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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can 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 question from our readers and the question last week was
Why are Intensive Care staff often relaxed when the Alarm bells go off on the Monitor or ventilator?
You can check out the answer to last week’s question by clicking on the link here.
In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to answer another question from one of our readers and the question this week is
“HOW MUCH LONGER DOES MY SON NEED TO STAY IN INTENSIVE CARE WITH GUILLAIN-BARRÉ SYNDROME?”
Hi Patrik,
My 42 year old son has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome 3 months ago and he initially was admitted with a severe Pneumonia, probably due to the weakness of his breathing muscles.
He therefore ended up in Intensive Care as he needed to be ventilated. My son then went through a couple of failed attempts to be weaned off the ventilator, with the result of having a Tracheostomy and he is now, even after 3 months still ventilated and he has hardly had any time off the ventilator.
Initially, he also had some blood products to treat the Guillain-Barré syndrome.
As I said it has now been 3 months, since he has been admitted to Intensive Care and him, my wife and the rest of the family are so frustrated by the situation that he can’t leave Intensive Care as yet!
The doctors and the nurses are telling us that he needs to be off the ventilator first before he can leave Intensive Care.
But he is awake and he has been out of bed a few times, but we believe the Intensive Care environment is making him lethargic and depressed and he is often just staring at the walls in his room and when he is mouthing words, he is always saying that he wants to go home!
We don’t blame him as it is very frustrating for us as well to go to the hospital every day and visit him in an environment that we don’t think is conducive for his healing. What do you think the options are and what do you think how much longer he needs to stay in Intensive Care?
We have heard from one of the nurses that there are specialised health services in some areas, looking after ventilated Patients at home, but we also know that they are not available where we live.
Con, Toronto, Canada
Dear Con,
Thank you for writing in and thank you for sharing your story.
It must be very hard to watch your son suffering in Intensive Care for such a long time. And you are absolutely right, the longer your son stays in Intensive Care, the more lethargic and depressed he will get. Guillain-Barré Syndrome may not necessarily require Intensive Care therapy, but if it does require Intensive Care and ventilation(around 30% of Guillain-Barré Syndrome Patients require ventilation), it can in some cases develop into a long-term stay, because of ventilation.
Now, the good news is that most Patients diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome are fully recovering, even though it can take months or sometimes years.
In your son’s case it sounds like getting out of Intensive Care would be the best thing for him to do,(visit http://intensivecareathome.com.au for specialized home care for ventilated Patients) however if service availability for home care or Intensive Home Care services are not an option in your area, you might look at things such as
• Making sure your son has a room with natural daylight and a side room as well, with no exposure to other Patients bugs, as the risk of catching an infection is high the longer your son stays in Intensive Care
• He develops a natural and healthy day and night rhythm, by having activities scheduled during the day such as mobilisation, sitting out of bed and Physiotherapy
• Make sure your son has regular and experienced nursing staff looking after him
• Make sure he gets regular showers- your son can still have a shower while he is ventilated and you’ll find that having regular showers will make a big difference to his well- being
• Is your son getting antidepressants? Sometimes getting antidepressants can help in order to cope with the difficult and challenging Intensive Care environment?
• Make sure that the Intensive Care team is paying enough attention to his needs. Sometimes, especially after a long term stay in Intensive Care, the Intensive Care team also has a tendency to get frustrated with a long term Patient and they therefore do sometimes not pay enough attention to the Patients exact needs
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I hope that helps and please let me know if you have anymore questions.
How can you 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 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 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 “killer” tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to 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” 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 check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting with me!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
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