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, making sure your loved one always gets best care and treatment in intensive care, even if you are not a doctor or a nurse in intensive care.

So, today I have a question from one of our clients, Saul, who says:

“Hi Patrik,

My mom has been on CPAP mod for a week, and then they changed it to standby. The longest she’s been on standby is 12 hours, sometimes 2 hours, 1 hour, 4 hours, 10 minutes. Then she goes back on CPAP again. I noticed when she’s on standby, her exhaling, her belly looks forced.

Is she going to be able to be weaned off the ventilator?

From, Saul.”

Thank you, Saul, for your question. Your mom being on CPAP mode for a week and then intermittently on standby mode tells me that the ICU team is trying to wean her off the ventilator, but she’s not quite ready for full spontaneous breathing yet. The fact that her exhalation looks forced and that she can only tolerate standby mode for short periods, 10 minutes to 12 hours and it’s very variable, suggests that her respiratory muscles are still weak or that there might be underlying issues such as fluid overload, infection, poor nutrition, or potentially even an infection or a heart failure or anything else really.

What’s critically important, Saul, is that you and your family get access to all medical records, including ventilator settings, arterial blood gases, chest X-ray, progress notes, everything. Leave no stone unturned so that we can review exactly what’s happening and give you a second opinion and guide you step by step what questions to ask, what to advocate for, and so forth. Without full transparency, you’re operating in the dark while the ICU team makes all the decisions without your input.

Another thing that you haven’t mentioned but that’s critically important is whether your mom is on a breathing tube in her mouth or whether she’s having a tracheostomy. Huge difference there, because if she’s having a breathing tube in her mouth and she can’t be weaned off the ventilator, she might need a tracheostomy. She might, not to say that she definitely will, but she might.

So again, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is 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. It’s exactly what you are up against here.

Because if she has a tracheostomy already, then, mobilization needs to happen, physical therapy, breathing exercises. Whereas if she’s on a breathing tube, you also need to find out, is she still on sedatives? That could be part of why she can’t be extubated just as yet.

Again, the devil is in the detail, and families in intensive care don’t know what they don’t know, which is where we are coming in to ask the right questions. I’m sure you’ve already learned something just by listening to this video, that the devil is in the detail.

It’s important that we get all the information because at intensivecarehotline.com, we review all clinical information and get on a consulting call with you and the ICU team directly, so we can ask all the right questions, advocate, and hold them accountable. Many families in intensive care don’t know they have this option. That’s exactly how we’ve helped so many clients get their loved ones weaned off the ventilator and discharged alive from ICU.

If your mom is unable to come off the ventilator and ICU, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. ICU might push for “no hope” or “withdrawal of life support,” but that’s often premature and completely unnecessary. About 70 to 90% of ICU patients survive, so that’s also something the ICU team is not telling you. They’re not telling you that most patients in ICU survive. They want to make it look like it’s doom and gloom. They make it look like it’s negative because they want to stay in control of the narrative.

It’s critically important that you stay in control of your narrative. If your mom is unable to come off the ventilator in ICU and needs a tracheostomy, or if she already has the tracheostomy, it still doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road because there’s a long-term solution available for long-term ventilated patients with tracheostomy such as Intensive Care at Home.

You can find more information at intensivecareathome.com, where patients can be safely weaned off the ventilator or looked after at home with 24/7 intensive care nurses, while improving their quality of life and freeing up very expensive ICU beds, where we cut the cost of the ICU bed by around 50%.

Here’s what you should do next, Saul. Request all medical records immediately. Book a call with me at intensivecarehotline.com. We can then liaise directly with the ICU team and review ventilator settings, progress notes, and ask all the right questions. Consider a transfer home with our team at intensivecareathome.com if your mom has a tracheostomy and can’t be weaned off the ventilator, or if she needs long-term ventilation and ongoing weaning.

We’ve helped so many families all around the world, just like yours, turn things around, even when ICU said there was no hope or that your loved one won’t survive. Check out our testimonial section.

So, if you have a loved one in intensive care and you are unsure whether they can be weaned off the ventilator, go to intensivecarehotline.com and call me on one of the numbers on the top of our website, or send an email to [email protected]. We help you to make the right decisions fast.

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.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, share the video with your friends and families, and comment below what you want to see next, what questions and insights you have from this video.

I also do a weekly YouTube live where I answer your questions live on the show. You will get notification for the YouTube live if you are a subscriber to my YouTube channel or my intensivecarehotline.com email newsletter at intensivecarehotline.com.

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.

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