Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM where we instantly improve the lives for Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can make informed decisions, have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making fast, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!

This is another episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED“ and in last week’s episode I answered another frequently asked question our readers and the question in the last episode was

The ICU wants my to remove my wife’s trache and they want to transfer her to the LTAC. Will it be safe for her?

You can check out last week’s question by clicking on the link here.

In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED“, I want to answer another frequently asked question from our readers and the question this week is

Can a tracheostomy be reversed?

Many mechanically ventilated Patients in Intensive Care in an induced coma require a breathing tube/endotracheal tube to facilitate such mechanical ventilation during critical illness.

The goal should always be to wean mechanical ventilation, get a critically ill Patient out of the induced coma, get them extubated (removal of the breathing tube/endotracheal tube) so that they can breathe spontaneously and unaided so that they can leave Intensive Care and eventually go home.

Related articles/videos:

• HOW TO WEAN A CRITICALLY ILL PATIENT IN INTENSIVE CARE OFF THE VENTILATOR AND THE BREATHING TUBE!

• WHAT IS AN INDUCED COMA AND WHY IS MY CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE IN AN INDUCED COMA?

If for whatever reason, weaning off mechanical ventilation and the breathing tube/endotracheal tube fails, a tracheostomy might be considered as a next step.

When is the right time and right situation to do a tracheostomy?

I’m glad you asked!

Here are articles and videos that will give you all the knowledge you need if your loved one should have a tracheostomy or not

• How Long Can A Breathing Tube Or An Endotracheal Tube Stay In?

• HOW LONG SHOULD A PATIENT BE ON A VENTILATOR BEFORE HAVING A TRACHEOSTOMY?

• WHAT ARE THE RISKS AND BENEFITS OF A TRACHEOSTOMY?

• Why Would A Critically Ill Patient In An Induced Coma Need A Tracheostomy In Intensive Care?

Once a tracheostomy has been done, your loved one can hopefully take the first steps to wean off ventilation and tracheostomy!

Once the ventilator has been weaned, then the next step is to remove the tracheostomy!

Here is a word of warning for our readers in the United States who have a loved one in Intensive Care.

Often, a tracheostomy is being used as a conduit or vehicle to get your loved one out of Intensive Care as quickly as possible and move them to LTAC (long-term acute care facility).

Let me be blunt here. If your loved one was to leave Intensive Care on a ventilator with tracheostomy and go to LTAC it could be the death sentence for your critically ill loved one!

We have families approach us every day, literally begging us to help them get their loved one out of LTAC back to ICU.

Why? Because the only safe place for a ventilated Patient with tracheostomy is either ICU or INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME.

LTAC’s simply don’t have the skills or expertise to wean Patients off ventilation and tracheostomy.

Here is a link to a case study how we helped one of our clients to stay in Intensive Care instead of going to LTAC or long-term acute care after having a tracheostomy. The outcome was successful consulting and advocacy where the client’s Dad was able to be weaned off ventilation and tracheostomy in ICU!

• WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU IN INTENSIVE CARE WHEN IT COMES TO WEANING FROM TRACHEOSTOMY AND VENTILATION!

How does ventilation get weaned when having a tracheostomy?

I’m glad you asked!

Here are articles and videos that will explain it for you!

• HOW TO WEAN OFF VENTILATION AND TRACHEOSTOMY STEP BY STEP!

• TRACHEOSTOMY AND WEANING OFF THE VENTILATOR IN INTENSIVE CARE, HOW LONG CAN IT TAKE?

In most cases, a tracheostomy is temporary, providing an alternative breathing route until other medical issues are resolved. If your loved one needs to remain connected to a ventilator indefinitely, the tracheostomy is often the best permanent solution.

The Intensive Care team will help you determine when it’s appropriate to remove the tracheostomy tube. The tracheostomy hole (also known as tracheotomy) may heal or shut on its own, or it can be closed surgically.

In order to have the tracheostomy removed (decannulation) your loved one needs to be off the ventilator completely and can breathe via trachea mask, trachea hood, trachea collar or trachea shield then it’s time to assess if your loved one can have the tracheostomy removed!

Certain criteria need to be met for tracheostomy decannulation such as

• Good strong cough/gag needs to be present in order to protect the airway

• Swallow reflex needs to be present so that your loved one is not aspirating secretions, sputum, gastric content or food

• Able to obey commands (In the non- neurologically compromised patient)

• Adequate cough and ability to clear secretions effectively and independently.

• Cardiovascular and hemodynamic stability.

• No new lung infiltrates on chest x-ray.

• Tolerates cuff deflation for 24 hours.

• Tolerates speaking valve 12 hours or more (usually during daytime) or decannulation cap for up to four hours (If air flow is present on finger occlusion). In patients following head and neck surgery, the decannulation cap may be left for longer periods at the discretion of the surgeon

I hope this answers all of your questions!

Also, as a quick tip, if your loved one is stuck in ICU, LTAC (god forbid) or even at home with ventilation, tracheostomy or even without ventilation but with tracheostomy, have a look at INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME.

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is providing a specialist service, sending highly skilled Intensive Care nurses in the home to either get your loved one out of ICU or put of LTAC and/or keep your loved one at home with ventilation and tracheostomy as a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care/LTAC!

How can you become the best advocate for your critically ill loved one, make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power and influence quickly, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?

You get to that all important feeling of making informed decisions, get PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE when you download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report NOW by entering your email below!

In Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll learn quickly how to make informed decisions, get PEACE OF MIND, real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” Report gives you in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is even dying in Intensive Care!

Sign up and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now by entering your email below! In your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT you’ll learn how to speak the “secret” Intensive Care language so that the doctors and the nurses know straight away that you are an insider and that you know and understand what’s really happening in Intensive Care! In your FREE report you’ll also discover

• How to ask the doctors and the nurses the right questions

• Discover the many competing interests in Intensive Care and how your critically ill loved one’s treatment may depend on those competing interests

• How to eliminate fear, frustration, stress, struggle and vulnerability even if your loved one is dying

• 5 mind blowing tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to making informed decisions, get PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence in your situation

• You’ll get real world examples that you can easily adapt to your and your critically ill loved one’s situation

• How to stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team and how you will be seen as equals

• You’ll get crucial ‘behind the scenes’ insight so that you know and understand what is really happening in Intensive Care

• How you need to manage doctors and nurses in Intensive Care (it’s not what you think)

Thank you for tuning into this week’s YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED episode and I’ll see you again in another update next week!

Make sure you also check out our “blog” section for more tips and strategies or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!

Also, have a look at our membership site INTENSIVECARESUPPORT.ORG for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care here.

Or you can call us! Find phone numbers on our contact tab.

Also check out our Ebook section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 counselling/consulting with me via Skype, over the phone or via email by clicking on the products tab!

This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!

Related Articles:

• What is an induced coma and why is my critically ill loved one in an induced coma

• How LONG does it take to WAKE UP after an induced coma?

• How LONG can someone stay in an INDUCED COMA?

• How long can you keep a critically ill Patient in Intensive Care in an induced coma

• How long can a breathing tube or an endotracheal tube can stay in

• The 10 COMMANDMENTS for PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• Tracheostomy and weaning off the ventilator in Intensive Care, how long can it take?

• Why do doctors in Intensive Care insert a Tracheostomy after an induced coma?

• How long should a Patient be on a ventilator before having a Tracheostomy?

• Why does my loved one need a Tracheostomy in Intensive Care

• What could be the cause if my critically ill loved one is removed from an induced coma but still hasn’t woken up?

• My 80 year old father is in Intensive Care with Myeloma! The Intensive Care team HAS ASKED ME TO SIGN A “DNR” AND I REFUSED! What are MY OPTIONS?

• The 3 most dangerous mistakes that you are making but you are unaware of, if your loved one is a critically ill Patient in Intensive Care

• The 5 questions you need to ask when the Intensive Care team is talking about “Futility of treatment”, “Withdrawal of life support” or about “Withdrawal of treatment”

• HOW TO STOP BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• HOW TO CONTROL YOUR POSITIVE SELF- IMAGE whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• How long does it take to wake up from a Traumatic brain injury or severe head injury

• 5 POWERFUL THINGS YOU NEED TO DO IF THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM IS NEGATIVE WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!

• Does my critically ill loved one in an induced coma or with head injuries feel my presence?

• My 25 year old wife has been in ICU for one month with Tracheostomy and is still in an induced coma

• My Mum has been diagnosed with STOMACH CANCER and is in ICU ventilated. CAN I TAKE HER HOME on a ventilator?

• The questions you need to ask the most senior doctor in Intensive Care, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• A 5 step BLUEPRINT for DYING WELL and with DIGNITY in Intensive Care

• How long does it take for my critically ill loved one to be taken off the ventilator and have their breathing tube/ endotracheal tube removed

• Why you must make up your own mind about your critically ill loved one’s situation in Intensive Care even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse!

• The ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM or HOW THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM IS MAKING DECISIONS whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• MY PARTNER IS IN INTENSIVE CARE ON A VENTILATOR! THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM WANTS TO DO A TRACHEOSTOMY AND I WANT TO HAVE HIM EXTUBATED! WHAT DO I DO?

• 5 ways you are UNCONSCIOUSLY SABOTAGING yourself whilst your loved one is CRITICALLY ILL in Intensive Care and HOW TO STOP doing it!

• How to make sure that “what you see is always what you get” whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• 5 steps to become a better negotiator if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• 5 Ways to have control, power and influence while your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• 6 phrases you should never say when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• How to REPROGRAM YOUR MIND if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• How to play a “HIGH STAKES GAME” that only the Intensive Care team knows HOW TO WIN!

• Family overjoyed as top court rules doctors must seek consent before taking a patient off life support

• How to make sure that your values and beliefs are known whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• My loved one has HIV, lymphoma on his brain, seizures, septic and is ventilated! The Intensive Care team is trying to TAKE MY HOPE AWAY and they are all NEGATIVE! HELP!

• MY PARTNER IS IN INTENSIVE CARE AFTER A BLEED ON A BRAIN! WE ARE WORRIED THAT THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM WANTS TO SWITCH OFF THE VENTILATOR! HELP!

• CAN YOU GO HOME ON A VENTILATOR?

• HOW TO DEAL WITH A DIFFICULT INTENSIVE CARE TEAM, WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!

• DISRUPT before you are being DISRUPTED, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• HOW TO STAY STRONG WHILST YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!”

• What the doctors and the nurses behaviour in Intensive Care is telling you about the culture in a unit

• How to take control if your loved one has a severe brain injury and is critically ill in Intensive Care

• Family Meetings in Intensive Care or the Elephant in the Room

• How can I be prepared, be mentally strong and be well positioned for a Family meeting with the Intensive Care team?(PART 1)

• How can I be prepared, be mentally strong and be well positioned for a Family meeting with the Intensive Care team?(PART 2)

• The four DEADLY SINS that Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care CONSTANTLY MAKE, but they are UNAWARE OF!

• My HUSBAND had a HORRIBLE work accident and went into CARDIAC ARREST! Will he be PERMANENTLY DISABLED

• HOW TO GET AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• How to MUTE your NEGATIVE INNER DIALOGUE whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• Why decision making in Intensive Care GOES WAY BEYOND your critically ill loved one’s DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS!

• How to STOP being INTIMIDATED by the Intensive Care team and how you will be SEEN as EQUALS

• WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE CAN’T BE WEANED OFF THE VENTILATOR?

• The 4 ways you can overcome INSURMOUNTABLE OBSTACLES whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• How to get PEACE OF MIND, more control, more power and influence if your critically ill loved one is DYING in Intensive Care!

• CAN I TAKE MY LOVED ONE HOME ON A VENTILATOR TO DIE?

• The 5 ways how RESILIENT FAMILIES in Intensive Care STAND BACK UP when life knocks them down!

• Five STRAIGHTFORWARD ways to improve Family satisfaction in Intensive Care

• The 5 QUESTIONS you need to ask, if the Intensive Care team wants you to DONATE your loved one’s ORGANS in an END OF LIFE SITUATION!

• MY PARTNER IS IN INTENSIVE CARE ON A VENTILATOR! THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM WANTS TO DO A TRACHEOSTOMY AND I WANT TO HAVE HIM EXTUBATED! WHAT DO I DO? (PART 1)

• How MEDICAL RESEARCH DOMINATES your critically ill loved one’s diagnosis and prognosis, as well as the CARE and TREATMENT your loved one IS RECEIVING or NOT RECEIVING

• 5 things NOBODY HAS EVER TOLD YOU about Intensive Care

• WHAT WOULD YOU DO if you knew that you COULD NOT FAIL, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care

• How the Intensive Care team is SKILFULLY PLAYING WITH YOUR EMOTIONS, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care!

• My father is in Intensive Care ventilated with LIVER FAILURE and KIDNEY FAILURE, I DON’T THINK HE WILL SURVIVE! HELP

• HOW TO GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO HAVE PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!

• My father has been weaned off the ventilator in Intensive Care and still has the Tracheostomy in. When can the Tracheostomy be removed?

• HOW LONG DO YOU NEED TO BE ON A VENTILATOR AFTER A LUNG TRANSPLANT

• HOW LONG can a critically ill Patient stay on ECMO?

• THE ULTIMATE FASTLANE TO PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!