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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care. Today’s tip is once again, about the importance that you have to watch for actions rather than words. I.e. you have to watch for what people are doing and not for what they’re saying.

So we have been working with a client who has their loved one in ICU for about nine months now. I made a video about another client that we had in ICU for about seven or eight months. This is another client. So their loved one has been in ICU for about nine months now. And this lady is ventilated with a tracheostomy. She’s got underlying cancer; she’s got Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. She’s fairly sick, but she wants to live and she’s been in ICU for the last nine months.

Now, last week the ICU team was coming to our client’s son and the ICU team was telling him that his mom is going to die, and she will die in the next few days. And we have access to the medical records. We are reviewing them regularly every day. This is part of what we do for this particular client, to help him understand what’s really going on. And that’s why a second opinion is so crucial.

So for example, if the ICU team is telling him that she’s going to die in the next few days, well, we said, where’s the evidence? So we looked at the medical records and there was absolutely no evidence that his mom was going to die in the next few days. She’s hemodynamically stable, she is off inotropes or vasopressors. Yes, she is still ventilated on 50% of FiO2 (fraction of inspired oxygen) with a PEEP (positive end expiratory pressure) of 10, and she’s not breathing spontaneously, but that’s what a ventilator is there for, to sustain life if that’s what people want. And this is clearly what our client’s mother wants. Her brain is working and she knows what she wants.

Now, after the doom and gloom speech they had, and after all the negativity, the ICU team had the audacity to then send her to a step-down ICU or to LTAC (long term acute care). After all the doom and gloom, why would she go to a step-down ICU or HDU (high dependency unit) if she was dying? That would not make any sense whatsoever. As a matter of fact, she has been slowly improving because at some point she was on 90% of FiO2, but then a thoracentesis was done that improved her condition. Blood works is pretty good even though the sodium level is still a little bit high. So she needs some free water. But overall her condition is pretty stable considering that she’s in ICU. She’s got a reasonably low hemoglobin with 7.3 and she might need a unit of blood, to top up the hemoglobin. But other than, she’s reasonably stable, and again, no sign for our client’s mother that she’s dying.

Now, what would be the best long-term solution for this lady? Well, the best long-term solution for this lady if she can’t come off the ventilator, would be to go home with Intensive Care at Home.

Unfortunately, this particular client is in an area where we can’t provide services, but if you are in Australia, for example, and you are in a similar situation, if your family member has been in ICU for months on end, you should contact us at intensivecareathome.com. We provide services all over Australia in all major capital cities, but also in remote and rural areas.

And we are predominantly NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) funded, but also, accident schemes such as the TAC (Transport Accident Commission), iCare or NIISQ (National Injury Insurance Scheme) are funding our services, well, including the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs). But even if you are in the U.S., you should contact us as well. So we can set you up with the right provider in the U.S.

So that is my quick tip for today.

Watch for actions, not for words and the actions here are crystal clear, this lady is living, and she wants to live, and the whole doom and gloom was another scare episode to have the family give in into a withdrawal of treatment that the family or the patient doesn’t want. The ICU desperately needs their ICU bed. We understand all of that. But the bottom line is this, it’s not about that. It’s about what does your family member need and how can you advocate for the best outcome and best treatment for your family member. And that’s what we are here for at intensivecarehotline.com. We can help you with that by giving you that second opinion, by understanding intensive care inside out, and by understanding not only the clinical side of things, but also the politics. How do ICUs manage beds? How can you counteract that and get the best outcome and care for your loved one?

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care, go to intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

And if you have a loved one in intensive care long-term and you want to go home, and especially if you are in Australia, please contact us at intensivecareathome.com and contact us on our Australian phone number there, or send us an email to [email protected]. But again, also if you are in the U.S., contact us as well.

Now, also have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org. There you have access to me and my team 24 hours a day in a membership area and via email. And we answer all questions intensive care related in the membership area 24 hours a day.

Also, if you need a medical record review, please contact us as well. We provide medical record reviews for patients in intensive care in real time, which is what we are doing with our member and our client, where I just gave the example here. He’s a member and we’ve been reviewing the medical records there daily, again, so that we can hold the intensive care team accountable whether their words and their actions are actually matching. And here, clearly they’re not matching and we are so not surprised. We also review medical records after Intensive Care. If you need closure, if you have unanswered questions or if you’re suspecting medical negligence.

Now subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, comment below what you want to see next, and what questions and insights you have, and share the video with your friends and families.

Thanks for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and intensivecareathome.com, and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care.

Related Articles:

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: When’s a Pt a Candidate for a Ventilator? What Criteria for a Pt No Longer Needing a Ventilator? Case Study: How to Save your Loved One’s Life in ICU or How to Prevent a “One Way Extubation” Quick Tip for Families in ICU: My 80-Year Old Dad’s in ICU After Heart Attack & Now ICU is Saying He’s in Multi organ Failure! Help! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: How to Treat a Cardiac Arrest in Intensive Care! Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Is it Safe for My Grandma to Go to LTAC After Stroke, Tracheostomy, and Nasogastric Tube?