It wasn't like sleep in that sense. I wasn't aware of anything.

They aren't going to wake him up from the coma until they think he can breathe on his own. They determine that by dialing back how much help the ventilator is providing.

They may bring him out long enough to ask a question and stick him with a pin to see if he still has cognitive function.

>when you were conscious or in a coma?

They didn't explain much to me while I was in the coma. If they did, I have no recollection.

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to find out.

A ventilator assists your breathing. It can do 100% of it for you, or it can do (I don't know the number) 10% of the breathing, and your body does the remaining 90%.

Again, I was a coma patient; I am not a medical; professional. A person who is sedated for something like a minor procedure (think a colonoscopy or an eye surgery) is awake and may be aware, or they may be simply put to sleep with drugs. Those folks can still breathe on their own and don't need a ventilator, because they are only partially sedated.

As you get more drugs for a deeper level of sedation, you breathing slows down.

A person who is put into a deeper level of sleep, like for a major surgery, may or may not get intubated with a ventilator. They may still be able to breathe on their own, but the drugs cause respiration to slow, and that can be dangerous, depending on what's happening. So they may go on a ventilator, if it is felt is needed.

A person who is medically induced is, I believe, usually intubated with a ventilator. They let the ventilator do the heavy lifting so the body can repair itself. Again, they heavy drugs slow respiration.

The ventilator does tit's work whether or not you are sedated. They sedate you because it's a scary friggin' experience to have a tube shoved down your throat, completely blocking it. It felt like a hard or corrugated plastic, and it was not pleasant. I began to freak a little, but they calmed me down enough to get their test done and then put me back under.

Those commercials that have been running in some areas of the US about not having a glass of wine with your Oxy? It's warning you because that combo is effectively sedating you to a level where your respiration can slow to a stop.

I do not remember anything about my coma, except a very weird thing when they put me back under. it's not the same as being asleep, IMO. I had no concept of the passage of time. I woke up five days later and thought it had been a couple of hours. I had a follow up surgery months later where I was just under general anesthesia for the surgery (knocked out) and it felt like I was out for 15 minutes. It had been 7 hours. I felt like Scott Lang in the Quantum World.

They can dial back how much assistance the ventilator is providing, I believe. That's what they did with me (or at least how it was explained to me).

When they brought me out to check brain function, the tube was still down my throat. It hurts, it triggers the gag reflex...it is not pleasant, and it almost feels like you are choking. That's one reason (among the others) people are typically sedated when on a ventilator. It can easily cause you to freak out and start thrashing, which runs counter to the whole idea of getting rest and healing.

So, they may take it from 100% assistance to 90%, to 80%, etc. It will reach a point where they think the body can do it on its own, and that's when they will consider bring him out.

Think of it like those machines (like the assisted pull up machine) in the gym that have a weight assist on them. You can dial back how much of the work is being done by the machine assist. It allows you to continue with the exercise so that you can do it properly and reap the benefits, and as you get stronger, you can turn down how much assist the machine is giving, until you are at a point you can do it all on your own.

Just speaking from having been an induced coma patient (not a medical person), this is pretty much just 'hurry up and wait.' Nothing can be gleaned from what WE know, though some things might be gleaned from what HIS DOCTORS may know.

He will remain induced until he can breathe on his own. That may be two hours, two days, two weeks, two months, two years, or just never.

The longer he remains on a ventilator is perhaps an indicator of some bad outcome, but even then, it's all about letting the body heal. That happens faster in some than others.

IMO, it's not fair to expect anything at this point. He seems to have received top shelf medical care almost immediately, and that will have more impact on the outcome than how long he is on a ventilator, IMO.

I can give you my experience. I do not have a medical background, though.

I was medically induced for a massive infection (perforated colon from undiagnosed diverticulitis led to sepsis and septic shock). I was in a coma for 5 days, and was for this reason (let the machines do the work to allow the body to heal itself). They brought me out once on about day 3 to see if I had cognitive function. The drugs used to induce the coma are extremely powerful, and they can cause damage, as can the massive infection I had.

It is certainly a different situation, as my lungs, kidneys, and liver were shutting down. I also am not an in-shape professional athlete.

That said, as it was explained to me, putting someone in a coma and on a ventilator is sort of a risk in itself. The ventilator tube can easily breed bacteria that leads to lung infections, and the drugs used can do damage as well. It's better than the alternative, but it's also not necessarily a sign of improvement. It's more a sign of 'stable at the moment, we'll assess the damage later.'

While I was under, they did some tests and scans and diagnostics, but I don't know to what extent they did any CT or MRI or advanced scans (if any). I would think being on the ventilator limits where and how they can move the patient.

I believe they will assess the lungs' ability to work on their own by dialing back the machine a little at a time. They will also do some cognitive and brain testing if they have not done so. But they will do more after he is brought out.

It sounds like he received immediate lifesaving care, which is great. But there is just too much unknown at the moment, and some things that are known for now may change later. My take is that we should offer up whatever support we can and let the process happen. He's a young, strong, fit, athletic guy and that gives him a big head start on a recovery.

But however you spread good juju in the world, whether it be prayers or thoughts or incense or incantations or whatever, the Hamlin family can use all the support they can get right now.

Stupid Spock.