Having tried as many different drugs as possible ECT was offered to me while I was an inpatient. During this particular hospitalization my husband and I did not have enough information to make an informed decision but -- the doctor had other plans. He was going to give me ECT if he had to tie me down to do it. At least that's the gist of the conversation he had with my husband -- but he didn't know who he was dealing with. My husband quickly checked me out of that hospital. That was the first, last and only time I ever entered that particular facility.
After that, my husband, Henry, researched it inside-out, he, and I didn't know it at the time, reluctantly suggested I try it but at a different facility. So I did.
From September to November of 2004 I had 11 ECT's. The first few were done while I was an inpatient and the rest were done outpatient. The benefits were short-lived and six months of my life -- my memories -- are gone. That is really the only negative thing I have to say about the ECT's, erased memories and my husband starting sentences with "you probably don't remember this, BUT...". Whether or not I have viewed a particular movie gives us some comic relief though. I'll be channel surfing, a movie will catch my eye and the conversation goes something like this:
Me: "Have I seen this movie before"
Him: "Yes."
Me: "Was it in "carrie-mode"?" (meaning, did I stay awake to watch the whole thing?)
Him: "No."
Me: "Did I enjoy it?"
The day of an ECT went something like this:
I would be taken a staging area outside the treatment room where I would don a gown, drink an anti-nausea cocktail and be hooked up to an IV with a muscle relaxer. Once I was wheeled into the treatment room I would be sedated, the treatment would be given and I would wake up in the same staging area I started from with barely a headache.
If I knew then what I know now, would I still do it? Yes. Would I recommend it to other people? I would not recommend this, NOR condemn it, one way or the other. It is my belief that each patient is different, each history, each circumstance is unique and it is up to that patient to make a decision they feel is right for them. At the time, ECT was right for me.
By the way, I have NEVER seen "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest".
After that, my husband, Henry, researched it inside-out, he, and I didn't know it at the time, reluctantly suggested I try it but at a different facility. So I did.
From September to November of 2004 I had 11 ECT's. The first few were done while I was an inpatient and the rest were done outpatient. The benefits were short-lived and six months of my life -- my memories -- are gone. That is really the only negative thing I have to say about the ECT's, erased memories and my husband starting sentences with "you probably don't remember this, BUT...". Whether or not I have viewed a particular movie gives us some comic relief though. I'll be channel surfing, a movie will catch my eye and the conversation goes something like this:
Me: "Have I seen this movie before"
Him: "Yes."
Me: "Was it in "carrie-mode"?" (meaning, did I stay awake to watch the whole thing?)
Him: "No."
Me: "Did I enjoy it?"
The day of an ECT went something like this:
I would be taken a staging area outside the treatment room where I would don a gown, drink an anti-nausea cocktail and be hooked up to an IV with a muscle relaxer. Once I was wheeled into the treatment room I would be sedated, the treatment would be given and I would wake up in the same staging area I started from with barely a headache.
If I knew then what I know now, would I still do it? Yes. Would I recommend it to other people? I would not recommend this, NOR condemn it, one way or the other. It is my belief that each patient is different, each history, each circumstance is unique and it is up to that patient to make a decision they feel is right for them. At the time, ECT was right for me.
By the way, I have NEVER seen "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest".
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