ICU Hospitalization Tied To PTSD [PsychCentral.com]

I followed the links to the original article in (Johns-Hopkins) "Eureka", which had the researchers e-mail addresses at the bottom of it, and advised them that they could peruse my response here. If anyone wishes to comment privately or directly with them, that should work....

I already had PTSD before I had my open heart surgery. Before the surgery, I asked the Anesthesiologist to write an Advance Directive, that when the CICU nurse came in to slap me in the back-to clear fluid from my lungs, that s/he first speak audibly into my ear, calling me by name [even while I was still under the influence of anesthesia], saying what s/he was going to do-BEFORE s/he did it... To the best of my knowledge, I was not considered by those nurses as a "management problem". However, after leaving the CICU, and going on the Cardiac Recovery Ward, I had some PTSD reactions, and consulted with a psychiatrist, who prescribed low-dose Mellaril. Unfortunately, it wasn't apparently known then, that Mellaril prolongs the Qt Heart rhythm. Many other positive accommodations were made by the University Hospital staff, at that time, such as accompanying me outdoors to walk, the first day after I was discharged from CICU, with my wheeled IV rack; not putting me in a room near the nurses station where I could hear the beeping of all the cardiac monitors on the ward; etc.         I hope the researchers at Johns Hopkins will review the responses here in ACEsConnection.