I need help..husband in ICU

[HeatherAz]

Any insight on why my husbands BP raises when propofol is lowered? He has been in the ICU sedated since Sunday after going into Cardiac Arrest and has lost oxygen to his brain. The Theraputic Hypothermia is over and now when they lower the sedation he is having Extending Posturing. Idk what to do or what to expect.

[Sepsur]

I’ll include a link to an information page which has an intensive care guide. This gives you an outline of what to expect.

You ask what can you do? That powerlessness must be awful and their is little that you can do at present, your husband will be being looked after by the best possible people. If you have the opportunity - try and get to talk to him, even if he is none responsive. What you need to do is look after yourself, eat, sleep and rest up - you will need all your energies in the weeks ahead. Try and get on with your day, phone a friend or relative, try and distract yourself from worry ( that will not affect the outcome) - tidy a cupboard, take a bath or make a jigsaw puzzle, go for a nice walk ( with company - because you can now).

[HeatherAz in reply to Sepsur]

Thank you so much for replying and for the link. I started reading it and its already provided a lot of really helpful information

[Sepsur in reply to HeatherAz]

We also have regular zoom drop-in meeting and a ‘virtual’ chat room which is safe.

[HeatherAz in reply to Sepsur]

Thank you so much I just requested to join

[Sepsur]

It would help if I included link icustepschester.org/informa...

[FamilyHistorian]

I have just looked up my hospital notes. (I'm not a medical person). I was on propofol as part of a cocktail of drugs and obviously this is a sedative. I had a heart op back in December '19 as well as pneumonia, sepsis and a range of other infections. It looks as if I was on it for about 8 weeks. They tried to ween me off but had to keep pushing the dose back up. I was certainly very agitated at that time and wasn't particulary safe around the staff. I had all sorts of issues around my temperature both high and low.

So what can you expect. In my case the hospital looked after me very well and when asked about how long I would be in ICU all that they would say was that they weren't interested in time just a question of getting me stable. (Bearing in mind my family were called in twice for that "message" that no one wants to hear. However every one is different so it is had to predict what might happen.

It is very important at this time to take care of your self. Once your husband is home it will take a while to recover and you will be in charge then!!

[HeatherAz]

Thank you so much for replying to me and sharing your experience. Were you showing purposeful responses when you were sedated?

[FamilyHistorian]

I am told that sometimes when I was not fully sedated I responded to commands but only by moving my head. I had a trachy so could not verbally respond. When I was fully sedated no response! I was very weak so wouldn’t have been able to move much; unless I was trying to pull something out.

I should have said before that my BP also fluctuated, most of the time, caused by changes to any of my drugs

[Mumptie]

I would echo all that has been said. We, the relatives, can 'do' very little. It is vital that you look after yourself. This could be a long journey and your physical and mental health at this time is something that hospitals and ourselves neglect. Eat regularly, exercise when and, if, you can. Feed your brain, read or binge watch the series you always wanted to. Meet up with others - we created a family bubble, where we could just 'be'. Meet up with the relatives group on Tuesdays. Learn a new skill - I crocheted a ripple blanket! My husband may be home next week - he has been in hospital 5 1/2 months. Look after yourself and let others look after him but fight for him when you need to.