Pancreatitis In the ICU VENTIALTOR: 21M, 105kg, He... - ICUsteps

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Pancreatitis In the ICU VENTIALTOR

lol123458p profile image
8 Replies

21M, 105kg, He does have Type 2 diabetes, High cholesterol, High pressure, and thyroid. My boyfriend is in ICU, he went into the hospital for some pain but is now on a ventilator. He did not have any kind of surgery but they did do an incision in his neck to put a catheter in. They said he's on a low mode to give him pressure for all the medications he's being given. They stopped giving him one of the sedatives to try and get him to wake up. Yesterday he nodded his head and responded to some questions. The nurse had also asked him if he knew who was there to see him and he did nod yes. Today he squeezed the nurse's hand and moved his toes too. When the nurse asked him if he wanted pain meds he did nod his head no but the nurses still gave them because they felt like he was uncomfortable. He also got phenomena that are being treated with antibiotics. They said he should be fine but does have a bit of a fever. He has puffy eyes and is being given eye drops to keep the fluid out of his sight. The doctors think this came from his coughing. The eye doctor had a look but wasn't too concerned for now. They switched his IV to the other side and decided to give his stomach a break from the feeding tube and move it to his neck. Hee is also being given pain medication which is hydromorphone, midazolam, and propofol. He recently went for another CT they said his pancreatitis has been better than before but still needs to be less inflamed. They are still giving him sedatives and believe he is sedated again. His blood pressure is good as well as his blood sugar. The nurse said they needed him to wake up more and be more responsive. I believe they did sedate him again due to his eye but this morning when I went to visit they said he followed commands. Could you tell me what the next steps are to look for and when he could come off the vent? As well as any info. He woke up today. They said they took him for an x-ray. He was squeezing my hand and using hand motions to ask me what happened. They said he would still be on the vent and don't know when it will come off. His heart rate was around 78. They have him on dexmedetomidine. He was way calmer than before. The nurse said he was a bit agitated at first but was very calm when I came. He was squeezing my hand and opened his eyes. His eyes are a bit swollen and red due to his coughing but it looks better than how it was. I did ask her when he would come off the vent she said she was;t sure but he is on a low setting. They took him for an x-ray and did she say it could come off depending on the results? What does all this mean? Is he closer to getting off of it?

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Sepsur profile image
Sepsur

does he have a trachy? Or is he ventilated another way? I would have thought that they are getting ready to wake him to get him out of ICU from what you describe 😊

lol123458p profile image
lol123458p in reply toSepsur

He is currently ventilated. Nothinf about a trachy. I will go see how he is today.

lol123458p profile image
lol123458p in reply toSepsur

Hi, I went today he seemed fine but I asked the nurse she said he was going crazy last night tryna get the tubes off so for safety they sedated him a bit more but he was awake. He asked me for a pen and paper they did say he communicated thru paper a lot which was good. He was pointing to things as well. All of a sudden the nurse came in to put something I'm not sure what it was but it was in injections maybe meds? After that, he started coughing like crazy and kinda lost his stats and wasn't stable. They got the RT to come in and the doctors said he did something like this 3 days ago where he wouldn't stop coughing and so they maxed out his propofol which didn't help so the doctor suggested doing a trachy. They tried to put him on 100% oxygen and give him more pressure but still didn't stabilize. I had to leave for work but I think they decided on the surgery I'm not sure will find out tomorrow.

Sepsur profile image
Sepsur in reply tolol123458p

it sounds like he might be experiencing a bit of ICU delirium - you may find this page of information helpful

cc-sn.org/information

lol123458p profile image
lol123458p in reply toSepsur

They took him for the tracheostomy but when I went in today they said he would be sedated and asleep for a while as they would like to go back to the OR so they could put a different tube in. Is this a bad thing or good? They also said they would take him for CT tomorrow to check on his pancreas and from there they should be able to wean him off the ventilator. What does this mean does this mean they wean him off after they change the tube? Why would they go back in and changes tubes when they just did the surgery yesterday

Sepsur profile image
Sepsur in reply tolol123458p

I’ve included a link to explain all the differences in a trachy.

I’m guessing we don’t all have a standard sized throat so they must be fitting one that is more conducive.

Weaning is the process where your loved one learns to breath on their own again ie no longer on life support ( which is a good thing since the team believe they are now strong enough).

They maybe put back on for a moment - rarely is recovery in ICU linear 💙

lol123458p profile image
lol123458p in reply toSepsur

Yeah they said the next step after changing the tube would be to wean him off the ventilator.

Sepsur profile image
Sepsur

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