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Hi Everyone,
It is 5:30 a.m. Daddy and I have had a very long night. I will start at the beginning: Sat. evening at about 9:00 p.m. We drove over to the church to print off the programs for Sunday. Daddy had done some pushups a little earlier in the evening and he felt a little pain in his chest...nothing much at all. We finished up in the library and headed home. We got about halfway home and he said his back just all of a sudden started hurting really badly. He pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car and fell on his knees on the grass by the side of the road. It took all we had to get him in the car and drive him the rest of the way home. When we got home he was in excruciating pain. I had to move his legs out of the car and then he fell down and couldn't get up or get in the house. He just laid on the driveway. I called 911. The ambulance came. He felt one pinch better when they got him in bed. He was as white as a sheet. They checked his vital signs and everything seemed o.k. but he just said that his back hurt really badly (a little below the shoulder blades). They did an EKG and that seemed normal. He seemed to be doing a little better and they said to call if he seemed to get worse. After doing all they could, they left. Well, he had to go to the bathroom and that ended up putting him in excruciating pain again. He said his legs were going numb. 911 got another call. They gave him morphine for the pain.
They took him to American Fork Hospital where they did a CT scan and found that he had a torn aorta. They started giving him statins like crazy to lower his blood pressure and more morphine. Then they transported him by ambulance to St. Mark's Hospital in S.L. I followed doing 85 mph.
I got him checked in and then they made me wait in a waiting room until they would come and get me. All of a sudden I heard that there was a code blue in room 14 (his room) people came rushing in...about 15 in all. All this time I wasn't allowed to go in the room. After a while a religious advisor came in with a "you poor thing" look on her face. She said, "Your husband has taken a turn for the worse." Then I knew that code blue meant full cardiac arrest and my first thought was..."they caused this by all the statins they gave him!"
She just sat there looking at me with great empathy. I finally said, "Is he dead?" "Oh, no, she said but he went in to full cardiac arrest and they are working on him. I said, "Oh good, because I believe he will be o.k." (The elders had given him a blessing that he would be able to bear the pain that he would go through and that he could get the help that he needed and that it would be temporary). She tried to comfort me but , honestly, I said, "Really, I'm fine." (which I really was except that I kind of felt weak and shaky).
After a while, Dr. Thorne, the cardiac surgeon came out and said, "Your husband is fine but he went into cardiac arrest from all the statins that they were giving him to lower his blood pressure." He then explained to me that the tear in his aorta (which I thought was just that, a little tear, the proper word is "dissection") actually starts in the left side of his aorta and goes all the way down to his left leg! Holy cow!
To make a long story a little shorter, he will be in the hospital for 4 to 5 days. They will treat his condition with blood pressure medication (which probably would have prevented this if we would have done something about his high blood pressure earlier). At this point, they don't plan to operate and repair the dissection with mesh..the plan is to see how he does unless he gets worse and just treat it with medication and rest.
I know I don't need to say that we need your prayers for him.
love,
Mom
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Update 11-24-13 at 12:38 pm
Preston and I are heading down to the hospital right now. I just called the hospital and talked to dad's nurse. He said dad is doing well. They are treating his high blood pressure. He said there isn't any talk on surgery at this point.
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We are here at the hospital. Dad is stable but he looks worn out and pale. I heard dad say he will definitely be taking the blood pressure medication after this ordeal. He said he doesn't want to experience that pain again.
Dad did say he ate bits of his soup and some peaches. Mom ate half a sandwich. So I am happy to report they are eating.
The nurse that mom and I talked to made it clear that the "dissection" will not heal. It will just have to be managed via medication. The nurse said dad isn't currently on pain meds because his blood pressure is much lower and therefore not causing the back pain. He does feel the pain every once in a while like when he turns on his side or hiccups.
Dad's blood pressure fluctuates between 140 and 115 (on the top) the bottom number is right around 60. The nurse said it needs to stay around 120 or below. It seems to lower when he's closing his eyes and resting.
There is something very odd about seeing your own dad in a hospital bed. It's not fun. He's always been the one to take care of me when I've been hurt or when I am not feeling well. I hope he has a full recovery and that everything will be ok.
Read more about Aortic Dissection here:
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11/25/13 at 1:14 pm
I just got an update on Dad. The Dr. said the CT scan this morning looked about the same which is good, it hasn't gotten worse. They are still working on stabilizing his blood pressure with different meds before they let him go home.
Dad is hoping to go home soon. He had a an uncomfortable night last night. He was cold until they finally brought in some blankets and his lower back is starting to hurt from laying on his back all day. He is also having a hard time swallowing and he said everything tastes awful. Mom said she tasted what he was eating and she said it wasn't that bad so she is thinking the meds are affecting his taste. Mom said he is still just really worn out.
He is also still bleeding a little bit on his neck. He said the IV's hurt when they come and clean them.
Both mom and dad appreciate everyone's prayers.
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11/25/13 at 10:45 pm
I just got back from the hospital. Dad is definitely in need of prayers at this point. He's just so uncomfortable in that hospital bed. He's uncomfortable yet it is hard for him to move but he keeps trying to change his position. It was difficult for me to see him tonight in the state that he is in. Not only is he uncomfortable but he is having a hard time thinking clearly because of the morphine they gave him earlier today. He has a hard time thinking of words and sometimes he just says things that makes no sense at all. He can sort of tell that he is struggling to think and then he gets frustrated when he can't remember a word or finish his thought. He just looks really worn out and he's shaky and weak.
I'm really worried about him tonight. I hope he can get some sleep. He really would like to go home. He's tired of all the IV's and cords that he is hooked up to. The hospital bed is so uncomfortable to him. They were able to get him up for just a little bit today and he also said they sat him up on the bed for a while which is good.
His blood pressure was lower tonight. Around 110, but he is still on the IV meds. He still needs to be stable enough to take him off the IV and do well on just oral meds.
He also keeps hiccuping for some odd reason and it is very uncomfortable to him when he does. His throat hurts too and it is difficult for him to swallow. He also got a bloody nose earlier today from the oxygen he's hooked up to. They now have a humidifier attached.
While I was there our old bishop, Bro. Farrer and another brother from the ward came to visit. It was fun to visit with them and listen to their stories. Dad definitely has a lot of support from friends and family. Again, pray for dad to be able to sleep tonight and be able to go home soon.
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11/26/13 at 2:04 pm
I just talked to mom, she said dad is doing better today. She said the doctors are hoping he can go home tomorrow. She said they took his arterial continuous blood pressure line out today because the longer they have that in the greater the risk for infection. Mom and aunt Christie are there with him right now. She brought a foam pad that they are going to try and put under dad so he is more comfortable. Mom said dad is mentally sharper today and the nurses and doctors keep saying that he looks really good considering all that he has been through.
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Update 11/26/13 at 4:50 pm
The doctor just came and told mom and dad that he thinks we should do surgery. They are going to think about it for a couple hours but more than likely he will go into surgery tomorrow morning. It will be a mesh on his artery and they will have to apply it in 3 stages (3 surgeries). Everyone please pray for us to make the right decision and that everything will go well in the surgery if we decide to move forward. Without the surgery the Dr said he would have a 50% mortality rate. He also said that the hiccups he has been experiencing are likely caused from from blood leakage from the artery. The doctor said he is a good candidate for the surgery and he feels like he will be much better off with the surgery.
Update 11/26/13 at 6:40 pm
Dad looks much better tonight than he did last night. He's thinking more clearly and his color is better. Both mom and dad are feeling good about moving forward with the surgery. He is scheduled to go into surgery at 7:30 am. The surgery lasts 6-8 hrs. If he does well he should be able to come home 3 days later.
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Update 11/27/13 at 11:54 am
Dad went into surgery this morning. They started the procedure at 8:47 am. At 5:00 am they gave him an antiseptic bath and changed his bed and at 6:30 they started prepping for surgery. The surgery should last between 6-8 hrs. They said he was in good spirits this morning and was cracking jokes. He did feel really tired though after his bath.
Last night Tasha and Bob came to see dad before his surgery. I was going to stay the night with dad but Bob offered to as well so we asked dad who he would rather have stay and he said "Bob." Ok then. Haha it was actually really funny how confident he said it since he has been fairly quiet and kind of out of it. I can understand though he would rather have a guy stay with him.
So I went home but didn't get home until really late. Bob stayed with him all night and Tasha and Mom went home and got some sleep which is good. Now mom and Tasha are at the hospital and Bob is at my parent's house getting some rest.
Last night dad got another priesthood blessing from some brethren from their ward. It was a nice blessing. We all were feeling good about moving forward with the surgery. We hope that everything goes smoothly.
They said that dad will have to lay flat on his back for a full 24 hrs after the surgery which they said is going to be miserable because he will get tired of being in the same position for so long. He will spend hopefully only 2 days in ICU and then maybe a day or two in a regular hospital room. So hopefully he will be able to go home either Sunday or Monday.
The nurse said that for 6 weeks after the surgery he won't be able to sit at a 90 degree angle. He has to sit at 45 degrees. That means he will be spending a lot of time in a lazy boy.
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Update 11/27/13 at 2:44 pm
We just got word that all the prep is done they are preparing to place the stint. Everything is going well.
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Lisa, thanks for such a good post. We really appreciate you. We love you dearly. Mom and Dad
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