Liver And kidney failure and pneumonia

[marco2002]

Hi everyone my partner was admitted to hospital 3 weeks ago and to start with was jaundiced with a bloated stomach very weak and could hardly walk this was due to drinking too much alcohol and a lack of food as she would not eat very much. She spent 2 weeks on a ward and they found she had a chest infection she seemed to perk up a bit but still seemed a bit confused as she wouldn't keep the oxygen mask on. then she took a turn for the worse and her breathing was very laboured due to the chest infection. Then the doctor decided she needed to be in intensive care. When i arrived she was on a breathing machine and from what i could gather her heart rate had gone upto 200 and she had to be shocked to get the heart rate back down. Since being in intensive care i have found out she has pneumonia and she was running a temperature which is now under control . Her kidneys have failed within the last 2 days and the doctor has put my partner on a dialysis machine as there is hardly any urine output. My partner is very bloated/puffy. I have had 2 very serious talks with the consultant and he said that after 4 days he would have expected her to have shown an improvement he also said that her body has hardly any reserve left as she is quite thin. He is going to give it another 24hrs on the dialysis machine and see what happens( already been on it for 24hrs). Apparently my partner is not sedated just on painkillers. But she doesnt appear to be coming around. The strange thing is when i visited tonight her eyes were wide open and moving and appeared focused and when i said goodbye she nodded as if to acknowledge what i said. Prior to this she had laid in the bed almost lifeless. She is now on day 8 of her stay in icu and the doctors are not giving much hope they won't even give a survival rate.

Does anyone have any advice for me as i've never been in this situation before and i am expecting they will asking me a very major question soon if they see no improvement

Thank you

[ICUsteps-Peter Partner ICUsteps]

So sorry to hear about what you're going through, Marco. I'm an ICU survivor myself but I can't imagine how hard it is to be a relative. Patients can appear very swollen due to all the fluids we're given, though I'm sure the staff will have explained this. The staff won't want to give you false hope as your partner is obviously in a very serious condition and I wouldn't want to either, but what I can say is that over the years I've met many patients whose families were told to prepare for the worst and that their loved one was not expected to make it through the night, but have pulled through. Of course this isn't always the case and the specifics of everyone's illness and situation is different, but there is always hope. My wife told me that during these times, she used to reminisce about happy times together and found that a comfort.

I hope things take a turn for the better soon for both of you. Our thoughts are with you.

[Offcut]

I am also an ICU survivor. I had various procedures done on me and they said I had a 50/50 chance of survival. I went into MOF and my wife was told twice I was not going to survive the night. Who ever goes talk to her talk about good things in life. Even if it does not look like they are listening. I was amazed what I was hearing seeing while in a coma.

Thoughts are with you be well

[marco2002]

thanks for your advice feel a bit all over the place today. Going to hospital tonight no improvement so far after being ondialysis

[marco2002]

thanks for your advice feel a bit all over the place today. Going to hospital tonight no improvement so far after being ondialysis

[marco2002]

thanks for your advice feel a bit all over the place today. Going to hospital tonight no improvement so far after being ondialysis

[PennyGic]

Hi I’m new to this forum. Just wanted to say, I hope and pray that your partner recovers soon! I have a client I’m helping and he was diagnosed in 2019 with liver failure. He stopped drinking and went thru a LOT! Now he was recently diagnosed with double pneumonia. 50 y/o Camp Lejune water .. 22 years of service and doing fairly well at home. I’m providing home care and would like to know if there’s other problems that I need to look out for at this time. Would like to ensure his safety at home.