Patient_Experiences

Thank you to our brave patients and families for sharing their experiences

coming together patient experiences svhm icu
  • Thriving post cardiac arrest
    Thriving post cardiac arrest

    The day Ravinder walked back into the ICU feeling like a new man, he was filled with gratitude and respect for the staff who helped save his life. Ravinder’s story started with sudden chest pain followed by multiple prolonged cardiac arrests and interhospital transfer, ending up at St Vincent’s Melbourne.…

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  • The man with more than 9 lives
    The man with more than 9 lives

    47yo Kashif was transferred to St Vincent’s Melbourne after a large heart attack and was found to have severe coronary artery disease, requiring open heart surgery. Whilst Kashif already had some significant risk factors such as being on long term dialysis, no one could have predicted the stormy course his…

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  • A faint at work leads to major cardiac surgery
    A faint at work leads to major cardiac surgery

    What started with a faint at work led to one hospital, another and finally St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. By this time Steve was very unwell on life support and after much planning underwent major cardiac surgery to correct a faulty valve. He made an excellent recovery and was home at…

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  • Taking the long way home: Eddie fights severe COVID-19
    Taking the long way home: Eddie fights severe COVID-19

    Eddie: an avid Tigers supporter, a runner and a legend! Unfortunately, being unvaccinated, Eddie’s body struggled to fight off COVID-19. The massive inflammatory response saw him fighting for his life on a ventilator, being flipped on his front by a team of nurses and doctors (“proning”) and being administered all…

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  • On the road to being ‘fighting fit’
    On the road to being ‘fighting fit’

    Peter came into hospital to have major cardiac surgery to fix two heart valves. Unfortunately after the long surgery the right side of Peter’s heart started to fail. In the middle of the night, in an induced coma in the ICU, he was in a fight for his life. His…

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  • Rocking out with a little help from the “ICU Angels”
    Rocking out with a little help from the “ICU Angels”

    At over 5 weeks into his ICU stay post major cardiac surgery, it’s safe to say that the road hasn’t been easy for Karl. Infections, pancreatitis, renal failure requiring dialysis, being fed intravenously and a slow respiratory wean via a tracheostomy are all hurdles that Karl has taken in his…

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  • “This player wanted to play” – victory after 3 weeks in ICU with severe COVID-19 infection
    “This player wanted to play” – victory after 3 weeks in ICU with severe COVID-19 infection

    Ramzi spent approximately 3 weeks in ICU with severe COVID-19 infection after 10 days of illness at home. He required a long duration on a mechanical ventilator, a brief run of proning (being nursed on the front instead of the back for lung aeration) and a tracheostomy among many other…

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  • Surviving over a month in ICU for severe COVID-19 infection
    Surviving over a month in ICU for severe COVID-19 infection

    Betty spent over a month in St Vincent’s Melbourne ICU for critical illness secondary to COVID-19. She had two runs on a mechanical ventilator and was proned (nursed on her front rather than back whilst in a medically induced coma) for long periods of time to improve her lung function.…

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  • Recovering from a brain aneurysm
    Recovering from a brain aneurysm

    “From the moment we arrived in the ambulance with Dennis, I felt very glad we were here. I was really thrilled when I knew we were being transferred to St Vincent’s. So from the moment we came through the doors…I trusted that everything that could be done would be done…

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  • Fighting respiratory failure
    Fighting respiratory failure

    “My name is Amanda Johnson, I am now 30 years old, back in 2016-2017 I ended up in ICU for about 4-5 weeks when I was told by my local GP I had respiratory failure. I was in and out of sleep for days. I ended up having to get…

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