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 today, I want to read out an email from Doreen who left a comment on my YouTube channel after I published a live stream with the title of, “Mom Had a Hypoxic Brain Injury After Cardiac Arrest. She’s Not Waking Up in ICU!” You can check out that livestream that I did a while ago. I do a YouTube livestream every week, regardless or you can ask me questions live on a livestream.

But anyway, Doreen writes a lengthy comment on the livestream, and it’s really good, and it’s another story of survival and never giving up. So, Doreen says:

“Hi Patrik,

My husband suffered a choking incident, which led to a cardiac arrest two years ago in June. He was on a ventilator. He went through the whole cooling procedure. They couldn’t lower the medications for him to wake up because he was having seizures. The doctor in ICU basically told me the same thing you said, if he wakes up, he may not know who you are, and the quality of life may not be good.

We ended up transferring him to another hospital that had a continuous EEG (Electroencephalography) monitoring because they didn’t offer that where he was. So, therefore, he was transported out to put on a continuous EEG. No seizure activities were found. I took him off the ventilator and put in a tracheostomy.

They started lowering the medications for him to wake up. Unfortunately, every time they started lowering the medication, he would start to have severe myoclonic jerks. After messing around with the medications, they were able to get the myoclonic jerks under control and were able to take him off the medications for him to start waking up.

After a few days of him being off those medications, he was not waking up. I would be there every day playing music for him. When I would play certain songs that meant something to us, he would start crying. I told the doctors about this, and they told me it was not intentional, it was part of the pseudobulbar reaction. I refused to believe this. When I played songs that meant absolutely nothing, there would be no reaction.

Then it was meeting time, they pulled me into a room and basically told me that he’s not waking up and I should start thinking of how we are going to move forward. Same thing if he wakes up, his quality of life may not be good. Again, I refused to believe this. I asked the doctors, ‘Are his kidneys good? Is his heart good?’ They said, ‘Oh yes, all of his organs are good.’ I then said, ‘Good. We can continue to wait because I will not give up on him.’

Fast forward, almost two years of continuing to tell doctors my husband is in there and then refusing to believe me. He is now in a facility, still has the tracheostomy, but he is awake; completely awake and aware of everything that is being said to him and he can respond. He will shake his head, yes and no to respond. He still has all of his memories.

I am so glad I didn’t let the doctors pressure me into giving up on him. If I can give any advice to someone going through this horrible experience, you know your loved one better than any of the doctors caring for them. They can have their medical opinion, but you know that person. Never give up hope.”

Well, Doreen, thank you so much for sharing this. It’s great reading this.

I guess it’s what I’ve been saying for the longest here on my blog and on my YouTube channel that you should never give up hope. This is another clear sign that if you don’t give up, that things can improve. Is there a guarantee? No, there is no guarantee. But one thing is for sure, if you are giving up, there’s definitely no guarantee. There’s definitely no hope if you’re giving up.

If someone has a tracheostomy, in particular, you can still entertain the thought of end of life if you think it’s not going down, if your loved one isn’t improving, you can still talk about the end of life. The one thing that always boggles me is what’s the rush to talk about end of life? What’s the hurry to kill someone? What’s the urgency in that? Please, anyone have any thoughts? Any ideas? I’m happy to take opinions, but I still don’t understand what’s the hurry to kill someone. There shouldn’t be any hurry at all. We should be pouring as many resources as possible into saving people’s lives and improving their quality of life and we should be operating from a frame of hope. Medicine has come such a long way to improve people’s lives. There’s really no need for the constant doom and gloom.

This is another survival story, and another story where there has been an outcome that this particular family is very happy with. That is all that matters, really.  It’s really not about a medical opinion or a nursing opinion, or it’s about what is best for a patient and their family. It’s not about opinions. It’s about putting our best foot forward as a community and making things happen that is good for the community and not that’s good for a hospital. It’s really not about us versus them or it’s not about that good or bad, it’s about a patient and their family and what we can achieve for them if we all put our best foot forward. So, that’s really what this story is about.

So, thank you, Doreen, for sharing that with our audience here. I really appreciate it.

We get so many family comments and questions for families in intensive care, which is why we created the membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care that you can get access to if you go to intensivecarehotline.com if you click on the membership link or if you go 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 I answer all questions intensive care related in the membership.

I have worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I’ve worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com.

We have families all over the world, and you can have a look at our testimonial section. I can confidently say we’ve saved lives with our consulting and advocacy. We’ve saved lives just by putting videos out there because people stand up for their rights like Doreen does in a situation like that, and people will advocate for their loved ones because they hear all the success stories. We’re helping people left, right, and center, and that is a good thing.

Just as a side note, if your loved one is stuck here Doreen, in a facility with a tracheostomy and you’re wanting to take him home, have a look at intensivecareathome.com because with Intensive Care at Home, we can help you take your loved one home. So, go and check out intensivecareathome.com.

So, if you become a member, you also have access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that will help you navigate this incredibly difficult territory that is intensive care. With those 21 eBooks and 21 videos that are only exclusively available for our members, it will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, and those eBooks and access to me and my team will make sure you’re your loved one will get best care and treatment.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to doctors and nurses directly. I talk to you and your families directly, of course, and once again you will see that when I talk to doctors and nurses directly, that the dynamics will change in your favor because I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one in intensive care, which once again will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence making sure your loved one will get best care and treatment.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send an email to support@intensivecarehotline.com.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams once again so that you have a strong clinical advocacy voice there. Do not go into any family meetings with intensive care teams without having an advocate there. I strongly advise against going into family meetings with intensive care teams without an advocate there.

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, and what questions and insights you have.

I also do a weekly YouTube live. You get a notification for that if you subscribe to my YouTube channel or if you subscribe to my email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care for now.