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If you want to know why your ventilated loved one with a tracheostomy should never go to LTAC, that is, if you’re in the United States, stay tuned. I’ve got news for you.

My name is Patrik Hutzel, and I have another quick tip for families in intensive care here at intensivecarehotline.com.

So today, I have another email from one of our clients who says, 

“Hi Patrik, 

I’ve been exhausted. My husband’s transplant was back in May, and after 5 really hard months, he was finally liberated from the ventilator. I told the long-term acute care hospital, I don’t think he was ready for rehab. They pushed us into a decision to go into an inpatient rehab facility.

After only one week, he developed pneumonia, which was already starting and not properly being addressed by the long-term acute care team, and he was back in the ICU needing full ventilation support.

This ICU tried a different kind of weaning called volume support. The other ones always did pressure support. Trent was so calm and relaxed, and it was doing very well. They sent us back to the long-term acute care facility on the 26th, and they refused to try volume support.”

If I may just check, they probably don’t even know what that means. You’re going from ICU to an LTAC (long term acute care), and you go from ventilation competent ICU nurses to nurses who don’t know what a ventilator or a tracheostomy is, that is the reality. I’ve made countless of videos over the years to highlight that over and over again.

So, then the email continues, 

“Trenton is anxious since his CO2 levels are always high on pressure support, and no one will listen to us. They have Trent, my husband, labeled as “unmotivated and anxious”, which has changed how every provider treats him.

I want him home and weaning, please let me know how you can help. I have health insurance that has covered everything thus far. I’m not sure if my husband will ever be truly liberated from a ventilator, but at this point, I just want him home in somewhere where he’s treated kindly.”

Well, a number of things here. First off, you should have never, ever agreed to go to LTAC. I hear it all the time, families say, “Oh, they forced a decision. They force us to make a decision.” Please stop saying that. No one can force you to make a decision. No one. You have to have all the facts ready to go. No one can force you to make a decision. Why would you play that game? Don’t be held hostage in your own mind, because that’s what it is. That’s just telling you something.

You have to make a decision, and you are responding to it. Don’t respond to it. You can’t control other people, but you are 100% in control of how you respond. Someone asks you to jump off a bridge, you’re not saying, “Oh, I have to make a decision whether I jump off this bridge or not.” The answer is clear, you’re not jumping off a bridge. So, it’s the same here. Stop thinking they can ask you to make a decision, please. It’s all in your mind.

So, what’s the solution here? The solution is to stay in ICU. We have helped so many families over the years to stay in ICU instead of going to LTAC with our consulting and advocacy, with giving second opinions and putting pressure back on the ICU or showing families how to put pressure back on the ICU. Yes, there is a way. There is always a way.

I will link to an interview that I’ve done with a client where we’ve done that exactly for many months, prevent their family member to go from ICU to LTAC with much success, so I’ll put the link in the written version of this video below, where I’ll link to an interview with one of our clients, Whitney, who will verify just that.

In terms of home care, yes, absolutely. Your husband should go home. If you were in Melbourne in Australia or in Australia in general, because we’re operating all around Australia with Intensive Care at Home, we could take your husband home. No question. Can we do it in the US? Yes, we can, privately. So, we will have an offline discussion there, in any case, you should check out intensivecareathome.com for more information.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries, where I worked as a nurse manager for over five years in intensive care, 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 with our consulting and advocacy. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can also verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews.

We have helped hundreds and hundreds of members and clients over the years, and we can help you as well to improve your life instantly, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always so that you make informed decisions, you have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

That’s also why I do one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly on your behalf or with you. 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 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.

We also have an online 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. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I’ve personally written and recorded that will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets the best care and treatment always.

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 the like button, click the notification bell, comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have, share this video with your friends and families.

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.

Related Articles:

Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Weaning VA-ECMO for Heart Failure, Do you Need Milrinone or Dobutamine? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: Can a Tracheostomy be Done While your Loved One is on ECMO? Quick Tip for Families in ICU: What Questions to Ask When Your Loved One is in Heart Failure in ICU! Quick Tip for Families in ICU: What are Signs that My Mom can be Weaned Off the Ventilator in ICU? Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: Why is My Mom Not Waking Up After Two Weeks in an Induced Coma and Paralyzing Agents After Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)?