Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

What a Tracheostomy Should Be Achieving for Patients in Intensive Care! Quick Tip for Families in ICU!

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

Today’s tip is a comment we had from a reader, Kylie who says, “I have found myself back on this page because my 49-year-old mom has just gone into her second induced coma after trying to wake my mom out of the coma multiple times on her first visit to ICU. She could not remain calm enough to breathe properly so they had to do a tracheostomy and all I can say is it worked wonders. She had to keep it in for about a week. After waking up, then they closed the hole and after another week or two, you couldn’t even tell that they’ve done it.”

Now, this is some really great feedback, Kylie because that’s how it should be. That is the ideal scenario for a tracheostomy. That’s assuming, in your case, your mom couldn’t come off the ventilator and the breathing tube because she was too anxious, she went in and out of an induced coma, she got too agitated, maybe combative, confused so they ended up doing a tracheostomy, they stopped sedation, and then within a week she was off it, and another week later you couldn’t even say that she had the tracheostomy.

That is an ideal case scenario. And that is also why, especially for our audience in the U.S, that’s also why, when you’re having a tracheostomy, your mom should not go to an LTAC. That’s what a tracheostomy should do, it should aid the patient to get off the ventilator as quickly as possible, get them out of the induced coma, wean them off the ventilator, get them mobilized, and send them out of ICU.

So, now you can see why we are so opposed to an LTAC, in the U.S. specifically. If you’re in another country, then you would have probably seen more of those cases that I’ve just described from Kylie, but that is the purpose of the tracheostomy. It should be temporary. It should help a patient to wean off the ventilator. It’s a really good example.

And thank you, Kylie for sharing this because it gives our viewers and readers perspective on what a tracheostomy should be doing, really. It’s definitely not there for the long term. Of course, there’s always the exception to the rule, but that’s what a tracheostomy should be doing in the best-case scenario.

So that is my quick tip for today.

That is really nice email from Kylie and thank you for sharing. It really put some light on the topic of tracheostomy here. And I hope that gives hope to most of our viewers here that are stuck in a situation where they’re not sure. Should the tracheostomy be done? Should it not be done? It should only be done if everything has been tried to get your loved one off the ventilator beyond the shadow of a doubt, and avoid the tracheostomy, and remove the breathing tube. That is what’s happened here in Kylie’s case.

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

Also, we have a membership for families in intensive care where you can ask questions and we answer them and you can get access to our membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care at intensivecarehotline.com by clicking on the membership area or by going to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, we answer all questions, intensive care related, 24-hours a day in the membership area and via email.

Now, I also offer one on one consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care. And I talk to you and your families directly over the phone, via Zoom, via Skype, via WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. We can set up three-way calls with them and I ask all the questions you haven’t even considered asking, but you must ask so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence.

Now, I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams. You will need clinical representation and advocacy in a family meeting with intensive care teams. Otherwise, you will stand no chance in those meetings. Otherwise, they will just push their agenda on to you and you can’t afford that really. You are in a once in a lifetime situation that you can’t afford to get wrong. Once again, the purpose of any family meeting is that you can stay in control, make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power, and influence and I can achieve that for you very, very fast. Again, I ask all the questions you haven’t even considered asking and they don’t see it coming either.

We also offer medical record reviews in real time if you need a second opinion in real time. Once again, so that you can make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, fast. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have any unanswered questions, if you need closure or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence, we can help you with that as well.

Now, 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 or what questions and insights you have from this video. Share the video with your friends and families.

Thanks for watching.

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

Take care for now.