Feeling lost

[Shari1107]

My step-dad has been in ICU for 5 days, went in with severe double pneumonia, now his kidney's have failed and he is in a coma, the doctor's are not sure of the cause of the coma. Now the past couple of days he has had some movement, such as blinking and moving his legs and his head. What could that mean. Is he just mimicking conscious movement? I'm scared he still won't make it....

[niksofly]

Hey sorry about what you are going through. Ask the doctor or nephrologist (the kidney specialist) what could be the cause of his renal failure? Is he septic ? Does he have hypotension. If so, they have to treat that first. If he had low BP (hypotension), fluid and/or Albumin can help. The kidneys may take a few days to come on board . The doc may want to add a diuretic such as lasix.

If that doesn't help him in a day or two, seek dialysis. If he is haemodynamics are unstable , seek CVVDH which is a slower continual dialysis. Check his labs. You want his INR to be less than 1.5, his platelets to be over 50,000 for any invasive procedures . You have to be aggressive and quick. The doctors refused to give my mom dialysis and she passed on the 19th of this month. I refuse to let anyone else suffer the pain I feel so I will tell everyone everything I know and learned. Once your kidneys go, it's a spiral effect.

[bunnyrabbit1234]

Hi Shari 1107

I was in hospital 2 years ago with pneumonia, sepsis ,plurasy and blood clots . I was in a coma for 18 days and spent a total of over 6 weeks in hospital. Keep strong for your step dad may be a long haul

[LesAnne]

I spent 3.5 weeks in ICU last year with sepsis, pneumonia and pulmonary embolii. My family have told me they continually asked questions of the nursing staff and doctors so that they understood what was happening to me. They also never gave up hope even when told there was none and here I am. So my advice would be ask plenty of questions and if you are not happy with the answer ask again. No question is a silly question. Stay strong and take care of yourself x