangs over his bed, and the device that lets him communicate with family has also re-connected him with other people online.

My sister was in a nursing home for a decade with advanced MS. She couldn't speak. Legally blind without corrective lenses, she couldn't wear her glasses because her spasms might cause them to break or even just slip and cause an eye injury. She was an avid reader before her illness, but without her glasses I've often thought how incredibly bored she must have been! This story is really my biggest fear. I'm glad this young man has a chance at a second life!

[katkat]

20. how about audio books

for people in situations like the MS lady.

I know nursing homes are way understaffed, but someone could do something like that with a patient's favorite genres.

Just please don't leave me with a tv on if that happens to me.

[Posteritatis]

13. Friend of mine recently came out of a one-month one, reported something similar

Twenty-three years, though.. gah.

[caseymoz]

28. This poor guy should get a medal.

I realize he didn't rescue anyone, but he survived 23 years of the worse living hell imaginable.

[AlphaCentauri]

15. Too many wrong diagnosis

glad there is sometimes a third doctor that finds out what the real problem is.

[zazen]

17. horrors! have you ever had sleep paralysis? it's ghastly--and for 23 years?

You scream and you can't wake up. It's like being in a straitjacket. Speaking only for myself, I'd rather die than live that way for longer than a month. Solitude and silence are great when they're a choice. But to have your nerves screaming at you without being able to act. . . . that's like the eternal hell to which Anne Rice had the vampires condemn other vampires, right?

Horrible, horrible. God, I hope I can rewrite my living will to end such a condition. I'm going to have nightmares for a week.

What an amazing human being.

And I wonder how many times he had to listen to George W. Bush on the television without being able to reach for a remote or tell someone to turn that bumbling idiot off. That would have been the last hinge of my sanity.

[dysfunctional press]

25. i've learned to ride out the sleep paralysis...

it can still be a little scary, but at least now i recognize it for what it is.

[wpsedgwick]

21. Amazing...

This is a perfect example of how important it is to request second AND third opinions for certain diagnosis. A particularly amazing story. can you imagine being aware of your surroundings for over two decades but never being able to communicate?

[Odin2005]

22. Locked-In Syndrome?

Damage to the upper brain stem can leave a person completely paralyzed except for one's eyes. Horrible condition. :(

[Bragi]

24. Read the novel "Beijing Coma"

It's a spectacular novel about the recovery of a fictional young man who has a similar experience. (It's actually a social history of China since the Tiananmen Square protests.)

[RamboLiberal]

27. The man in this case is now writing a book about it

Houben has started writing a book on his experiences.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34109227/ns/health-more_health_news/

That should be an interesting read.

[Duer 157099]

29. I would want audio books playing 24/7 in my room if that happened to me

or anyone I know for that matter.

I remember once after surgery when I was regaining consciousness in a recovery room where several patients were, and one was moaning really loudly and it was becoming so annoying and was waking me up, and pretty soon I realized that it was me that I was hearing, lol. I'll never forget that sensation of hearing something and not realizing that I was the source.

[zonkers]

30. You are so right. That is the way to go.

[Blandocyte]

32. One audio copy of "Going Rogue" comin' right up

for your comatose listening pleasure! The horror. The horror.

[Duer 157099]

34. That's when I will myself to die

Thanks for the reminder that I'd better get something in writing that specifies that they can *only* play my collection of audiobooks.

:thumbsup:

[No Elephants]

31. How awful. Thank heaven he can finally communicate, though.

I was in a coma for a few weeks. I heard nothing.

On edit. I guess the only thing that I can say with perfect accuracy is: on awakening, I did not remember having heard anything while I was comatose.

[Kshasty]

33. Like in Almadovar's film "Talk to her"

[jsamuel]

35. what I want to know is how this keyboard works without any movement

I am actually a little skeptical of this story, not that it couldn't happen, but I need more information. Unfortunately, the link is four sentences long and does not expound.

[caseymoz]

36. Apparently he could move a finger. nt