23 year coma patient was actually conscious

OctavarIan

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

wrote:

For 23 years Rom Houben was trapped in his own body, unable to communicate with his doctors or family. They presumed he was in a vegetative state following a near-fatal car crash in 1983.

But then doctors used a state-of-the-art scanning system on the brain of the martial arts enthusiast, which showed it was functioning almost normally.

"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.

Steven Laureys, a neurologist at the University of Liège in Belgium, has published a scientific paper saying Houben could be one of many falsely diagnosed coma cases around the world.

Houben is being cared for at a facility near Brussels and now communicates via a computer with a special keyboard activated with his right hand, which is capable of minimal movement. He said his body was paralysed when he came round after his accident. Although he could hear every word his doctors spoke, he could not communicate with them.

"I screamed, but there was nothing to hear," he said, via his keyboard.

Houben then suffered years of being effectively trapped in his own body as care personnel and doctors at the hospital in Zolder tried to communicate with him, but eventually gave up hope that he would ever come round.

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."

Experts say Laureys' findings are likely to reopen the debate over when the decision should be made to terminate the lives of those in comas who appear to be unconscious but might have almost fully-functioning brains.

Belgian doctors used an internationally accepted scale to monitor Houben's state over the years. Known as the Glasgow Coma Scale, it requires assessment of the eyes, verbal and motor responses. But they failed to assess him correctly and missed signs that his brain was still functioning.

Laureys, who is head of the coma science group and neurology department at Liège University hospital, concluded coma patients are diagnosed falsely "on a disturbingly regular basis". In around 40% of cases diagnosed as vegetative, more careful examination shows there is still some level of consciousness. He examined 44 patients believed to be in a vegetative state, and found that 18 of them responded to communication.

"Once someone is labelled as being without consciousness, it is very hard to get rid of that," he told Spiegel magazine, calling for a systematic overhaul of the methods of diagnosis.

Laureys said patients who are not fully unconscious can often be treated and are capable of making considerable progress.

Around a fifth of patients who suffer serious head and brain injuries spend more than three weeks in a coma. Of those, between 15% and 25% are, technically speaking, still alive but remain in a state of unconsciousness, never to wake up.

Haven't seen this discussed her yet so feel free to lock/delete if it has been.

I stared in shock at the screen for ages after I read this. To be trapped in your own mind for 23 years, so close to being able to let people know but unable to. How he stayed sane at all is unbelievable. I can't imagine the feelings that ran through him when the doctors found out he was conscious. Or even how the doctors felt.

And of course it has raised the questions; How many more people are currently like this today? How many conscious people have had the plug pulled on them? Anyone who has had or currently has a loved one in a comatose condition will be really hit by this.

It's a real eye-opener.

Random

Absolute worst nightmare !

Wertz

That's horrible. I think I'd prefer to be buried alive or something.

The lazy git.
He should have just woke up.

I smell a film adaptation in the works.

Random

David Lynch wrote: »

I smell a film adaptation in the works.

Something tells me 90% of the film will be boring as **** ...

PFJSplitter

OctavarIan wrote: »

It's a real eye-opener.

No pun intended, of course?

Sounds like ventral pontine syndrome, also known as locked-in syndrome. Others have describes it as the 'closest thing to being buried alive'.

Cunny-Funt

Wonder what kinda stuff he overheard during that time. I wonder how deep his dreams were, like if he managed to escape to somewhere in his mind.

Ann22

Feck! How boring was that? 23 yrs?! Can you imagine? Lying there for one day would be bad enough but feckin' hell...:eek:

Rhyme

PFJSplitter wrote: »

No pun intended, of course?

Sounds like ventral pontine syndrome, also known as locked-in syndrome. Others have describes it as the 'closest thing to being buried alive'.

There was an episode of House MD based on it.

Scary stuff.

Ann22

Hey..maybe he was just an incredibly lazy b*stard:o

PirateShampoo

Whats even more scary is that they think there maybe 100s of cases like this around the world.

IvySlayer

Really makes you think twice for when you mess with their bodies.

citizen_p

lol.... bit late.....23 years of sponge baths and lying in a hospital bed. id sue, but they would probly just take away his keyboard.

rotinaj

So hes been in a coma for 23 years since1983. That means hes awake since 2006. Must be a slow news day

Archeron

IvySlayer wrote: »

Really makes you think twice for when you mess with their bodies.

There's an angry woman in a yellow jumpsuit with a samurai sword outside to see you.

wandatowell

Ann22 wrote: »

Hey..maybe he was just an incredibly lazy b*stard:o

Like your man from Little Britan:D

Turd Ferguson

JimBob85 wrote: »

So hes been in a coma for 23 years since1983. That means hes awake since 2006. Must be a slow news day

Nah, the journalist just got out of a 3 year coma himself which ironically enough he fell into while writing the article about that guy

WeeBushy

Jeez, he must be seriously horny.

Ciaran500

JimBob85 wrote: »

So hes been in a coma for 23 years since1983. That means hes awake since 2006. Must be a slow news day

"was discovered three years ago and has just been made public by the doctor who rescued him"

To The North

this story scares the crap out of me, the thought of being stuck in your body like that is too much. i wonder how he spent those 23 years, as in what went through his mind each day that he was awake