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

So the other day, I made a quick tip about two steps forward, one step back. And I was talking about a client that we are working with and still work with that initially was in intensive care after a stroke . And the intensive care team wanted to withdraw treatment and literally terminate life support for this critically ill patient and he would have died. And it was against family consent and they already had a time and a schedule lined up to withdraw life support at a certain time.

And then we were helping the family to stop the intensive care team from doing that and by advocating for their family member. And lo and behold, he ended up with a tracheostomy and he is on his way to recovery after a few weeks in intensive care. And the family is obviously very grateful that they can still spend time with their father.

Now in my video the other day, I was talking about two steps forward, one step back, the gentleman initially was coming off the ventilator , had a tracheostomy was coming off the ventilator, then ended up with a chest infection / pneumonia and ended up back on the ventilator, on IV antibiotics, ended up on low-dose inotropes for a couple of days. And then moving forward again, had time off the ventilator, was even moved to step down ICU. And then again had, what this time turned out to be a smaller chest infection. Didn’t quite develop into a pneumonia, but it was definitely another chest infection where he needed IV antibiotics. Went back on the ventilator again for a few days, and now he’s slowly being weaned off the ventilator.

Now, again, you got to expect two steps forward, one step back. I just wanted to illustrate that one more time that often you have to be patient to wait for recovery times. And, sometimes patients don’t recover at all, but, it’s also about spending time with your loved one. And if that is what you feel is needed in situations like that, then you should be advocating for it.

So that is my quick tip for today.

You got to be patient when you have a loved one in intensive care, its often two steps forward, one step back, especially if they are elderly, have multiple comorbidities and so forth. Be patient. Two steps forward, one step back.

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 send me an email to [email protected]. Also like this video, comment down below what you want to see next, or what insights and comments you have from this video. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates for families in intensive care and click the notification bell.

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

Take care.