Woman in Five Year Coma Has Been AWAKE the Whole Time | Chicago Med | MDTV 

House would have figured this out by himself in three days.

Don't care what anyone says locked in syndrome has to be the worst thing ever just being trapped like that must be horrible to experience

As a nurse, I’ve seen this once in a traumatic brain injury patient. I was working one day and this patient was awake but couldn’t talk, couldn’t move but you could see her eyes moving and acknowledging your presence. She was crying but her lips weren’t moving. It’s very devastating to see someone suffer like that.

As a nurse we are always told to watch what we say around comatose patients.

While the mom was happy that her daughter listened to their voice, the dad slowly realized that she was conscious when she was attacked... so heartbreaking...

Didn't realize Locked-in syndrome was a thing until today. New fear unlocked.

I remember a radio interview with a guy who had this condition for a few years and then recovered. He told quite a funny anecdote about how the doctors would do their rounds in the morning and check on him and notice that his eyes were red. For months they tried to work out what was causing it, trying every treatment in the book for every eye condition they could think of, to no avail. What he couldn't tell them was just before their visit every morning, a nurse wiped his face with a soapy washcloth and got soap in his eyes.

Locked in syndrome scares the living shit out of me! I watched a story of a woman who had it and was stuck for years when she was a teen. They too thought she was in a coma until a medicine they'd given her to treat something else made it so she could blink and move her eyes in all directions. She fully recovered and became an Olympic gold medalist. I believe in swimming.

My brother heard about locked in syndrome when he was like 13, and from that day on, he randomly reminds us that if he ever gets locked in, he wants someone to just end him. He's suffered with sleep paralysis since he was young and says he couldn't imagine anything worse then being stuck like that. He's 28 now and it's still his biggest fear.

Spinal injury is very tricky. I was left for dead on the bed taken off machines. Hearing my brother screaming at the doctor woke me up. The medic looked at me like I was a ghost. I was later in bed paralisis for 9 months then after able to sit and go on weelchair. I only developed strength to use crutches after 18 months. Now I walk unassisted. Every time I had to get an adrinaline super charge to push next stage. Yes stimulus is the only way back from that loophole.

My grandfather always taught us that you treat unconscious people like they can hear you, because of his experiences when his father was dying...and we treated him that way when he was dying, and at the right moment, he was able to make it clear that he heard us. Always treat unconscious people like they can hear you. It's worth it!

Great sense of urgency on the doctors part, it only took 5 years to get a CT scan on the head of a coma patient. 10/10

I'm glad they only waited five years to check this. Great work by the doctors.

Truly a fate worse than death.

My sister in law, has a sister that has been in a coma for the past 8 years from car wreck when she was 17, she has had 9 pregnancies in that time, all at different facilities and none of the rapists have been caught. To say it's infuriating is an understatement. I grew up with her and she was always the sweetest kid in their house. Truly heart breaking. That family has lost 3 of their 7 kids and 2 of their grandchildren in the past 20 years not counting the one in a coma. All but one died in car wrecks.

The actor who played the mother is just brilliant.👏

I served as a VA Hospital Chaplain for over 20 years. I often visited comatose patients at bedside and would identify myself and then say a prayer. I did this several times a week for patients who I was advised could not respond. One veteran patient I did this for never visibly responded until one day he opened his eyes and spoke. He said, "I remember your voice!" I heard you praying for me!" He tearfully thanked me and told everyone who would listen. He was a WWII veteran and was serving in the Philippians Dec. 7, 1941 when the Japanese bombed his air base. Very cool guy.

My daughter had just turned 17 when she had to have surgery for a growth around her pituitary gland. I won't bore you with the particulars of why she sustained injury and was then went into a coma. What I do want to say is that as she laid in her bed, could she hear my wife and I. She was one who never backed down from anything. When she set her mind to do something she just did it. She joined ROTC because she big brother had done so. She played the clarinet and flute even thou she had asthma (first chair in both). She was only 4 ft. and maybe 85 lbs. But she was a fireball. My younger daughter confided a story from her ROTC days. She was in charge of a squad and someone said "I can't see you". Her response was " you don't need to see me to hear me". That was Rose. weeks passed with no change, my wife and I stayed with her , one of us always at her side. Then one day we were at the cafeteria as the staff wanted to do some tests. As we were waiting a young girl in a wheelchair and her parents came in. The young girl was limp and thou her eyes were open there was no response. I kept watching her and I wanted so badly to ask her parents "can she hear you?' Or is she screaming inside "why can't you hear me?" "Why don't you help me?" I didn't have the courage to ask. That night my wife went to pray at the chapel. I stayed and talked to my daughter. I knew even if she opened her eyes she wouldn't want nothing short of being whole. Would she be able to hear and see me. While she screamed and pounded her hands against an invisible barrier she couldn't break out of. I talked to her and said "what ever you and God have decided it's fine by me. That night I know my daughter heard me, as a tear fell from her left eye. The next day the doctors said her organs were shutting down and hear heart stopped twice. She had taken the burden off of me that night. I never told my wife what had happened until many years later. I authorized her organs for donation if that is the right phrase to use. Her heart, liver, lungs , kidneys and pancreas were donated to others. She may not have lived to have children of her own but she is now the matriarch of her own family. One day my wife and I will meet her again and she will introduce us to her family. Sorry for being so long winded but maybe just maybe someone who benefited from her gifts or was born because of her is reading this. Love you Rose! Love Mom and Dad, big brother and little sister.

I can’t imagine anything more horrible than being assaulted while being aware of everything but also unable to move, scream or defend yourself. The saddest thing about this is that this has most likely happened to someone with Locked in syndrome somewhere in the world. I feel so incredibly sorry for that person.

When I was a student nurse in 1982 I had clinical nursing at a local hospital. One beautiful lady in her 90's was in a coma. I was taught that you should believe that a coma patient could here you. I was working in a 2 bed room alongside another student that was caring for another coma patient. I talked to this lady about the weather, my horses etc as I brushed her long black .( Yes natural black hair in her 90's) Well he made the mistake of loudly saying why do you even waste your breath on her she can't hear you! I told him that he was inappropriate and stop talking! I apologized to the patient for his ignorance and I would take care of everything. I left the room called my supervisor and reported the student nurse. He was removed from his duty. I returned to care for this patient after this brushing her letting know how sorry I was for what happened. After telling her this she she'd a single tear. I didn't realize her family was standing behind me as I was so intent on giving care. They were so happy to see this tear! Family and I started crying happy tears. The unprofessional student nurse didn't graduate.

I literally gasped when she moved her eyes. 😂 I was shocked to be that emotionally invested off a five minute scripted clip. 😂

Well, asking someone to move their eyes up and down is a very delicate procedure, so I can see why they waited 5 years before doing it.

OMG, the moment when my 'irreparably brain damaged' in a coma son opened one eye and looked at me- the nurses said oh it's just a twitch. He had LOOKED at me. The docs had said he was going to die. Well, 20 years later he is married with his own tech business. Rotten doctors need to realise that they do not know everything.

I love how the parents experience joy, shock, sadness, relief, anger, and guilt- all in a minute.

I’ve had sleep paralysis so many times in my life. When I tell you it is the most horrifying and difficult experience waking up only to not be able to do nothing… If I had to go through that for even a few weeks. I’d rather die.

I once worked in a hospital organizing activities for long term patients. There was an old man over 70. He was paralized and couldn't speak. He had had a motorcycle accident at 19 and was put in a mental hospital for life, until they realized, when he was over 60, that he was locked in. So tragical. 😢 All those years without being able to communicate...

I was working in a hospital. I caught a woman at her comatose sister's bed telling her to, "just die, you're costing us too much money." The nurses were not happy.

I used to work in a subacute nursing home with patients in vegetable states. 100% they are still there, and it’s one of the most heartbreaking things ever. You can talk to them and see in their eyes they’re there, unable to speak back or move. One nurse thought it’d be funny to tell a patient her sister died until tears started coming out her eyes. Don’t ever leave your family in nursing homes.

My older sister suffered cardiac arrest due to a high fever. She’s been in a persistent Vegetative state ever since. I remember crying my eyes out watching this episode.

I take care of a dementia patient who has very similar symptoms due to the late stage of her disease. She can move her eyes, grind her teeth, scratch and she gets these full body shudders but that's all. She was happy when she heard her husband was moving into our facility, but he was very cold to her and wouldn't talk to her or even look at her and it kinda crushed her. It takes a long time to be able to interpret her very limited physical signs but they tell a story who is in a lot of emotional and physical pain.

The surgeon on this show is absolute favorite character. Hes so goddamn refreshingly professional. No drama he just takes jobs seriously with insight and calm.

The parents are doomed. They want to keep the baby inside their daughter's stomach even saying if she dies giving birth it would be considered as a good death in this situation. Poor woman, she must be disappointed by her parents.

This stuff scares me. Especially being under for a surgery but not being given the paid meds so you can see and feel everything.

That has to be a nightmare!!! 5 loooong years being completely paralyzed. Terrifying!!

Early in my RN career I treated a almost 18 yr old teenaged car accident victim on his way skiing- after a few days He awoke from a coma speaking fluent russian. He had been adopted at age 4 in Canada to english speaking American/Canadian parents. They spoke no russian. Unbelievably the russian language he had learned by age 4 was still in his brain. And he could speak both languages fluently although it baffled his parents. They had no idea the russian was still in him. He continued to get better ( he had severe leg fractures) and continued to speak both languages. One of the strangest cases I ever treated. Comas are strange.

I like to watch these clips to see how much better of a doctor I am in my bedside manner. "I know it sounds terrible, but at least you haven't lost her," is something I wouldn't say in a million years.

Well I just discovered a new fear.

I'm sorry if I was locked in my body I'd rather be dead. That is not living that is just existing in a constant state or unending hell.

When I was in coma, I COULD STILL HEAR!!!!

That's like my worst nightmare. Being trapped in my own body, unable to speak or move, but being fully awake.

its weird, I randomly remembered this series and thought about this scene out of nowhere and looked it up and someone uploaded it YESTERDAY, what a strange coincidence

wait, so she didn’t move her eyes AT ALL because they DIDN’T ask her to move them up and down? 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

This exact thing happened to my son when he was 18. Found him in the bathroom floor a week before Christmas in 2011. He was in a coma for 3 weeks.

Wow...imagine the tragedy of being locked in your own body for years and no one knows and you can't call for help....

This really does happen. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a movie about a man who actually had locked-in syndrome. Doctors thought I had another form of this. Turns out I have a rare disease that puts me into periodic paralysis. It's called Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis. I can tell you that when I collapse it's frightening because you don't know how paramedics, doctors, and nurses are going to handle you... I am fully conscious and know exactly what's going on but I look comatose. It lasts for hours... even days at times. My body will go into a seizure followed by parlaysis. It's not epilepsy, it's the muscles going into shut down as the body jerks about pretty hard. It's still not fully understood by medical people. That's the frightening part. It limits my life in so many ways. I was left undiagnosed for many years until a genious doctor in Sanfrancisco knew instantly what I had. This clip hits a frightening core with me knowing there are people who have locked-in syndrome and medical people don't even realize it. Even worse... how many people have had their life support removed and they knew it was happening. It's horrifying to think about. Medical machines cannot read a person's consciousness... I believe the body can shut down to such a low level that machines cannot properly evaluate the state of a person in a coma. Doctors and even specialists don't know everything. Even with this rare disease, my neuromuscular doctor doesn't fully grasp how this disease affects me because they're not there all the time seeing what happens. I've learned how to live with it and keep myself as safe as I can. To look at me you would never know... until I collapse. I'm glad there is an episode showing this particular condition. It may be very helpful for someone or even medical people to be aware that this could be a possibillity.

I go into a coma like state after I have seizures, sometimes lasts for hours. I can't move my body or open my eyes but I'm fully to semi conscious. Time does feel shorter and things feel hazy but I'm in there. My body gets extremely numb and when it goes on too long I have a hard time remembering my name and things. None of my Dr.s have taken it seriously or helped me. It's awful

"We'll need more testing but also here's a bunch of promises" - peak fiction.

A man who had 'locked in syndrome' wrote about it and how he couldn't move and how deadly the nights were at the hospital because he couldn't swallow, so he could breath. That the nurses weren't there to suction out his mucus sitting in his throat at night! Each night he would pray he could hang on until the morning shift came in so he could breath. I think they were going to donate his organs when a doctor came in who suspected locked in syndrome. The doc asked him to move his eyes but he tried and couldn't, then the doc took his hand and told him to squeeze it. The guy tried with everything he had and barely twitched but it was something, and the doc said the guy was in there! I don't recall the whole story but physical therapy was in there to reconnect the motor skill with the brain. It had to be terrifying! Glory to God that he was found out in time!5

imagine she was in that hospital all this time and the day she supposed to go to different hospital the doctors suddenly do something, i mean thats how you do bussiness lmao

Umm, that would be awful! I heard a coma story, perhaps apocryphal... Person went into a coma at a concert, years later, the same song or musician was played, and they awoke! Also, Zolpidem for temporary awakening from coma is amazing!

We are going through this with my brother, I can't believe there is a TV series about this and the doctors didn't believe that he is alive after his brain stem stroke. I am just glad it didn't take us 5 years to fight for him .

Everyone talking shit about the doctors- the backstory is that she was in a kind of nursing home place being "taken care of" for all those years. She only was transferred to the hospital after her pregnancy was discovered.

If my understanding is correct; isn't that basically like having sleep paralyses for five years straight? 😥

I've experienced sleep paralysis several times, but this.... how could neurologists have not realized this?

One of the reasons I believe playing a patient's favorite music around them is a very gracious thing to do, never knowing their condition. If I were trapped in my body, music would be my only mental escape. Maybe some audiobooks too. Wow. Worst possible nightmare.

My bootie hole itchhhh and I stank I havent take a bath in years 🤪

Already had such a patient. Wish him a good morning, and he'd love you for it. Only some nurses realised it, but who listens to some stupid nurses like me? Wishing him a good morning every day, made him really active. Same with another patient. The machines told me he knew, who was here, his breathing changed, his heartbeat changed. When I shaved him, he tried to move his head to comply. I told him, that I think he is awake, and he started to cry. But the docs: He's comatuous. No, he is locked in. A neighbour once was said to be in coma. After waking up, he told the nurses what they had done or said. He just felt like being not in control of his brain, that's how he described it.

My mother was in a coma for a month with brain cancer. Remembered everything when radiation shrunk her tumors for three months before she died. We didn’t believe her but she repeated back jokes we said almost four weeks earlier about the priest who gave last rights.

Locked in Syndrome is real and rare. A famous French fashion editor by the name of Jean-Dominique Bauby had a stroke at 43 and got locked in. There's a bio-pic about him and his experience called the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Great film and encouraging message.

That's why as a healthcare practitioner, showing empathy is so important. It's better to watch what one says around unconscious patients. They may be able to hear. I remember seeing an unconscious patient who would always move her fingers each time her mum sang a particular song.

Imagine being awake for five years and you can’t scream for help or do anything about it !!!! The hell she was put through ! I’m glad they found out now rather than never but damn five years is five years to long !

is she still sane at this point? being in that state will clearly have affected one's mind.

There’s a book turned movie called Divingbell and the butterfly. True story about a man with locked in syndrome who wrote a beautiful, poetic book. Understandably short but amazing. The actor won an Oscar too.

I had a gunshot wound patient like this. You could see everything in his eyes, it was heartbreaking.

Kind of sounds like the worst drug trip humanly possible

"Move your eyes left to right" "nah" "Move them up and down" "Now i'm listening"

My grandmother was in a coma for 3 weeks. Said she could hear everything being said and going on. She couldn't move or open her eyes and was terrified she'd be buried alive. That was in the 1930s

When I was intubated, they are supposed to push the sedative/tranq or ketamine in your iv first and the the paralytic (rocoronium) so you are asleep when they temporarily paralyze you (they need your throat muscles totally lax). However if you have obstructive sleep apnea this is very dangerous so they often do it on reverse. None of this was explained to me. For whatever reason, I was awake but paralyzed while they incubated me but it continued. I heard them talking abput me and stuff (nothing inappropriate) but as if I wasn't there. I could not move. I became terrified because I was told I was just being put asleep. I could see and put my whole force into trying to move a toe and it felt I ternary like I moved but I could see it didn't move. I tried to move my eyes in Morse code but no one was looking at me. I did not know if something had gone wrong or if they were going to do things to me that hurt that I should be asleep for. The panic was terrible. Finally I realized I had absolutely no power. I told myself "say your prayers and go to sleep" and I tried to sleep. The next thing I woke up intubated hours later. I at first couldn't tell I wasn't paralyzed anymore because my wrists were tied to bed with foam mitts over my hands and when your on a vent it feels like you cant breathe at first because you actually aren't breathing, you are just getting air. I was able to blink SOS but no one noticed. They stood talking at me and I kept moving my hand. The one female Dr. took mitt off abd I knew the alphabet in ASL so I started to spell. None of the 4 other Dr's surrounding me caught it but she started spelling what I signed. Suddenly the other Dr brought me a pen and paper. I tried to talk abput being locked in during the treatment but they kept telling me it wasn't true. Then suddenly she realized what I meant. "He means from the Rocoronium! For some reason the ketamine didn't work right away even though it was only given seconds later." After that they made sure I was well snowed with opiods and tranks lol until I got of the vent a couple days later. I was awake and somewhat mobile but in hospital for a wk and yet all I could think about was those 5 minutes I was paralyzed. It was all I could talk about and would tell any nurse or staff person who would hear me. Finally one (I think a social worker) explained to me that I was traumatized and probably needed to tell people due to that and that was OK it would probably take up less space in my brain after some time but if it hadn't in 3 mos I should seek help from a psychologist. Even after I got out it was something I talked about for weeks. It seemed like the most significant thing that had happened to me there ; but only to me. I later learned on a internet forum for nurse n Dr anesthesiologists that it was the reversal of order in which protocol drugs are given to patients with sleep apnea. Someone explained a post to studebts saying if they have apnea to do it that way. A student response question was wouldn't it cause psychic trauma? The author replied with math saying the chances were less than 3% there'd be consciousness for a few min and if so the patient would never remember. I wrote a reply saying how it happened to me. I won't suggest they warn people the possibility when they do it,because that might create more fear, but I do think they should say after they think you're out "if you can't hear me don't worry it can take a few minutes for the tranq to hit you you'll be out soon." I mean if they are intentionally pushing the Rocoronium before the Ketamine, they should at least say that. Anyway sorry so long the point being being locked in for 5 min was among the most traumatizing experiences of my life, and I have serious trauma, assaults, childhood abuse; etc that I've later been diagnosed with PTSD for. But just 5 min of this was enough to put it on that level of trauma for months.

Imagine if she had just moved her eyes at any other question

I wish they had a longer ending like her getting better and communicating with her parents.

Thank you for this part. When I was in a coma, I knew and could hear. I can't explain everything but I tried to tell them it's hurts stop please .. this does indeed happen... prayers for all of you...

To clarify - it was not the dad who did it. It’s not officially revealed who but it’s implied early in the episode it was one of the careers in the facility. Also the reason the neurosurgeon took interest was because the previous care facility had clearly not taken good care of her (the assault) so he wanted to double check everything and make sure in the diagnosis she was given by another doctor. It was not him who gave the false diagnosis.

Love how the doctors say it is just what happens when it is probably them trying to let you know that they are hearing them.

Every time I see this clip... it's terrifying and heartbreaking to think about someone going through this

When I saw this thumbnail title I thought she was faking a coma…

As a woman, my biggest fear is the inability to defend myself, to fight. This scenario is it, being completely aware of what is happening but unable to even move an inch, unable to scream, to do something is the worst thing that could happen to anybody. What an awful thing to happen.

To be a doctor must be like quiz game. Most of the time many doctors only guess, and hope.

Aren't the brain wave readings different for comas and locked in syndrome? You'd think they'd know

That's why I want to leave a note that if I'm in a coma longer than 2 years, just off me. Too many people get attacked, because there's nothing you can do about it, asleep or awake. I remember seeing Kill Bill for the first time as a younger teen, and just learning that this happens to coma patients, and THAT was the one of the most scary and unsettling things in all the Kill Bill movies to me. Just saying.

the mother's acting is phenomenal 💓

I know what this is like from a very different cause. When I was around 29/30 yrs. old I got red tide poisoning from eating muscles on a beach that had not been posted. I spent several days in the hospital. Red tide poisoning acts like curare. Your mind is clear. You can hear everything going on around you. Every conversation. While they discussed my chances for survival, I heard. You cannot blink. you cannot move ANYTHING. you cannot make a sound. You cannot respond in any way to let them know you are there. Inside my head I was screaming, trying to let them know, but not a twitch. Machines are keeping you breathing (your heart, lungs and other organs can shut down). The third or fourth day (lost track) I started to come back but it took many weeks to control any of my body movements and learn to walk again. Horrible experience. I'm 70 years now and never ever forgot that feeling of helplessness.

Jesus. What a fucking nightmare.

Loved the detail on how the doctor sanitized his hands before touching the patients eyes

Kudos to this actress, who never gave up on a STEM career.

My great grandmother was hit by a car and in a 'coma' for several days, I think they even thought she was dead at one point. When she woke up, she told them she'd heard every single word they'd said over her! And some of it wasn't nice, apparently...

That would be horrible to be like that for such a long period. It would make most people go mad.

This is such an emotional scene. Every time I watch it I tear up.

I had a friend who had a motorcycle wreck and was in a coma for 6 mos. He said the docs were all shocked when h woke up. He even spoke to several groups of people with family members in coma to encourage them and share his experiences.

I remember after my knee surgery, my 3rd day post op, I was literally paralyzed from the pain. Nothing compared to this, but I know to some extent what it's like to be trapped in your own body.

Wow. Incredible work by these dedicated doctors.

About 40 years ago, I experienced two episodes of sleep paralysis in one night. You wake up, but can’t move - at all. It only lasts a few moments, but it feels like an eternity. The first episode was terrifying, as I had never experienced it before. The second time was unsettling, but I knew it would pass, so not so frightening. I’ve never had another episode since. I can’t imagine 5 years in such a state of existence.

That's possilbly the biggest nightmare when this happens to people in real life.

Wow! That gave me chills!

That’s gotta be one of the most terrifying things to ever experience. Add that to my list of medical fears, right next to waking up during an operation… 😢

My wife of 7 months pregnant went into anyplactic shock and is in vegetative coma. Her eyes are open she swallow her siliva she yawns she sneeze she also cry from her cramp she sleeps and she wakes up when is sleepy and want to sleep i try to make some noise and she wakes up like she can hear the noise but when i talk to her like in this video she dont respond. I have no idea how many patients are there like my wife but I pray do God that every patient get their life back

i was with a friend who was comatose for days before he died, but on his last day when i sang his favorite songs to him, he cried. one tear, rolling down his cheek. it was winter solstice, and my husband said, look at the last ray of sunshine setting her hair on fire.

Makes you realise how happy it can make someone to just be able to speak to a lost loved one again even if they aren’t able to become %100 again

i learned about locked-in syndrome in my neuroscience course today. my textbook says that about 90% of patients die within 4 months of onset. they were right about symptoms and treatment, but it’s so sad to know that a family with a similar case could think they have a chance with their loved one, but they don’t :(

IN MY VIEW The brain is amazing. I have always believed people whose bodies can't respond, do hear what goes on around them. We tend to "forget" to talk to these patients and go about our own lives leaving medical staff to take care of their medical needs.

I'm not a emotional person but the mom in this scene made me cry