MY REVIEW OF INTENSIVE CARE HOTLINE

So on Friday, February 9th, I checked my 88 year old mother into a local hospital because of the following symptoms: slurred speech, a steadily decreasing appetite, confusion, and legs so weak that she needed help to walk to my truck outside even though she’d been walking fine the day before!

I managed to get her into the emergency room quickly, where a series of tests and readings revealed the following: blood pressure roughly 60 over 40, a pulse in the 40s, and a probable urinary tract infection or uti. And the ER doctor told me, “Your mother is very sick.” He then asked me, “If her heart goes out, do you want us to do everything we can?” I answered, yes– and the emergency room team was fantastic!!! and next thing you know–after more tests–she was sent to Intensive Care Unit, or ICU.

So the next day I got a call from the nurse in ICU, and she was asking me about a baseline, about how my mom spoke normally. Well, I like face to face communication, so I went in to meet the nurse and her assistant and see my mom and my mom looked like death warmed over. She didn’t look awake, or like she’d ever be awake again! The nurse then started a long statement about the possibility of her heart stopping and the only options in that situation and how devastating that would be for my mother and did I want to consider do not resuscitate or DNR, but I was too afraid to make a decision. (She also talked about something about comfort, which I think means turning off machines, but I didn’t like that idea, either!) So I went back with a friend whose best friend is a rn in Atlanta, and my friend agreed with the ICU nurse. “I’ve seen this before, your mother is going to die. You need to be prepared for that. To let them do compression or anything to keep her alive after a heart attack is cruel.” And even with medication, all my mom’s readings looked shaky: her blood pressure was bouncing around with numbers like 80 over 40–and she was on two kinds of blood pressure medication!!!– and her pulse was still going between 40 and 80. Her oxygen was good, but that seemed to be all she had going for her. So I was depressed. I didn’t see any way out. I saw an immediate future without my mom, and with no wife and no kids myself, what would that mean for me? I could survive, but it wouldn’t be the same. And all these people–the ER doctor, the ICU nurse, my friend;s buddy the rn, plus, my friend who said she’d seen cases like my mom’s before and she knew it was coming–they all couldn’t be wrong, right?

So I couldn’t sleep that night, but early Sunday morning of February 11th, I had a brainstorm: I would go online, and see what I found. And that’s what led me to INTENSIVE CARE HOTLINE and Patrik Hutzel. I looked at the website, read that Patrik was a critical care nurse, seemed to have lots of experience plus lots of videos, and he even offered a free consultation. “Why not?” I thought. But it was 4:00 in the morning! But then, I added, “He’s got lots of funny phone numbers, so maybe he won’t mind?” So I made the call, and to my surprise, Patrik answered immediately.

I asked about rates and about his free consultation, and soon we started with the consultation: Patrik asked all the right questions, like what was wrong with my mother, what were her symptoms, and where was she now. I could tell he was German, and smartT–he talked to me at length about urinary tract infections and their symptoms and treatment– but once he started getting into his wheelhouse of critical care, Patrik was like Boris Becker at Wimbledon with one big serve after another!!!

“It’s too early, the medicine needs time to work on your mother…”

So after I gave Patrik the basics, he said, “It’s too early, the medicine needs time to work on your mother. Give it another day.”

“HUH???” Why wasn’t anybody at the hospital telling me this??? So I told my friend–the one with the rn friend. Here’s what she said:

“So you’re going to listen to some guy 800 miles away???”

So after I told my friend with the rn friend about Patrik she said, “So you’re going to listen to some guy 800 miles away?”

So the battle lines were drawn: it was an er doctor, and icu nurse, my friend, her friend the rn, all saying or suggesting my mom was KAPUT!!!–now there’s a good old stereotypical German word!!!–and the guy from the internet saying to give the medicine time to work, at least another day. Maybe there was some glimmer of hope for my mom, after all.

So my friend was urging me to tell the people at the hospital not to resuscitate, or DNR!!!

But Patrik had put his big German thumb on the scale and my mind was made up: I’d wait another day, just like he told me to.

TOMORROW NEVER COMES?

Someone once said tomorrow never comes, but this time it did, and so when I finally got the courage to go see my mom in icu, I went with my friend just in case and guess what? MY MOM WAS AWAKE!!! AND HER NUMBERS WERE GETTING BETTER!!! WAS THE GUY FROM MILES AWAY RIGHT???

Next thing you know, my mom was being sent to a regular room where she’s continued to show steady improvement, with her only remaining symptom being some weakness in her legs. Her pressure numbers have stabilized to where she’s off of all the blood pressure medicine, her pulse is normal, her speech is normal, and her appetite is normal. Her only remaining symptom is weakness in her legs.

And so, THE GUY FROM 800 MILES AWAY ENDED UP BEING RIGHT!!!

Patrick and I also talked about DNR, and he told me how he’s against it, I think because it sets a medical team on the wrong path, but I’ve got to talk with again to make sure! But I know it would have been the wrong path for my mom!!!

So the lesson in all this is clear: if you have a medical question or problem and you’re not happy with the answers you’re getting,

call THE GUY FROM 800 MILES AWAY!!!

CALL PATRIK HUTZEL–TODAY!!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

CHARI