Intensive Care at Home

https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-husband-is-in-icu-for-3-months-on-a-ventilator-with-tracheostomy-and-on-dialysis-he-cant-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-can-he-go-home/ https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-husband-is-in-icu-for-3-months-on-a-ventilator-with-tracheostomy-and-on-dialysis-he-cant-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-can-he-go-home-part-2/ My Husband is in ICU for 3 months on a Ventilator with Tracheostomy and on Dialysis. He Can't Be Weaned Off the Ventilator. Can He Go Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to answer a question from one of my clients, Alicia and Alicia has her 72-year old husband in intensive care for three months now and Alicia wants to know if her husband can go home even on a ventilator with tracheostomy and on dialysis. “My Husband is in ICU for 3 months on a Ventilator with Tracheostomy and on Dialysis. He Can’t Be Weaned Off the Ventilator. Can He Go Home? “My Husband is in ICU for 3 months on a Ventilator with Tracheostomy and on Dialysis. He Can't Be Weaned Off the Ventilator. Can He Go Home? So Alicia writes. My husband’s 72 years of age, had a right tibial artery blockage with loss of blood flow to his great toe and atherectomy by a vascular surgeon was done and a nephrotoxic contrast media caused worsening of kidney dysfunction to stage 5, but gradually improved somewhat next hospital day. My husband had a heart attack or an MI and intermittent atrial fibrillation for the first time. Prior to that, he had history of mild congestive heart failure. RECOMMENDED: Membership for families in Intensive Care Book your free consultation call here Check out our Ebooks and videos He was readmitted for a right great toe amputation then he went back home again. After that his kidney function deteriorated and his third admission was on the 7th of July for uremia with mental confusion and he was started on emergency dialysis. About 10 days later, he developed first hospital acquired pneumonia. It was slow to respond to antibiotics after that there was an acute and rapid drop in oxygen levels and he was finally put on a ventilator. The infectious disease specialist thought that probably it was secondary to a large mucus block. My husband couldn’t come off the ventilator for the next two weeks and a tracheostomy and PEG tube was done on the 24th of August during the course of his intensive care stay. He developed a sacral pressure ulcer during his stay, which progressed markedly and after debridement and removal of large amount of adjacent tissue, it’s now a stage 3 pressure sore and wound treated by wound care team and has been on a rotating bed. Now the intensive care team then wanted to transfer him to a long-term acute care hospital, which I refused. Because I know that he is so much better off in an intensive care unit, especially with his ventilation and tracheostomy needs... Continue reading at: https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-husband-is-in-icu-for-3-months-on-a-ventilator-with-tracheostomy-and-on-dialysis-he-cant-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-can-he-go-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/how-long-can-you-survive-with-ventilation-and-tracheostomy/ How Long Can You Survive with Ventilation and Tracheostomy? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog, I want to answer a question that we get quite frequently from our clients, but also people who are interested in our service and the question that I want to answer today is How Long Can You Survive with Ventilation and Tracheostomy? What a great question because obviously when somebody is having a mechanical ventilation and a breathing tube (endotracheal tube) in ICU, they can’t be weaned off the ventilator then the next step often is to perform a tracheostomy. And that can lead to several outcomes. It could be a short-term measure to wean patients off the ventilator in ICU but it could also be a long-term treatment plan for somebody to potentially be weaned off the ventilator and the tracheostomy at home. But it could also be a lifelong treatment option depending on the situation. For example ventilation and tracheostomy could be a lifelong treatment option for patients that have a C1 spinal injury, that have issues such as a motor neuron disease. Or a tracheostomy could turn into a weaning plan at home for patients with Guillan Barre syndrome. Or a tracheostomy and mechanical ventilation could become an option for patients for a better quality of end of life at home instead of approaching their end of life in ICU or a hospice. This could be an option for a patient with end stage COPD for example, also after lung transplant where a patient is having a rejection of a donor lung. Most hospices wouldn’t be able to look after tracheostomy and ventilation anyways, hence intensive home care would be the much preferred option. How Long Can You Survive with Ventilation and Tracheostomy? So there could be a number of issues that could lead to lifelong ventilation and tracheostomy. It could also be sometimes an end of life situation where somebody needs ventilation and tracheotomy to prolong their life. Maybe only in the short-term, maybe only for a few weeks or for a few months, maybe they want to spend time at home instead of in intensive care and approach their end of life at home. But with most of our clients, it’s definitely prolonged ventilation and tracheostomy, and they can live at home sometimes for many years to come and they can actually live a good quality of life in the comfort of their own home with basically having intensive care nurses coming into the home and providing the intensive care at home service 24/7. This provides a genuine alternative to a long term stay in intensive care. Again, there are no firm timelines around this. It can be sometimes weeks, months, and it can sometimes be many years. And again, with our clients, many of them report a very good quality of life. They can be at home instead of in intensive care and they can also be enjoying time around their family. They can be going sometimes to school, they can be doing meaningful activities in their own home with their families. Again, sometimes it’s school university, sometimes it’s even work that they can do from home on the computer. You know, a lot of things are possible in this day and age at home that are not possible in intensive care. So by going home with intensive care at home, with 24 hour nursing care, we can replicate the ICU just in a much nicer, in a much more family friendly and client friendly environment. And that can go on for many years sometimes. So, we know of one gentleman in particular, he’s been on a ventilator for almost 35 years now. He sustained a C1 spinal injury when he was a child and to this day he’s still alive and he’s living a very good quality of life, even though he’s on a ventilator and he’s got a tracheostomy... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/how-long-can-you-survive-with-ventilation-and-tracheostomy/

My Dad’s Prognosis Is Poor According To The Doctor But Who Is Really Directing His Care? Help! Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline Here are the phone options One day 1:1 consulting and advocacy FACE TO FACE or via zoom $20,000 per day https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/one-day-11-consulting-in-person-face/ 30 days 24/7 unlimited 1:1 phone and email support, including speaking to doctors and nurses directly, as well as participating in family meetings over the phone for $3,299 https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/thirty-days-11-phone-consulting-us/ 14 days 24/7 unlimited 1:1 phone and email support, including speaking to doctors and nurses directly, as well as participating in family meetings over the phone for $1,999 https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/fourteen-days-11-phone-consulting-us/ 7 days 24/7 unlimited 1:1 phone and email support, including speaking to doctors and nurses directly, as well as participating in family meetings over the phone for $1,299 https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/seven-days-11-phone-consulting-us/ 4 days 24/7 unlimited 1:1 phone and email support, including speaking to doctors and nurses directly, as well as participating in family meetings over the phone for $999 https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/four-days-11-phone-consulting-us/ 2 days 24/7 unlimited 1:1 phone and email support, including speaking to doctors and nurses directly, as well as participating in family meetings over the phone for $499 https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/two-days-11-phone-consulting-us/ You don’t have to use the 2, 4, 7, or 14 days in a row and you can use the days at your own pace. Here's the hour option Book 60 minutes 1:1 phone consulting and advocacy for $249 (can be credited towards any of the options above)- click on the link https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/one-hour-11-phone-consulting-us/ Or you can join the membership here where you have access to me in the membership area for only US $199/ month where I advise daily and where you also have access to more material including all of our eBooks! Furthermore, you’ll get a 20% discount for 1:1 phone consulting and advocacy if you are a member! https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/membership-us/ Here is also a link to case studies https://intensivecarehotline.com/category/questions/ https://intensivecareathome.com/category/case-studies/ Song: Jarico - Island Music supported by@FreeBackgroundMusicForCreators #BackgroundMusicWithoutLimitations https://bit.ly/2XoXFnb #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare

https://intensivecareathome.com/we-want-my-mom-at-home-and-let-her-approach-end-of-life-at-home-what-should-we-do/ We Want My Mom at Home and Let Her Approach End of Life at Home. What Should We Do? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s video blog. I want to answer another question from one of our readers and clients. And today’s question is, my mom is 53 and she’s in ICU with sepsis for over three weeks and the ICU doesn’t want to do a tracheostomy. We Want My Mom at Home and Let Her Approach End of Life at Home. What Should We Do? So, one of our readers and clients Charlotte writes the following email. My 53-year old mother got sepsis and had been in ICU for three weeks on a ventilator. She also has leukemia and COPD. The kidneys were failing. And so they did dialysis for the last 10 days. They’ve had her in an induced coma the whole time she’s been in ICU, the liver is failing. She went into atrial fibrillation, so they had to shock her heart back into a regular sinus rhythm. And now she contracted pneumonia. They can’t get her off the ventilator now because she keeps dropping her oxygen levels. The ICU said her kidneys have recovered, but they have been requesting for me to sign a DNR or “Do Not Resuscitate” order and they are suggesting that a hospice might be best for my mother because they can’t get her off the ventilator. They won’t reduce the sedation because when they do, she gets agitated and her heart rate gets up too high. They finally let me see her today and they told me if she recovered, she’d be in a nursing facility for the rest of her life. They again asked me to put the DNR in place and Friday we are supposed to bring the hospice people in. They don’t want to try the tracheostomy because she’s already had one a couple of years ago and the scar tissue would make it difficult they said. Last week they had the ventilator support down to 35% oxygen and she was even able to breathe with just BiPAP for two hours but then they put the ventilator back on and it’s working at 80% FiO2 now, and she’s on a PEEP of 15. https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-dad-is-still-vulnerable-and-needs-a-higher-level-of-monitoring-why-did-they-put-him-at-a-spot-far-from-the-nurses-station/ We Want My Mom at Home and Let Her Approach End of Life at Home. What Should We Do? They said she has squeezed hands and eyes on command a lot but when I’ve seen her, she was lifeless. I asked the ICU if they can get the sedation down enough for me to see her eyes one last time before they want to bring in the hospice and they said no, because of the COVID situation. I don’t trust the doctors and the nurses, and she never filled out any advanced care directives so I’m having to make all the decisions that I believe by mother deserves a chance and she should have everything done. I believe she should have a tracheostomy and then go home with intensive care at home. So what should we be doing?... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/we-want-my-mom-at-home-and-let-her-approach-end-of-life-at-home-what-should-we-do/

https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-dad-is-in-icu-on-a-ventilator-with-tracheostomy-is-it-true-that-my-dad-can-go-home-with-services-like-intensive-care-at-home/ My Dad is in ICU on a Ventilator with Tracheostomy. Is it True that My Dad Can Go Home with Services like Intensive Care at Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In this episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to answer a question from one of my clients Anna as part of my 1:1 consulting and advocacy service! Anna’s dad is in ICU on a ventilator with tracheostomy and she is asking if her dad can really go home with services like the intensive care at home. My Dad is in ICU on a Ventilator with Tracheostomy. Is it True that My Dad Can Go Home with Services like Intensive Care at Home? Hi Anna, Very nice to hear from you! Even though your Dad’s by no way out of the woods, his neurology has definitely improved! Keep him engaged and get him watching TV etc. Because there clearly is this pattern with risk of infection and antibiotics ongoing, the only way to break out of the vicious cycle is to get him off the ventilator and out of ICU! Kind regards, Patrik RECOMMENDED: Membership for families in Intensive Care Book your free consultation call here Check out our Ebooks and videos Hi Patrik, Many thanks for your email. A big help as always. I have just done a purchase again on PayPal. The consultant on yesterday called my stepmom in for a meeting. She said dad has a staphylococcal infection, which they are treating with antibiotics. (I will find out what antibiotic when I go in tomorrow; I’m driving down there tonight) The consultant feels he is very weak. They did a CT scan which showed his lungs are no worse, no better. He is coughing up a lot of yucky stuff which they are suctioning off. Apparently they tried him off the ventilator yesterday but he struggled. Patrik: It’s probably best if you send me another picture of the ventilator and I can comment on it. The consultant says there are a few warning signs on renal function again. I will ask for specifics. Patrik: Yes please, get the specifics. The consultant said her view remains unchanged from the beginning – that he is unlikely to survive... Continue reading at: https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-dad-is-in-icu-on-a-ventilator-with-tracheostomy-is-it-true-that-my-dad-can-go-home-with-services-like-intensive-care-at-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/what-is-the-requirement-for-intensive-care-nursing-staff-at-home-for-home-tpn/ What is the Requirement for Intensive Care Nursing Staff at Home for Home TPN? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog, I want to focus a little more on home TPN or about TPN in general and today’s episode in the blog is What is the Requirement for Intensive Care Nursing Staff at Home for Home TPN? So, we are certainly learning with intensive care at home that there’s an increased demand for patients or clients on home TPN or PN. Now, for those of you who haven’t heard of TPN, TPN stands for total parenteral nutrition, and it’s basically intravenous nutrition, and it’s often given for people with conditions such as gastroparesis, or simply an inability to digest nutrition, gastric cancer or they might have had a Whipples procedure or other conditions that lead to the inability to take in oral or PEG feeds and they need total parenteral nutrition or TPN. PN stands for parenteral nutrition. The difference between TPN and PN is simply that if clients get TPN their only form of nutrition is TPN and when the reference is made to PN or parenteral nutrition, clients have other forms of nutrition also. So then the question is, can clients on TPN or PN go home? Yes of course absolutely. Think about it, if ventilated and tracheostomy patients can go home with intensive care at home, then clients requiring TPN can definitely go home. We have certainly looked after patients at home on TPN. And the way we do this is basically by liaising with the hospitals to get those patients home. We are often liaising with the gastroenterology team or with dieticians, nutritionists, etc… So what is actually needed to get a patient home on home TPN? Well, the patients or clients need a PICC line or a central line which is a device that enables patients to receive TPN or total parental nutrition. They can’t have it through a ‘normal’ IV cannula. It needs to be given through a PICC line or a central line or a CVC catheter. And that is also why patients on home TPN need intensive care nurses because looking after a PICC line, central line, as well as TPN is a very specialized skill that usually only ICU nurses have or critical care nurses have because to access the central line catheter or the PICC line needs to be done sterile. Central lines (CVC’s) or PICC lines are rarely being used outside of intensive Care Units, therefore it is a skill that mainly ICU/PICU nurses have. A central line (CVC) needs to be flushed in a sterile way to keep the PICC line or central line patent, clean, and free from infection. Also when TPN is being prepared and connected to the patient again, that needs to be done in a sterile manner and people that have worked in the intensive care have that specialist training and skill. Now next, when someone is on TPN through an infusion pump, the pump may alarm quite frequently actually because TPN is actually known to have frequent air alarms. So even if there’s only a micro bubble of air in the IV giving set, the infusion pump frequently alarms and the ICU nurse then needs to make sure that the infusion giving set is free of air, so that there’s no air going into the patient’s vein, of course, because that could be really detrimental for a patient’s safety, could potentially cause an air embolus and so forth. So therefore for the period of time that a client is receiving home TPN which is often up to 24 hours a day, an intensive care nurse needs to be present to manage the TPN, manage the pump and manage any alarms that may come up... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/what-is-the-requirement-for-intensive-care-nursing-staff-at-home-for-home-tpn/

https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/icu-vs-intensive-care-at-home-vs-ltac/ ICU vs Intensive Care at Home vs LTAC? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare This is another episode of your questions answered and in today’s episode, I want to answer a question that we get so frequently that it’s really time to look into this into more depth. It is actually a case study that is actually a real case study from a client. However, the question is a question that I really want to answer on a more general level. The question today is, ICU vs Intensive Care at Home vs LTAC? ICU vs Intensive Care at Home vs LTAC? So let me break this down today for you, so that you have all the answers and that you can make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power, and influence when it comes to these very important and also often life or death decisions that you need to make when your loved one is in ICU with ventilation and tracheostomy. So let me read out this email from Zia and she writes. My 67-year-old dad was sent to the emergency department after being ill for about 12 days at home, we were told on the phone due to no hospital visitations regulations at the moment because of the COVID several hours later, that he was severely dehydrated and in acute renal failure. He was admitted to the ICU and intubated and two more COVID tests were performed all coming back negative, even though we told them the first text test was negative. Honestly, I think they were treating him as a COVID patient initially which is why he was intubated. They claim to “protect his airway”. Several days later, they recognized a clot on his leg and he had a DVT which became a PE, PE stands for pulmonary embolism. Something he has had in another state eight years ago. So it actually wasn’t in his chart. RECOMMENDED: Membership for families in Intensive Care Book your free consultation call here Check out our Ebooks and videos Anyway, currently he has a tracheostomy and all the hospital wants to do is to transfer him to an LTAC. They called this morning saying they had found a bed for him in an LTAC facility, and they need consent from us as a family. We, as a family, didn’t give consent and I came across your websites intensive care hotline and intensive care at home and we’d love to hear your input in regards to weaning him off the ventilator. I have had several discussions and finally we are at the place where he gets taken off the ventilator for a few hours a day, goes on a CPAP mode or room air, and then back on the ventilator to get him to rest. According to the ICU team, we don’t want him in an LTAC. I’m concerned about infections and even bed sores and lack of quality care. I would much rather engage a service like intensive care at home. If my dad can’t come off the ventilator, I’m really looking forward to your thoughts and advice... Continue reading at: https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/icu-vs-intensive-care-at-home-vs-ltac/

https://intensivecareathome.com/is-it-true-that-patients-with-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy-syndrome-with-a-tracheostomy-have-a-better-quality-of-life-at-home-rather-than-in-icu/ Is it True that Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Syndrome with a Tracheostomy Have a Better Quality of Life at Home Rather than in ICU? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog, I want to focus on Duchenne muscular dystrophy syndrome, and again, focusing on whether they should have a tracheostomy or not. So today’s question in this blog is Is it True that Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Syndrome with a Tracheostomy Have a Better Quality of Life at Home Rather than in ICU? So after having worked in intensive care and also with intensive care at home for over 20 years, I have found again, very different approaches when it comes to tracheostomies for Duchenne Muscular Syndrome, for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy patients. And obviously this Duchenne syndrome is a disease, a genetic disease that only comes up usually for children or for young adults. And often here, what I found is that, those young patients get denied a tracheostomy when it comes to the time when their breathing is failing, when they go into respiratory failure. And patients get denied a tracheostomy to prolong their life because people think or health professionals, I should say in intensive care in particular, think that those patients wouldn’t have any perceived quality of life. Well, nothing could be further from the truth because the fact of the matter is, that with services like intensive care at home, there is no need for someone with Duchenne Muscular Syndrome to stay in ICU for the rest of their lives. Some literature suggests that if patients with Duchenne Muscular Syndrome have a tracheostomy and can’t come off the ventilator that they stay in intensive care for the rest of their lives. Well, again, nothing could be further from the truth because patients can actually go home with our service intensive care at home, cut the cost of an ICU bed by 50% and provide patients and families with better quality of life and in some instances, quality of end of life for Duchenne Muscular Syndrome children and it provides a win-win situation... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/is-it-true-that-patients-with-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy-syndrome-with-a-tracheostomy-have-a-better-quality-of-life-at-home-rather-than-in-icu/

INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME is hiring ICU/PICU nurses with a minimum of two years ICU/PICU experience and ideally a postgraduate critical care qualification in Melbourne and in Sydney! For more information contact Patrik Hutzel on 041 094 2230 or email patrik@intensivecareathome.com Check out our career section as well! https://intensivecareathome.com/careers/ Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare

https://intensivecareathome.com/can-my-husband-go-home-after-a-stroke-and-a-tracheostomy-to-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-at-home/ Can my Husband Go Home After a Stroke and a Tracheostomy To Be Weaned Off the Ventilator at Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog, I want to answer another question from one of our readers and prospective clients and Vesna is asking whether her husband can go home after a stroke and a tracheostomy to be weaned off the ventilator at home. Can my Husband Go Home After a Stroke and a Tracheostomy To Be Weaned Off the Ventilator at Home? So I’ll read out Vesna’s question and she writes My husband, Steven has had a stroke last Sunday with damage to the medulla area of his brain causing limited motion and breathing issues. He was put on a ventilator on Monday night. I was told yesterday that he will be receiving a tracheostomy on Monday and that he would then be weaned off the ventilator as a next step. We don’t know how long that’s going to take. My husband had a disability after a back and neck injury, about 10 years ago, which is sustained in a car accident. He has however, remained very active and he’s very strong. I know my husband well enough to know that he wants to come home. He will recover so much better at home. My son and daughter in law will move in with me to help care for him as well. My son is a paramedic. My other son and daughter will be moving next door. So the question is, from me, I want to bring my husband home. If he will die, I want him to die at home. Can intensive care at home help? I understand that if he has a ventilator and a tracheostomy that he needs 24-hour nursing care at home with intensive care nurses, is that something intensive care at home can help with? From Vesna. Thank you Vesna for asking such a great question. So, I believe from what you were sharing with me, it’s very early days to look at intensive care at home. Simple reason for that is, your husband needs to have a trial to come off the ventilator first. So you haven’t really shared what ventilator settings he’s on. You know, how well is he doing on the ventilator? Are they mobilizing him? Is he getting out of bed? Can he take steps to be weaned off the ventilator? Now, whilst we have successfully wean patients off the ventilator at home, your husband is in the very early stages of being weaned off the ventilator and he might be off the ventilator in a few weeks, he may not. If he can’t come off the ventilator in a few weeks, you should absolutely look at service like intensive care at home. But please keep in mind that when someone comes off the ventilator, it’s much easier to go home without a ventilator and without a tracheostomy. A recovery after a stroke, without a ventilator, and a tracheostomy can take quite some time. If you are sending your husband home straight away with ventilation and tracheostomy it might be too complicated and it could get avoided. Just by simply giving him a couple of weeks in ICU, let them wean him off the ventilator and hopefully all goes well, then you can take him home without a ventilator and a tracheostomy and that would be the goal. Again, if ventilation weaning fails and he still needs the ventilator and the tracheostomy, absolutely intensive care at home can take your husband home from ICU with 24-hour intensive home care nursing. So that is a great solution after your husband has failed weaning off the ventilator in ICU, but it hasn’t come to that point yet. Another option we can provide is simply if your husband can come off the ventilator, but for whatever reason, can’t be without a tracheostomy, we can help with tracheostomy care at home as well... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-my-husband-go-home-after-a-stroke-and-a-tracheostomy-to-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-at-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/can-intensive-care-at-home-help-with-getting-our-son-home/ Can Intensive Care at Home Help with Getting our Son Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog, I want to answer another question from one of our readers and prospective clients today. I want to answer a question from Frank. Can Intensive Care at Home Help with Getting our Son Home? So Frank writes in, he says, Hi Patrik, our 22-year old son has a tracheostomy and he has been ventilated and he has been recently moved from ICU to a step down unit where he’s now just with a tracheostomy and it’s like a respiratory ward and he’s been weaned off the ventilator now for at least a couple of weeks. Now he seems to be stuck there on the ward and we feel very unsure about this respiratory ward, because we have seen in intensive care that the doctors and the nurses were very capable of looking after tracheostomy ventilation and now on the ward, we feel like our son is almost getting neglected. They have not mapped out a plan for getting him home. He probably will need the tracheostomy for quite some time to come because he’s unable to swallow at the moment and he’s unable to cough so that he can clear his secretions. We would love to have him at home to recover because it’s so difficult what we are going through, especially with some of the hospitals still having COVID-19 restrictions so we can’t really visit him and we can’t be with him around the clock like we need to be. Can intensive care at home help with getting our son home? From Frank Hi Frank, thank you so much for asking this question and absolutely if your son is stuck on a respiratory ward in the hospital, not ventilated, but he does need the tracheostomy still, then definitely we can help getting him home with intensive care at home with 24 hour nursing care with intensive care nurses that are tracheostomy and ventilation competent. I can absolutely understand your hesitation and your apprehension, having your son on the respiratory ward, where he’s probably looked after by some of the nurses that are not 100% tracheostomy competent, and it is a specialist skill to look after someone with a tracheostomy, even when they’re not ventilated, the risk of something going wrong is significant and also deadly if things do go wrong! And the reason I’m mentioning that is that, unfortunately in the last few weeks, we actually had two clients passed away that did not have 24-hour nursing care with the tracheostomy and those clients unfortunately passed away while there was no nurse present, even though we and the families had advocated for 24-hour nursing care with an intensive care nurse, the funding body/ health insurance was still assessing the application. Well, unfortunately, it’s now too late because very young clients have passed away and it’s just very tragic. And there is also evidence from the mechanical home ventilation guidelines that we publish on our website. The evidence clearly demands that an intensive care nurse has to be present 24 hours a day for someone with a tracheostomy or with a ventilator. You can find the mechanical home ventilation guidelines here https://intensivecareathome.com/mechanical-home-ventilation-guidelines/ So we’re not sure why the funding bodies are assessing because the evidence is there and money should never be in the way of saving people’s lives. But unfortunately this is what’s happened recently for some of our clients and it’s just a disgrace and people need to take accountability for delaying funding decisions that probably have led to very young clients passing away... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-intensive-care-at-home-help-with-getting-our-son-home/

https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-mom-is-critically-ill-in-icu-and-the-icu-team-is-giving-up-on-her-what-should-i-do/ My Mom is Critically Ill in ICU and the ICU Team is Giving Up on Her. What Should I do? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In this episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to answer a question from one of my clients Toni as part of my 1:1 consulting and advocacy service! Toni’s mom is critically ill in ICU and Toni is asking how she can fight for her mom’s life whilst ICU team is giving up on her mom. My Mom is Critically Ill in ICU and the ICU Team is Giving Up on Her. What Should I do? My Mom is Critically Ill in ICU and the ICU Team is Giving Up on Her. What Should I do? Hi Toni, Nice to talk to you a moment ago. As I mentioned, the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is that you don’t know what you don’t know. Assessing if your Mom can come off the ventilator is dependent on multiple factors that need to be assessed. It’s inappropriate for the ICU team to challenge your Mom’s advanced care directive. After having worked in intensive care for 20 years I can help you fast making the right decisions and guide you with the decision making process, including but not limited to talking to the doctors directly or setting you up with the right questions to ask. Regards, Patrik RECOMMENDED: Membership for families in Intensive Care Book your free consultation call here Check out our Ebooks and videos Hi Patrik, I’m sorry it took so long for me to get back to you! I was finding ways to get my Mom’s medical records and we were able to access them online today. We feel a strong sense of urgency to get my Mom transferred because we do not feel they have been honest based upon her medical X-rays. We were told on February 22 by her doctor that my Mom suffered a punctured lung during her intubation but now they are saying she never had one. However, notes on her X-rays seem to contradict that. So I wanted to see if I can sign up for the hour consult so you can go through her chest X-rays and help us clinically understand what they are saying. Just let me know your thoughts. Again, this is a major sense of urgency so please let me know if you can help us out. I almost feel a bit panicked knowing they have not been honest. I know I mentioned to you that we felt they discharged her too early on January 10 which then led to her having to be re-admitted on February 2. Our concern is she was intubated on February 21 and we were never given a solid reason as to why and then told on February 22 she had a punctured lung. Now they say she never had a punctured lung and actually want us to take her off the ventilation and let her go. They were going to discharge her on February 20 and then all this happened. Something just isn’t right!! Regards, Toni Hi Toni, We’re just reviewing the chest X-ray reports. Do you know if your mom has a pleural drain or chest drain? Also, would there be any chance you could send us a picture of the ventilator and the bedside monitor with the vital signs? Kind regards, Patrik RECOMMENDED: YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE! (PART 1) YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE! (PART 2) WHY DECISION MAKING IN INTENSIVE CARE GOES WAY BEYOND YOUR CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE’S DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSIS! Hi Patrik, She does not have a pleural drain or chest drain and they can take the picture first thing in the morning... Continue reading at: https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/my-mom-is-critically-ill-in-icu-and-the-icu-team-is-giving-up-on-her-what-should-i-do/

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-been-in-intensive-care-in-sydney-for-six-weeks-hes-got-a-tracheostomy-and-is-ventilated-can-he-go-home/ My Husband has been in Intensive Care in Sydney for Six Weeks. He's got a Tracheostomy and is Ventilated. Can He Go Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog. I want to answer a question from one of our readers and the question today is My Husband has been in Intensive Care in Sydney for Six Weeks. He’s got a Tracheostomy and is Ventilated. Can He Go Home? So I want to read out Katie’s question and Katie writes, Hi Patrik, I am gathering information for my 60-year old husband who has been in intensive care for six weeks now with a negative cycle that continues and doctors and nurses who are very nice, are unable to get to the bottom of things or get the right dosages of medications to keep him calm and also get him off the ventilator. He is currently in ICU in Sydney. He initially was admitted with pneumonia. He’s got a history of COPD and he’s now got a cycle going on with low blood pressure and poor kidney perfusion. He’s not only on the ventilator with a tracheostomy, he’s also on kidney dialysis. It’s complicated by atrial fibrillation and by a high heart rate. We are looking to bring him home as soon as possible, but we need a knowledgeable nursing team to help us getting him home and we also need funding to get him home. We are in Sydney and new South Wales, Australia. Are there services available near us? Thank you. From Katie Hi Katie, Thank you so much for sending your question in. To answer your question, in short, yes, we are in Sydney and we can help you in Sydney setting up a knowledgeable nursing team, intensive care nursing team to get your husband home on a ventilator with a tracheostomy. I guess what needs to happen next from what you’re sharing is they need to get the atrial fibrillation under control. I don’t know whether he’s getting any Amiodarone, whether he’s getting any digoxin, especially since its fast AF from what you are sharing or have they tried a cardioversion to get him back into a sinus rhythm. Other than that, it sounds like with the low blood pressure, your husband might be on inotropes or vasopressors, and before he can come home, ideally he should be off the inotropes and vasopressors. It would make things easier to get him home if he was more stable. It would probably also help if he came off the kidney dialysis because often what happens when patients are on dialysis in intensive care, their blood pressure goes down and patients end up on inotropes and vasopressors. The combination of atrial fibrillation and the kidney dialysis is often a recipe for getting patients on inotropes and vasopressors. So it would be critical for your husband to get the atrial fibrillation under control and then, he might have a higher chance getting off the inotropes and vasopressors, sustain a physiological blood pressure and perfuse his kidneys and get off the dialysis. Then it would be so much easier to get him home if he was “only ventilated with a tracheostomy”, that in and of itself is a big enough challenge. But then again, with our team and with our expertise, we can get your husband home. And also with the funding, you should definitely contact the NDIS, the national disability insurance scheme. They fund now home care for nursing and I can’t see why your husband wouldn’t qualify for it, with what you have shared... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-been-in-intensive-care-in-sydney-for-six-weeks-hes-got-a-tracheostomy-and-is-ventilated-can-he-go-home/

https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/icu-hotline-gives-us-the-confidence-to-challenge-the-icu-team-and-fight-to-get-our-mom-home-with-tracheostomy/ ICU Hotline Gives Us the Confidence to Challenge the ICU Team and Fight to Get our Mom Home with Tracheostomy! Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In this episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to share this email from one of our clients Toni as part of our 1:1 consulting and advocacy service! Toni’s mom is in ICU and she is complaining about how the ICU team is treating her mom. Toni is thankful with the intensive care hotline because it gives them the confidence to challenge the ICU team and continue to fight to get their mom home with tracheostomy. ICU Hotline Gives Us the Confidence to Challenge the ICU Team and Fight to Get our Mom Home with Tracheostomy. ICU Hotline Gives Us the Confidence to Challenge the ICU Team and Fight to Get our Mom Home with Tracheostomy. Part 1 Hi Toni, The ventilator picture you have sent pretty much confirms that she’s stuck on a ventilator with lots of support. She’s dependent on 80% of oxygen which is a lot. The air we are breathing consists of 21% oxygen. I wouldn’t ask anyone if you’re allowed to take pictures, just take them. You can make your own decisions. Just ask them what they have to hide. Happy to get on a call tomorrow. Kind regards, Patrik RECOMMENDED: Membership for families in Intensive Care Book your free consultation call here Check out our Ebooks and videos Hello Patrik, Thank you so much for the information today. My sister was told she wasn’t allowed to be taking photos so she was able to get this one before they came in and told her to not take any. Your email was very helpful. I am going to be sending a request to the hospital tomorrow and request a meeting to address your findings. I wasn’t sure if you have any advice and if you would be willing to be on a call. We really feel we need to move quickly with this and any advice you have we will take! I do want to have you as a consultant until we get answers. Please let me know your thoughts and if you would be available tomorrow to be on a call where we address our clinical concerns. Thank you so much, Toni Hello Toni, She can be moved out of the ICU and we can help her to get to another ICU. Let’s see what we can do after the meeting as scheduled as we need to see a clear clinical picture of your mom’s current health situation. We have intensive care at home But unfortunately we are unable to provide services in your area, but we can continue with the consulting and advocacy service for families in intensive care, therefore we can do two things for you: 1) Help you get the outcomes you want for your mom by guiding you through the process. 2) Help you set up intensive home care once your mother is able to. There are very few if any home care service providers that can look after ventilation/tracheostomy at home since it’s such a highly specialized area. Kind regards, Patrik... Continue reading at: https://intensivecarehotline.com/questions/icu-hotline-gives-us-the-confidence-to-challenge-the-icu-team-and-fight-to-get-our-mom-home-with-tracheostomy/

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-18-month-old-daughter-has-a-very-complex-medical-history-she-has-a-tracheostomy-and-stuck-in-the-pediatric-icu-what-can-we-do-to-get-my-daughter-home/ My 18-month Old Daughter Has a Very Complex Medical History. She Has a Tracheostomy and Stuck in the Pediatric ICU. What Can We Do To Get My Daughter Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog of the intensive care at home series. I want to answer a question from Paula. My 18-month Old Daughter Has a Very Complex Medical History. She Has a Tracheostomy and Stuck in the Pediatric ICU. What Can We Do To Get My Daughter Home? Now, Paula has the following situation. She says, Hi Patrik, My 18-month old daughter has a very complex medical history given her short life. She was born prematurely. She had the cardiac arrest. She then ended up with hypoventilation syndrome and she also was diagnosed with brain cancer about six months ago. She has been through chemotherapy in all of her 18 months. She has a tracheostomy and we’re stuck in the pediatric ICU and we are in Melbourne Australia. What can we do to get my daughter home? Me and my husband have been living in ICU for the last 18 months and we haven’t really been able to get home, look after our four-year old son and our family life is just horrible. What can we do as the next steps? I’m hearing that intensive care at home can take ventilated adults and children home and how can we go about it? From Paula. Hi Paula, Well, thank you so much Paula for contacting us. So, let’s look at the positives straight away. Yes, we at intensive care at home, can get you and your daughter home so you can live a normal family life. How does that happen? Well, especially for our viewers in Australia, there is now the NDIS, the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Scheme is funding home care nursing for up to 24 hours a day and that’s how most of our clients are funded now. They’re getting funding for nurses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year, as long as it’s medically necessary. And for someone that is on a ventilator with a tracheostomy, it’s medically absolutely necessary, it’s according to best practice, to evidence-based practice, which you can look up on our website, intensivecareathome.com where we publish the home mechanical ventilation guidelines that clearly demand that any ventilated patient, either inside or outside of intensive care, needs to have an intensive care nurse with them 24 hours a day and that is the gold standard. The reality is that adults and children have died at home with tracheostomies or ventilation if they’re not looked after 24 hours a day by intensive care nurses, and that’s just a tragedy and it needs to be avoided full stop whilst also looking at the quality of life for clients at home so that they can leave intensive care as quickly as possible, which also by the way, provides a win-win situation because we’re helping intensive care units to free up their beds and make room for other critically ill adults and children that are in need of intensive care beds, so win-win situation all around. And for you as a family, of course, you want to go home. We know from any families that have a situation like you are describing, it can’t work. They can’t look after other family members, their whole lives are literally falling apart and again, we can help to reinstate normality by getting clients home with basically bringing the intensive care into your home rather than you going into intensive care and again, funded by the NDIS... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-18-month-old-daughter-has-a-very-complex-medical-history-she-has-a-tracheostomy-and-stuck-in-the-pediatric-icu-what-can-we-do-to-get-my-daughter-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/i-want-information-from-my-husband-who-has-been-in-icu-for-six-weeks-on-a-downward-cycle-and-on-a-ventilator-can-he-go-home/ I Want Information for my Husband Who Has Been in ICU for Six Weeks, on a Downward Cycle and on a Ventilator. Can He Go Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcaremedicine In today’s blog, I answer another question from one of our readers and potential clients. Katie is writing in and she says, I Want Information from my Husband Who Has Been in ICU for Six Weeks, on a Downward Cycle and on a Ventilator. Can He Go Home? So I read out Katie’s question here. Katie writes, Hi Patrik, I am gathering information for my husband who has been in intensive care now for six weeks with a cycle that continues and doctors and nurses who are very nice, but unable to get to the bottom of things or get the right dosages of medications. As I said, he has been in ICU for six weeks with a cycle of going on with low blood pressure and poor kidney perfusion, complicated by atrial fibrillation and high heart rate. We are looking to bring him home, but need a knowledgeable nursing team. Before he’s going home, we know he needs a tracheostomy and at the moment he is still on a breathing tube and a ventilator. He doesn’t have a tracheostomy yet because he’s also got COVID-19 and the ICU team is reluctant to do a tracheostomy just simply because of the risk for the staff and also because he’s got high PEEP, high oxygen requirements up to 80%, and simply he hasn’t been well enough to do a tracheostomy. What should we do? Can we get my husband home? From Katie I Want Information from my Husband Who Has Been in ICU for Six Weeks, on a Downward Cycle and on a Ventilator. Can He Go Home? Hi Katie, Thank you for writing in and thank you for sharing your husband’s situation. It sounds to me like your husband is a while away from going home. The next thing that needs to happen is he needs to have a tracheostomy first. Once he has a tracheostomy, then he needs to come off all the medications that he’s on. You are describing in right dosages of medications, you’re probably referring to sedation and opiates. As soon as he has a tracheostomy, the intensive care team should be able to reduce sedation and opiates, and then hopefully slowly wean him off the ventilator. But if he’s on 80% of oxygen and a PEEP of 12, it could be very difficult for them to do a tracheostomy. He’s not stable enough. And also currently with COVID the risk of staff getting infected when a tracheostomy is done is fairly high. The other thing you mentioned is he’s currently in the ICU with a cycle going on with low blood pressure and poor kidney perfusion, complicated by atrial fibrillation and high heart rate. So again, Katie, that needs to be brought under control first. He needs to get off the inotropes/vasopressors for low blood pressure and the atrial fibrillation needs to be brought under control as well. Often how that happens in ICU is with medication such as Amiodarone, Digoxin, especially for fast AF, as well as potentially a cardioversion, which is an electrical shock. Once that’s under control, once he’s off sedation, once he’s off opiates, once he’s off the inotropes and vasopressors, once the atrial fibrillation is under control only then can you look at options such as intensive care at home. So it’s probably a little bit too early for you in that cycle. What you might want to do as a next step, Katie is have a look at our sister website, intensivecarehotline.com where we also provide consulting and advocacy for families in intensive care. Because at the moment I feel like it’s a difficult situation for you and your family, because you are unsure about what the next steps are and a lot of that we talk about at our sister site intensivecarehotline.com... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/i-want-information-from-my-husband-who-has-been-in-icu-for-six-weeks-on-a-downward-cycle-and-on-a-ventilator-can-he-go-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/intensive-care-at-home-is-hiring-icu-picu-nurses-in-melbourne-mornington-peninsula-warragul-drouin-sunbury-sydney-wollongong-and-wagga-wagga/ INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME IS HIRING ICU/PICU NURSES IN MELBOURNE, MORNINGTON PENINSULA, WARRAGUL, DROUIN, SUNBURY, SYDNEY, WOLLONGONG, AND WAGGA WAGGA! Contact Patrik Hutzel on +61 41 094 2230 or email patrik@intensivecareathome.com Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcaremedicine Today’s blog is for ICU nurses and Pediatric ICU nurses, because here at intensive care at home, we are hiring you. Intensive Care at Home is Hiring ICU/PICU Nurses in Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula, Warragul, Drouin, Sunbury, Sydney, Wollongong, and Wagga Wagga. Today’s blog post is different from all of our other blog posts. Most blog posts, we answer questions for families in intensive care or families that are interested in our service where we provide ICU/PICU nurses, 24 hours a day for mainly long-term ventilated adults and children with tracheostomies at home. Today’s blog post is mainly for ICU and pediatric ICU nurses that live in the Melbourne metropolitan area, on the Mornington Peninsula (Bittern, Patterson Lakes) in the Warragul, Drouin, Leongatha and Trafalgar area in South Gippsland in Victoria, but also for ICU and Pediatric ICU nurses that live in the greater Sydney area, Wollongong in New South Wales, as well as Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. Because we are expanding our nursing team, we are looking for highly motivated, experienced ICU and Pediatric ICU nurses that have a minimum of two years ICU or Pediatric ICU nursing experience and that ideally have completed a post-graduate certificate/ diploma or equivalent in intensive care. If you are an ICU/PICU nurse that is interested in expanding your skills into the community and work with our clients and their families, you’ve come to the right place! We are a niche service provider that helps our clients and their families improving their quality of life at home instead of staying in intensive care indefinitely because of their ventilation and tracheostomy requirements. We also look after Clients on home TPN or BIPAP/ CPAP ventilation. Intensive Care at Home is Hiring ICU/PICU Nurses in Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula, Warragul, Drouin, Sunbury, Sydney, Wollongong, and Wagga Wagga. If you want to join a dynamic, innovative and fast-growing team of highly motivated ICU and PICU nurses, you should come to us here at intensive care at home. We offer above-award salaries. We offer career progression opportunities and we are the first accredited, intensive care at home nursing service provider in Australia. We already employ in excess of 500 years ICU and pediatric ICU experience that we’re now bringing into the community. We’re basically running a small ICU in the community. And if you want to join an innovative and progressive service that is really delivering on what clients want and need, you will be joining the right team. We support our staff with introduction to clients, often with meet and greet and shadow shifts. And we have various sites where people can work. You wouldn’t be working only with one client. Ideally we have our staff work with at least two clients sometimes even with three clients so that we can have that flexibility and you will be learning the ropes along with our senior staff that have worked with us for many years now. If you are interested in joining us, either send your CV to Patrik@intensivecareathome.com or just give me a call on 041 094 2230 and you can find out more about the job opportunities that are available, and I can tell you more... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/intensive-care-at-home-is-hiring-icu-picu-nurses-in-melbourne-mornington-peninsula-warragul-drouin-sunbury-sydney-wollongong-and-wagga-wagga/

https://intensivecareathome.com/can-intensive-care-at-home-train-family-members-to-look-after-their-loved-ones-on-a-ventilator-and-a-tracheostomy/ CAN INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME TRAIN FAMILY MEMBERS TO LOOK AFTER THEIR LOVED ONES ON A VENTILATOR AND A TRACHEOSTOMY? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare So in today’s blog post, I want to talk about, Can Intensive Care at Home Train Family Members to Look After their Loved Ones on a Ventilator and a Tracheostomy? This is a question we get very often from families that come to us that have a loved one in intensive care, or have a loved one at home on a ventilator with a tracheostomy, whether we can train them. They also asked that question if their loved ones only have a tracheostomy or are ventilated with BiPAP, CPAP and don’t have a tracheostomy. Now, the short answer to this question is a clear no, and I will evaluate on that. Can Intensive Care at Home Train Family Members to Look After their Loved Ones on a Ventilator and a Tracheostomy? So when someone is having a tracheostomy, is having a ventilator, it takes years of training to look after someone on a ventilator with the tracheostomy. It also takes years of training to look after someone with a tracheostomy. Now, I would argue that 99% of patients with a tracheostomy when in hospital are in intensive care and in intensive care, doctors, nurses, etc., need to go through specialized training, to work in intensive care and that includes looking after ventilator, looking after tracheostomy. The reason why someone is in intensive care, if they’re on a ventilator and a tracheostomy is simply that their life is in danger and that it takes those specialist skills to manage, maintain a ventilator/tracheostomy. The risk for a medical emergency is huge when someone has an artificial airway, because that is what a tracheostomy is. Also if someone is ventilated without a tracheostomy and they’re on BiPAP or CPAP ventilation, they’re still on a mechanical ventilator and the reality is, that the risk that something goes wrong when someone is on a ventilator is fairly high. And therefore, people need to know what they’re doing. The best analogy that I can make is, when someone is on a ventilator and a tracheostomy or both, if you’re not having intensive care nurses or intensive care doctors manage that, it’s like flying a plane with a cabin crew and not with a pilot. So therefore we are unable to train families because you need to understand anatomy. You need to understand physiology. You need to have seen emergencies and how to successfully manage them. And unless you’ve done this numerous times, like we all have here at Intensive Care at Home where we employ hundreds of years of intensive care nursing experience. We just can’t pass on that intellectual property in a quick training session because as I mentioned, this takes years of experience. I’ll give you some practical examples so you can understand why I’m saying what I’m saying. Number one, on our website at intensivecareathome.com, we have published the home mechanical ventilation guidelines. Now, if you look at the home mechanical ventilation guidelines, it clearly demands not suggests, it clearly demands that when someone is having a ventilator and/or a tracheostomy at home, they need to be intensive care nurses/critical care nurses, 24 hours a day full stop. Now, those guidelines are a result of having performed intensive care at home services for the last 25 years, predominantly in German speaking countries but now also in Australia for the last seven years where we have certainly proven our concept here without a shadow of a doubt... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/can-intensive-care-at-home-train-family-members-to-look-after-their-loved-ones-on-a-ventilator-and-a-tracheostomy/

https://intensivecareathome.com/is-it-possible-for-my-mom-to-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-at-home-through-intensive-care-at-home/ IS IT POSSIBLE FOR MY MOM TO BE WEANED OFF THE VENTILATOR AT HOME THROUGH INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog, I answer another question from one of our readers and potential clients. Carolyn is writing in and she asks, Is it Possible For My Mom to be Weaned Off the Ventilator at Home through Intensive Care at Home? Hi Patrik, I came across your website, intensivecareathome.com and I also heard from some of your clients about your intensive care at home services. From what I read and from what I heard from your clients, it is possible for people to be weaned off the ventilator at home. My mom who’s 72 is currently on a ventilator and tracheostomy in an ICU in Melbourne. She’s been in the ICU for about two months now, and they want to transfer her to another hospital with a long-term weaning unit in Melbourne to continue the weaning process. We are not happy with the quality of care she’s been receiving in the ICU, and we are worried that it will get worse at the long-term weaning unit at the other hospital here in Melbourne. We haven’t heard many good things about this weaning unit. I wanted to see how we could possibly continue to wean her at home, for example, where do we purchase a ventilator, necessary equipment and accessories besides 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days ICU nursing. Where do we contract respiratory physicians? How do we do arterial blood gas testing? Please let us know as soon as possible. If you can provide these services, as my mom may be transferring out of ICU very soon, and we’re trying to avoid this and rather get her home. Thank you. From Carolyn. Hi Carolyn, Thank you so much for writing in, to cut to the chase, yes, it is definitely possible for patients to be weaned at home. We have been doing this successfully on a couple of occasions. Now, given that your mom has been struggling to come off the ventilator for a couple of months now, it’s probably fair to say that the weaning process might take a little bit longer. Please bear in mind though, that intensive care at home is a great service for the right patient at the right time. If your mom has any chance to come off the ventilator in the next couple of weeks, she probably should stay, get off the ventilator and then go home because going home off the ventilator is just so much easier, but nevertheless, if your mom wants to come home on a ventilator for weaning, we can certainly do that. You’re asking, where do you purchase a ventilator and necessary accessories? Now, most of the time when we take clients home, the hospitals or funding bodies provide the equipment as well, as much as they fund the nursing service as well, the 24-hour intensive care at home nursing service. In terms of accessing doctors, respiratory physicians in particular, but also intensivists, again, it’s probably best to talk to us. We can help you with setting you up with the right people. And then you’re asking, how do you do ABG testing? Well, there are some ABG tests available that you can do it at home. They do it in ED or in the emergency department, emergency rooms as well with a capillary test. So the process going home needs to be well-thought through. We have done it many, many times, and again, we can help you with that as well, setting you up with ICU nurses at home 24-hours a day and go from there and then we can start with the weaning at home. So I really hope that answers your question and thank you for tuning into this week’s blog. Take care... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/is-it-possible-for-my-mom-to-be-weaned-off-the-ventilator-at-home-through-intensive-care-at-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/5-reasons-why-intensive-care-at-home-creates-a-safe-space-for-long-term-ventilated-patients-and-their-families/ 5 Reasons Why Intensive Care at Home Creates a Safe Space for Long-Term Ventilated Patients and their Families Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare So today’s blog post is, 5 Reasons Why Intensive Care at Home Creates a Safe Space for Long-Term Ventilated Patients and their Families So let’s get right into it. 1. The focus for intensive care at home, the long-term ventilated clients and their families is all about on the clients and on the family’s needs, which is to be at home with their families. You do not get the same in intensive care, but you do get the intensive care coming into the home, which is why it is so client and family focused, which leads me right into number two. 2. Our clients are at home and that’s where they should be. That’s where they want to be rather than a long-term stay in intensive care, long-term ventilated patients or clients, as well as long-term intensive care patients even if they’re not ventilated, they might be medically complex, should be at home, not in intensive care. It’s all about creating choice for patients, for clients and their families. And that’s what we do at intensive care at home. We focus on clients and families choice. 3. We are focusing on client’s lives and client’s living their lives, not so much on treatment, whilst we’re offering treatment and therapy at home as well. The focus is on both. We are focusing on improving the quality of life for clients and their families. We’re also focusing continuing treatment at home. Whereas in ICU, the focus is only on treatment, not on quality of life. 5 Reasons Why Intensive Care at Home Creates a Safe Space for Long-Term Ventilated Patients and their Families 4. Focus is again on quality of life and quality of end of life. So, some patients in intensive care inevitably approach their end of life, but they can do that at home with our service intensive care at home and they can approach the end of life at home, which is so much more family-friendly, client friendly, and it’s just what clients and their families want. And it also provides a win-win situation. We can help ICU’s to free up their in demand beds and we therefore create capacity for intensive care units to take in critically ill patients that are in a higher need of an ICU bed then long-term ICU patients. 5. And last but not least, especially in Australia, let’s focus on the NDIS for a moment. The National Disability Insurance Scheme, most intensive care units have no idea that the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which is where most of our clients now get their funding from is actually helping intensive care units to empty their ICU beds and they’re not even aware of it... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/5-reasons-why-intensive-care-at-home-creates-a-safe-space-for-long-term-ventilated-patients-and-their-families/

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-brother-is-very-sick-in-icu-with-a-mental-health-condition-the-doctor-said-he-will-be-out-in-palliative-care-can-you-please-advise-me-what-my-options-are-how-does-your-intensive-care-program-wo/ My Brother is Very Sick in ICU with a Mental Health Condition & the Doctor Said He Will Be Out in Palliative Care. Can You Please Advise Me What My Options Are? How Does your Intensive Care at home Program Work? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog of the intensive care at home series. I want to answer a question from Athena. My Brother is Very Sick in ICU with a Mental Health Condition & the Doctor Said He Will Be Out in Palliative Care. Can You Please Advise Me What My Options Are? How Does your Intensive Care at home Program Work? Now Athena writes, Hi Patrik, My brother is very sick in ICU at a well-known hospital in Sydney. He has a mental health condition and developed catatonia. He’s bedridden and has a feeding tube. He also has type 2 diabetes and a kidney problem from the lithium treatment. The doctor said that if his treatment for his electroconvulsive therapy doesn’t work, then they’re stopping the feeding tube, the ventilator, and he will be out in palliative care. He has been intubated as part of the catatonic issues and the convulsions. We don’t want him to die and we want to keep him alive, he’s only 37. Can you please advise me what my options are? Do you provide advocacy? How does your intensive care program work? Thank you for your time. We will do anything to keep him alive and get him home eventually. From Athena My Brother is Very Sick in ICU with a Mental Health Condition & the Doctor Said He Will Be Out in Palliative Care. Can You Please Advise Me What My Options Are? How Does your Intensive Care Program Work? Hi Athena, Thank you for your question and here is what I would advise as a next step. Your brother is only 37 and it sounds like, he’s very young and I’m sure you want him to live and it’s not up to the intensive care team to just send him to palliative care because they think it’s appropriate. I don’t think it’s for anyone to say to go to palliative care, if the wishes of a patient have not been respected. I don’t know whether your brother has an advanced care directive or not, but in any case, even if he doesn’t, you ask the next of kin or medical power of attorney, can make decisions for him. And if you don’t agree that he should move to palliative care, then it’s your choice and your choice only, especially at such a young age. The next step really is if he can’t come off the ventilator, the next step is, he probably would need a tracheostomy. If he has a tracheostomy and he’s then medically stable and he can’t be weaned off the ventilator or we’ll need some time to get off the ventilator, we can take him home and go from there. Now, two things there, number one with the advocacy, if you look at our sister side intensivecarehotline.com, we are providing a professional consulting and advocacy service there for families in intensive care. Number two, going home is possible with the NDIS now, with the National Disability Insurance Scheme here in Australia, as you’re aware, your brother is only 37 and the NDIS with the right advocacy funds 24-hour nursing care at home with intensive care nurses for ventilation and tracheostomy. So we can help you with the advocacy and we can help you with taking your brother home with intensive care at home, if that’s what you wish. So I hope that answers your question. Please reach out to us if you want to take the next step. Thank you so much... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-brother-is-very-sick-in-icu-with-a-mental-health-condition-the-doctor-said-he-will-be-out-in-palliative-care-can-you-please-advise-me-what-my-options-are-how-does-your-intensive-care-program-wo/

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-38-year-old-sister-is-in-icu-with-ovarian-cancer-on-tpn-can-she-go-home/ My 38-year old Sister is in ICU with Ovarian Cancer on TPN. Can She Go Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog post, I want to answer a question from one of our clients and the question today is My 38-year old Sister is in ICU with Ovarian Cancer on TPN. Can She Go Home? So Lorena writes, Hi Patrik, My 38-year old sister has been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She has been in and out of ICU after surgery, and thankfully, while she’s not ventilated, she does require a 24 hours TPN and she has a central line. Now, the hospital is very reluctant to discharge her home saying that TPN can’t be managed at home without 24-hour nursing care. What are our options to leave the hospital? We are so tired going to hospital every day to support our sister. We desperately want to go home. Can you please let us know what our options are? From Lorena. Hi Lorena. Thank you so much for making contact and sharing your sister’s situation with us. Lorena, your sister can go home with TPN. There’s absolutely no reason why she can’t go home as long as she’s hemodynamically stable. You haven’t mentioned anything about ventilation. You haven’t mentioned anything about inotropes or vasopressors. So on that end, your sister can go home because with a service like Intensive Care at Home, we can manage central lines at home, PICC lines at home. We can manage the infusion, obviously with the pump, with the TPN, especially with TPN, there can be a lot of air alarms in particular because it’s so sensitive with the solution that’s running through the pump. So, you know, there’s often a lot of troubleshooting going on just by having the infusion running. And you certainly don’t want air going into your sister’s body and if that’s not being troubleshooted properly and not being troubleshooted 24 hours a day, it could cause great damage. Furthermore, just hooking on and hooking off TPN really requires the skill of a critical care nurse. And also, just a dressing change for a central line or for a PICC line, again requires the skill of a critical care nurse. Flushing the lumens on the central line and on the PICC line, again requires the skill of a critical care nurse who is used to dealing with central lines or PICC lines all the time. So the options really are to, you know, talk to us more and look at the options of taking your sister home if she needs 24-hour TPN and therefore also 24-hour nursing care with intensive care nurses who can manage the TPN and the PICC line/central line. You should also be looking at NDIS funding or potentially a hospital in the home funding and take the first step there but we can help you with accessing, especially NDIS funding. We are quite experienced in advocating for our clients and with our clients to get the funding necessary to leave hospital and have a better quality of life at home, or in some instances have a better quality of life at home. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Take care. From Patrik... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-38-year-old-sister-is-in-icu-with-ovarian-cancer-on-tpn-can-she-go-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/they-are-neglecting-my-mom-in-icu-i-want-to-take-her-home-can-your-services-at-intensive-care-at-home-help-me-and-my-mom/ They Are Neglecting My Mom in ICU & I Want To Take Her Home. Can your Services at Intensive Care at Home Help Me and My Mom? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog post, I want to answer a question from one of our clients and the question today is They Are Neglecting My Mom in ICU & I Want To Take Her Home. Can your Services at Intensive Care at Home Help Me and My Mom? Hi Patrik, My mom has been in intensive care for 95 days with a bad bout of pneumonia after chemotherapy for her cancer treatment. She is getting blood transfusions currently and other maintenance care. They do not make sincere efforts to wean my mother off the ventilator and they are grossly neglecting her. They leave her in bed with no proper care or any physical or occupational therapy. They are leaving her there like a vegetable to die. I want to get her off the ventilator and the tracheostomy and come home. I am finding it hard to transfer her to another ICU for a second opinion and admittance if needed and to see if they can wean her off the ventilator, but I get no support from the management of the hospital to do so. Please help. I urgently need to know more about intensive care at home services, and if it is covered by the NDIS. I am in the process of applying for NDIS services and nursing care services through the NDIS. I would ideally and urgently liked to bring her home with a better quality of life. Please contact me as soon as possible. Thank you very much. From Katherine. Hi Katherine, Thank you so much for sharing your mother’s situation. It sounds very sad that your mom has been in ICU for nearly a hundred days now. They can’t wean her off the ventilator and it sounds to me like they’re not even making any efforts for it. And I’m also not overly surprised that they wouldn’t want the second hospital to look at your mom’s situation because they would probably pick up on the negligence that seems to be happening there. In any case, I do believe if your mom can’t come off the ventilator, still has the tracheostomy and wants to go home. I do believe that the NDIS and our service can help you. We are obviously NDIS accredited and the NDIS now is funding nursing care for ventilated patients with tracheostomy at home. So we can definitely help you. We can definitely help you with the NDIS application process. We can help you in the advocacy process for the NDIS, and we can help you with what evidence needs to be provided to qualify for intensive care at home. But it sounds to me like the evidence is already there, especially after a hundred days in ICU or an intensive care. It sounds horrible to me when you’re saying that they are leaving her in hospital, like a vegetable to die. I mean, I can only imagine what you and your family are going through just watching that. And I do believe that in a home care environment, we are wanting to treat your mother like a person, and we are wanting to ensure that she gets best care and treatment. And you will also find that by the time you are at home with your mother, you will have more control over the situation because we are working with you and not against you. It sounds like the ICU there might be working against you and not with you. So that is my suggestion. Contact us, we’ll help you with the NDIS application process. We’ll help you with the evidence that needs to be provided to get the 24-hour nursing care for your mother at home, with intensive care at home. And also for the hospital, it’s actually a win-win situation. They are freeing up an ICU bed and they’re saving half of the cost. So it’s a win-win situation. Thank you so much and all the best. From Patrik... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/they-are-neglecting-my-mom-in-icu-i-want-to-take-her-home-can-your-services-at-intensive-care-at-home-help-me-and-my-mom/

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-is-in-icu-on-a-ventilator-and-may-qualify-for-ndis-can-you-help-me-take-him-home-through-intensive-care-at-home/ My Husband is in ICU on a Ventilator and May Qualify for NDIS. Can you Help me Take Him Home through Intensive Care at Home? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog post, I want to answer a question from one of our clients and the question today is My Husband is in ICU on a Ventilator and May Qualify for NDIS. Can you Help me Take Him Home through Intensive Care at Home? Hi Patrik, My partner of 17 years is still in ICU. It has been 50 days yesterday. After checking into the emergency department, he ended up being intubated and on a ventilator. After a couple of weeks, he ended up with a tracheostomy and they still can’t wean him off the ventilator. He’s got a severe pneumonia and he was in an induced coma for many weeks, and now he’s too weak to come off the ventilator. They also now noticed that he’s paralyzed on the left side, and they found a bleed about 4 X 4 mm at the basal in the CT scan of the brain. For about five weeks now, they have tried to wean him off the ventilator. They have tried to wake him up and he simply can’t come off the ventilator and he’s not waking up. I now learned that my partner might qualify for the NDIS. We are in Melbourne, Australia, and I heard about your service and we heard that he can qualify for the NDIS because he’s disabled and he’s now blind. The NDIS seems to be willing if the doctor approves, meanwhile, the ICU is talking to me about end of life and he’s talking to me about that we should just stop the ventilator. My partner is only 54 years of age. I’m unable to find anyone that wants to take him home. So I have come across your service and the NDIS even told me about your service. I have a beautiful bedroom with attached living room that is furnished and there would be enough space for my partner to live in there. I’m trying to keep going on this, even though the ICU team is very negative, but I feel like taking him home and trying to look after him at home while he is on a ventilator. It is so much better than staying in ICU for another six weeks. Can you help me? From Elise. Hi Elise, Thank you so much for making contact. It sounds to me like we can help you. The NDIS funds nursing care for long-term ventilated clients with tracheostomy and it sounds to me like we can help your partner to get home. If he had a stroke after the pneumonia, which sounds like has happened, he might need a little bit more time to wake up, but I guess that doesn’t necessarily help him to come off the ventilator. And if he can’t come off the ventilator and the trache, it’s definitely the best option to take him home. And like you correctly pointed out, the NDIS now is funding 24-hour nursing care for ventilated patients with a tracheostomy and given that your partner is 54, he will qualify for that. It needs more than just a doctor’s letter. It needs an assessment from the NDIS. It also needs a nursing assessment. So it needs a few assessments, obviously, because it’s not a straightforward process. However, most of our clients are now funded by the NDIS. So the process is definitely there. You just need to get it started and we can help you with the process. Weaning off the ventilator at home is possible. I’m unsure of why they haven’t been able to wean your partner off the ventilator in ICU yet. But that’s something we can find out when we talk to the doctors there in any case. The next step really is to contact us again and then we can help you with the next steps to get the funding through the NDIS and take your partner home. Take care for now. From Patrik... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-is-in-icu-on-a-ventilator-and-may-qualify-for-ndis-can-you-help-me-take-him-home-through-intensive-care-at-home/

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-mom-is-now-165-days-in-icu-on-the-tracheostomy-the-ventilator-can-you-help-us-bring-her-home-asap/ My Mom is Now 165 days in ICU on the Tracheostomy & the Ventilator. Can You Help Us Bring Her Home ASAP? Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/ Call directly 24/7 +1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada +44 118 324 3018 UK +6141 094 2230 Australia Email support@intensivecarehotline.com Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy 1:1 phone counselling http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/ Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/ Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/ https://intensivecareathome.com And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU. https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ICUhotline Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline #icu #intensivecare #criticalcare In today’s blog post, I want to answer a question from one of our clients and the question today is My Mom is Now 165 days in ICU on the Tracheostomy & the Ventilator. Can You Help Us Bring Her Home ASAP? Hi Patrik, My mother is still in ICU on the tracheostomy and the ventilator. The ICU will not cooperate and discharge her home with services like Intensive Care at Home yet. And ultimately she would like to get managed at home and so do we, as her family. The ICU is telling us she can’t come off the ventilator. She has been in ICU now for 165 days, and we feel like she’s not getting the care she needs. And so far there are no signs that she can come off the ventilator. She’s too weak after being in a prolonged induced coma. She initially went into ICU with a pneumonia, had complications with the pulmonary embolus. She went into AF, she had pulmonary edema and just couldn’t be weaned off the ventilator. Every time they tried to get her out of the induced coma, she was fighting against the ventilator. She was neurologically not coherent, and therefore they ended up re-sedating her until she ended up with a trach. And that got her stuck in ICU. Now she’s depressed. She is getting out of bed here and there. She is getting physical therapy here and there, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. And after 165 days in ICU, she just had enough. And we as a family had enough, we’re sick of going into ICU every day and visiting her there knowing that services like Intensive Care at Home are out there and we want her home as soon as possible. I have made a complaint to the hospital, but so far they are not even discussing a discharge home yet. They’re saying, she can’t go home before she’s been weaned off the ventilator. My mother is only 56 and we are in Sydney, Australia, and we want to go home as quickly as possible. Will the NDIS pay for this? I’ve hope that your services are not out of pocket. Please help us bring our mother home as soon as possible. From Sally. Hi Sally, Thank you so much for sharing your mother’s situation. It sounds to me like your mother is more than ready for a discharge with Intensive Care at Home. If she’s on a ventilator with a trach and she can’t be weaned off the ventilator, she can definitely go home. You haven’t mentioned anything that she’s not stable. I presume she’s medically stable, not on any inotropes or vasopressors. If that’s the case, we can take her home fairly quickly. We need a few weeks to set up a roster, of course, but that can be sorted out and then she can go home with 24 hours Intensive Care at Home nursing under the NDIS. The NDIS will pay for nursing services at home for ventilation and tracheostomy. The best next step is really for us to talk to the hospital about discharge planning, speak to the NDIS about the funding, and then we can get the ball rolling. But there is definitely hope for you and for your mother to go home as quickly as possible, leave ICU behind, you and your mother. I can understand that she would be depressed and doesn’t have any quality of life there in ICU and she needs to go home as quickly as possible. Please get in touch with us if you have any other questions and then we can get the ball rolling. Thank you... Continue reading at: https://intensivecareathome.com/my-mom-is-now-165-days-in-icu-on-the-tracheostomy-the-ventilator-can-you-help-us-bring-her-home-asap/