Hi there!

Today’s article is about, “Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: My 49-Year-Old Husband's on ECMO with Stiff Lungs, ICU Says He's Going to Die, Can I Do Anything?”

You may also watch the video here on our website https://intensivecarehotline.com/blog/quick-tip-for-families-in-intensive-care-my-49-year-old-husbands-on-ecmo-with-stiff-lungs-icu-says-hes-going-to-die-can-i-do-anything/ or you can continue reading the article below.

Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: My 49-Year-Old Husband's on ECMO with Stiff Lungs, ICU Says He's Going to Die, Can I Do Anything?
 

If you want to know what questions to ask when your loved one is critically ill in intensive care on ECMO and the ICU team is telling you that your loved one is going to die, stay tuned. I have news for you.

My name is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

Today, I have an email from Tracy who asked the following questions,

“Hi Patrik,

My husband is 49 years of age has been in intensive care specialist hospitals in the U.K., being treated for in interstitial lung disease. He’s on an ECMO machine and he isn’t improving, and they want to turn off his machine. He’s fully sedated, and his oxygen levels drop, and his blood pressure levels are rising every time they try to turn the machine down. He has been given numerous antibiotics and steroids.

They say his lungs are inflamed with only a tiny bit of lung working in both lungs and they mentioned a stiff lung. Is there anything else I can ask them to give him or test him for?

They say they can’t officially diagnose anything as they are just assuming he has this. Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

From Tracy.”

Tracy, I’m very sorry to hear about your husband in ICU.

Couple of things here. The problem with interstitial lung disease and potentially scarring of the tissue is that the scarring of the tissue of the lung tissue, that’s when lungs become really stiff. That’s when things get really difficult to reverse.

Now, I don’t know to what extent your husband has lung disease, and he does tissue lung disease in particular, and I don’t know to what extent the lungs are stiff, and I don’t know to what extent the stiffness of the lungs is caused by scar tissue within the lungs.

Now, similar to a scar you have on your skin, some of them are irreversible. It is the same or it can be the same with scarring of the lung tissue. If there’s irreversible scarring of the lung tissue, then especially at such a young age of 49 years of age, your husband may need a lung transplant, and that is actually the question you should be asking. 

You should be asking about treatment options. It sounds to me like treatment options might be maximized here. If they’re trying to wake him up and his blood pressure arises, it probably is a sign that he can’t breathe. If he can’t breathe, that is a sign that the lungs might be too stiff.

But at such a young age of 49 years of age, I think the question needs to be asked if he’s a candidate for a lung transplant, especially since he’s on ECMO (extracorporeal-membrane-oxygenation). So, that is the question you should be asking here.

Now, I’ve worked in critical care nursing for 25 years in three different countries where I worked as a nurse manager for over 5 years in intensive care. I’ve been consulting and advocating for families in intensive care since 2013 here at intensivecarehotline.com.

I can confidently, confidently say that we have saved many lives with our consulting advocacy here at intensivecarehotline.com. You can verify that if you go to our testimonial section at intensivecarehotline.com where you can read up what our clients say, and you can also listen to our podcast at intensivecarehotline.com where I’ve done some client interviews who share with you and with our audience how we save the loved one’s life. We even have an ex-ICU patient in one of our podcasts who was said he’s never going to survive, and there we have him on a podcast.

That’s why we have helped many, many and hundreds of members and clients over the years and intensivecarehotline.com and we can help you as well. That’s why we created a membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care. You can become a member if you go to intensivecarehotline.com if you click on the membership link or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. In the membership, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email and we answer all questions intensive care related.

In the membership, you also have exclusive access to 21 e-books and 21 videos that I have personally written and recorded. All of these resources will help you to make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence so that your loved one gets best care and treatment always.

I also do one-on-one consulting over the phone, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to you and your families directly. I handhold you through this once in a lifetime situation and you simply can’t afford to get wrong. I also talk to doctors and nurses directly. When I talk to doctors and nurses directly on your behalf or with you, I ask all the questions that you haven’t even considered asking but must be asked when you have a loved one, critically ill in intensive care. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams.

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

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

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

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

Thank you so much for watching.

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

Take care for now.

• Email counselling/consulting with Patrik
   
• One on One phone/ Skype counselling/consulting with Patrik