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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel here from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.
So yesterday I had Carlos write an email and he says, “My 62-year old mom is in intensive care with Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), and she has now been ventilated for five months with a tracheostomy. Can she be weaned off the ventilator?”
So the short answer to this is yes, but let’s look at this in a bit more detail and let’s break this down for you. So when somebody has Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS), most patients do come off the ventilator eventually, but it often takes time. They often need immunoglobulin therapy and they can get that either in hospital ICU, but they could also get it at home and I’ll come to that in a moment.
But to answer your question, Carlos, definitely your mom can come off the ventilator or any other patient that’s in ICU for five months on a tracheostomy and ventilation has to change to come off the ventilator on this. They are having a neuromuscular degenerative disease such as muscular dystrophy or motor neuron disease or they’re C1 quadriplegic, but any other patient often has a chance to come off the ventilator, especially if the right strategies are being put in place.
And more importantly, Carlos, what you said in your email yesterday was that you are sick and tired of being in ICU and your mom is sick and tired of being in ICU. Well, there’s a reasonably simple solution for that because your mom can go home with services like intensive care at home that basically bring the ICU home and that provide the same level of service at home than you get in intensive care.
It’s basically in intensive care substitution service, just in a much nicer and much more patient and family-friendly environment. So go and check out intensivecareathome.com for more information now.
So that’s my quick tip for today.
Go and post your comments below, let me know what questions you have, like the video, and subscribe to my channel.
This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and check out our case studies at intensivecarehotline.com or call us on one of the numbers on the top of the website.
Take care.