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Patient trapped in a 23-year 'coma' was conscious all along
Daily Mail ^ | November 23, 2009 | Allan Hall

Posted on 11/23/2009 3:39:25 AM PST by bogusname

A car crash victim diagnosed as being in a coma for the past 23 years has been conscious the whole time. Rom Houben was paralysed but had no way of letting doctors know that he could hear every word they were saying. 'I dreamed myself away,' said Mr Houben, now 46, who doctors thought was in a persistent vegatative state. He added: 'I screamed, but there was nothing to hear.' ...

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: coma; conscious
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1 posted on 11/23/2009 3:39:26 AM PST by bogusname
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To: bogusname

I have often wondered about the awareness of people in comas. I am very careful of what I say around them, careful to speak words of faith.

http://getvictory.net


2 posted on 11/23/2009 3:43:39 AM PST by DBCJR (What would you expect?)
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To: bogusname

Another reason for me to not trust the current medical “professionals”.

This is absolutely barbaric with our supposedly modern day medicines and technology.

I hope a mega million lawsuit entails this travesty. This must be very quite literally the truest confirmation of a living definition of Hell, to be absolutely completely aware of every single second, its unbelievably the worst possible torture a human being could ever endure.


3 posted on 11/23/2009 3:50:01 AM PST by Eye of Unk (Would spring please arrive early, My new motorcycle awaits to run free and wild.)
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To: Eye of Unk

In March of this year I was anesthetized during a medical procedure. Or almost. I was completely paralyzed but fully aware of what was going on. My eyes were closed and it was impossible for me to open them but I could hear and feel what was happening. This lasted for just a few minutes but it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life. I can’t imagine how one could keep their sanity after a few days of it, let alone 23 years!! How terrible!


4 posted on 11/23/2009 4:12:10 AM PST by badgerlandjim (Hillary Clinton is to politics as Helen Thomas is to beauty.)
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To: bogusname

About 25 years ago, there was a letter to Ann Landers or Dear Abby, from a women who had been in a coma. Her kids gathered around and bickered about the estate, and said lots of uncomplimentary things about her, to boot. She said, “It was fascinating.” When she woke up, she cut them all out of her will—gave everything to charity.


5 posted on 11/23/2009 4:14:07 AM PST by Arthur McGowan (In Edward Kennedy's America, federal funding of brothels is a right, not a privilege.)
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To: bogusname

Already posted yesterday:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392338/posts


6 posted on 11/23/2009 4:16:10 AM PST by EternalVigilance (We're witnessing the slow strangulation death of American republican self-government and liberty.)
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To: Arthur McGowan

Even at a funeral, you should act as if the deceased could hear every word. If they can, you score big Karma points. If they can’t, you have sacrificed nothing by avoiding all the gossip and small talk.


7 posted on 11/23/2009 4:19:45 AM PST by Haiku Guy (If You have a Right / To the Service I provide / I must be Your Slave)
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To: Eye of Unk
Another reason for me to not trust the current medical “professionals”.

This is absolutely barbaric with our supposedly modern day medicines and technology.


Geez, go overboard, why don't you? Go back one hundred or one hundred fifty years, look at then-current medical professionals, compare them to those of today, and then make a truly informed judgment.

The problem with people in comas is that folks assume that if we can't hear them or that if we can't see a response to us that they are not aware. This is a simple, but not necessarily correct, conclusion that doesn't have anything to do with "modern day medicines and technology."
8 posted on 11/23/2009 4:22:33 AM PST by aruanan
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To: bogusname
To prevent anything this horrible thing from happening again, there should be legislation that requires anyone who is unconscious for more than two hours to be euthanized. Ha ha ha.
9 posted on 11/23/2009 4:24:21 AM PST by aruanan
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To: bogusname
Therapy has since allowed him to tap out messages on a computer screen. He is never likely to leave hospital, but as well as his computer he now has a special device above his bed which lets him read books while lying down.

Incredible story...

10 posted on 11/23/2009 4:36:30 AM PST by Dr. Scarpetta
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To: Eye of Unk

I agree.


11 posted on 11/23/2009 4:36:39 AM PST by mefistofelerevised
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To: Eye of Unk

“I hope a mega million lawsuit entails this travesty.”

Sue for what? You seem to be a big proponent of what is wrong with the health care industry. Out of control lawsuits. I suppose you like the new helath care “reform” heading our way?


12 posted on 11/23/2009 4:45:48 AM PST by caver (Obama's first goals: allow more killing of innocents and allow the killers of innocents to go free.)
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To: Dr. Scarpetta

I seem to remember that several years ago a similar story emerged. A woman who had been in a coma from an accident, was considered vegetative. She was this way for years. However, two astute speech therapists noticed that there was something in the woman’s eyes that seemed aware. Long story to short, she was not a vegetable. Just like the man in this story, she could hear everything but could not respond. She too was given a computer to communicate with. Unbelievable stories.


13 posted on 11/23/2009 4:58:58 AM PST by sueuprising
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To: bogusname

The brain scan gizmo thingy must have been broken doctos says oops.


14 posted on 11/23/2009 5:20:41 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: bogusname

15 posted on 11/23/2009 5:24:48 AM PST by Pistolshot (Brevity: Saying a lot, while saying very little.)
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To: badgerlandjim

That kind of happened to me. I woke up during my knee surgery, but I opened my eyes and looked around. The nurses realized that I was awake and they put me out again.


16 posted on 11/23/2009 7:36:12 AM PST by Skenderbej (People need to learn that no muhammadan practices his religion peacefully.)
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To: bogusname

It’s a good thing Mr. Houben didn’t have a serpentine husband who wanted him out of the way so he could marry a younger woman, now isn’t it? Poor guy could have starved to death....


17 posted on 11/23/2009 7:44:53 AM PST by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (There are only two REAL conservatives in America - myself, and my chosen Presidential candidate)
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To: Skenderbej
I woke up during my knee surgery, but I opened my eyes and looked around.

You did? Did you feel any pain or anything?

18 posted on 11/23/2009 7:54:36 PM PST by zlala
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To: zlala

I didn’t feel any pain and I was pretty fuzzy. I just remember looking up, the nurse noticed me, and someone came and hooked a syringe into the Y-tube that was attached to my arm. It had a drip bag on one connector and they put the syringe into the other. Then I went out.

When they were giving me the anesthesia to knock me out, the doctor said that I was taking more than most people, but that some people need more for it to work.


19 posted on 11/24/2009 5:29:46 PM PST by Skenderbej (People need to learn that no muhammadan practices his religion peacefully.)
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To: Haiku Guy

What I like about Karma is that it means that all the people I’ve screwed over, deserved it.

-—Dogbert


20 posted on 11/24/2009 6:06:51 PM PST by Arthur McGowan (In Edward Kennedy's America, federal funding of brothels is a right, not a privilege.)
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