Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.
So I’ve got a question here from Tara who says, “My husband has been admitted to ICU on Sunday in a hyperglycemic coma, so with high blood sugars. Now it’s Wednesday, the sugars are under control, and my husband is still not waking up. He has been induced into a coma. He was put on the ventilator with a breathing tube, also known as intubation. And now three days later, he’s still not waking up and I’m very worried that he isn’t waking up. What should I do?”
Okay, great question. And I guess, first thing is that you’re doing the right thing by reaching out because you need to learn how to ask the right questions and you also need to look at things from a different angle because, you’re also saying in your email that the ICU team is very doom and gloom and saying, your husband may never wake up, so let me put this in perspective for you.
So once the sugar’s under control, they can now slowly start waking up your husband. And that’s more of a process rather than an event. It’s like switching on a light with a dimmer rather than switching on a light with a switch. It can take days and sometimes take weeks. So you should be very patient. You should be very positive about your husband having gone through this and now that the sugars are under control and now the waking up process can start. And again, that can take from days to sometimes even weeks. And I will give you an example there in a minute.
But now he needs to come off sedation and then he needs to be slowly weaned off the ventilator. He needs to be stimulated, he needs to have physical therapy and then hopefully he can breathe up and then can be extubated once he’s more awake. They should also start mobilizing him, and sit him out of bed. That will help him with breathing up and waking up as well. Again, it’s a gradual process and you got to be very patient.
I’ll give you an example why you need to be very patient. So currently, we are working with another client who’s been in ICU for two months with liver failure and went into cardiac arrest and supposedly had a hypoxic brain injury, which means he had no oxygen to the brain for more than three minutes, and that’s supposedly irreversible brain damage. The ICU team was adamant that he would never wake up and that he would have no quality of life.
And lo and behold, after two months now in ICU going through many challenges including sepsis, multiple organ failure, he’s now waking up and he’s showing signs of purposeful movement. So if someone can wake out after two months, you certainly should not become impatient after three days and you should stay very positive and very focused on helping your husband through this.
That is my quick tip for today.
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].
Also, have a look at our membership for families in intensive care at intensivecaresupport.org. There you have access to me and my team and we will answer questions 24-hours a day either in a membership forum or via email.
If you need a medical record review, please contact us as well. And we can help you with a medical record review while the loved one is in intensive care or after intensive care, especially if you suspect medical negligence.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel, share this video with your friends and families. Click the like button, click the notification bell and comment below what you want to see next or what questions and insights you have from this video.
Thanks for watching.
This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com, and I will talk to you in a few days.