I went into respiratory failure during surgery once and was put on a respirator. The surgery was supposed to be a two hour thing that turned into almost 8 hours. They kept me sedated for another 24 hours. When I came to I had the tube shoved all the way down my throat. It completely filled my esophagus. I was also restrained in the bed. My hands and arms were tied to the bed rail and mt legs were strapped to the bed. I honestly thought I'd been arrested and was in a camp somewhere!
After I came to I had to wait 4 hours to have the tube removed. Worst 4 hours in my life! From what I experienced having that tube removed, I can fully understand why a patient has to be under to insert one.
Very similar to my dad’s experience. He was a POW, so I think that’s why the hunger aspect got to him. Glad you are still here!
One must also relearn how to swallow and eat again after being on a ventilator. And you are a “choking risk” from then on. While on it, you have to be fed intravenously and you feel like you are starving. Only time I ever saw my dad cry.”
Being on a vent sux, but if you have to have general anesthesia it is necessary. Had to take care of a lot of folks on vents, pretty miserable experience sometimes. But sometimes you gotta do what you don’t want to do to hopefully get over the hump.