Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

If you want to know what to do if you think your husband has been neglected or is neglected in intensive care after a heart attack, stay tuned. I’ve got news for you.

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and this is another quick tip for families in intensive care.

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

“Hi Patrik,

My husband suffered a massive heart attack  23 days ago. He was resuscitated and sent to an ICU in a Trauma Center Metropolitan Hospital. He was intubated and put on the ventilator. He has done really well initially. They attempted to wean him and take him off about 6 days later, to where he started panicking, blood pressure dropped, and they reintubated him.

After all of these, I signed consent forms to have drain tubes (Chest tube) put in because he had developed a pneumonia. These consent forms were signed on Monday, March 3rd. They were not placed in him until Friday, March 6th. Then they did a tracheostomy on the 7th, and then a PEG (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy) tube insertion the next day. The plans were to have the drain tubes placed either on the 3rd of March that night or the next day on March 4th early in the morning. He had problems breathing even while on the ventilator.

Now, they’re telling me he has infections and they’re not doing anything that I think is helping him. He’s laying there and they’re not telling me why they waited so long to do these procedures, but I feel like this has done more harm than good.

They’re talking now about sending him to another ICU. I don’t feel comfortable about this. I don’t feel like he will get better care in another ICU even though I’m not happy. I need more time to work out what to do next. I do believe he was neglected. Please help.”

Well, thank you, Shelli, for sharing your husband’s situation. It sounds like he’s really in a difficult situation. Let’s break this down.

It sounds like he’s been facing a lot of setbacks and the delays in care are extremely concerning. I do believe he might have been neglected and you have a right to demand answers and proper treatment before any transfers potentially happen.

So, one of the steps that you need to take here is to get access to the medical records, request access to the medical records.  That’s number one. Ask the hospital also for a clear written explanation of why the drain tubes were delayed and what their current plan is for treating his infections.

Now, with the drain tubes, in particular, here is what I think might have happened. The reason they want to do drain tubes is simply he’s got a pleural effusion. With a pleural effusion, that means he’s got fluid accumulated in his lungs that need to be drained with a chest drain or a pigtail, and that’s possibly why his blood pressure had dropped and why he needed to be reintubated because he couldn’t breathe because of the pleural effusion, because that means the lung elasticity is reduced, and that’s probably why he had to be reintubated.

Of course, there could have been other things happening as well, and that is why it’s so important that you do get access to the medical records so that we can look at what else might have happened during that period.

If they had put in the chest tubes earlier, he might have been able to wean off the ventilator without needing a tracheostomy because it looks to me like the delay may have stopped him weaning off the ventilator again. Then they put in the chest tubes but by then, he might have just needed a tracheostomy because he wasn’t ready to come off the ventilator. That’s why it’s so important for you to get access to the medical records or to let you and me talk to the doctors and nurses directly. That’s what I do.

I also would not have given consent to a picture under any circumstances. Once again, maybe if you would have gotten help early, he might be extubated by now.

But the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply 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. That is exactly what you are up against here.

“He had problems breathing even while on the ventilator.” Yeah, of course, because he had a pleural effusion, that’s why he had problems breathing on the ventilator.

Now, they’re telling you, “He has an infection or has infections, and they’re not doing anything that I think is helping him.” The question is, where does he have the infections? Is it a lung infection like a pneumonia or a chest infection? Have they tested for it? Have they sent a sputum sample? Chances are that if he’s needing longer ventilation that he might have a chest infection because the longer someone is ventilated, the higher chances are to get a ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), and you don’t want him to get a ventilator associated pneumonia. That’s why it would have been good to do the test and straight away and then keep focusing on extubation or moving towards extubation, which is the removal of the breathing tube.

“He’s laying there and they’re not telling me why they waited to do these procedures, but I feel like this has done more harm than good.” Yeah, for sure, for sure. But for anyone watching this who’s in a similar situation, you also need to admit that you need to get help, professional help, to avoid those situations so we can predict the things that are about to happen, and then you have much more peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment.

I would really request a detailed explanation in writing why the drain tubes were delayed and what their current plan is for treating these infections. I would also demand an ethics or a patient advocate review. Most hospitals and ICUs have a patient advocate or ethics committee that can review this case. This can help you get clarity and push for better care.

You should also get a second opinion if you feel like he’s not improving. Consider getting another doctor or specialist to review his case before agreeing to a transfer. But you can also get a second opinion from us here at intensivecarehotline.com, and we can do that online. You need to give us access to the medical records, or you and I, we need to get on a call with one of the doctors and 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, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re getting results because you will find out, you will see for yourself that once I start talking to doctors and nurses directly, that the dynamics will change in your favor because we hold them accountable. It’s very simple.

Also, with the heart attack, has he been seen by a cardiologist? What is the cardiologist saying? What led to the heart attack? It needs to be prevented. Another heart attack needs to be prevented.

Once the chest tubes have stopped draining, they should come out and hopefully that will help him to wean off the ventilator again. Just because he now has a tracheostomy, you need to keep pushing for ventilation weaning, very, very important.

So, I hope that helps you understand what’s happening there and what you need to look for.

Now, I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in 3 different countries, where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years, and I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives for our clients in intensive care. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com and you can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section at intensivecarehotline.com where we’ve done client interviews.

Our advice is absolutely life changing. Once again, that is all documented and verified on our testimonial section or on our podcast section. If you want to join a growing number of clients and members that we have helped over the years, as a matter of fact, we helped hundreds and hundreds, to improve their lives instantly, making sure they make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure their loved ones get best care and treatment, always.

That is why I 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 handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. When I talk to them directly with you or just by myself with them, and I’ll report back to you, I will 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 can also set you up with the right questions to ask. 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, where we also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member 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. You also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos as part of being a member. I have personally written and recorded those e-books and videos.

All of that, you get at 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.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care, click like, click notification, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube Live where I answer your questions live on a show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you’re a subscriber to my YouTube channel or a subscriber to my 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.