I wrote this letter last year! Thank you so much for your support. My sister awoke months later. She is going great! She is fully conscious. No short term memory issues.She is home with family. She is learning to walk again. It was a long road but we are glad that we never gave up. Now my sister can tell her own story.

"Hi Patrik and Intensive Care Hotline Support,

 

My husband ended up in ICU, after being found unconscious. X-rays showed he had aspirated into his right lung, and was put on a ventilator to support him whilst treating for pneumonia. This was quite a frightening time for me. I really didn't know what was going on, or what should be going on in the ICU. The staff were quite friendly, but kept the discussions very simplistic. I felt powerless.

 

It wasn't until I accessed Patrik Hutzel's expertise that I started getting real answers. Not only was he willing to speak to staff directly, he told me what sort of questions to ask which would encourage the doctors to talk to me at a deeper level. My husband had been in ICU for two weeks and all measurements were showing he was good to be weaned off the ventilator (Patrik taught me what indicators to ask for). However, because of a previous failed extubation and general weak muscle tone, the doctors didn't see it would be successful and were leaning towards a tracheotomy.

 

I was armed with all the right questions, and seeing my keenness to give it a go, they proceeded to take the tube out and put him on a bi-pap. Wonderfully it was successful, and significantly shortened any further stay in ICU. This moment was very crucial, as the longer my husband stayed in the ICU, the more weight and muscle he lost. I am so grateful for Patrik, as I feel it improved the outcome for my husband. Plus he metaphorically gave me a map and compass to navigate this very different experience.

 

I can happily say that my husband is now doing really well. Thank you to Patrik and his team.

 

Sincerely,

Hi Patrik and Intensive Care Hotline Team,

My husband is finally out of ICU and in a hospital ward. He has been gaining his strength and movement back in leaps and bounds after being in ICU for 3 weeks.
I am absolutely grateful for Patrik's advice. The Drs thought he had a high chance of failing the second extubation. It's really only because I knew what language to use and what questions to ask, that they agreed to try again before a tracheostomy. But my husband did succeed with the extubation, by being put on a BiPAP, and being given some relaxant. He moved from that to nose prongs, and then eventually breathing on his own. Oh my gosh! How much time was saved from being in ICU, by Patrik's guidance. Alot!!!

Your site is wonderful — it was very helpful and I was extremely grateful for SOMEWHERE to turn to during my Dad's horrific ordeal!! GOD BLESS YOU AND ALL THOSE WHO WILL STILL NEED YOUR HELP!!

THANKS YOU FOR YOUR terrific SUPPORT DURING THIS TIME OF UNCERTAINTY.

Thank you for all your support, you have lots of great insights and excellent information.

Thank you, very inspiring and useful information, you’ve got your topic nailed and you know exactly what families need!

My Mother was in intensive care and I was confused and frustrated. She has now passed on to be with the Lord so I no longer need to worry about her or an outcome. Thank you for all the understandable information and insights you gave, it helped me tremendously!

Your info was Very helpful. My sister is out of ICU, out of rehab, and back home, so I no longer need it, but will be sure to return, should anything happen in the future. Thank you for being there!!!

My wife was immunosuppressed after a kidney transplant, she contracted severe pneumonia and has been on a ventilator for 8 weeks has now today had her tracheotomy removed and is well on her way to recovery even if it’ll be a long one. I would like to thank you and all the people who have given me the knowledge to face this challenge, to stay positive and to never to give up hope and as long as your loved one's fighting and I was also able to keep fighting with the knowledge you gain from your website and your services.

I found your site and your counselling/ consulting services very useful to help understand what was going on and to get what I wanted for my Mum! Thank you.

My mother passed away, however your site and your 1:1 counselling proved more than worthy and valuable when it came to dealing with the doctors and the nurses. Thank you very much.

Your site is extremely helpful! Thank you very much! Thank you for all the useful information and guidelines that you shared with us. We really appreciated your help and couldn’t have done it without you!

I just want to thank you very much for all of your help and very kind, encouraging and helpful words of wisdom and support.

You helped us tremendously during the time when my sister was on ECMO for lung failure for many weeks, you were the only person we could turn to and who could truly understand how we were feeling and what we needed! Thank you so much!

My Mum was in ICU for more than three months and some of the time she was on ECMO for ARDS! I was totally outside of my comfort zone and I had no idea how to deal with this situation! My Mum survived and she would not have survived without your help and guidance during this terrible time! Having access to your 1:1 counselling over the phone was amazing! You certainly know what you’re talking about!

Hi Patrick,
I wanted to update you since your advice was so helpful for me when my dad was in the hospital.. His story sounds a lot like today's email, sedated and slow to wake up.. They tried to talk us out of the tracheostomy, saying he would have no brain function. Your advice helped me to know how to advocate for him. Then once he got the trach he was immediately transferred to a step down unit in same hospital (which wasn't very good), and then to long term care.. Thankfully he had good care there and they eventually weaned him off the respirator./trach.. I think in total it was 5 months in some kind of care, then home with nursing and PT to help him gain strength.. I thought you might get a kick out of this, he realized his driver's license had expired and no family member would take him to the DMV... So he snuck out with his walker, drove himself to DMV and got it renewed, and they found him at a nearby pancake house having breakfast.. Anyway, I guess far from never waking up.. Getting your advice was a Godsend.. Thank you again for this amazing service.
Best wishes,

Hi Patrik,
You are a true saint!! 100%.
I can't even think of any word or word's that would even come close to describe how good you really are and I honestly could keep writing this text now explaining it all in detail. Hand on my heart you are definitely one in a million that's for sure and I do owe you.
Thank you so much Patrik for your genuine support and guidance so far. I do understand that the journey has only just started.

"I never comment on YouTube videos, although I watch them all day. Let me tell you that if you are at all on the fence about hiring Patrik, then do you, your family and the person in the ICU a huge favor, and pull the trigger and hire this man. He helped out my father incredibly well. With 100% certainty and honesty, we literally would have been screwed if it wasn't for his help. I bought the five day package and we've used it slowly over time. Mostly in the first 2 to 3 weeks but even as far as eight months out. Patrik is offering an amazing one-of-a-kind service that you are very lucky to have access to if you have found him. I have no relation whatsoever to Patrik other than that I discovered him online and hired him and it was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. Patrik is brilliant, prepared, knowledgeable and experienced. He knows the questions to ask that you couldn't even think of, even though they are so important. The old saying goes "you don't know what you don't know" and this couldn't be more true than when you are holding on for your family members life. Hire Patrik now, do not procrastinate. If you think you could maybe use him, then you absolutely need him. Our family does not come from great means but for the amount he charges you, you will guarantee recoup that value back or maybe even 2000%. And that's not even including saving the person's life that you care about. Hire. Hire. Hire."

You helped me realize icu doctors and nurses have their own agenda. You also helped me know the process of what they would do for my critically ill loved one. There was many other things also but I would have to remember and as of now I am still dealing with my critically ill loved one who is in ICU. They are giving her a tracheostomy soon and she will more than likely be leaving ICU soon. Thank you again sir.

Thank you for everything. Without you, I would lose my mind. It was really hard and although my father didn't recover as much as we hoped, you helped us to accept it and still gave us hope, that there is still some little chance that he will recover a bit more. Thank you from my heart, you are a life saviour. Keep doing great work!

I can't thank you enough for giving me the power to take control of his care, peace of mind, and being in control of his care. I am going to be signing up for monthly subscriptions/membership and possibly an hourly consultation. You have given me the motivation to keep up with fighting the hospital and them pressuring us for outside facilities. So sad that money is more powerful than a person's recovery. You have helped guide me through the process by watching your videos and having the courage to stand up to the hospital pressures. I told them today, I'm the last person you want to mess with. Sorry for the language but that's the truth! They want to wear you down to give into what they want not what my dad needs. I can't thank you enough for your support and help. I will be chatting with you shortly! Thank you again for helping families in a crisis that don't know what we don't know!!

Hi,
Patrik Hutzel is assisting my family and myself with our dad in Oregon. Thank you all so much for sharing your time and knowledge with us!
I know my dad would not be with us and alive now if not for the expertise of Patrik Hutzel and the Intensive Care Hotline.
Again, we are also very grateful to have been fortunate enough to have him take a look at his case and advocate for us.
Keep up the fight!

Hi Patrik,
I greatly appreciate everything your service has provided to us. The knowledge you have shared has helped immeasurably! I have learned so much and become more empowered through the videos and emails. There were times when I had no one else to help and I'm so glad you and your team were there.
I only wish I had listened sooner and maybe things would have not gotten so bad before they finally got better. Luckily, my sister has survived the horrible experiences she went through and made it out of the LTAC alive.
I'm sure this will be a long recovery at home and I will try to refer to your advice as we navigate the next steps.
Thanks for everything.

Hello Patrik and intensivecarehotline.com team,Thank you for your perspective on the tracheostomy. We did not do the trach and my father was able to wean off the breathing tube on Friday and has been stable since. He is swallowing okay and is managing his secretions.

- Theresa

"Hello Patrik and Intensive Care Hotline team,

Firstly, I wanted to thank you for all your help and support over what was the most trying and scariest time for my family while we sat beside our 80 year old mom's bed side while she was in ICU for an extended period of time of 69 days.

We were approached on multiple occasions by teams of doctors alerting us to them holding out little hope for mom's recovery. Without your help, I think we could have (eventually) been pushed into a different choice.

Having someone with insider knowledge, armed me with the confidence, vocabulary and knowledge of our rights in this most difficult situation. We knew that we just had to give mom time and she would show us which direction she wanted to go in.

Fast forward to the present and my mom is now in her 3rd week of rehabilitation at a different hospital and is going strong. She is eating diced food, the trach stoma has fully healed and there is not even a scar. She is feeding herself, attending to most of her own personal care, like feeding herself, brushing her teeth and hair etc.

The OT team have visited her home and are making arrangements for any adjustments to the family house, ready for mom to return.

The highlight of everyday for me is going to the hospital after work to chat, share a meal and have a laugh with my mom. Such a blessing which none of us take for granted.

So again...a very heartfelt thank you from myself and my family. Your service in the intensivecarehotline.com is literally a lifeline which I would recommend to anyone going through having a loved one in ICU.

I'm glad that we did not require your service for Intensive Care at Home but grateful that it was an option and know that the ICU team at my mom's hospital are now very aware of your service! So I wish you all the best for establishing this service.

Thank you and kind regards,
Klara and family

"Hi Patrik,

Thank you for your perspective and advice during my father's recent two-week stay in the ICU. You saved him from a tracheostomy, which was not necessary. He would have had yet another unnecessary surgery, which could have resulted in his death.

We brought him home on July 1st. He has been doing exceptionally well. He started eating within days and will hopefully not need the feeding tube within a week or so. I wish we would have known about your services before we agreed to the surgery to supposedly remove the blood from his brain from his latest fall.

At least he is now home and recovering. His speech has miraculously returned as well. Prior to this his speech was unintelligible due to his advanced Parkinson's. He is now doing PT/ST and playing dominos with his great grand kids!

Truly appreciate your insight and quick advice once we were able to get the hospital records! I will be recommending you to my friends, family and anyone that may face an ICU situation.

Thank you again,
Theresa"

I sensed something was very wrong early on and had no idea how to change the situation. I don't know what I would have done without your daily support and guidance. It was invaluable. Even though I have a strong medical background, it would have been difficult to understand all the inner workings of the ICU by myself. You taught me how to read all the important instruments that were keeping my sister alive. It was very apparent her care and my family were being manipulated in order to get the outcome they wanted. You and your staff gave me the courage and moral support to stand up to the doctors who literally harassed and tried to intimidate me on a daily basis to make my sister a DNR.

This started only a few days in before her brain even had a chance to heal. I found the doctors would stop at nothing to attempt to get a DNR from me, even pitting my family against me since I was the only hold out of many people. It was after my sister's discharge I found out that the nurse's station had her driver's license the entire time. She was listed as a donor. No wonder they wanted to make her a DNR! I don't know what I would have done without your invaluable guidance and that of your staff. No doubt you helped save my sister's life. I can never thank you enough.

Best regards,
Cassidy"