On Friday dad had a backache, but he just thought he had slept wrong. On Saturday, his back still hurt in the morning, and in the shower he started experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath. He got out of the shower and Kathy called 911. They instructed her to give him an aspirin, which she did. Paramedics got there quickly and transported him to Barton Memorial, where he was given a "clot buster" and some diagnostic tests that suggested he was having a heart attack. Due to weather they decided to ground-transport him to Renown Medical Center in Reno, which has a "state-of-the-art chest pain center." The paramedics called Kathy as they arrived, and said that they thought the clot-buster was helping, as dad seemed to be feeling better. Dad had been chatting with them about sailboats and the like. Kathy got to talk to him on the phone and said he sounded almost chipper.
Upon arrival at the hospital dad was taken to the cath lab to get a catheter+balloon+stint, as that was all they thought he needed at the time. In the cath lab his blood pressure started to bottom out, and the doctors realized his situation was more critical than previously thought. They had to do immediate open heart surgery, and he received a triple bypass. The vessel leading into his right ventricle was completely blocked, another was 95% blocked.
It was a pretty shocking sight - tubes and wires and machines all over the place. He was heavily sedated, and eventually placed on a paralytic to stop him from moving around too much and taxing his heart. In other words, since surgery he's not been awake or alert, and we've not yet been able to talk with him (we do talk to him though). That night Kathy and I took turns staying with him. They had a hard time keeping him stable - there were 4 or 5 people in his room almost all night long - fiddling with machines, adding meds, checking vitals, etc. At around 5:30 in the morning he received his 4th liter of blood via transfusion and that seemed to finally level out his blood pressure. The frenetic activity in the room went down a few notches, which I took to be a good thing - it meant he was beginning to stabilize.
On Sunday things stayed pretty much the same. Again, a good thing - he was staying more or less stable.
Sunday night they started removing certain medications, as he had stabilized enough to no longer need them. This morning (Monday morning) they took him off the paralytic, and he's started to move and fidget again. He's still heavily sedated, on ventilator and heart pump, but they're hoping to be able to remove those things in the next day or two.
The major concerns at this point are: (1) once removed from the heart pump, will his heart muscle be strong enough to do its job, and (2) will he have any cognitive impairment. We're hoping for the best, and so far, things have gone our way. We should know more in the next few days, and I'll try to post updates here as quickly as possible.
Thanks to everyone for their support and good wishes. And keep 'em coming! They make us feel a whole lot better.
Love,
Sara
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