INTRODUCTION

This booklet contains advice and information about intensive care.  It tells you how critical illness may be treated and what recovery may be like.  Not every patient will experience all of these things, but they are more likely to if they have been in intensive care for more than a few days. This information for relatives and visitors. By reading this booklet, relatives will learn what a patient's recovery may involve and it will give them the answers to some of the questions they may have.

Recovery is often a long and slow process.  To begin with, patients may not feel up to reading this information, so if you are a relative, please keep hold of this booklet and pass it on when the patient is ready.

One of the scariest things about having a critical illness is not knowing what's going to happen. This booklet can't answer all your questions, but it will answer many of them. It will try to tell you what may happen and where you can find out more information.

If you have any comments about this booklet I would like to hear from you.  Visit my blog www.icuinfo.blogspot.com or where you can e-mail your comments direct to icuinfoum@gmail.com