{"id":1583,"date":"2016-12-23T10:47:16","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T23:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intensivecareathome.com.au\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2017-05-01T21:38:03","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T11:38:03","slug":"case-study-41-year-old-michael","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intensivecareathome.com\/case-study-41-year-old-michael\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study! 41 year old Michael!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the story of Michael<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael is living an unusual life and at the time that I was privileged to be involved in his care, he
\nwas in his prime years, in his early 40\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Michael is dependent on other people, as well as on equipment to keep him alive. Michael had
\nsustained a spinal injury in his late 20\u2019s whilst playing sport and he ended up paraplegic(C4\/C5), with
\nthe ability to move his arms.<\/p>\n

Michael had a good background, he was well educated with a University business degree and he had
\na loving Family around him. His father was a successful Business man himself and Michael basically
\ninherited a car dealership from his father in which he was working in until his accident. Michael also
\nhad an older brother and a younger sister.<\/p>\n

Michael managed to get back to work after his accident, as he was able to do most of his work in a
\nwheelchair and he had the ability to drive a car. So he had a fairly good Quality of Life, considering
\nthat he was working, earn a living and he was mostly independent.<\/p>\n

A few years after his sport accident, Michael also sustained a stroke, which was a major setback for
\nhim and this time he spent a prolonged period in Intensive Care that left him ventilator dependent
\nwith Tracheostomy. Michael had difficulties to be weaned off the ventilator and after a few failed
\nweaning attempts, Michael had enough and all he wanted was to get out of Intensive Care. It was
\nobvious to the medical and the nursing team that he would require ongoing mechanical ventilation
\nwith Tracheostomy, but it was even more obvious that Intensive Care wasn\u2019t the right place for him
\nto be, as Intensive Care is a very limited environment to be, for somebody who is medically stable
\nand ventilator dependent with Tracheostomy.<\/p>\n

In his first few years of paraplegia and ventilator dependency, Michael struggled to come to terms
\nwith his ordeal. A young man, previously fit, healthy and active, all of a sudden bound to a
\nwheelchair and now he was even facing worse, as he was ventilator dependent with Tracheostomy.
\nMichael eventually got discharged home from Intensive Care and unfortunately he never managed
\nto be weaned off the ventilator and he ended up in the care of his Family, with his mother as the
\nmain carer, but also with the support ofnon-family carers. Not an ideal scenario for somebody who is
\nventilator dependent with Tracheostomy.<\/p>\n

Michael and his Family struggled with his care. Especially the 24 hour ventilator dependency with
\nTracheostomy became a massive challenge, with frequent suctioning required, as well as frequent
\ninner cannula changes, in order to maintain a safe airway. This left Michael\u2019s and his Family\u2019s Quality
\nof Life at a less than optimal level. Frequent readmissions to ICU with Pneumonia were a fairly
\nregular occurrence.<\/p>\n

In his first few years at home, there were no specialised Intensive Home Care Nursing Services
\navailable and Michael was unable to go back to work in his car dealership, something he was able to
\ndo before he had his stroke and something that he dearly missed.<\/p>\n

Not too long after Michael got discharged out of Intensive Care home, Michael\u2019s mother became
\nvery sick and weak, as the stress of looking after her son became all too much, and within less than
\n12 months after Michael came home from ICU his mother passed away.<\/p>\n

After his mother\u2019s death, Michael\u2019s Family reorganised his care and now he was mainly left in the
\nhands of carers, who had no formal training on ventilators or Tracheostomy care, and like before, his
\nQuality of Life was not at an optimal level and he was always at risk to be readmitted to Intensive
\nCare- an environment Michael did not want to go back to.<\/p>\n

It was around the same time, when Michael and his Family first heard about a new nursing service
\nthat specifically offered Intensive Home Care Nursing services for mechanically ventilated Customers
\nwith Tracheostomy and their Families. The nursing service was exclusively working with Registered
\nNurses who had Critical Care Nursing experience and the staff employed by the nursing service, were
\nhighly qualified with specialist skilled and also had the right mindset to take care of Michael in a way
\nthat would improve his and his Family\u2019s Quality of Life.<\/p>\n

\"Intensive
\nFast forward, a 24\/7 roster got organised and funding was also arranged, in order to make Michael\u2019s
\ncare possible that would improve his and his Family\u2019s Quality Of life.<\/p>\n

As soon as a 24\/7 roster was in place and as soon as qualified staff with specialist skills started
\nworking with Michael and his Family, Michael\u2019s Quality of Life, as well as his Family\u2019s Quality of Life
\nimproved massively. The nursing service had a very different approach and a very different mindset
\nin terms of possibilities and opportunities for somebody being ventilator dependent with
\nTracheostomy. The nursing service, bringing the right skills and the right mindset to the table, also
\noffloaded the burden and the responsibility of care from Michael\u2019s family, who were finally able to
\nlive their own lives, without constantly having to worry about Michael\u2019s well being.<\/p>\n

Michael was now not any longer at risk of readmission to hospital, as his ventilator care, as well as
\nhis Tracheostomy care was in the hands of professionals who truly knew what they were doing.
\nMichael was also able to start working again, as he was still able to move his hands and he was
\nobviously fully conscious, as he had mostly recovered from his stroke.<\/p>\n

The nursing service managed to get Michael back to work in his car dealership for around 20 hours a
\nweek. This was only possible because he always had a nurse accompanying him to take care of and
\nmanage the ventilator and the Tracheostomy. That sense of duty and purpose to go back to work got
\nMichael occupied and also got him exhausted pretty quickly, but over time his stamina improved
\nand Michael certainly had things to look forward to and he had things that kept his mind occupied.
\nEven though Michael\u2019s Quality of Life was not back to where it was before he became ventilator
\ndependent with Tracheostomy, he still had a good Quality of Life and he had people around him with
\nthe commitment, the skills and the determination to make his life better.<\/p>\n

Patrik Hutzel, Critical Care Nurse, September 2012
\nCopyright 2012-2017, INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME\u2122 Pty. Ltd, all rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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