Yes, I was on a ventilator and in a coma for about 6 days and eventually I woke up on that ventilator with my hands restrained to prevent me from pulling the times out and my feet were also unable to move bc of those circulation leg things. Well apparently I wasn't sedated enough bc I was scared shitless and breathing through a tube is literally like breathing through a straw. I was in a lot of pain and there was no way to communicate. I had a severe brain injury and couldn't understand where I was or what was going on. I had someone watching me at all times while I was on the ventilator and they'd constantly be sternly telling me to stop trying to break free, so I thought they were just being mean and at one point I thought I was being punished and being held there against my will, not being fed while tied there. You get very hungry when you're being fed formula through a nasogastric tube for a week.
I also developed about 14 bed sores and nerve damage in all 4 limbs during this time. Both my arms need surgery to try to correct some of the damage. It's painful and it's made the muscles in my hand atrophied. A constant reminder that they didn't take care of me like they like they should've. Everyone on a ventilator should be sedated unless they're tolerating the vent well, which is rare and I most certainly wasn't tolerating it well at all. And they knew I have anxiety and that I was scared yet they did nothing to make me comfortable. Obviously, I must've been fighting those restraints for days on end to the damage that was done to them.
I have flashbacks all day long. I'm so so so angry that if I was not neglected, I wouldn't be so damaged. It was bad enough waking up not being able to swallow, feed myself, use my hands, walk, or talk in complete sentences... they didn't have to traumatize me more.
