Mom in icu with sepsis

[Logst]

My mom 57f was fine Saturday, wrapping presents and the normal Christmas stuff. Sunday came and we celebrated Christmas, we cooked dinner and ate. She wasn't feeling well that night, some throwing up, spent most of Monday in bed. We took her to the ER Monday night as she was not talking well and had a fever. We stayed with her until 3am Tuesday, she was given iv fluids and seemed to be getting better - she could talk again and started remembering more.

We received a call to find out she had a kidney stone cause an infection and was in septic shock, they put a stent in for that Tuesday morning. We went out Tuesday afternoon and she was responsive, had a cannula for oxygen and vasopressors. They were able to get her off the vasopressors by Tuesday night and I talked to her that night on the phone, she was watching TV and was able to tell me the show.

We call to talk to her Wednesday and find out she is now on a bipap and sedated lightly and back on vasopressors due to the sedation. Went to visit and she could respond a little bit.

She was intubated Wednesday night and now fully sedated, they are worried about her lungs and plan on putting her on her stomach today. I've been told her urine output has been improving, from 190ml, to 500, to now 1400 in 12 hours and more since the morning nurse took over this morning. She had CRRT twice since last Wednesday 12/28. Since this Wednesday 1/4 she has been taken off all paralyzers, sedation, and fentayl.

By Thursday she was opening her eyes and Saturday she finally started tracking, nodding her head very lightly, and I guess she wiggled her toes for the nurse. Today she didn't do much but I guess it's because they were pushing her on the ventilator to try to get her off causing her to be tired? Currently at a 5 peep and 40% fio2. I've been told all the blood work is normal now, infection is gone, kidneys are almost back to normal, she had some very small blood spots on the brain I guess from the blood thinners but they were tracking them on CT and MRI and said they didn't do any damage and were now starting to absorb back.

Does this all seem normal from a recovery point of view? How long until she will be able to move again? Does it seem like all the worst is behind us now? The phone ringing here nearly gives me a panic attack...

[Sepsur]

from what you have described, it sounds like your Mom is heading in the right direction - an ICU journey is rarely straight forward, so be prepared for the occasional setback - hope your Mum gets back home soon

[Logst in reply to Sepsur]

Thank you, they might do a trach this week. Did you have one of those? What is recovery like with it? Can they do anything to talk with it?

[Sepsur in reply to Logst]

yes & a trachy is a positive step forward.

passy muir speaking valve 😊

[Logst in reply to Sepsur]

Is it normal to still be out of it, not really moving much, and such at this time? Does coming off the vent make them tired too ?

They also mentioned a PEG with the trach so she wouldn't have anything down her throat, is that common?

[Sepsur]

it can affect people differently ( different tolerances) - I was fed by nasal tube

[CarbonDioxideExhaler]

sounds like she is getting better. Probably tired and groggy. The meds impact different people in different ways. It does sound like she is recovering well.

[Logst]

They are talking about going to an LTACH now to ween her completely and doing therapy...

[Logst]

Trach was put in successfully and the peg tube, she was mouthing words to use yesterday.

My current concern is the lack of movement. I guess she has responded to the nurses and wiggled her toes a bit and before the trach they said she was tapping her finger.

We've also been there and seen her legs move but she doesn't seem to do this when commanded.

I did a big of reading about critical illness neuropathy and dug quite a worry hole here about her not recovering...is this movement the nurses and us have seen a good sign and recovery is more possible than not?