My Husband Has a Tracheostomy, Can He Be Decannulated?

https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-a-tracheostomy-can-he-be-decannulated/

My Husband Has a Tracheostomy, Can He Be Decannulated?

Book your free 15-minute phone consultation here

http://intensivecarehotline.com/scheduling-appointment/

Call directly 24/7

+1 415-915-0090 USA/Canada

+44 118 324 3018 UK

+6141 094 2230 Australia

Email support@intensivecarehotline.com

Get 1:1 consulting and advocacy

1:1 phone counselling

http://intensivecarehotline.com/one-on-one-counselling/

Become a member for families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care

https://intensivecarehotline.com/intensivecaresupport-org-membership/

Immediate action steps http://intensivecarehotline.com/take-control-take-charge/immediate-action-steps/
https://intensivecareathome.com
And if you need a medical record review, click on the link and we can help you with reviewing your loved one’s medical records while they’re in ICU.
https://intensivecarehotline.thrivecart.com/review-of-medical-records/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/IntensiveCareHotline
Twitter: https://twitter.com/icuhotline

Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated Adults & Children with Tracheostomies and where we also provide tailor made solutions for hospitals and Intensive Care Units whilst providing quality services for long-term ventilated patients and medically complex patients at home, including home TPN.

In last week’s blog, I talked about,

I CAN NO LONGER TAKE CARE OF MY SON AT HOME IF HE GETS A TRACHEOSTOMY AND VENTILATOR! HELP!

You can check out last week’s blog by clicking on the link below this video:

https://intensivecareathome.com/i-can-no-longer-take-care-of-my-son-at-home-if-he-gets-a-tracheostomy-and-ventilator-help/

In today’s blog post, I want to answer a question from one of our clients and the question today is

My Husband Has a Tracheostomy, Can He Be Decannulated?

Patrik: Hi Keno! How are you and how’s your wife?

Keno: I’m doing okay. How are you too, Patrik? Well, my wife’s been able to breathe fine, not losing her oxygen and stuff and be fine, but they didn’t want to remove the tracheostomy because she had a surgery coming up, but she’s done with it now, and she’s had the tracheostomy for almost two years. And I know she doesn’t want to live the rest of her life with a tracheostomy.

Patrik: Of course.

Keno: That’s my issue, basically.

Patrik: Of course. Okay. So, why did she have the tracheostomy in the first place?

Keno: Because she was hit by a car in March, almost two years ago.

Patrik: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

Keno: And she had a traumatic brain injury and stuff.

Patrik: Right. Okay. Sure. And with the traumatic brain injury, what’s the situation? Is she back to normal? Is she still impacted by it?

Keno: No, but she does understand me, and she does swallow.

Patrik: Right.

Keno: She meets all the criteria to be decannulated, but it’s just the fact that when she was in a nursing home, they wouldn’t take her to a doctor.

Patrik: I see.

Keno: I literally had to force them to do anything.

Patrik: I see.

Keno: They wouldn’t even try to remove it.

Patrik: Right. Does she have a surgical tracheostomy or a percutaneous tracheostomy, do you know?

Keno: It’s not a permanent one. It’s one that comes out. I forget which.

Patrik: No, no, I get that. My question is about when they did the tracheostomy way back when, did a surgeon do it, or did they do it in ICU with a percutaneous tracheostomy? Do you know?

Keno: I don’t know.

Patrik: That’s okay.

Keno: I’m pretty sure that they did it surgically. And I know it’s just a cuffless tracheostomy, but I don’t know exactly.

Patrik: It’s a cuffless tracheostomy. Okay.

Keno: Yeah.

Patrik: Just before we go on, Keno, I always have about 15 minutes of my free time, but my free time is obviously very limited. Beyond the free 15 minutes, I do have paid consulting and advocacy option.

Keno: Okay.

Patrik: Keno, what do you think is stopping her from having the tracheostomy removed?

Keno: Honestly, her issue is when they cap her off, she meets the four hours, they said. She would have it out all night. But the doctor don’t seem to understand that … She has a really strong cough. She can cough up secretions. But when they cap her off, because that balloon’s there and because the tracheostomy tube is in her throat, she can’t cough the secretions out of her lungs.

Patrik: I see.

Keno: I mean because it blocks it. They don’t seem to understand that. So, when they cap her off for 24 hours, she’ll build up secretions in her tracheostomy and she can’t cough it out.

Patrik: I see.

Continuation:
https://intensivecareathome.com/my-husband-has-a-tracheostomy-can-he-be-decannulated/