ICU recovery? Lung contusion, rib fractures, aortic dissection

My 21 year old sibling was in a car accident and sustained bilateral collapsed lungs, lung contusions, a repairable aortic dissection and has been on a ventilator for 30 days with difficulty weaning. I am trying to hear from other recovery stories about the amount of time spent on ventilation in regards to recovery, as 30 days with no end in sight seems like a very prolonged amount of time.

Hi @alaynarose111, How worrying this must be for you. Fellow members like @andreab @plexiclone @dawn_giacabazi @brookssh and @alex12119 may also be able to share their experiences, especially about the ventilator.

I'm glad to hear that your family has not been given a poor prognosis, however, I can see that you have questions that remain unanswered and that you are particularly concerned with how long your sibling has been on a ventilator. Has the ICU team explained why the ventilator remains necessary? Have they said what changes in your siblings condition will indicate when it is safe to come off the ventilator?

Thank you so much for getting back. The issue remains with the injury the lungs have sustained , and he is unable to oxygenate himself properly without the ventilator, I am just getting concerned about the amount of time being spend on it. It’s pretty unusual from my understanding that someone spends over a month on a ventilator without a tracheostomy being performed. In his case the icu team says he it not ready and wouldn’t not tolerate a trach at this point. I was trying to look all over the internet for others who may have had a similar experience with the prolonged amount of time they have spent on a ventilator and their experience and recovery.

@alaynarose111, I certainly can understand your worry. And your brother may be a rare case, but it sounds like the ICU team are monitoring him closely to do what is right for him. Is your brother conscious? Are you able to communicate with him?

He is under heavy sedation and we are unable to communicate with him directly. He has no brain injury.

@alaynarose111- Good morning. I am a voluntary mentor for Lung Cancer and lung health with Mayo Clinic Connect. It sounds as if your brother has experienced a lot of swelling and needs help in getting oxygen into his lungs. I know that 31 days compared to the usual 4 or 5 sounds excessive but he had a lot of injuries! It must be very frustrating not to be able to communicate with him. But remember that his body sustained massive injuries and needs to rest and repair. Everyone is so different and he is young so his chances, according to what his doctors indicate are positive. This is great news along with no brain damage!

Do you have specific questions that you can ask his doctors so this all makes more sense?

Hi @alaynarose111, I wanted to check in and see how your brother is doing. How are you and your family?

Sorry haven’t been very active on here. We are still progressing at a very slow rate. Still on a ventilator

@alaynarose111, good to hear from you. Progressing is good.