Quick Tip for Families in ICU: How to Protect My Loved One in ICU After Cardiac Arrest and Anoxic Brain Injury?

“How to protect my loved one in ICU after cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury?”

My name is 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, control, power, and influence, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in intensive care so that you can influence decision making fast so that your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

Now, today’s question is from Toni, who writes:

“Hi Patrik,

I’m very concerned about my husband. I had a meeting today with the ICU doctor and ICU staff, including a social worker. The doctor is still saying there’s no hope, which I don’t believe. The doctor is stating that end of life would be his ‘best option.’ I’ve explained to him that I would like my husband to have time to heal and wake up from this in his own time. I have seen signs that my husband could wake up from this if he was off sedation and the opiates.

The doctor says he thinks my husband will die in the ICU. I’m concerned that the doctors will withhold care or cause something to make my husband die in ICU. I don’t feel my husband is safe in there. What can I do to protect him? It is obvious they do not want someone in my husband’s condition in their ICU.

As you’re aware, my husband had a cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury 7 days ago. He’s been off sedation for 5 days, and he’s off all opiates. What are my options?”

Here’s my take, Toni. First of all, what you’re describing is extremely common in intensive care. Once the doctors believe there’s “no hope,” they start pushing for end of life care, or end of life care talks, rather than giving patients time and hope.

But families, if you often see what doctors ignore, signs of improvement, eye movements, small responses, and the possibility of healing if given more time, and also, you know your husband best so you know whether he can heal from this or not. So now, let’s break this down.

Number one, protecting your husband in ICU. If the ICU team has already decided there’s no hope, danger is that they won’t escalate care if something goes wrong.

To protect him, you need to:

1. Put your wishes in writing that you want full treatment.
    
2. Ask for second opinions inside or outside the ICU.
    
3. Question every medication, every treatment plan.
    
4. Get access to all medical records.
    
5. Be present as much as you can.

Families are the best advocates, especially if you have someone like us here at intensivecarehotline.com by your side.

Next, you also need to ask. If your husband is still alive today and they’re saying there’s no hope, you have to question their clinical judgment. So, what I mean by that is if they’re telling you there’s no hope, and he won’t survive, but he’s still alive every day that he survives, you have to question their clinical judgment. Keep that in mind. Every day he survives, there’s more hope.  If their predictions were to come true, he might be dead already.

Also, you have to make a clear distinction here whether your husband is in a real or perceived end of life situation. What’s the difference? I’m glad you’ve asked.

Number one, a real end of life situation is nothing, no surgery, no life-saving equipment, no treatment, no medication, no fancy equipment, no nothing will save your husband’s life, he’s going to die, and he’s going to die fast. The perceived end of life situation is that there’s a perception that your husband might pass away, or he might not. I argue that your husband is not in a real, he’s in a perceived end of life situation.

The other thing you have to consider is and you have to ask, in no uncertain terms is, where’s the urgency to let your husband die? Where’s the urgency to kill your husband? It’s a very relevant question. There should be urgency to help your husband to get better. That’s where the urgency should be.

Next, let’s look at cardiac diagnostics after cardiac arrest. Since your husband had a cardiac arrest, you need to know what caused it. Has he had an echocardiogram to check his heart function? An angiogram to check for blocked arteries? Cardiac medications started that are appropriate for his condition? Is a cardiologist involved in his care? What did the 12-lead ECG (electrocardiogram) show, especially on admission? What did the cardiac markers show in pathology results such as troponin, or CRP (C-reactive Protein) or CK (Creatine Kinase)?

Next, neurological testing. Your husband has been off sedation and off opiates for 5 days now. Now is the time for proper neurological assessments. You should be asking, has he had an EEG (electroencephalogram) to check brain activity? Has he had an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) of the brain to check the extent of the injury? Has he had a CT (Computed Tomography) scan of the brain to check the extent of the injury? Has a neurologist been consulted? What’s his Glasgow coma scale and how is it trending? Does he have reflexes such as pupil responses or the gag reflex? Is he showing spontaneous breathing or movement?

Let’s now look at your options:

1. Continue treatment in ICU and insist he stays there as long as necessary until there are signs of improvement or you ask to transfer him to another ICU or hospital if you have lost trust.
    
2. Get independent advocacy like we do here at intensivecarehotline.com. When I speak to doctors on behalf of families, the conversation changes very quickly and we can implement and get results for you and your family very quickly.

Toni, what you need to remember is this, recovery from cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury takes time. We’re talking weeks, months, not days. You are absolutely right not to give up after only 7 days. The best things your husband has on his side right now are time, treatment, proper diagnostics, and your advocacy. Don’t let the ICU take that away from him.

Now, if you have a loved one in intensive care and you feel like doctors are pushing you towards end of life when you’re not ready, go to intensivecarehotline.com and call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or simply send us an email to [email protected]

We offer one-to-one consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care.

I have worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com. I can very confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting and advocacy because of our insights. You can verify that on our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com. You can verify it on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section where we have done client interviews because our advice is absolutely life changing.

The biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights, and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

That’s why we help you to improve your life instantly, making sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always. That’s why you can join a growing number of members and clients that we have helped over the years, saving their loved ones’ lives.

That’s why I do one on one consulting and advocacy over the phone, Zoom, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation that you simply cannot afford to get wrong. When I talk to families directly, I also talk to doctors and nurses directly, asking all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one critically ill in intensive care.

I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

We also do medical record reviews in real time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also do medical record reviews after intensive care if in case you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

We also have a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, and you can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com, if you click on the membership link, or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email, and we answer all questions intensive care related. In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 eBooks and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. All of that will help you to improve your life instantly, make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

All of that you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or simply send us an email to [email protected] with your questions.

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Thank you so much for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.