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Heart Attack, Diabetic Shock, Pneumonia And Low BP. How Long In ICU?
I am searching the web for answers tonight. My dad suffered a . They intubated him that night. It has been 7 days now, blood sugar and blood pressure are stabilized. He had sepsis but kidney function restarted and now they say no dialysis is --- immediate. He has a blockage and needs to be transported for heart CAT, but they cannot do this until he is off life support. They started weaning him 2 days ago, but he isn t doing much except rolling his eyes into back of his head, making facial expressions and lifting his arm into the air. I am assuming this still means brain function? There are like 5 different doctors. I get it, it s REALLY bad. What long term effects might everything cause? Or no way to tell until he wakes up? If he is not able to breathe on his own, thy leave him intubated and then what? He gets transferred to a life support place??? How long does someone stay in ICU like this? Will he be asleep for the heart CAT and stint if he makes it that far? what other testing might be done after/if he awakes? He has a 50/50 chance of living.
Tue, 27 Aug 2013
Hello,
Your father is an elderly Diabetic and Hypertensive.
He has suffered Stroke and Heart Ailments.(CAD)
Considering his age and metabolic status the road to recovery may be unpredictable.
One good thing is that he is out of life support.
You should give sufficient time for this brain to recover.
If the outcome is good and if he is medically fit them he can undergo CAT.
Your father is an elderly Diabetic and Hypertensive.
He has suffered Stroke and Heart Ailments.(CAD)
Considering his age and metabolic status the road to recovery may be unpredictable.
One good thing is that he is out of life support.
You should give sufficient time for this brain to recover.
If the outcome is good and if he is medically fit them he can undergo CAT.
I find this answer helpful
Hi,
Your father has got many complex problems. From your description it would appear that he was in multi-organ failure with sepsis. This is a very serious state which will take many weeks to recover from. It would appear he has shown some indication of recovery if he has a stable blood pressure and does not need dialysis.
Weaning from ventilation can take weeks. Some of the drugs that he will have received for sedation will need to be excreted from his body and this is done by the kidneys. As his kidneys have been affected by the organ failure then excretion of the rugs will take much longer.
It will be impossible to make an assessment of his long-term brain function at this stage. His length of stay in ICU may be many weeks and progress may be slow. The CAT scan can be done with a patient intubated if necessary but is only likely to be done if the results will aid his progress in the ICU.
Regarding his chances of survival, it is impossible to be accurate at this stage as he has a long way to go.
I hope this has helped you. I wish your father well.
Regards,
Dr K A Pottinger,
MBChB FRCA
Your father has got many complex problems. From your description it would appear that he was in multi-organ failure with sepsis. This is a very serious state which will take many weeks to recover from. It would appear he has shown some indication of recovery if he has a stable blood pressure and does not need dialysis.
Weaning from ventilation can take weeks. Some of the drugs that he will have received for sedation will need to be excreted from his body and this is done by the kidneys. As his kidneys have been affected by the organ failure then excretion of the rugs will take much longer.
It will be impossible to make an assessment of his long-term brain function at this stage. His length of stay in ICU may be many weeks and progress may be slow. The CAT scan can be done with a patient intubated if necessary but is only likely to be done if the results will aid his progress in the ICU.
Regarding his chances of survival, it is impossible to be accurate at this stage as he has a long way to go.
I hope this has helped you. I wish your father well.
Regards,
Dr K A Pottinger,
MBChB FRCA
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