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My Dad had Heart Issues and Now has a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) Tube After the Tracheostomy in ICU, Will He Be OK? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care! 

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So today, I want to answer another question from one of our members. We have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care where we answer all of your questions, and you can get access to our membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care at intensivecarehotline.com where you click on the membership link, or you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly.

Without further ado, let’s read out our question from our member.

“Hi Patrik and Team,

My mom has finally gotten the paperwork to set up the portal and get access to the medical records for my dad but has mentioned to me, she’s just so overwhelmed. I usually can’t get into ICU to see my dad until the evening when my husband is home to be with the kids so the records department by then is closed.

I’m thankful for your last email with advice, it so happened that my father was having distress on his heart a couple of days ago. They ran tests on his heart, and they came back normal. He was having a hard time with gas and had a few bowel movement accidents. His stomach was also swelling up. They since then have pumped his stomach, put him on a catheter, and changed his nutritional formula, which seems to have helped his symptoms. He got his feeding tube in the stomach this morning and he’s resting today.

He’s still only responding to questions with thumbs up and it seems like he wants to talk. I do find comfort in knowing he can hear us and understands our questions.

I’m going to try to get up to see my dad earlier tomorrow. Thank you for all your help.”

Here is my response.

“Thank you so much for your email and for keeping us up to date about the latest progress regarding your dad’s condition.

We understand that setting up the portal for medical records must be a challenge and finding the time to visit the records department during the operating hours is difficult, especially if you’re having a loved one in intensive care and you’re also having a family. As an alternative, you may consider reaching out to them via email or phone and requesting the medical records to be sent to you directly.

Now, here’s another tip, in this day and age, in 2023 and beyond, they should just send you a link to a URL, a username, and a password. It should not be more difficult and complex than that. Everything is available online.

Now, most hospitals nowadays, especially in the U.S., have a portal called MyChart. Most hospitals use the MyChart app, and they give you just a username and a password and you should be able to access the medical records in no time.

So, I’m wondering whether the hospital that is very archaic, very old fashioned or whether they are potentially trying to make life difficult for you and whether they are potentially having something to hide, just putting it out there.

You also mentioned that your dad experienced distress from his heart in the last couple of days and underwent a series of tests on his heart which revealed normal results. They probably would have done an ultrasound of the heart, potentially a TOE (Transesophageal Ultrasound). They might have done an ECG, a 12 lead ECG, and they might have even done an angiogram, but you didn’t mention anything about procedure. Those usually would be the most common test and they would have done some blood tests, they would have checked for troponin levels, and CK levels, for example, but it’s good to know that it revealed normal results.

Additionally, he also had stomach issues and they put him on a catheter and changed his nutritional formula resulting in an improvement in his symptoms. So, a PEG tube has been inserted into his stomach and he’s currently resting.

You can read the article below from our website at intensivecarehotline.com for more information about PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) including management of PEG insertion. So, we put a link there.

On the other hand, it’s good to know that you can hear and understand your questions and has been responding with a thumbs up. That’s really important to know because one of the challenges when patients come out of an induced coma in intensive care, you never really know whether their brain is working or not. In theory, they might have sustained a stroke during the induced coma. You just don’t know what’s happening in the brain during these periods. So, this is really good knowledge to have that he can appropriately give thumbs up or down.

We may also suggest making a referral to the speech language pathologist who can evaluate and assess his swallowing abilities and help him restore his speech and language skills as well as explore alternative communication methods, if needed.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or if you have any further comments and updates to share. We continue to pray for your dad’s progress and recovery, and we are always here to provide support throughout your and your dad’s journey.

Take care for now.”

Now, if you have a loved one critically in intensive care and you need help, and you need support and have all the questions answered that come up when you have a loved one in intensive care, you can get the same from us by going to intensivecarehotline.com, clicking on the membership link. We have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can also access it by going to intensivecaresupport.org directly in the membership. You have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email and we answer all questions intensive care related.

Now, I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care over the phone, via Skype, via Zoom, via WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. There, I ask all the questions to the intensive care team that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked so that you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

Now, when I talk to doctors and nurses directly, which is part of my one-on-one consulting and advocacy, again, you will see the dynamics change pretty quickly. So, all of a sudden, they know you have someone on your team that understands intensive care inside out.

Furthermore, I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams. If you have a family meeting with intensive care teams, I can be there over the phone, Zoom, Skype, Teams, WhatsApp, whichever works best, and I will represent you there and, once again, you will see the dynamics change in your favor very, very quickly. Once the intensive care team knows you have someone on your team that understands intensive care inside out, you will see the dynamic shift in your favor.

Now, we also offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. Once again, that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. Now, we also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

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

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care for now.