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

So today, I want to talk about, “How you can control the narrative when your loved one is in intensive care.” Yesterday, I made a video about how to verify that what the ICU team is telling you is accurate, so you can refer back to yesterday’s video. And today, I want to talk about, “How you can narrate or how you can construct the narrative while you have a loved one in intensive care.” Because if you don’t create the narrative, the ICU team will definitely create it for you, and you don’t want that to happen.

Now, I do understand that nobody’s sitting at home and wondering, “Oh, what should I be doing if my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, God forbid, spouse, child, God forbid, goes into ICU, and what should I do then?” I understand no one is worrying about that, sitting at home, and you shouldn’t. But if you’re watching these, chances are you are in a situation like that where you need to create a narrative and you need to do it rather quickly and urgently because you don’t have a lot of time.

The ICU team has probably already told you how negative everything is and that it’s all doom and gloom, and that chances for your loved one to survive are very low and chances that your loved one will have any quality of life, if they do survive in the future, are very slim. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before by now.

So, here are some facts and let’s look at the facts. Approximately 90% of intensive care patients survive. So, the whole narration around that your loved one won’t survive, is simply inaccurate. The overwhelming majority of patients in intensive care actually survive. So, that’s Number 1.

Number 2, the whole notion that your loved one won’t have any quality of life in the future is just a perception. Quality of life is a subjective measure, not an objective measure. What you might perceive as a good quality of life, I may disagree with and vice versa. This is a very subjective measure and not up to the ICU team to decide what quality of life is acceptable for you and your family. So, that’s Number 2.

Number 3, you need to get one step ahead of the intensive care team, and how can you do that? You might think, “Oh my goodness, I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse. How can I get one step ahead of them?” Well, you can get one step ahead of them by working with us, for example. We can predict what’s going to happen next. We know the patterns.

I have worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries. I also worked as a nurse unit manager in intensive care for over five years. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care for the last 10 years all around the world.

So, I can recognize the patterns. I know what’s going to come, and I’ve got a team of experts working with me.  We can predict what’s going to happen next. We can give you treatment options. We can review medical records in real time and give you that crucial second opinion.  Also, we can represent you in family meetings, for example. We are asking questions on your behalf with doctors, with nurses. We can help you understand what’s really happening. From experience, ICU teams are not even telling you half of the story of what’s really happening unless you know what to ask for. And again, that’s what we can help you with here.

So, that is my quick tip for today, “How you can create your own narrative when your loved one is in intensive care. “

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.

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

If you need a medical record review, for your loved one in intensive care, please contact us as well. We review medical records in real time when you have a loved one in intensive care, but we also review them after intensive care. But we highly recommend that you get that crucial second opinion in real time.

Now, subscribe to my YouTube   channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, share the 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’ll talk to you in a few days.

Take care.

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