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

Today, I’ve got an email from Sabine who says:

“Hello Patrik,

My boyfriend was found unconscious in the bathroom on Tuesday and was transported to the ICU after a few hours, was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and he had a seizure in the ambulance.

He’s been in an induced coma and on a ventilator ever since. They did try to wake him up, but he’s not very responsive and he’s very strong and starts fighting, him being restrained to the point where they have to calm him down again.

Yesterday, he was in a more awake state. He opened his eyes when he heard my voice and looked me in the eyes, but I’m not sure if he was in “there”. I once asked him if he could wiggle his toes and the nurse said she saw him do it. He had to have a lot of CT scans and MRI scans and needed to be fully sedated so often, he never had a chance to wake up fully.

I didn’t eat in almost three days. I can’t sleep and I don’t know how to cope with it. He has blood clots in his brain. I hope they found them early and a swelling in the lower part of his brain. That’s concerning. He might need surgery.

He’s a very fit, strong, 40-year-old man with a strong heart and a strong will. I know that doctors shouldn’t give you false hope. But I’ve been thinking about all the worst-case scenarios and all I need is someone to give me at least a little hope. I hope you can give me at least words of comfort. I’m not a medical expert by any means. So, I have no idea what his odds of survival are. I just can’t imagine my life without him anymore.

Sabine”

Sabine, I’m very sorry to hear what’s happening with your boyfriend here.

Let’s get the facts. The facts are that approximately 90%, that’s 9-0, 90% of patients in intensive approximately survive. So, that’s good news. So, the odds are in your boyfriend’s favor.

Now, we are strictly talking about survival here. We’re not talking about what does someone’s quality of life looks like. Are they the same as they were before? That needs to be separately discussed, but the odds of him surviving are pretty good overall, especially at such a young age and given that he’s very strong, he’s got a strong heart. Those are good signs.

It’s also a good sign that he’s trying to wake up, but he’s just not there yet.

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

I can confidently say that we have saved lives with our consulting advocacy. You can just have a look at our testimonial section, or you can have a look at our podcast section where we’ve done interviews with clients.

Anyway, so given that I looked after thousands of critically patients in intensive care over the years in ICU, I’ve seen many times that it can be difficult for patients to wake up, come out of the induced coma, can be difficult to come out of the induced coma when patients don’t have a brain injury.

Now, here in your situation or in your boyfriend’s situation, you’ve got the situation that he’s got meningitis and he’s got blood clots in his brain, and he has seizures as well that complicates things or it can complicate things.

Like I said, I’ve seen patients not coming out of the coma similar to what you’re describing, and they don’t have a brain injury. They’re just struggling with coming out of an induced coma after critical illness, restraining him probably doesn’t help with anxiety because a lot of patients are anxious when they’re coming out of an induced coma and restraining him is not helping him.

What should be happening here is someone, either the nurses or the doctors or you talk him through what’s happening. I know that sometimes is easier said than done because sometimes the brain is just not working as yet.

So, but it is a very good and very promising sign that he can wiggle his toes. That’s telling me that he can follow commands. So, if he can follow simple commands, like wiggling his toes or if you can squeeze his hand or your hand, then he should also be able to follow commands when it comes to waking up and talking him through how to breathe and how to wean him off the ventilator.

Of course, because he had to have a lot of CT and MRI scans. He would have been sedated. So, it’s delaying him waking up and you just have to be very patient. I know from your email; it’s been a week, and you have to be patient here.

Also, if he’s got swelling in the lower part of his brain, maybe they can give him hypertonic saline or maybe they can give him Mannitol, which is a diuretic to drain potentially any swelling in the brain. So, here are some tips there.

Now, can I give you hope? Again, I’m not here to give you false hope. I’m just looking at the research and I’m also talking about my decades of experience in intensive care, and you shouldn’t think about the worst-case scenario.

You should be optimistic because the reality is, what favor are you doing yourself or your boyfriend if you are pessimistic and negative? You can leave that to other people if they choose to. I think you should choose to be positive and optimistic.

You cannot control at the moment what’s happening but what you can control is your outlook and your attitude. So, take control of that and that is often half of the battle. So, I hope that answers your question and helps you to navigate this in incredibly difficult territory that is intensive care.

I know you’ve sent the email on the 1^st of December last year in 2023. Time of me recording this is end of April 2024. So, we get so many questions. The shortcut for you really is to give us a call and get help quickly or send an email to [email protected]. You can call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website at intensivecarehotline.com because there’s a big backlog of emails that I’m just going through now months later because we are so busy helping families in in intensive care all around the world.

That’s also why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can get access to the membership 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 we answer all questions intensive care related.

In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that have been written and recorded by me. Again, I share all my expertise after nearly 25 years in critical care nursing. The e-books and the videos will help you to steer this incredibly difficult territory that is intensive care, and you can see that from Sabine’s email, how she’s struggling, trying to piece the puzzle together and what to do, what not to do and so forth. The e-books and my advice on membership will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind control, power, influence, and it will help you to make sure your loved one gets the best care and treatment.

I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care. I talk to you and your families over the phone, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I will talk to you and your families directly. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly making sure that once again, your loved one gets the best care treatment and that you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. I ask all the questions to the doctors that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one, critically ill in intensive care. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

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 us an email to [email protected].

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.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show and you get notification for that show when you are a subscriber of my YouTube channel.

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.