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

So currently, we are working with a client who has their mother in intensive care. The client has the following question, the client says, “One thing I need help addressing is that my mother is not being fed anything and is not being given anything to drink and not on any fluids, and is on high doses of Bumex. She’s on high flow oxygen, and they say that is why she can’t eat. This has been going on for two days. There’s not a plan as to when she can eat or drink again. Is that accurate?”

Well, no, it’s not. I mean, if she has high flow nasal oxygen, the oxygen sits in the nose, the mouth is free and there’s nothing stopping her from eating and drinking. She may not feel like it, and she may not want anything to eat or drink, but if she’s on high dose of Bumex, she would probably be very likely dehydrated. If she is likely dehydrated, she would be very thirsty, but I’m sure she would be telling you that. I know when we were on the phone, you were telling me that your mom is able to talk. So, ask her if she wants to eat and drink.

Now, if, for whatever reason she can’t eat and drink, then clearly, TPN is an option. TPN is Total Parenteral Nutrition, also known as IV or intravenous nutrition. Your mom will need a central line or a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line or a Hickman’s line or potentially a port to have the TPN, but at the end of the day, that’s all doable. So, for them to say she can’t have anything to eat and drink is nonsense.

Now, she might also have or get a nasogastric tube and get a nasogastric tube feed; however, I know your mom is also alternating between BIPAP and high flow nasal prongs. There’s aspiration risk if she has BIPAP and nasogastric tube feeds. So, you don’t want that to risk or if she feed, it would be low doses, and then maybe top it up with TPN. But either way, your mom will need some nutrition, whether it’s a nasogastric tube, nasogastric tube feeds, or TPN, or a combination of probably both, if she can’t eat or doesn’t want to eat or drink orally.

She will need nutrition one way or another. It’s very difficult to fight a critical illness if you’re not having proper nutrition and nutrients. So, get that in place or we can talk to the doctors and nurses directly and make sure it is being put in place.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care and you need help, please go to intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send us an email to [email protected].

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care at intensivecarehotline.com if you click on the membership link, or 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 your questions that are intensive care related. You also have access to most of my eBooks that are not publicly available. It would be around 20 eBooks that are the topics specifically for families in intensive care, that’s also part of the membership.

I have worked in intensive care/critical care for over 20 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in critical care. I have been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 for families in intensive care all over the world.

You can look up what our clients say at our testimonial section, and you will see that we have saved lives, and I can say that without any hint of exaggeration that we have saved lives. You can also look up our podcast section with video testimonials from our clients as well.

Now, I also offer one-on-one consulting over the phones, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I talk to the doctors and nurses directly so that you can make sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence when you have a loved one in intensive care.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams. Once again, I’ll make sure you don’t get walked all over and I’ll make sure you have a clinical advocate by your side when you go into family meetings with intensive care teams and I’ll make sure whether it’s even advisable for you to go into a family meeting in the first place. You have to have a strategy and I can help you with that very, very fast.

We also offer 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 simply suspecting medical negligence.

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, 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.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care for now.