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

So today, I have an email from Bree who says,

“Hi Patrik,

My dad is in ICU and all they can talk about is what date they want to take him off the ventilator. The palliative care team are all over me. Now, I have decided I want to take him home. Can you give me some advice?”

That’s a great question, Bree. I’m very sorry to hear that the intensive care team is dealing with you in that fashion.

Well, first off, at least you recognize that the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care. At least, you are recognizing that this is your challenge and at least you’re recognizing that you need outside help, and you need a second opinion.

It always boggles my mind that families come in and say “Oh, we have to make a decision tomorrow, that’s what the intensive care team told us.” Well, let me ask you this, if the intensive care team asked you to jump off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge? The answer is probably no. So, why would you go and work with timelines that are not to your liking?

I can see that the timelines are not to your liking by the emails that we’re getting by the clients that I’m talking to. It is not to your liking. So, why would you jump through hoops to accommodate the intensive care team to potentially let your loved one die.

It also boggles my mind that after having done so many videos here, hundreds, potentially thousands of them, that people still don’t follow the advice here, even though we have proven strategies, we have saved, and people just brush it off and scare, “Well, the intensive care told me I have to do this, and I have to do that.”

Families that are getting best care and treatment for their loved ones are families that take full responsibility for what’s happening. They take ownership of what’s happening. They follow advice and they can think for themselves, and you can brush it off here. But if you do brush it off, you’re not thinking for yourself. Sorry for the sad news here, but you have to look yourself in the eye and you have to take responsibility for everything that’s happening. That is the real sign of maturity.

In any case, you never work with intensive care team’s timelines, you work with your timelines and your timelines only. Palliative care wants to talk to you just brush them off. If ICU says jump or palliative case as jump, you mustn’t ask how high. You should them ask jump and work with what you want.

So, I’m glad you’re realizing that whatever they are throwing at you is not working. I’m glad you’re realizing that now finally, you want to take your dad at home. I don’t know the ins and outs. You probably have done your research and you’ve probably come across that we are also providing a service Intensive Care at Home where we provide a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in intensive care, which includes long-term ventilation with tracheostomy, includes BIPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure) and CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) ventilation, Home TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition), tracheostomy care without ventilation, home potassium infusion, home magnesium infusion, port management, central line management, Hickman’s line management, as well as PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line management.

Also, some of it is palliative care, but you don’t want palliative care and you may not need palliative care. But what you do need is a second opinion that is what you do need. I can find out very quickly for you whether Intensive Care at Home is an option for your dad or not.

But I also strongly suggest here that you get a second opinion and that you let us look at medical records. I also strongly suggest that you let me talk to the doctors and nurses directly and let me ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking, but you must ask to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence because I can see from your email, you’ve got none of it. You’re just catching at straws at the moment.

So, the best way I can help you is really if I talk to you and your family directly, if I talk to doctors and nurses directly, that’s how I can help you the quickest. We also look at medical records to give you that second opinion and point you in the right direction. We do that all the time once again with very good outcomes.

Look up our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. Look up our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com and watch what our clients are saying. I can tell you without any exaggeration that we have saved lives as part of our consulting advocacy. So, don’t let the doom and gloom distract you or, or move away from what you want.

Because of all the challenges that families in intensive care face, that’s also why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care at intensivecarehotline.com by you clicking on the membership link or by you 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.

I have worked in critical care for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager for over five years. I have also talked to thousands of families in intensive care all over the world here at intensivecarehotline.com. We have helped families in intensive care here at intensivecarehotline.com all over the world since 2013.Once again, I can say without any hint of exaggeration that we have saved lives. Look at our testimonial section and our podcast at intensivecarehotline.com.

In the membership, you also have access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that are specifically designed for families in intensive care with tools, tips, and strategies. All your questions will be answered there but obviously you can also email us with your questions.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you for families of critically and patients in intensive care. I talk to you and your families. I talk to doctors and nurses directly. Once again, I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically in intensive care so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

Now, I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams so, once again, that you have clinical representation and that you get best care and treatment for your loved one and that you don’t get walked all over.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time so that you can have 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 and or send us an email to [email protected]. But otherwise, call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website at intensivecarehotline.com.

Also, 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, comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have, and share the video with your friends and families.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care for now.