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Oct 83 min read

I see you ICU

20 days in the ICU. That is a long time. Even if you don't remember the first week.




Again, my experience was unique. Everyone's ICU experience is unique. Here are some things I wish I knew before my time there:


  1. It is noisy. My room did not have a door-just a curtain. There is a lot happening in the ICU. Try your best to ignore what you hear. You will hear scary alarms, scary announcements, and sad things happening outside your room. Turn up your TV, use a sound machine, or listen to music. I had my phone play "spa sounds" from YouTube. Even the nurses commented about how much more relaxing my room was.


Here is a link to a playlist I used:


  1. I had one nurse for about a 12 hour shift. That nurse was assigned to just me and one other patient.

  2. They often woke me up in the middle of the night for CT scans and bloodwork. I guess so they could have the information they needed when the doctors started their rounds. I was usually up from 2 am-4 am.

  3. My taste and appetite totally changed. I couldn't eat much and bread tasted horrible. I only liked fruit and chicken nuggets. It helped to have friends bring me food since I couldn't really eat the hospital food.

  4. The TV remote was very hard to use, but it helped to have the distraction. HGTV was comforting.

  5. A physical therapist took me on walks outside my room. Do not look in the ICU rooms while walking in the halls.

  6. My kids could not come visit me. That was hard. I did have a friend talk a nurse into letting me see them in the lobby with a nurse supervising.

  7. Only two people could visit my room at a time.

  8. I saw the nurses a lot more than doctors. The doctors usually only came into my room once a day.

  9. I couldn't take a shower, but the nurses had special cleaning wipes that I could use as a "bath"

  10. No need to pack clothes. You will be in the hospital gown and wear hospital socks. My husband did bring me underwear so I had a fresh pair each day.




I don't remember this, but apparently I did some amazon shopping. There were things that I wanted or thought I needed. I have made a list of things I ordered and things that helped me while in the ICU:


  1. Luigi's Ice (luckily my hospital had those)

  2. Apple Juice

  3. Lotion!! My skin got super dry while in the ICU. Especially my legs.

  4. Chap Stick

  5. Something to brush my teeth with when I couldn't leave my bed. Little disposable tooth brushes (with built in toothpaste) and floss.

  6. Velvet hair scrunchies. They are soft to lay on and don't irritate my scalp.

  7. Headphones or something to block noise (I ordered headphones on amazon, but couldn't use them because of everything going on with my head)

  8. Sound machine

  9. Gatorade-especially "Gatorade Fit"

  10. Face wipes to clean my face

  11. Deodorant



    You will most likely lose track of days and time while in the ICU. Also, the ICU is traumatic. I think I was in shock while I was there, and it has taken me a while to accept what happened. Certain sounds and smells give me icky memories and feelings. Pain and needles are one thing, but the experience of being in the ICU is something that you will also need to recover from.




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