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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making fast, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!
In last week’s BLOG I’ve shown you “5 ways you are unconsciously SABOTAGING yourself whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care and how to stop doing it!” You can check out last week’s blog here.
In this week’s blog I want to talk about “Why having a loved one critically ill in Intensive Care is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME situation and why YOU can’t AFFORD GETTING IT WRONG!”
If you are experiencing one of your biggest challenges during your lifetime and if you are facing having a loved one critically ill in Intensive Care, then I think I know how you feel and I also think I know how I can help you!
The reality and the fact of the matter is that the fear, the frustration, the challenge, the stress and the vulnerability you are currently experiencing leave you having no PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence during this “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation!
And look, when I first started working in Intensive Care I felt totally overwhelmed and challenged by what was happening all around me. My first few months working in Intensive Care were extremely challenging and I wasn’t sure then whether I could cope. Eventually I knew that I would and if anything, I think I blossomed in the environment finding a lot of inner strength and meaning by absorbing myself into the work!
It also gave me tremendous insights about the Psychology in Intensive Care, how Intensive Care Units operate and what’s happening “BEHIND THE SCENES“! I also found that it’s just as important to look after the Families of critically ill Patients, than it is to look after the Patients themselves.
Difficult, challenging and “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situations call for a different response!
This is especially true if your critically ill loved one is not a “straight forward” admission to Intensive Care and is falling into one of the categories like
- very unstable and in a very critical condition
- in a life threatening situation
Those are the situations where you and your Family might feel like “shit hits the fan” so to speak and those are also the situations where you think that you have no PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence!
And those are the situations where you consciously or unconsciously realize that you, your Family and your critically ill loved one are in a “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation.
Think about it, if you are in a “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation and you feel like the odds are stacked against you, you want to turn the situation around, wouldn’t you?
And that’s where 99% of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care who have no PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence tend to become passive and let things happen to them.
Don’t let things happen to you, get involved and proactively seek a solution
Those Families of critically ill Patients tend to be so overwhelmed by the events that are happening around them that they let things happen to them, rather than actively seeking a solution and a way out of the dilemma.
Listen, you are in a “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation and the reality and the fact of the matter is that if your critically ill loved one is in one of those critical, difficult, life threatening and challenging situations that I described above, you simply can’t afford to let things happen to you!
I know it’s very easy to get frustrated, angry, negative and passive in those situations, however, whilst you can’t control what’s happening around you, you can control your reaction to it.
Let’s quickly look at some real world examples
For example, if your critically ill loved one is in Intensive Care after they had a cardiac arrest(their heart stopped) and if the Intensive Care team is telling you and your Family that they think the chances of survival for your critically ill loved one are low, then you can do two things.
1) You can just silently nod and believe what the Intensive Care team has been telling you or
2) You can silently take the message in and think to yourself that the Intensive Care team made a statement, but that you don’t think that statement to be accurate and truthful and that you believe that your critically ill loved one will survive and recover
Another example would be on the other end of the spectrum, where your critically ill loved one has been in Intensive Care for a couple of weeks now and your loved one is very sick, they are ventilated, they are in an induced coma, they may need Haemodialysis for kidney failure, they may have a severe infection(sepsis) and they are just not getting any better! Your critically ill loved one is 86 years of age, had a good life and you and your Family just don’t want to watch their suffering any longer. The Intensive Care team has been hopeful and they have been telling you that your loved one has a good chance of a recovery. You and your Family however feel that it’s not the right thing to do and you have this feeling that your critically ill loved one wouldn’t want to be in this situation and that they would rather die.
Again, you have two choices. You can just silently nod your head to everything that the Intensive Care team is telling you(just like society has wrongly conditioned most people) or you can assert yourself about what you and your Family think that you and your Family want!
If you do that, you will have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence!
If you don’t assert yourself, then the Intensive Care team will be making decisions for you, for your Family and for your critically ill loved one! If that’s the case and if you chose not to take action, not to ask the right questions and if you chose not to look “BEHIND THE SCENES” you will wind up having no PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence!
Recommended resources:
The Intensive Care team is playing a “HIGH STAKES GAME” and if you don’t know how to play…
In both examples, you and your Family need to realize that the Intensive Care team usually always has a hidden agenda in those situations where your critically ill loved one is in one of those situations where they are either
- very unstable and in a very critical condition
- in a life threatening situation
The reality and the fact of the matter is that in any of those situations there is a lot at stake for you, for your Family and for your critically ill loved one!
A lot is at stake for the Intensive Care team and if you don’t know what is at stake for them, you might get this “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation wrong and you and your Family might be kept at “arm’s length” so to speak by the Intensive Care team!
If you don’t understand and if you don’t learn quickly that the Intensive Care team makes decisions “BEHIND THE SCENES” that are based on
- other Patients waiting for precious and scarce Intensive Care beds
- the financial viability of your critically ill loved one’s stay in Intensive Care
- medical research interests- is continuing treatment on your critically ill loved one interesting for the Intensive Care team and their medical research interests or are they better of reallocating resources to other Patients where they can perform medical research and therefore attract 5,6, or even 7 figure $$$ funding
- The Intensive Care team’s perception about the “future Quality of life” for your critically ill loved one(after all, it’s their perception and not even real)
If you and your Family don’t control your reaction to any of the positioning that the Intensive Care team might have about your critically ill loved one’s prognosis and diagnosis, you won’t stand a chance to get this “ONCE IN A LIFETIME” situation right!
Controlling your reaction, asking the right questions and knowing what your critically ill loved one would want and what they would be prepared to put up with and also knowing how resilient they are, they are the tools in your tool box.
Use those tools wisely, because they are the tools for you and your Family so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence!
How do you do that and how can you have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You get to that all important feeling of PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE when you download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report NOW by entering your email below! In Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll learn quickly how to get PEACE OF MIND, real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” Report gives you in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is even dying in Intensive Care! Sign up and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now by entering your email below!
In your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT you’ll learn how to speak the “secret” Intensive Care language so that the doctors and the nurses know straight away that you are an insider and that you know and understand what’s really happening in Intensive Care!
In your FREE reports you’ll also discover
- How to ask the doctors and the nurses the right questions
- Discover the many competing interests in Intensive Care and how your critically ill loved one’s treatment may depend on those competing interests
- How to eliminate fear, frustration, stress, struggle and vulnerability even if your loved one is dying
- 5 “killer” tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence in your situation
- You’ll get real world examples that you can easily adapt to your and your critically ill loved one’s situation
- How to stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team and how you will be seen as equals
- You’ll get crucial ‘behind the scenes’ insight so that you know and understand what is really happening in Intensive Care
- How you need to manage doctors and nurses in Intensive Care(it’s not what you think)
Thank you for tuning into this week’s BLOG and I’ll see you again in another update next week!
Make sure you also check out our “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” section where we answer your questions or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!
Also check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
Sincerely, your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
Related Articles
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- How long should a Patient be on a ventilator before having a Tracheostomy?
- Why does my loved one need a Tracheostomy in Intensive Care?
- What could be the cause if my critically ill loved one is removed from an induced coma but still hasn’t woken up?
- The 3 most dangerous mistakes that you are making but you are unaware of, if your loved one is a critically ill Patient in Intensive Care
- How long does it take to wake up from a Traumatic brain injury or severe head injury?
- Does my critically ill loved one in an induced coma or with head injuries feel my presence?
- My 25 year old wife has been in ICU for one month with Tracheostomy and is still in an induced coma
- How long does it take for my critically ill loved one to be taken off the ventilator and have their breathing tube/ endotracheal tube removed?
- The questions you need to ask the most senior doctor in Intensive Care, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- Why you must make up your own mind about your critically ill loved one’s situation in Intensive Care even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse!
- How to make sure that “what you see is always what you get” whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 5 steps to become a better negotiator if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 5 Ways to have control, power and influence while your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
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- Family overjoyed as top court rules doctors must seek consent before taking a patient off life support
- How to make sure that your values and beliefs are known whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- What the doctors and the nurses behaviour in Intensive Care is telling you about the culture in a unit
- How to take control if your loved one has a severe brain injury and is critically ill in Intensive Care
- Family Meetings in Intensive Care or the Elephant in the Room
- How can I be prepared, be mentally strong and be well positioned for a Family meeting with the Intensive Care team?(PART 1)
- How can I be prepared, be mentally strong and be well positioned for a Family meeting with the Intensive Care team?(PART 2)
- Why decision making in Intensive Care GOES WAY BEYOND your critically ill loved one’s DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS!
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How to STOP being INTIMIDATED by the Intensive Care team and how you will be SEEN as EQUALS
- The 4 ways you can overcome INSURMOUNTABLE OBSTACLES whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!
- Five STRAIGHTFORWARD ways to improve Family satisfaction in Intensive Care!