[ryan08/06/88]

A friend of mine who is a T3 para is in hospital on life support at the moment...

He lives in scotland and I live it he south of england so not got any means of finding out much besides via his sister who isn't being told much...

He went in for a shoulder operation to have some pins etc. put in at 9am and was still in theatre at 4pm perhaps even later...

His sister tells me he is now on life support and it's something to do with his kidneys and lungs...

I know he had a lung problem before as one collapsed not too long ago and they put some plastic tube in to part of it...

The kidney thing, I know he had a nasty uti before going into hospital...

This is all I know, and as far as I'm aware they're not letting the famiyl see him at the moment...

I spoke to someone on msn and they have said that often they put people on life support to give their organs a rest and let them heal...and also being a paraplegic they would be more careful anyway...

Any advice very much appreciated!

Worried sick...

Thanks, Ryan.

[kewlcatkez]

Hi Ryan,

So sorry to read that you have the worry regarding your friend. Obviously its hard to speculate what might be going on, but it is pretty accurate to say that when someone is on 'life support' it is for a variety of reasons.

It could be that your friend has developed an infection, or an unexplained raised temperature etc. If it is supposedly regarding his kidneys then it may be that his urine output was low, his 'bloods' which measure the values such as urea and electrolytes (U&E's). These values give an idea of how the kidneys are working. Sometimes if the U&Es are showing abnormalities, this coupled with the low urine output may make it safer for your friend if they use the machines/give IV fluids, etc. Sometimes the body gets overwhelmed. This is especially true if he has had problems with his kidneys and lungs before.
As for the lungs, blood values for the amount of oxygen in his blood may be low and he may be soo exhausted physically, that it is safer to sedate/place him on a ventilator.

Of course it could be for other reason, but these are a few of the common ones ( and inkeeping with the info you provided).

They now will probably be giving him some Oxygen, IV or centrally administered fluids, measuring O2 concentration, fluids in and urine out, etc etc. They may also take blood tests for TNI, Venous and arterial gases as well as the above. This will be to manage his body functions totally..

If he is agitated because of infection, being in pain or other, then he would also be safer sedated if the surgery is precarious or something. Of course many 'sedation' or drugs used to safely paralyze to keep the patient still and safe at these times, also depress respiration/breathing. (This is also true of narcotics too sometimes).

Ok, I hope this helps, Ryan! I write this from my experiences as a CCU RN. I have had experience with vented patients etc...but of course I am no expert per se and know nothing about your friend.

I hope that you get positive news soon! Keep us posted..

Take care,

K


ps, I hope that you are doing ok too, Ryan..

This post has been edited by kewlcatkez: 06 November 2007 - 11:35 AM

[ryan08/06/88]

Thanks again for the helpful reply!

I know his sister is worried that because he's on life support he's going to die.

Do you know why his family wouldn't be allowed to see him?

Thanks, Ryan.

[kewlcatkez]

ryan08/06/88, on Nov 6 2007, 01:50 PM, said:

Thanks again for the helpful reply!

I know his sister is worried that because he's on life support he's going to die.

Do you know why his family wouldn't be allowed to see him?

Thanks, Ryan.

Hi Ryan,

no, to be honest I wouldn't as even the most seriously ill are allowed close family to visit, even if its only short. Is there any family rift? do the rest of the family want to protect his sister?..I dunno to be honest.

All I can say is that I have seen people in very acutely ill situations as a Nurse, but it is much different when its your family!
My issues and situation aside, with me ~ As the relative, my sister in law was in ITU 3 times in 4 years. The last time we thought for sure that she was a gonna as she swelled up greatly, all her organs had closed down etc. Eventually they found that she had an infection and she improved greatly. She now is back at work and well. Initially she had a clot to the main artery to the stomach and wound up at deaths door.
As a relative I was out of my mind with worry and it was hard to give my worries over to the staff. Your friend's family need to go to the unit and ask questions. Sometimes family can get very upset and misinterpret the information ( eg visiting) and the like. I know our family did several times with my sis in law. My Nursing helped, but it also hindered as I imagined all the worse case scenarios with limit info. I was better when I got to speak with the staff myself. If for some reason there is no visiting, this needs to be explained. Like I said even the most poorly people have limited visiting, even if only for a few minutes.

I wish your friend and you well,

Take care,

K

edited to add that the only other reason for no visits could be HE asked for none and for the staff to enforce this, but that is rare and usually the staff will find a way to sensitively tell family that! Other reasons include infections on the unit, but again its rare and got around by using sterile drapes and gowns and hand washing etc..PLUS they would have to tell the family if this was the reason.

k

This post has been edited by kewlcatkez: 06 November 2007 - 05:37 PM

[ryan08/06/88]

Thanks again for the reply!!

Well she's jsut got in from school and all of their phones are turned off so presumably they're allowed to visit now...although none of them have let her know whats going on whihc is nice :S

With my limited knowledge of things I think he'll be ok...he's just going to be in for a while...but I guess you never can be sure with life...

Thanks again,

Ryan

[kewlcatkez]

ryan08/06/88, on Nov 6 2007, 05:55 PM, said:

Thanks again for the reply!!

Well she's jsut got in from school and all of their phones are turned off so presumably they're allowed to visit now...although none of them have let her know whats going on whihc is nice :S

With my limited knowledge of things I think he'll be ok...he's just going to be in for a while...but I guess you never can be sure with life...

Thanks again,

Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Maybe if she is still young, they are trying to shelter her from seeing him sedated and on a vent? Many families do do that, especially if she has been upset in the past by the experience when he was in hospital following his injury.
If they weren't allowed in for an hour or two following surgery, this could be normal as it may have just been that they wanted to stabilize him before they let anyone in. At those times its important to get the patient comfortable and change sheets etc etc, so it can take a while. Of course if its been days then its probably what we talked about above!


I hope this has been some help and that you get word soon! You are a good mate to have!

All my best to you all,

Take care,

K

[ryan08/06/88]

She's 16 but it could be that!

Yeah that completely makes sense! I think he would have come out of theatre very late and they came home at about 10pm whihc if i remember correctly was the time they made visitors leave when i was in intensive care.

Fingers crossed he's off life support soon...the family have had so much bad luck over the years that I think it's almost instinct to think the worst...

Thanks again,

Ryan

[kewlcatkez]

ryan08/06/88, on Nov 6 2007, 06:34 PM, said:

She's 16 but it could be that!

Yeah that completely makes sense! I think he would have come out of theatre very late and they came home at about 10pm whihc if i remember correctly was the time they made visitors leave when i was in intensive care.

Fingers crossed he's off life support soon...the family have had so much bad luck over the years that I think it's almost instinct to think the worst...

Thanks again,

Ryan

Hi Ryan,

yes, it seems like the likely explanation is that they were stabilizing him when he got out of surgery. I wasnt sure how long all of this had been going on in the first post, but as it was last night, this makes sense now.

Also, sometimes when someone has a SCI or other disability affecting the nervous system ITU is ordered as they want to ensure that the person is adequately monitored, one to one. Also, if the surgery was long, that too would lead to a stay in ITU. Sorry I didn't mentin these factors before, as I thought that the first post meant that he had been in a lil while.

Take care and all the best to your friend,

K

[Somebody]

Ryan, you & your friend are in my prayers.
Praying he'll be healthy & well very soon.
God Bless, Take care, Mona

This post has been edited by Somebody: 07 November 2007 - 01:05 AM

[wheeliebear75]

If his immunity is so low that he needs to be in a "germ free" room then I could see even family being told "no". It's rare but every so often a person's immune system can be so badly compromised that even the slightest germ that a person is unaware they are carrying could potentially cause further illness to the patient of even kill them. Hope he gets better very soon.

[ryan08/06/88]

Hi guys, Just a brief update...

I was speaking to his sister last night and her odler sister came home and said that he's ok. I think he's still sleeping and they said he's still on some kind of machine but he's ok whihc is cool

So relieved!

[ryan08/06/88]

Bit of an update...

His lung collapsed again so he was on oxygen etc...but today he's discharged himself as his mum died at 5.05pm of cancer...

His siter tells me he doesn't look well at all, but his family is around atleast...

Feel for the two of them...both their parents lost to cancer at 16 and 19...

lifes evil at times...

This post has been edited by ryan08/06/88: 13 November 2007 - 10:22 PM

[kewlcatkez]

Hi Ryan

So sorry to hear of your friend's loss.


Just an aside at this time, but as he has just had a lung collapse close to the time he discharged himself, I would suggest that he sees if he can get someone to assess him to make sure that he doesn't need any/more medication at home. As he self discharged, they will not have given him any meds to take home, but the GP surgery/nurse would be able to get someone to make sure that he has an assessment and any meds, home O2 etc if he needs it. Under these type of circumstances, I have seen others do the same.
If nothing else, it may reassure his family to have at least someone assess him/provide support.

Take care,

K

[ryan08/06/88]

I've not actually spoken to him directly so nto going to get a chance to tell him any of this but I think he's been given meds as his sister said to me he had about 1000pills to take. So hopefully that's all in order.

Thanks for the advice as always.

Ryan.