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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: I was Told My 79-Year-Old Dad was “Dying” in ICU with COVID (Coronavirus Disease), ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), Pulmonary Embolus, Bowel Perforation

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

Today, I want to bring you a case study that is really, really mind-blowing. We’ve worked with this client last year, and I’m making so many videos, but this is really a good, fantastic case study that I want to highlight in probably in a series of videos here so that you can really understand what’s possible and how we can help you save your loved one’s life.

So, talking about a 79-year-old man last year who went into ICU after hip surgery a few weeks ago, initially developed cough and query aspiration pneumonia, eventually went into ICU for IV (intravenous) antibiotics and oxygen therapy, developed COVID-19.

The daughter decided to take the father home against medical advice, which we don’t advice of because we would advise to take a client home with Intensive Care at Home, and you can find more information at intensivecareathome.com.

Then he went on nebulizer and oxygen at home, developed respiratory wheeze, presented back to ER for increased work of breathing a few days later and initially was put on high flow nasal cannula alternating with non-rebreather mask, then on to BIPAP (Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure). Chest X-ray was done with complete white out of the lungs. Then, the patient was in ICU with a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) assigned by the daughter. Then, he ended up in COVID pneumonia.

The ICU at the time, just wanted to move this gentleman towards palliative care but the daughter and power of attorney at the time said, “No, that is not an option. That is not what my dad would want. He’s ready to fight and I can tell you fighting he did.”

He also had pulmonary embolism, and the odds were absolutely against this man at the time, there’s no question about it. He also ended up with ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) also known as lung failure. Like I said, his hemoglobin was low. He needed blood transfusions.

The odds were absolutely against this man, but with our step-by-step help for the family and not giving up and letting the intensive care team know that giving up is not an option, he eventually turned the corner but let me break this down in more detail.

He’s in acute respiratory distress with oxygen saturation as low as 49% on the nasal cannula placed on BIPAP, 100% of FiO2 (fraction of inspired oxygen), which was then lowered to 75% after he was still hypoxemic on 100% non-rebreather mask. He was afebrile with normal blood pressure and normal heart rate. His lactate was 4.4, sodium was 148, and his liver function was off, and things were looking very, very grim at the time. On top of that, he also ended up with a bowel perforation and he needed surgery for the bowel perforation to not let him go into sepsis and peritonitis.

The ICU at that particular point in time was pushing palliative care, basically wanting to let this patient die instead of offering him surgery, letting the bowels heal, and give him a second chance, give him TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) to bypass the bowels for nutrition, and so forth.

To illustrate the situation more, here is one of the emails that we had at the time from the client who said,

“I just wanted to update you on the latest. Believe me, I’m trying to stay positive.

I just spoke with the ICU doctor. He approved the TPN, and he said he does have risks like infection. He also spoke about intubation if oxygen levels get worse. He mentioned that “if” he gets through this, his quality of life may never be the same and he may end up in a rehabilitation for the rest of his life. I could be wrong, but I believe this was again to push the DNR narrative.

The second doctor of the day came by and said his lungs sounded stronger. She seemed more positive.  We talked about TPN and then she was against it. She said this is not something that’s used anymore and there is no need since he has a perfectly healthy GI (Gastrointestinal) tract. She was afraid of the harm outweighing the benefits. She told me this will completely suppress his appetite and it’s not sustainable.

So, we called the nurse to discuss further. The nurse said because of the hernia, the doctor is not attempting the feeding tube at this time. The only alternative is to go to surgery to put the feeding tube into his stomach, but he will most likely die during the procedure.

The doctor then went from positive just 10 minutes before to agreeing with the nurse and saying my father is not going to survive this. Because of all of the cases they’ve seen, they know the big picture and ultimate outcome. They then started the DNR narrative again.”

So, this was such a crazy situation at the time. Like I said, in the next 24 hours, the client was then diagnosed with the bowel perforation, which is when they needed to start the TPN regardless.

And to say that TPN is too high of an infection risk, let me get this straight. TPN presents an infection risk. You give intravenous nutrition to a central line, PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line, Hickman’s line, or port catheter, there is an infection risk, but that can be managed with the skill of critical care nurses who attach and/or who connect and disconnect the TPN, and it just needs to be sterile.

That’s like saying we stop eating and drinking because food or water is contaminated because there’s a risk for it. Yes, there is a risk for it, but that’s a small risk.

Anyway, so to cut a long story short, the patient ended up having surgery for his bowel perforation and ultimately came out well on the other end. He did survive regardless after a long time in ICU, but survive, he did. After about 5 or 6 months, he went home eventually, and he knows a good quality of life.

So, it is very important that you get a second opinion. It’s very important that you don’t give up. It is very important that you get perspective, and it is very important that you don’t buy into the doom and gloom narrative.

The question that you should always ask is what’s the urgency to kill someone? Where’s the urgency to kill someone? There’s plenty of time to talk about end-of-life, plenty of time. What’s the urgency?

So, with all of that said, I will continue this series of videos for this particular time because there’s so much more to talk about.

I’ve worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years. 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 and that is actually documented and verified at intensivecarehotline.com on our testimonial section, and it’s also verified and documented on our intensivecarehotline.com podcast at intensivecarehotline.com.

Now, we have helped hundreds of clients and members over the years to help improve their lives instantly, including saving their loved one’s life or improving end-of-life situation, to have an end-of-life situation on their terms, not on the intensive care unit terms. Once again, it’s all documented in our testimonial section and our intensivecarehotline.com podcast section.

So, that’s why we created the membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. 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 e-books and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded, helping you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence, making sure your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

I also do one-on-one consulting and advocacy  over the phone, Zoom, Skype, 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 can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. When I talk to doctors and nurses directly, I ask 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 you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are suspecting medical negligence.

All of that, you get at intensivecarehotline.com. Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or 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.

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

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care for now.