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YOUR INTENSIVE CARE HOTLINE - Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: My Brother’s in ICU 4 Weeks with Brain Injury After Asthma Attack, How Long Does It Take to Wake Up?

/ Patrik Hutzel - Critical Care Nurse Consultant / No Comments

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: My Brother’s in ICU 4 Weeks with Brain Injury After Asthma Attack, How Long Does It Take to Wake Up?

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

Today, I have an email from Sean who says, 

“Hi Patrik,

I have my brother in ICU who is suffering from a severe asthma attack. He’s on a ventilator. He does have a brain injury from lack of oxygen before the ambulance got to his home, but he has been in the hospital about three weeks, and they took him off sedation (propofol) about four days ago. He has opened his eyes a little bit but has not fully woken up yet. How long does it take someone with a brain injury to wake up?”

Well, thank you so much, Sean, for sharing your brother’s situation. Difficult question to answer, it depends on a number of things how long it takes to wake up after a brain injury.

So, the first thing that I would like to ask, how do you know he’s got a brain injury? Have they done an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan of the brain? Have they done a CT (computed tomography) scan of the brain? Have they done an EEG (electroencephalogram)?

Then, he was on propofol. Was he on opiates? Was he on benzodiazepine such as midazolam/Versed? Has he had any Precedex (dexmedetomidine)? So, those are the first questions that need to be answered. 

Other questions that need to be answered is, is your brother having kidney issues or liver issues? Because if he’s got kidney issues, for example, can the sedation and sedatives, can they be excreted with urine? Have they been metabolized in the liver? So, if it’s for example, in kidney failure or liver failure, or there are issues, it might take longer simply to wake up. 

Also, waking up after an induced coma, especially after a head or brain injury is more like switching on a light with a dimmer rather than switching on a light with a switch. So, it’s difficult to say, to put a timeline on it. Some patients in ICU take a long time to wake up even if they don’t have a brain injury depending on the length of the time they were in an induced coma for.

Other questions are, was he chemically paralyzed? Was he on paralyzing agents? And if so, it’ll probably also take longer for him to wake up. So, how long is a piece of string, really? Also, it’s not only a question of how long will it take to wake up, it’s also a question of is he going to have any rehabilitation? Are they mobilizing him? Is he getting out of bed? Does he have a tracheostomy already? Does he need a tracheostomy? 

So, stimulation is going to be very important, physical rehabilitation and so forth. That is the big question here, and you will need to give it time. Only time will tell you how long it will take, and you might have to be very, very patient here. It could be weeks, months, and I believe there are some cases out there where it took years.

Then, the question is, to what extent will he recover? Will he recover to an extent that he would be happy with, that you would be happy with, that your family would be happy with? They’re very difficult questions to ponder. 

So, I hope that helps you answer this question, Sean. 

I have worked in critical care nursing for nearly 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years and where I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can also verify it on our podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we’ve interviewed some of our clients.

I have seen situations like the one that Sean described hundreds if not thousands of times in ICU, and you got to give it time, you have to give it time.

Because we get so many questions from families in intensive care, that’s why we’ve created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com by clicking on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership link there, 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 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. Those videos and eBooks plus the access to me and my team will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure you can influence decision making fast whilst your loved one is critically ill in intensive care, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.

I also do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I talk to doctors and nurses directly and I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care. I also handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do 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] with your questions.

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 the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel, or if you are a subscriber to our intensivecarehotline.com 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.

 

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