MayorMeanBeans Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Conscious man 'in coma' for 23 years A Belgian man diagnosed as being in a coma for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time. Rom Houbens was simply paralysed and had no way to let doctors caring for him what he was suffering. "I dreamt myself away," says Houben, now 46, who was misdiagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state after a car crash. Doctors and nurses in Zolder deemed him a hopeless case whereby his consciousness was considered "extinct". The former martial arts enthusiast and engineering student was paralysed after a car crash in 1983. He was finally correctly diagnosed three years ago and his case has just come to light in a scientific paper released by the man who "saved" him. Doctors treating him regularly examined him using the worldwide Glasgow Coma Scale which judges a patient according to eye, verbal and motor responses. During every examination he was graded incorrectly. And so he suffered in silence, unable to communicate to his parents, his carers or the friends who came to his bedside that he was awake and aware at all times what was happening in his room. Only the re-evaluation of his case at the University of Liege brought to light that Houben was only paralysed all these years. Hi-tech scans showed his brain was still functioning almost completely normally. Therapy has now enabled him to tap out messages on a computer screen and he has a special device above his bed enabling him to read books while lying down. When he woke up after the accident he had lost control of his body, "I screamed, but there was nothing to hear," he says. "I became a witness to my own suffering as doctors and nurses tried to speak with me until they gave up all hope. "I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me – it was my second birth. All that time I just literally dreamed of a better life. Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt." The neurologist Steven Laureys who led the re-examination of Houben, published a study two months ago claiming vegetative state diagnosed patients are often misdiagnosed. "Anyone who bears the stamp of 'unconscious' just one time hardly ever gets rid of it again," he said. Laureys, who leads the Coma Science Group and Department of Neurology at Liege University Hospital, discovered how Houbens' brain was still working using state-of-the-art imaging. He now intends to use the case of Houbens to highlight what he considers may be many more similar examples of misdiagnosis around the world. He said: "In Germany alone each year some 100,000 people suffer from severe traumatic brain injury. About 20,000 are followed by a coma of three weeks or longer. Some of them die, others regain health. But an estimated 3000 to 5000 people a year, remain trapped in an intermediate stage: they go on living without ever come back again." Houbens remains in constant care at a facility near Brussels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morton Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 That is a long time to stare at the ceiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christo-f Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 fuck X 1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belmonts Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 that must have been hell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
count chocula Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 :shook: i feel fear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMEGMA.NAZARETH Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 that's fucking torture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bojangles Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Damn...I would've become a freaking madman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_casek Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pornbooth Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 i wonder how many nurses had sex with him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayorMeanBeans Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 i'd go with...... none. tom cruise in born on the fourth of july taught me that paralyzed people pay dirty mexican hookers to have faux sex with them, not nurses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Now that's fucked. Kind of makes me think of that movie "Johnny Got His Gun." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayorMeanBeans Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 ^yeah i read that book, that shit seriously disturbed me, like when he doesn't know if the rat is real or in his dream..... wack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cool Water Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Imagine how much stuff youd want to get off your chest after being there 25 years. Wonder if anything secret was said infront ofhim or any nurses did any weird shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pornbooth Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 i'd go with...... none. tom cruise in born on the fourth of july taught me that paralyzed people pay dirty mexican hookers to have faux sex with them, not nurses. i was talking about in coma state hospital staff molest coma victims all the time, so i say at least a few probably men also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nsmbfan Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 how the fuck do you rape a comatose dude? his peen didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Break '92 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Thats insane. This nigga need to get P-A-I-D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viperface Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Imagine all the family stopping by, gradually losing interest in trying to communicate/show affection, just because they 'know' dude is in a coma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pornbooth Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 how the fuck do you rape a comatose dude? his peen didn't work. in the ass and you dont have to have an erection to get raped and this dude was never in a coma so.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R@ndomH3ro Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 beat me to it....damn :mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reuben Kinkaid Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 EPIC NAP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustofills Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Now that's fucked. Kind of makes me think of that movie "Johnny Got His Gun." I thought that same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire15 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Thats some shit you would want to die over a thousand times. After a year of that I would be begging for death. 20+ years. Holy Christ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DurkStevens Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 .......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustofills Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 in the ass and you dont have to have an erection to get raped and this dude was never in a coma so.... Not for nothing but to add to this thread. Granted he was'nt in a coma. But it sounds like he has severe damage of the cerebral cortex. This is why he is unable to move anything. Judgeing from how long he has been left there to lay still without receiving any therapy at all to help him regain control of even a small amount of is motorskills until within the last 3 years. To say nothing about the level of nerve damage. Which gos hand and hand with Cerebral damage of almost all and any kind. My guess is, if he is unable to even blink his eyes. Then the nerve damage is that bad. It obviously has an effect on his ability to get an erection. In short. His dick dont work, like the rest of him. Permaflaccid! With all that said. I wouldnt want to live if I was unable to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrasivesaint Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 no fucking way, i hope if that ever happens to me my fam/friends know i'd want them to just pull the plug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosingMyMind Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignition Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 What a terrible thing...20+ years of staring. I will never complain about boredom again.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delonemonkey Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 holy shit. i cant even say anything else. holy shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telo Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Can we get a link to the story? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Dose Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 yeah this is rank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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