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 question from our readers and the question was
Can Access to Mom’s ICU Medical Records Enhance Care & Treatment?
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 questions from one of my clients Emma, as part of my 1:1 consulting and advocacy service! Emma’s mom is in ICU and she is asking how to be an effective advocate for her mom so she can get the best care & treatment.
How to Be an Effective Advocate For my Mom So She Can Get the Best Care & Treatment in ICU?
“You can also check out previous 1:1 consulting and advocacy sessions with me and Emma here.”
Emma: Efficacy. Yes.
Patrik: Right. So, the Chest X-Ray would be a complete whiteout.
Emma: Yeah.
Patrik: Would be completely white.
Julius: Yes.
Patrik: Right. So that means there’s no oxygen, next there’s no gas exchange happening in the lung. So very little.
Emma: Yeah.
Patrik: Right?
Emma: I agree with that.
Julius: Yup.
Emma: Yeah.
Patrik: And because there’s very little gas exchange happening in the lungs, so no oxygen entering the bloodstream and no carbon dioxide going out of the blood into the lungs, something needs to change. And the thing that needs to change is where the gas exchange is taking place, which is in the alveoli, that need to open up. And nitric oxide apparently is helping achieve that gas exchange by opening up some of the alveoli. That’s the-
Emma: Yeah. I love it when something … yeah, that’s great.
Julius: Okay.
Patrik: The-
Julius: And how quickly can that happen?
Patrik: It can happen reasonably quickly. That’s why I’m sort of saying the longer they wait … You know?
Julius: Uh-huh.
Emma: Yeah.
Patrik: But that’s also why they’re doing the proning. So, what happens with the proning, if someone is lying on their back all the time or going from side to side, again, crucial areas in the lungs can’t be reopened. So, by putting your mom on her tummy, the back of the lungs is more or less … well, hopefully, it can open up a bit more. Right? So that’s-
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Julius: And it does.
Patrik: It does. I’m sure it does.
Julius: It does.
Patrik: So, with nitric oxide, I’ve seen it to be very effective. I’ve seen it not to be effective. It’s like with anything else. On some people, it works and on others, it doesn’t.
Emma: Right. Do you use that for other things? I want to look over that.
Patrik: Haven’t really seen it used for other things in ICU than for ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Haven’t seen it used for other things. It’s very unique.
Emma: Okay. Yeah. I was just wondering if it was used for … Well, for pneumonia, is it used for pneumonia patients?
Patrik: It can be used for pneumonia, like severe pneumonia. And a lot of COVID patients, from what I’ve seen in the last couple of years, they sort of going from COVID pneumonia to COVID ARDS, which is not uncommon even before COVID. When patients were going into ICU with pneumonia and then-
Emma: Yeah.
Julius: Right. Yes.
Patrik: The-
Julius: That’s what we’re trying to see.
Patrik: The trajectory is not any different really, it’s just a different label.
Emma: Yes.
Julius: We want that label, COVID, off.
Emma: And I was trying to point that out and try to make that … I mean, I’m not a doctor, but I can see that part of it. And then, boy, was there pushback against that.
Julius: Yeah.
Patrik: Right. Right. Interesting.
Emma: Oh, I wanted to get COVID out of there.
Julius: I know. I’m like, “That’s okay. Well, you be the one. I’ll be the nice one.”
Emma: Oh, yeah. Oh, no, I’m like, “Let’s put that aside. That’s past.” And they don’t want to hear that.
Julius: She’s like, “Did you get mad at me?” I’m like, “No, I just don’t … I have to be the nice one because I’m the one that …”
Patrik: Prior to COVID, you would’ve had patients go into ICU with bacterial or fungal or viral pneumonia, for that matter. And when things were getting worse, the next thing you knew they were diagnosed with ARDS. There’s nothing-
Julius: Unusual.
Patrik: Nothing unusual. It’s just got a different label. And don’t get me wrong, COVID is-
Julius: Severe.
Patrik: … a very severe disease. But no one’s disputing that. But it is mainly a threat to the elderly and people with comorbidities. That’s what it’s a threat for. For a young, healthy person, it’s not a threat. It’s a cold.
Julius: I know. But at any time, it’s for … Thank you. That’s exactly what we’ve been-
Emma: It’s so refreshing to hear somebody that is not Covid to say what I’ve been thinking all along.
Patrik: I’ll give you another example, just to illustrate that. I haven’t worked in ICU now for three or for four years, but obviously, I’m talking to people every day, about ICU-related stuff. But the last ICU that I worked in here in Melbourne, when COVID hit, I’m talking to people there. I know my ex-colleagues. And before the vaccine came in, not one staff member … And this is the biggest ICU here in Melbourne. They had most COVID patients here. in Melbourne. Not one staff member, not one, got infected pre vaccinations. Not one.
Julius: Oh, God, how did I know that?
Patrik: Common sense and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).
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Julius: Yes.
Emma: Yeah. But they forced everybody to get it. Right? They keep forcing it.
Patrik: It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.
Emma: Yeah.
Julius: It just-
Patrik: Common sense, wash your hands. Don’t go to work if you … I mean, seriously. just-
Julius: Sick. Yeah.
Emma: Right. Right. If you feel sick, maybe stay home. Yeah, that’s a great idea.
Julius: I mean, don’t send your kids to school.
Patrik: We’ve created a society of hypochondriacs.
Emma: Yeah. Hypochondriac, yeah.
Julius: It’s just so bad. And everyone’s running to these shots.
Emma: Yeah. Well, if they’re getting-
Ron: They feel safe getting this shot.
Emma: We’re going to have the 20th booster coming out pretty soon, I think. I don’t know how many of these boosters we’re going to go through, but at least they’re-
Patrik: It’s gotten a big backlash here, and I’m sure it’ll get backlash all around the world. I don’t know whether you’ve seen last week a video where they questioned the company CEO. Did you see that video?
Julius: No, didn’t.
Emma: I didn’t. I’ve been out of the loop a little bit. I kind of turned it off. You don’t want-
Patrik: In a nutshell, basically the company Chief Executive Officer has been questioned publicly about, did they know that the vaccine doesn’t protect against COVID. And then all of a sudden, publicly, she had to admit, “Yes, of course, they knew.”
Emma: From the get-go.
Patrik: From the get-go.
Emma: Wow.
Patrik: That’s why I’m saying, the narrative is crumbling and-
Julius: Good.
Patrik: …it’s crumbling at lightning speed.
Emma: Except for at the hospital we’re at.
Patrik: That’s right. Except for the hospitals and for the majority of politicians that still need to cling onto this narrative, because otherwise they would look foolish.
Emma: Right.
Julius: And we’ve seen it. I mean, and it’s-
Emma: Oh, that’s so true.
Julius: And unfortunately, my mom was part of it, but she believed in this. So she’s like, “If it takes me, it takes me.” And-
Emma: Although there is something. I mean, there’s something, it’s like a bad flu. It’s a pneumonia for some of them, yeah. But pneumonia was always a thing before COVID.
Patrik: Yeah. Look, COVID is real. I’m not disputing for a minute that COVID is made up. It’s there.
Julius: So is pneumonia.
Patrik: So is pneumonia. Exactly. So is-
Ron: We both had the flu shot the day before we got sick, or thought we were sick.
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Emma: Yeah. I didn’t want to-
Ron: I didn’t know if that … And they keep telling me it had nothing … no problems with that.
Emma: It was very mysterious how they got the flu shot and then, boom, they both got COVID. I don’t get the flu shot either, by the way.
Patrik: Oh. Never had the flu shot in my life.
Julius: Me either. We tried to change.
Patrik: Whatever happened to an apple a day?
Emma: Right.
Patrik: Seriously. Common sense.
Julius: And you just don’t-
Emma: You don’t get that from the medical community.
Patrik: No, no, no.
Julius: When you look at them and you look at your MD, and it’s really sad that you can’t.
Patrik: It’s very sad.
Julius: And I can’t find a medical doctor, other than some of my doctor friends that believe a little bit … But they still find that narrative because they make money from it.
Patrik: Yeah. Look, it’s very sad what’s happened in the last few years. And it needs a big unraveling. Needs a big unraveling of the whole system.
Julius: Yeah. Well, now going through this personally, I feel-
Emma: Personally, it’s completely different.
Patrik: Yeah, but for your dad, I think for now, make some suggestions to them.
Julius: Yeah.
Emma: Okay.
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Patrik: Get a list of medications if you can. If you can’t get access to medical records quickly get a list of medications, a full list. That would be good.
Emma: We’ve asked for the printout several times and she just had to end up taking notes.
Julius: Yeah. I ended up … I can tell you, other than the Vasopressors
Emma: You have something else?
Julius: Yeah. I’m going through my-
Patrik: Most likely she would be on steroids.
Julius: She is.
Patrik: Most likely she would be-
Julius: So … I don’t know.
Patrik: So Solu Medrol, something like that.
Julius: Yes, that’s it.
Patrik: so-
Julius: She is on lisinopril or Privo. That’s her medicines.
Patrik: That’s all her medicines.
Julius: Yup. And then another, I wrote Levo, so there must have been some other Levo. That must be the one … Oh, that’s levofloxacin.
Patrik: Levophed.
Julius: Levophed. Yeah.
Patrik: What-
Julius: Which was the pressor, right?
Patrik: Yeah. Correct. What about, was she on pressors before she went on dialysis?
Julius: I need to ask that question.
Emma: I don’t believe so.
Julius: I don’t believe so.
Patrik: Very, very important question. And the reason it’s important, that the pressors might have been started simply because of the dialysis, because all of a sudden they’re taking out 300 mils of blood, running it through the dialysis machine. And that in and of itself could just get the blood pressure down.
Emma: Oh, I see.
Patrik: Right?
Emma: Yep. Yeah.
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Patrik: So if she wasn’t on the pressors before she was on dialysis, that’s actually a good sign.
Julius: I think she was on blood pressure medicines, but not those pressors. I don’t think that-
Patrik: When they talk about blood pressure medicine, they probably do mean the pressors. Probably.
Julius: You think they do? Okay. Okay. I’m going to ask.
Emma: No, she was actually on blood pressure medicine prior to … Right? Mom was on blood pressure medicines.
Ron: Well, maintenance for blood pressure.
Emma: Yeah, regular, like before going into the hospital.
The 1:1 consulting session will continue in next week’s episode.
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 you 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.
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This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!