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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 one of our readers and the question last week was
“My mother is in Intensive Care in a public Hospital but wants to go to a private hospital, what should we do?” You can check out the answer to last week’s question here.
In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I answer another question from one of our readers and the question this week is
“My mother has CANCER and is in ICU on a ventilator with Tracheostomy and now the INTENSIVE CARE TEAM wants to send her OUT to a LONG-TERM CARE facility, HELP!”
Hi Patrik,
my name Dathena from Chicago in the USA and I have a question about my mother.
She recently had a removal of cancer in her oesophagus about three weeks ago and she was intubated on the ventilator because of the surgery.
Right after the surgery there were complications were they found a little bit of cancer on her heart also and from then forward she had many complications.
Now she has been on the ventilator and now they’ve tried over a couple of weeks to take her off the ventilator but it wasn’t successful.
My mother is a Patient who has Asthma and they introduced a Tracheostomy last Friday and now they tell me yesterday that they want to transfer her to a long-term care facility!
My question is, does this now mean that she is a long-term Patient and that she won’t get off the ventilator or does that mean that there is nothing else that they can do for her on the ventilator. Or do they want to send her to the facility so that they can help her to get better and off the ventilator?
I am very clueless in this situation. I am a CAN(Certified assistant in nursing) and I have ten years of experience and some of the doctors are not answering my questions and I have questions about the complications because my mother had surgery on March 21st and from my understanding she was intubated and extubated and I wanted to know the difference between that surgery and three weeks later having more surgery. Now she has had more surgery and there were so many complications and I really want to know what should I do?
I really want to know if my mother will get off the ventilator? She had the Tracheostomy since last Friday and I really need to know if she’s got to get off this ventilator? They have mentioned that they will be transferring her to this other facility today, so they are trying to transfer her ASAP to a long term care facility. But long term care just make you think of a place where she’s got to be living long-term and that’s not what we want for my mother, we want her to be able to come home.
Hi Dathena,
Thank you for making contact and thank you for sending me this voice message!
I am so sorry to hear what your mother, you and your Family are going through! I know this is a tough time in your and your mother’s life and I know it’s not easy having a loved one in Intensive Care, especially if it’s ongoing and there is no end in sight.
There are a few things you need to know and understand in this situation.
First of all, I think it’s absolutely appalling that your questions regarding the surgery and the complications, as well as the Tracheostomy and the possible transfer to this other facility have not been answered and addressed.
It just goes to show to me that many Intensive Care teams don’t take the questions and concerns of their Patients and Families serious enough! It’s even worse to know that your mother has been in Intensive Care since the 21st March and you still haven’t been answered all of your questions! Shame on the Intensive Care team!
Enough rambling there, lets move on to some practical answers in your situation!
- I am very surprised to hear that not even one week after the Tracheostomy has been inserted that the Intensive Care team wants to send your mother to a long-term care facility. Less than one week is a very short time frame for somebody to be leaving Intensive Care after they had a Tracheostomy.
I would imagine that the Intensive Care team wants to empty their beds as quickly as possible and the longer a Patient stays in Intensive Care the less money/ funding the Hospital gets for those Patients, therefore they are trying to send them out ASAP or in some instances make them NFR(Not for resuscitation) or DNR(Do not resuscitate), which obviously doesn’t seem to be the case with your mother.
Recommended resources:
Normally after a Tracheostomy has been inserted the weaning process is only at the start and Patients should be in an Intensive Care environment for at least another week or two weeks before any further decision should be made what the next steps are. As I have said, I can only imagine that the Intensive Care team and/or the hospital suspects they are losing money and resources(beds and staff) if they continue treating your mother in Intensive Care.
Therefore it would be extremely important for you to find out what other complications she had and whether the transfer to a long-term care facility would not compromise those complications. Your next job is really to find out the details about those complications and find out whether the long-term care facility is able to give your mother the best possible care in light of those complications.
- Also, the other question you should be asking is whether the Intensive Care team wants to send your mother out quickly because they want to cover up some mistakes? Once again, you mentioned numerous complications and it appears to be a little strange to me that they want to send your mother out of Intensive Care only one week after a Tracheostomy has been inserted. This is an unusually short time frame to me.
- The next question you had was whether your mother will get off the ventilator. The answer to that question depends on a number of things including how well your mother is, whether she’s depressed. Long term ventilated Patients with Tracheostomy in Intensive Care need a lot of attention and you need to make sure that your mother will get the best possible care such as
- Regular washes
- Regular mouthcare
- Regular showers
- Regular mobilisation in a chair
- Getting outside if her condition allows
- Having experienced nursing staff looking after her
- Being on a weaning regime, so that she has time off the ventilator and so that she can be gradually weaned off
You also should consider home care as an option and I know you are in Chicago in the USA. In countries like Australia and in many European countries there are Intensive Home care services for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy, check out INTENSIVECAREATHOME.COM.AU for more information!
Similar services might be available in your area as well, however I’m not sure!
Also check out our BLOG section for tips& strategies how you can deal with this difficult situation!
I would also be available for a 15 min chat on skype next week if that helps!
Below are some related articles that will help you understand more about Tracheostomy and ventilator dependency
How can you have PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
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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 episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” and I’ll see you again in another update next week!
Make sure you also check out our BLOG section with 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!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
Sincerely, your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
Related Articles:
- How LONG does it take to come off a ventilator/ respirator in Intensive Care?
- What is an induced coma and why is my critically ill loved one in an induced coma?
- Why do doctors in Intensive Care insert a Tracheostomy after an induced coma?
- How long can a breathing tube or an endotracheal tube can stay in?
- What could be the cause if my critically ill loved one is removed from an induced coma but still hasn’t woken up?
- 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
- How long does it take to wake up from a Traumatic brain injury or severe head injury?
- 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
- 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?
- The questions you need to ask the most senior doctor in Intensive Care, if your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care
- 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!
- 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
- 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
- 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!
- 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
- 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!
- Five STRAIGHTFORWARD ways to improve Family satisfaction in Intensive Care!
Related Articles:
Can you go home on CPAP/BIPAP ventilation?
My 57 year old Dad has been in Intensive Care with Cardiomyopathy and Pneumonia for 5 weeks! He’s still in an induced coma and still doesn’t have a tracheostomy, HELP! (PART 12)
My Mom had a cardiac arrest with a hypoxic brain injury! She’s not “waking up” and the doctors want to pull the plug! Help! (PART2)
My 73 year old Mom had a stroke and is intubated in Intensive Care. She can’t come off the ventilator and the breathing tube, can she have a tracheostomy and go home and have INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME? (PART 2)
My Mom died in ICU after a heart attack, I think she could have survived, but my sister and the hospital didn’t want her to live!