Relative in ICU with heat stroke and is not going to make it

[SmokeyMountainRain]

Posting for traffic. Has anybody been through this? Close relative, relatively young 50s), was found incoherent last Wednesday. Rushed to hospital straight to ICU as she'd fallen into a coma. They've kept her asleep, tried to wake her twice and she cannot breath on her own whatsoever. They've ran repeated scans which show due to the heat stroke damage the part of her brain that tells her to breath is severely damaged. They've pretty much said she's incompatible with life now and we will have to turn the machines off this week unless by some miracle she wakes up. Her core temp was 41 degrees for 4 days, she's now at 40. Not responded to any medication, antibiotics etc.

She wasn't even doing anything strenuous. Just in her flat watching telly. Has anyone been through this? Does anyone have any advice? I don't even know what to think and feel it just seems so so cruel. No brain bleeds or blockages on the scan. Substantial brain swelling and damage.

posting for traffic as can't see any similar threads

Any advice or miracle stories please send them my way. Thank you x

It sounds as though there is a big problem with some UK buildings, especially flats, which needs to be addressed.

However. of course you can keep cool in temps of 35C. People have been managing to do so for years, including where I live, which is not a "hot country".

Probably because she couldn't smoke there. Heavy smokers get very anxious at not being able to smoke. Killed my mum at 56. Literally nothing ages your health like chain smoking. Maybe super morbid obese levels of weight with comorbud obesity but that's about it.

I'm so sorry, I lost my mum at 56, she had COPD and was a heavy smoker. A heavy smoker with COPD at 56 is about the same in terms of risks like heat stroke and pneumonia as a non smoker in their 80s.

If she had a temp of 41 that took 4 days to come down though that's the infection not the heat stroke. Your relative has pneumonia and comorbud COPD in a heat wave. Not just heatstroke.

The reasons she's been so susceptible to the what stroke and hypoxic injury is because of the state of her lungs, she'll have been working on a low oxygen level and reduced breathing capacity already. Before an infection came along in hot weather and combined led to heat stroke. She's on this position because of the COPD and heavy smoking as much as the heat.

Hypoxic brain I jury is low oxygen to her brain, caused by the stress the heat put on her already struggling lungs

I dunno. I think it depends on the property. If the heat gets in and you can’t get any cool air and it goes in for days it could become pretty difficult .

OP don't let other posters get to you. The consultants have said its heat stroke and they are the ones qualified to say. Not us. Even if we had medical degrees we haven't seen her so ignore that. The how it happened nd why isn't for now to worry about.

I think all you can do is keep asking questions of the Dr's and make sure your are satisfied with the answers. I doubt there is any major rush here. I also highly doubt she is in pain or this is cruel. It's just happened. She isn't aware.

You need to take care of yourself as with a clear head you can support what path comes next. Whatever happens you will need your strength. Rest eat and drink. I'm sorry your in this shitty situation

If the consultants said its heat stroke then its heat stroke.

What doesn’t make sense is why your relative stayed in the flat if it was incredibly hot and didn’t find anywhere cooler for as much time as they could. Around us the library, rugby club, leisure centre are all open as cool spaces where drinks are available.

Maybe they were going to but became unwell/confused and stopped being able to react in the way that you or I might, when well ? The army has lost fit young men to the same condition, people with no underlying health conditions, because once you reach a certain temperature you stop reacting as you would normally because you literally can't, your body isn't sending the same signals because it physically can't. It stops being about common sense and about your body shutting down due to extreme temperature. It is basic biology.

This is something I would expect to happen in far hotter temperatures and to someone who is very elderly and frail. The poor woman. It's baffling.

You poor thing OP 😢 You must be in absolute bits. How are you feeling?

Those mentioning community cool spaces,

I didn't even know these existed! But tbf I was already too hot and leaving my house would have made me even hotter/overheat, and the official advice was to stay at home!

I am so sorry OP, what a shock it must be considering your relative was only in her 50s

Strange reaction to awful news. Does it matter?

A RTFT
B. im not the one scrabbling around desperately trying to prove its not heat stroke WHICH IS WHAT THE CONSULTANTS SAY IT IS plus it happened while she was at HOME.
Quite frankly the question should be what the motives for doing this are. Especially as only six short years ago a consultants word was law!!!

A heavy smoker in their 50s with COPD is as susceptible to pneumonia and heat stroke as a non smoker in their 80s. Nothing ages the body like chain smoking does.

I say this as someone who lost my mum at 56 to a congenital heart defect exacerbated by chain smoking and COPD. It was devastating. However I work.in healthcare and I rarely see anyone under 80 as frail as my mum was in her last year.or so of life.

Absolutely but a chain smoker in their 50s with COPD will be much.mroe susceptible to complications of heat stroke such as an ischaemic brain.injury as they already have reduced oxygen capacity and increased risk of pneumonia.

Organ donation is very important but it really winds me up that families aren’t offered any kind of bereavement support before the sales pitch. More people would probably agree to donations if they were treated with a bit of compassion and signposted to support at such a harrowing time.

Please everyone, this thread has been started by a Mumsnetter about her close relative in ICU, can you take the discussions that are not directly helpful to her elsewhere?

This is not a generic heatwave thread.

How would you like it if you were sitting in ICU with your relative and came on here for support?

OP, I'm so sorry. That's absolutely horrific. So so young. I'm so sorry for what you're going through.

I’m so very sorry about your aunt @SmokeyMountainRain. Such an awful and unexpected tragedy for you and your family.

OP told us what the consultants actually said - why are you contradicting it ?They said the COPD and lung infection findings are incidental. The brain injury was caused by the heat stroke and affected the area of her brain controlling breathing. Hence the hypoxic brain injury. And if you read OP’s updates, the lung infection couldn’t have contributed to the heat stroke because it developed after she was admitted to ICU as a result of being on the ventilator.

I"m so sorry OP :(
I had no idea that when you get heatstroke you could still have a very elevated temp (40 degrees!) 4 days later. I thought they would actively try and get them temperature down?? Do they not use cooled IV fluids or something like that?

She said they tried and couldn't get the relative's body's core temperature down by more than one degree.

We definitely underestimate how dangerous the heat can be for the vulnerable or anyone who has untreated infections. It’s tragic.
Sitting with a loved one in this situation is so tough, hoping for a miracle. I hope that the family pull together and support each other at this sad time. ❤️

@SmokeyMountainRain I've read the full thread, I feel stupidly hasty in my first response page1.

I hope today brings you some comfort either way. You clearly have an understanding of what has happened and it saddens me to see a blame game in some of these posts.

Keep strong.

Thinking of you.

There has been lots of advice on this, and other threads, of how to cool a house down in hot weather.

Sorry OP, I should have said in my earlier post how sorry I am that you are going through this. Hugs to you and your family. 💐