ICU patient with no diagnosis

[dandl1999]

I am posting in an attempt to find someone who may have a clue that will lead me in the right direction toward helping my mother. The doctors don't have a clue as to what is wrong with her.  She has been in the hospital for almost a month and is now in ICU.  

First, I’ll give a bit of background about her condition.  She is 54 years old and, over the past 8 months she had lost a considerable amount weight, experienced frequent bouts of dizziness, causing her to fall, and would also become disoriented and confused.  She had complained of pain and had been taking huge amounts of oxycontin.  Upon arriving to the hospital, she suffered a mild heart attack and then developed pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs.  Her breathing got shallow and weak and she was put in ICU.  

After being in ICU for about two weeks on the respirator, she had a tracheostomy.  But, she still is only able to breathe for about 4 minutes without aid.  Her x-rays showed that her clots and pneumonia are clearing, but the doctors have no clue as to why she can't breathe on her own.  Last night, her lung collapsed, but she has been stabilized.

The doctors say that their immediate aim is to get her breathing on her own.  I am just praying that perhaps someone out there has seen symptoms like this and can point us toward a solution or even just an idea of what the underlying problem may be.  Thank you so much.

[patsy10]

I don't know about the problems that led up to her hospital admission but it is possible she could have suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain from the blood clots, pneumonia etc..causing brain damage.  This can affect breathing.  I'm so sorry about your mom.  I wish the best for her and you.

[dandl1999]

I forgot to add in my original post that when taken off the respirator her heart beat rapidly increasesto a critical level and she has to be given sedation and pain medicine to slow her heart rate.

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
I feel sorry that your mother has to go through all this.
I think of infective pathology to be cause for her weight loss, bouts of dizziness, falling and getting confused etc. TB meningitis and its sequelae can present in similar way. Respiratory muscle paralysis or damage to nerve supply of muscles of respiration could be the cause for her not breathing on its own.
Physiotherapy to train respiratory muscles will help a lot.
Hope this helps.
Bye.