This is another episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED" and in last week’s episode I answered another question from our readers and the question last week was

My father had a massive heart attack and is now in ICU ventilated and in an induced coma. He developed Pneumonia and is in kidney failure! What are his chances of recovery?

You can check out the answer to last week’s question by clicking on the link here.

In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED”  I want to answer another question from one of our readers and the question this week is

My wife was doomed to die in ICU, thanks to your help and encouragement she’s getting another shot at life!

This email from Izzy is feedback I’ve been getting about the work that I do.

Dear Patrik,

I just wanted to thank you for your words of encouragement, videos and articles!  My wife was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease.  Nonspecific interstitial pneumonitis, she is only 46 years old and has been battling rheumatoid arthritis since her early 30's.

My son and I were invited to a family meeting in which they first told us that she was not a candidate for a Lung transplant.

They told us it was her weight that was the cause.  My son at that point asked that if she lost weight could she be re-considered.  They told us "that would never happen" we both looked down at the same time.

The next two choices were a Tracheostomy  or let her die.  "they said it very nice and were trying to be compassionate." The final option was to let her naturally die off of a Ventilator.

My son and I "KNOW FOR A FACT" that my wife wants to live.  She’s still way too young!  They told us she would need a tracheostomy and that if we chose that option they eluded to making her suffer.

Related:

• THE 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF THE MEDICAL TEAM IN INTENSIVE CARE WANTS TO “LIMIT TREATMENT”, WANTS TO “WITHDRAW TREATMENT” OR “WITHDRAW LIFE SUPPORT” OR WANTS TO ISSUE A “DNR” (DO NOT RESUSCITATE) OR AN “NFR” (NOT FOR RESUSCITATION) ORDER FOR YOUR CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE!

I didn’t have any questions prepared and really was oblivious.  "I wish I had watched your videos first"!  I really am having a hard time believing what they told me.

They told me if she had a tracheostomy it meant that we would never be able to reverse it.  This is not true.

I cried for hours after that meeting, I feel now unnecessarily and for the wrong reason.  I began Googling and found your website.

I first signed up for the "instant impact" report and watched your video. It made a HUGE impact on my life immediately!

It helped me tremendously at that moment.  Just listening to you and especially the part about not putting my faith in the ICU team members and questioning their findings and what they wanted to get across to me.

Well, either they did not know what they were talking about or wanted to scare me unnecessarily.

A lot of what they told me had truth mixed up with a type of scare tactic.  I really don’t know why they did that to us.

I spoke with my wife's outpatient pathologist today.  I wish he would have been there but they just happened to arrange the meeting when he was out of town.

I got the real story from him.  Yes she may still die, yes she needs a Tracheotomy but there is still hope!

The Intensive Care team did not leave a shred of hope in that meeting.  Not one bit.  My son was with me and both of us walked out of the meeting without hope!

They wanted to meet with us again but I told them I don't want to meet with them without her doctor!

What’s going on now... She is scheduled to have a Tracheostomy soon maybe even tomorrow.  I asked all of my questions like can the tracheostomy be reversed?  Yes, yes it can!

Also, they will be testing her to see if her lungs begin to function better.  She does have a chance to get better.  Although this disease is a killer and her chances are high that it will take her life.. we just wanted to hear that word...HOPE!

You made it possible for me to believe that there is hope and that there is a better way to go through this pain.  Thank you so much.  I am going to purchase something from you when I get the finances, simply because I believe in your work.

I think your work is more of a ministry, (I’m not getting religious but it’s true!).   Your words meant a lot to me.  I was in a terrible place.  I don't know how to thank you.  Thank you Patrik!!!   God Bless you!

Izzy

Hi Izzy,

thank you for your email and your kind feedback!

I'm very glad that I could help!

I hope your wife's situation is going to improve soon!

I say it over and over again, even if you just simply follow the free advice, tips, tools and strategies that is on my website, you’ll get the results!

And you’ve just shown proof again, like so many others have too!

Just by you signing up for your free “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll immediately and instantly have tools, tips and strategies at your disposal that 99% of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care have no clue about!

It’s a matter of me opening the door for families in Intensive Care by giving them access to your free “INSTANT IMPACT” report and you walking through that door without me charging a fee!

You just simply need to follow the strategies that I teach and you’ll get the results, period!

Even if you don’t want to access me personally either via 1:1 phone or Skype counselling/consulting or via 1:1 email counselling and consulting you still get the results if you follow my teachings and strategies on my INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM website.

Of course, if you do sign up for my 1:1 phone/Skype counselling and consulting sessions or 1:1 email counselling/consulting you get the results much quicker because I can diagnose your situation very quickly and can then tell you what you need to do to shift the power dynamics in your favour!

This is the difference.  In my 1:1 phone/Skype counselling and consulting sessions or 1:1 email counselling/consulting I can pretty much “hand-hold” you through this experience and cut through all the BS quickly and tell you what you need to do in order to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power and influence QUICKLY!

Check out:

• ONE on ONE phone counselling with Patrik!

I lightning speed really, because I can read the situations quickly and I can let you know what’s really happening.

As far as your wife’s situation is concerned, there are a number of things the Intensive Care team hasn’t told you or hasn’t considered.

With lung disease there is always an option for a lung transplant. I know you have mentioned that a lung transplant is not an option because of your wife’s weight.

Now you haven’t shared your wife’s weight, but assuming she’s not morbidly obese, everything in life is negotiable, therefore if I was you I wouldn’t give up on your wife receiving a lung transplant down the line if required, especially at such a young age of 46!

Furthermore, what the Intensive Care team hasn’t mentioned either is that if your wife was to deteriorate further because of her lung disease she could potentially have ECMO as a therapy, as well as getting her to buy time to get a lung transplant.

Find out more about ECMO here

• ECMO
• HOW LONG can a critically ill Patient stay on ECMO?

Now, as it relates to the bigger picture, your wife at age 46 is way too young to not be considered for ECMO or for a lung transplant.

Again, unless she is morbidly obese, nothing else should be in the way of your wife getting best and standard treatment.

What I have also found though is that many ICU’s often don’t know what other more specialised ICU’s might be able to do, I.e. ECMO and/or lung transplant.

Therefore sometimes, therapies like ECMO or a lung transplant might require a referral to another more specialised hospital with a better equipped and more experienced ICU.

It’s good that your wife is now getting a tracheostomy at least and you are absolutely right that a tracheostomy can be a temporary device and it can be removed.

For more information regarding tracheostomy and ventilation please check out the articles/videos here

• How long can a breathing tube or an endotracheal tube can stay in?

• HOW LONG SHOULD A PATIENT BE ON A VENTILATOR BEFORE HAVING A TRACHEOSTOMY?

• Why does my loved one need a Tracheostomy in Intensive Care?

• TRACHEOSTOMY AND WEANING OFF THE VENTILATOR IN INTENSIVE CARE, HOW LONG CAN IT TAKE?

The tracheostomy will also give your wife more time to recover from her interstitial Pneumonia and yes, a tracheostomy is reversible, if your wife can manage to get off the ventilator.

This may potentially be a long process, however as you’ve already pointed out early on, you and your family are nowhere near to give up or throw in the towel, so to speak!

Now, as far as the positioning of the Intensive Care team goes, know this:

• The Intensive Care team has positioned your wife’s diagnosis, prognosis, as well as her care and her treatment as if she was going to die one way or another

• Through your research and questioning and through my teachings you have quickly found out that your positioning is just as important if not more important compared to the Intensive Care team’s positioning

• Intensive Care teams can be very quick in being negative and painting a “doom and gloom” picture to get what they want and to mainly drive their hidden agenda

I have written extensively about this in this Ebook that comes with 2 Videos and 2 audio recordings here here

• THE 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF THE MEDICAL TEAM IN INTENSIVE CARE WANTS TO “LIMIT TREATMENT”, WANTS TO “WITHDRAW TREATMENT” OR “WITHDRAW LIFE SUPPORT” OR WANTS TO ISSUE A “DNR” (DO NOT RESUSCITATE) OR AN “NFR” (NOT FOR RESUSCITATION) ORDER FOR YOUR CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE!

Unless you question everything, there is a very good chance that you’ll be treated like 99%of the families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care who make no informed decisions, have no peace of mind, no control, no power and no influence!

Furthermore, Intensive Care teams often use Family meetings in Intensive Care to cement their positioning of “perceived power” and “perceived authority”.

It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve come out of this meeting with tears. In more than 15 years Intensive Care nursing in three different countries, where I literally worked with thousands of critically ill Patients and their families I have seen more tears in family meetings than water flowing down the Mississippi…

I have literally seen Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care walking into family meetings without them knowing what to expect and what’s even worse is that if that they would know what to expect and if they would know what questions to ask and how to position themselves they could change the dynamics in those family meetings.

Again, I have written a manual for family meetings in Intensive Care

• FOLLOW THIS ULTIMATE 6 STEP GUIDE FOR FAMILY MEETINGS WITH THE INTENSIVE CARE TEAM, THAT GETS YOU TO HAVE PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE FAST, IF YOUR LOVED ONE IS CRITICALLY ILL IN INTENSIVE CARE!

Your best course of action at this stage is

• Get the tracheostomy for your wife and see how she’s coping

• If she’s making progress and she can fight the disease, great and hopefully she can come off the ventilator and get rid of the tracheostomy in due course

• Get the Intensive Care team to consider options such as ECMO and/or lung transplant if your wife isn’t recovering from her interstitial lung disease. Again your wife is way too young to be given up on

• If your wife isn’t improving and can’t be weaned off the ventilator and the tracheostomy, consider alternatives such as INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME as a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care for ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies

It’s really important Izzy that you and your son have perspective!

You’re doing great, you have stepped into your power and you have aligned yourself with the outcomes that you want for your wife and for your family, so give yourself a pad on the back just for doing that, well done!

You also made an interesting comment Izzy that a lot f families in Intensive Care make when they come to me:

“A lot of what they told me had truth mixed up with a type of scare tactic.  I really don’t know why they did that to us.”

They did that because they wanted to stay in control of the communication and they wanted to stay in control of the outcomes that they want…

I.e. if the Intensive Care team thinks that continuing treatment might be too expensive or if they would need the precious, scarce and “in-demand” Intensive Care bed for somebody else that they could “sell” you on a “withdrawal of treatment” as being “in the best interest” for your wife.

It’s often that simple and you’ve got to read between the lines Izzy!

I really hope that helps!

Let me know if you need anything else!

Wishing you and your family all the best!​​​​​​​

Your friend

Patrik Hutzel

PS: I only have one slot left for counselling/consulting left for this weekend, as I'm fully booked otherwise. Let me know if you want the one slot left by hitting reply to this email or by calling me on one of the numbers below!