Father on Life Support in Singapore

Dear Ask The Doctor: I am wondering if youwould have any advice for me to help my father to wake and recover. He has been in hospital for 2 1/2 months now(5 weeks of it in Singapore and he was doing great and then on to Miami where he aspirated and ended up the last 3 weeks in ICU). They claim once they removed his gallbladder (which was his main issue upon enty to Miami) that he was internatlly bleeding and once recovering and eating he aspirated (which he also had done at the beginning in Singapore but was dealt with successfully)and he is not on 100% oxygen on a respirator with intubation. He also has to undergo dialysis now since his kidneys are shutting down. They had him very heavily sedated for over 2 weeks and now they have taken him off sedation(finally) he is not waking up. They are saying he has ARDS?! His lungs are hardening. Apparently his brain and heat are doing great (appart from ssertain things they do increase his heart rate to dangerous levels). We are at the stage where doctors do not have anything positive to say and feel nothing can be done. He is 87 however has been extrememly healthy with not even a cold for the past 9 years. He had part of one of his lungs removed 40yrs ago which apparently is making this whole thing so hard. My sister found somethin gon the net that suggested steriods so they started that 2 days ago but still no improvement. Have you ANY suggestions as we need help. PLEASE.

Dear Sam: I truly value your worry about your father’s health. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is a very a delicate state in which the lungs start to fail and accumulate fluid inside them, at the same time the blood oxygen levels decreases. The cause can be multiple, including aspiration which is one of the most common.

It is very hard for us to suggest you on what needs to be done, We have no information on what phase of ARDS is he at the moment, and on top of that it appears that the kidneys are failing too possibly causing a Multiple Organ  Dysfunction Syndrome.

According to what you tell us, he was already started on corticosteroids. These are helpful especially in the later stages of the disease. The goal is to maintain a good oxygenation and treat the underlying disease that caused it. Sedatives are also used and sometimes Diuretics help in removing the fluids from the lungs. We are sure that the doctors and nurses treating your father are doing everything possible to improve his health. It would be helpful for you to talk to them to clarify all your doubts about his prognosis since they know his status better than us.