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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
“TRACHEOSTOMY AND WEANING OFF THE VENTILATOR IN INTENSIVE CARE, HOW LONG CAN IT TAKE?“
You can check out last week’s episode by clicking on the link here.
This is another episode of “your questions answered” and in this week’s episode I want to answer one of the most frequent questions that we get from our readers and the question is
“HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WAKE UP FROM A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY OR SEVERE HEAD INJURY?”
Chances are that if you have come to this blog that you are looking for answers for your critically ill loved one in Intensive Care, who is not waking up after he or she sustained a severe head injury or a Traumatic brain injury.
Your critically ill loved one may have sustained a severe head or brain injury after a car accident, a bike accident or after a fall or they may have had a stroke or a brain tumour.
Technically, strokes or brain tumours don’t necessarily fall into the category of Traumatic brain injuries or severe head injuries, but Patients display similar symptoms and they often require similar lengthy periods to “wake up” or to recover.
The most important thing you need to know if your critically ill loved one in Intensive Care is not waking up after a Traumatic brain injury or after a severe head injury is that this is often normal and it is also often a lengthy and at times difficult process for your loved one to “wake up”.
Waking up in Intensive Care is rarely a linear or straight forward process, let alone after a traumatic brain injury or after a severe head injury.
If there is anything I would compare it to, it’s like switching on a light with a “dimmer switch”, where the lights go on gradually and slowly.
There are a few things you need to know if your loved one has sustained a severe head injury or traumatic brain injury.
Keep in mind at all times that
• The brain has a life on its own and can unlike many other organs(liver, heart, lungs and kidneys) not be controlled
• Your loved one was very likely sedated with some “heavy gun medication” such as Midazolam, Fentanyl or Morphine and maybe even Thiopentone. Those drugs all take a long time to get out of your loved one’s body system and therefore delay the ‘waking up’ process
• Your loved one will take their own time to “wake up”, even if it takes many days, weeks or even months, therefore it is difficult to put an absolute number on the time it takes for your loved one to wake up
• The level of initial “drowsiness” or “dizziness” does not give any indication how long it will take your loved one to wake up
• The Intensive Care team maybe painting a “doom and gloom” picture and therefore they may have a negative outlook for your critically ill loved one, which may not be in the best interest for your critically ill loved one and your family!
• The negative outlook of the Intensive Care team may stand in the way of your loved one’s recovery
• You must be optimistic at all times
• You must follow your gut feeling
• You must look “BEHIND THE SCENES” in an Intensive Care Unit and understand the moving parts and how it may directly impact on your critically ill loved one’s care he or she may be or may not be receiving
Recommended resources:
• The Intensive Care Unit’s financial budget and other competing interests such as other admissions awaiting an ICU bed might be directly related to the prognosis the Intensive Care team is telling you
• The Intensive Care team may have a limited mindset and they may not be willing to put the time, the effort, the resources and the believe forward that it takes to get your critically ill loved one out of his or her difficult situation
• Time is a natural healer and given the time, the resources, the effort and the believe, your critically ill loved one will get better
Recommended resources:
After more than 15 years Intensive Care Nursing experience in three different countries, where I also worked as a Nurse Unit Manager for 5 years, I have worked in some Critical Care Units where the Intensive Care team allowed for Patients to wake up in their own time, even it took many weeks or many months!
Those Intensive Care Units didn’t have a limited mindset, they had a positive culture and they believed that time is a healer in and of itself.
Other Intensive Care Units had a very negative mindset and a negative culture and they often saw competing interests in having a Patient who is not waking up after critical illness such as traumatic brain injury or severe head injury occupying an expensive and scarce ICU bed and the Intensive Care team in those Units often painted a bleak, doom and gloom picture that directly or indirectly went hand in hand with a negative and limited prognosis.
I have written a blog post about culture in Intensive Care and how it impacts on Patient care here
It is therefore absolutely critical that you as your critically ill loved one’s immediate Family member has ultimate PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence when your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care with a head injury!
How can you do that and how can you get PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence fast, 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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