Possibly DNR chat

[Ohgollyitsmolly]

Evening,

I’ve posted before but I have a separate question now.

Tomorrow my mum will have been in ICU for 4 weeks. I went to visit this evening and was made aware that my mum’s named doctors want to have a chat with me tomorrow. The doctor who told me this was the duty doctor and said the named doctors know more in-depth about her condition.

I asked if it was a ‘bad news chat’ and she said no, but they may want to start talking about a ‘do not resuscitate order’.

It caught me off guard as the update from my mum’s nurse was quite positive today.

Briefly, my mum was admitted following a prolonged seizure. Rescue medicine didn’t work, so they needed to sedate & intubate. My mum picked up a lung infection (possibly caused by intubation). She went septic, and eventually turned a corner and the infection is mostly under control. She was transferred back to our local hospital as despite presenting at their A&E, they didn’t have room for her. So 2.5 weeks at the other hospital and 1.5 back at our local one. They held sedation and we got to the point they extubated, but she was really weak. She managed for 3.5 hours before they decided she was too unstable for the night. So intubated and sedated further. The next day she desaturated and her heart stopped. But with just under 2 mins or CPR she came back and has been improving every day since.

They did a CT scan and found a blood clot on her lung was responsible. So they’ve increased blood thinners. The goal is now tracheostomy, but it’s a balance of her oxygen requirement being low enough and then ensuring the blood clot is under control so they can reduce the thinners before surgery.

Sorry, not that brief after all. But the mention of DNR has thrown me a little.

Anyone have any info on this? Or experience?

[ForMyPapa]

Hi, Ohgollyitsmolly:

I am so sorry you and your family have to go through this. My dad is also in ICU right now for severe pneumonia. At one point, we were told to be prepared for the worst twice. They did talk to us about DNR early on. Since then he has made progress and now he is more stable. I think it was more like a protocol that they have to ask that when there is a risk even if it is a small risk.

Although we are talking more about weaning now, I still get really scared that they will talk to us about end of life care any day and I wake up in the middle of the night. I hope your mum will pull through. Stay strong. Keep us posted.

[Sepsur]

This is a condensed version of NHS guideline

“DNACPR stands for do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation. DNACPR is sometimes called DNAR (do not attempt resuscitation) or DNR (do not resuscitate) but they all refer to the same thing. DNACPR means if your heart or breathing stops your healthcare team will not try to restart it.”

BUT they will provide your loved one with the same care outside of these parameters. You can object - here are your rights

rochelegal.co.uk/resources/....