All, I wanted to give you all a quick update this afternoon. John came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and he's not having any chest pain, but he is still having pain in the abdomen from the angioplasty. He's having to take it slow and isn't moving a whole lot, but he is home and alive. Sometimes you don't really think about how much people mean to you until you almost lose them. Please, for me, take a minute to hug the ones you love and let them know they matter :)
John will be going back to work virtually (i.e. telecommuting) on Monday and will be back in the office on 1/4. I'll be back at work on Monday and Sean will be here to make sure his dad isn't over exerting himself since we can't trust Luke (our dog) with that responsibility.
Looking back over this past week, I'm amazed by how many people it took to get John back (sorta) on his feet. He saw at least 10 doctors in the hospital and a host of nurses. There were also the blood donors who gave, the EMTs, and everyone else who was there for us during this past week. Included in that is both of our bosses who told us both that getting John better was the number one priority.
And a big thanks goes out to everyone who reached out to us and who read my updates and reached out to me to ask what was going on if I didn't send one out. I'll give everyone another update in a week or so.
Thanks again,
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Heart Attack Update 12/09
10 AM Update
Things are going a little slow this morning with the snow and everything so I'm just getting settled into the hospital and getting the updates from overnight. I have to tell you, I like my five minute commute a whole lot better than doing John's.
John had a really good night last night. They gave him two pints of blood and now his hemoglobin is over 10 which is tracking toward the normal range of 12 to 18. He's extremely excited because he gets to go for a walk this morning. He's going stir crazy from being one room for three days straight, even though he does have a great view of the lake. His blood pressure is also moving back into the normal range. His systolic is now 109 up from 72, so that's great progress. They're starting to talk about sending him home. He's still at the ICU, but they're talking about possibly skipping sending him to a regular room and sending him right home!
That's awesome news and since Sean is done with school on Saturday, he'll have someone home with him all day. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! It really does mean a lot. BTW he has his Cliq with him so he's checking his personal email (XXX) and he'd love to get email. Okay...gotta go we're going for our walk...He would like to twitter while we walk, but the twitter isn't set up on the cliq yet. LOL.
Evening Update
John's doing really well. He was moved to a regular room today!!! And he got to get up and walk. Those are really good signs of progress. Hopefully, he'll be able to go home in the next few days. Have a great evening.
Things are going a little slow this morning with the snow and everything so I'm just getting settled into the hospital and getting the updates from overnight. I have to tell you, I like my five minute commute a whole lot better than doing John's.
John had a really good night last night. They gave him two pints of blood and now his hemoglobin is over 10 which is tracking toward the normal range of 12 to 18. He's extremely excited because he gets to go for a walk this morning. He's going stir crazy from being one room for three days straight, even though he does have a great view of the lake. His blood pressure is also moving back into the normal range. His systolic is now 109 up from 72, so that's great progress. They're starting to talk about sending him home. He's still at the ICU, but they're talking about possibly skipping sending him to a regular room and sending him right home!
That's awesome news and since Sean is done with school on Saturday, he'll have someone home with him all day. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! It really does mean a lot. BTW he has his Cliq with him so he's checking his personal email (XXX) and he'd love to get email. Okay...gotta go we're going for our walk...He would like to twitter while we walk, but the twitter isn't set up on the cliq yet. LOL.
Evening Update
John's doing really well. He was moved to a regular room today!!! And he got to get up and walk. Those are really good signs of progress. Hopefully, he'll be able to go home in the next few days. Have a great evening.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hospital Update 12/08 at 4:45
Again, I can't thank everyone enough for the good wishes and prayers. Everyone says to let them know if there is anything they can do and to be honest, the only thing we really need right now is for you to keep us in our thoughts and prayers. The encouraging emails and texts help a whole lot because sometimes I feel like I'm sitting here in a vacuum with no connection to the outside world so getting that ping in my email means more than you know.
Overall John is doing well, but he is still in ICU. The good news is that his blood pressure has been up all day (that's a good thing because it was low) and they've reduced the amount of times they're checking it from four times an hour to once an hour. He's up and watching TV and they're letting him eat. Sean brought us Soup Box today for lunch so that was a great treat and much better than hospital food :). They're letting him stand up and move from the chair to the bed, but he can't move any farther than that because he is still tethered to the wall.
They're still concerned about the amount of blood he's lost due to the internal bleeding where they inserted the line in his femoral artery. They may end up giving him another pint of blood, but they'll make that decision in a little bit. We also still don't know what the strategy is for the other artery that is blocked, but as of today they were leaning toward having him come back in in a few weeks and fix that on an outpatient basis.
We're also starting to talk about long term strategies and we are in from some big changes on the home front. Less red meat, more fish, NO butter (okay that one hurts me a lot), and for John no smoking (the hardest one for him). Every doctor in here has stressed that he has to stop smoking so this doesn't happen again. That will be the toughest part of the whole thing.
I do have to say that all of the doctors we've had (and it feels like zillions) and all the members of the staff have been wonderful. They've been kind, competent, and very professional. Anyway, thanks for listening. I'll send out another update in the morning.
Overall John is doing well, but he is still in ICU. The good news is that his blood pressure has been up all day (that's a good thing because it was low) and they've reduced the amount of times they're checking it from four times an hour to once an hour. He's up and watching TV and they're letting him eat. Sean brought us Soup Box today for lunch so that was a great treat and much better than hospital food :). They're letting him stand up and move from the chair to the bed, but he can't move any farther than that because he is still tethered to the wall.
They're still concerned about the amount of blood he's lost due to the internal bleeding where they inserted the line in his femoral artery. They may end up giving him another pint of blood, but they'll make that decision in a little bit. We also still don't know what the strategy is for the other artery that is blocked, but as of today they were leaning toward having him come back in in a few weeks and fix that on an outpatient basis.
We're also starting to talk about long term strategies and we are in from some big changes on the home front. Less red meat, more fish, NO butter (okay that one hurts me a lot), and for John no smoking (the hardest one for him). Every doctor in here has stressed that he has to stop smoking so this doesn't happen again. That will be the toughest part of the whole thing.
I do have to say that all of the doctors we've had (and it feels like zillions) and all the members of the staff have been wonderful. They've been kind, competent, and very professional. Anyway, thanks for listening. I'll send out another update in the morning.
Hospital Update 12/8 at 10:15 am
The update from this morning is posted below.
First off, I want to thank everyone for all the emails, voice mails, texts, and facebook messages. They REALLY mean a lot and knowing that people are thinking about us is keeping us going so thanks a lot! Secondly, I'm sorry I didn't get an update out last night I'd had about 4 hours sleep in 30 hours and wasn't terribly coherent.
Now on to the update :) John is doing a LOT better. He's sitting up and they're letting him eat so those are both very positive signs. They're also letting him stand for short periods of time. He's not able to walk around yet because he's tethered to the wall and all the monitors. They also have said there are no rips/ tears in his femoral artery and the blood loss is just from "oozing" from where they put the IV in. That's means they won't have to go in and do vascular surgery to repair the artery. The echocardiogram of the heart is also looking good. There seems to be minimal long term damage to the heart muscle from the heart attack as they were able to open up the blood vessel quickly. The ultrasound of his heart from Sunday is actually really scary because you can very clearly see where the blood stopped flowing. We don't have an update on what the next steps are for the other artery that is clogged, but I'll let people know when I hear. I'm so thankful that he was close to one of the best heart hospitals in the world. The world works in mysterious ways sometimes so it was really good he was downtown and not at home. Again, thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers.
First off, I want to thank everyone for all the emails, voice mails, texts, and facebook messages. They REALLY mean a lot and knowing that people are thinking about us is keeping us going so thanks a lot! Secondly, I'm sorry I didn't get an update out last night I'd had about 4 hours sleep in 30 hours and wasn't terribly coherent.
Now on to the update :) John is doing a LOT better. He's sitting up and they're letting him eat so those are both very positive signs. They're also letting him stand for short periods of time. He's not able to walk around yet because he's tethered to the wall and all the monitors. They also have said there are no rips/ tears in his femoral artery and the blood loss is just from "oozing" from where they put the IV in. That's means they won't have to go in and do vascular surgery to repair the artery. The echocardiogram of the heart is also looking good. There seems to be minimal long term damage to the heart muscle from the heart attack as they were able to open up the blood vessel quickly. The ultrasound of his heart from Sunday is actually really scary because you can very clearly see where the blood stopped flowing. We don't have an update on what the next steps are for the other artery that is clogged, but I'll let people know when I hear. I'm so thankful that he was close to one of the best heart hospitals in the world. The world works in mysterious ways sometimes so it was really good he was downtown and not at home. Again, thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Hospital Update 12/7
I'll be sending out quick updates on John to a selected group of people and I want to post them here so that anyone who wants to keep updated can.
Okay, so the one thing I've figured out is that hospitals are lousy places to get rest. John's been trying to get to sleep since 9 and the nurse comes in every 15 minutes like clockwork to do something. He's finally sleeping and I hope the nurse is going to leave us alone for a while. (note: as soon as I typed this, she came back in and woke him up again:( )
He did have a heart attack, that was confirmed. One artery was 100% blocked (this was the one that caused the heart attack) and another is significantly blocked. They cleared out the blockage in the artery that was completely blocked and put in a stent so it would not collapse. They also had a temporary pacemaker in, but they took that out around 5 pm last night. He lost a significant amount of blood because of the line they put into his femoral artery to put the stent in and he has had two bags (pints??) of blood. His biggest challenge right now is his blood pressure. It has been running as low as 70 / 46 and they are worried about that. Because it is so low, they can't give him some of the medicines they would normally give heart attack patients.
He'll be in ICU through at least today (Monday) and in the hospital at least through Wednesday and maybe longer. Over the next few days they will be monitoring his heart to see if it suffered any permanent damage during the heart attack and they will most likely clear the blockage out of the other artery and put a stent in it.
They do have wireless in the hospital (I'm still here) and they are letting us use our cell phones so feel free to email and / or call. I'll be here most of the time for the next two days, but will be going home for at least a few hours a day to take care of the critters and get some sleep.
All of your thoughts and prayers mean a great deal! I'll send out another update when I have additional info.
Okay, so the one thing I've figured out is that hospitals are lousy places to get rest. John's been trying to get to sleep since 9 and the nurse comes in every 15 minutes like clockwork to do something. He's finally sleeping and I hope the nurse is going to leave us alone for a while. (note: as soon as I typed this, she came back in and woke him up again:( )
He did have a heart attack, that was confirmed. One artery was 100% blocked (this was the one that caused the heart attack) and another is significantly blocked. They cleared out the blockage in the artery that was completely blocked and put in a stent so it would not collapse. They also had a temporary pacemaker in, but they took that out around 5 pm last night. He lost a significant amount of blood because of the line they put into his femoral artery to put the stent in and he has had two bags (pints??) of blood. His biggest challenge right now is his blood pressure. It has been running as low as 70 / 46 and they are worried about that. Because it is so low, they can't give him some of the medicines they would normally give heart attack patients.
He'll be in ICU through at least today (Monday) and in the hospital at least through Wednesday and maybe longer. Over the next few days they will be monitoring his heart to see if it suffered any permanent damage during the heart attack and they will most likely clear the blockage out of the other artery and put a stent in it.
They do have wireless in the hospital (I'm still here) and they are letting us use our cell phones so feel free to email and / or call. I'll be here most of the time for the next two days, but will be going home for at least a few hours a day to take care of the critters and get some sleep.
All of your thoughts and prayers mean a great deal! I'll send out another update when I have additional info.
Silent Night of Bliss
Coming home from the hospital with Cat, I tried very hard to go to sleep knowing that I had to take care of myself if I was going to be able to take care of John at all. However, after tossing and turning for a few hours, I realized that sleep would be impossible while I was worried about him. Cat had already made sure she had a ride to school in the morning in case I left early, so I headed back to the hospital at midnight.
I got there at almost 1 am and checked in at the main desk. They called the floor and they went back and forth a few times about whether or not I could go up, but they finally agreed that I could go up for a few minutes. I diabolically chuckled inwardly knowing that once I got to his room, I wouldn't leave until I was ready and satisfied that he was in good hands.
Although he was extremely exhausted and still a little scared, John was so happy that I'd come to see him. They weren't letting him sleep but 15 minutes at a time and he still was feeling scared and alone. I don't think it hit me until just this minute, but this was the first time that John had every been in the hospital. He'd been in the emergency room a few times, but they'd never been admitted and he didn't realize that you rarely get to sleep at night in the hospital because they need to keep checking your vitals.
My strong husband looked so scared and alone in that bed, that I wanted to crawl in beside him and hold him, but I couldn't because of all the wires and IVs he was connected to. He had IVs hooked up to both arms and all the heart monitors. All I could do was stroke his head and let him know I was there for him. Hospitals are strange places at night because there is the constant hum of machinery and monitors and because everyone speaks in a hushed voice. The snow started to fall during the night and I looked out over the silent city and said a prayer to all the gods above that my husband would make it and come home to us.
John's blood pressure was extremely low because of some internal bleeding from where they had done the angioplasty. They weren't sure if he had an active bleed that they could go in and fix or if it was just oozing. Every 15 minutes throughout the night the blood pressure cuff went off and they checked his pressure. It was scary to see his systolic pressure (the top number) hovering around 70. After the reading was taken, John's nurse Adelie would come in and have him turn on his back so that they could get another reading because for some reason his reading was better when he was flat on his back. However, John's never been able to sleep on his back so as soon as the nurse left, he'd lay back on his side to catch a little sleep. That went on all night and by the time the morning rolled around he was exceedingly exhausted.
When 7 am rolled around, it was time for the parade of doctors to come through and check on him. The first doctors in were the vascular surgeons who were concerned that they might have to do surgery to repair his arteries. Then came the cardiovascular team who were concerned about his low blood pressure. By 9 am, we'd also had two EKGs, one for his heart and the other an ultrasound of his abdomen. Both gave us some good news as the heart EKG showed that his heart was repairing itself and the other showed that there were no definitive bleeds and the bruising was most likely due to blood seepage from when they did the angiogram.
I left the hospital around 7 pm feeling hopeful and driving home I said a silent prayer of thanks for all the doctors and nurses who were working to heal my husband.
I got there at almost 1 am and checked in at the main desk. They called the floor and they went back and forth a few times about whether or not I could go up, but they finally agreed that I could go up for a few minutes. I diabolically chuckled inwardly knowing that once I got to his room, I wouldn't leave until I was ready and satisfied that he was in good hands.
Although he was extremely exhausted and still a little scared, John was so happy that I'd come to see him. They weren't letting him sleep but 15 minutes at a time and he still was feeling scared and alone. I don't think it hit me until just this minute, but this was the first time that John had every been in the hospital. He'd been in the emergency room a few times, but they'd never been admitted and he didn't realize that you rarely get to sleep at night in the hospital because they need to keep checking your vitals.
My strong husband looked so scared and alone in that bed, that I wanted to crawl in beside him and hold him, but I couldn't because of all the wires and IVs he was connected to. He had IVs hooked up to both arms and all the heart monitors. All I could do was stroke his head and let him know I was there for him. Hospitals are strange places at night because there is the constant hum of machinery and monitors and because everyone speaks in a hushed voice. The snow started to fall during the night and I looked out over the silent city and said a prayer to all the gods above that my husband would make it and come home to us.
John's blood pressure was extremely low because of some internal bleeding from where they had done the angioplasty. They weren't sure if he had an active bleed that they could go in and fix or if it was just oozing. Every 15 minutes throughout the night the blood pressure cuff went off and they checked his pressure. It was scary to see his systolic pressure (the top number) hovering around 70. After the reading was taken, John's nurse Adelie would come in and have him turn on his back so that they could get another reading because for some reason his reading was better when he was flat on his back. However, John's never been able to sleep on his back so as soon as the nurse left, he'd lay back on his side to catch a little sleep. That went on all night and by the time the morning rolled around he was exceedingly exhausted.
When 7 am rolled around, it was time for the parade of doctors to come through and check on him. The first doctors in were the vascular surgeons who were concerned that they might have to do surgery to repair his arteries. Then came the cardiovascular team who were concerned about his low blood pressure. By 9 am, we'd also had two EKGs, one for his heart and the other an ultrasound of his abdomen. Both gave us some good news as the heart EKG showed that his heart was repairing itself and the other showed that there were no definitive bleeds and the bruising was most likely due to blood seepage from when they did the angiogram.
I left the hospital around 7 pm feeling hopeful and driving home I said a silent prayer of thanks for all the doctors and nurses who were working to heal my husband.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thoughts and Prayers
The kids and I headed home from the hospital about 6 pm yesterday (12/6) John was stable and the medicines they have him on are making him exceedingly tired. We spent the day keeping him company and keeping people informed. I called my mom about noon and I hated to tell her about John because she sounded so happy and excited about how her day was going when I called her.
Unfortunately, my mom knew exactly what I was going through because my father had several heart attacks when I was growing up and she spent many days and nights in the hospital holding his hand. She promised to put John on her church prayer list and said she'd come in to be with Caitlin if we needed her to. I told her that I thought we had everything under control, but I'd let her know if there was anything she could do.
I also called John's dad to let him know what was going on and he was so concerned that he offered to come up right away. I told him that John was stable and there really wasn't anything that he could do except keep us in his thoughts and prayers. Everyone at work is worried and has sent us emails and texts telling us that they're thinking of us and letting us know that they're there for us in case we need anything.
The kids updated their Facebook status to let everyone know how their dad is doing and I've been sending out text so that people know what's going on and what his status is. I figure it is easier to send out the updates than to have to deal with questions one up.
Leaving John was hard, but Cat and I had to head home to take care of the critters and Sean has school in the morning. We know we're leaving him in the best possible place, but it's still hard to leave him behind.
Unfortunately, my mom knew exactly what I was going through because my father had several heart attacks when I was growing up and she spent many days and nights in the hospital holding his hand. She promised to put John on her church prayer list and said she'd come in to be with Caitlin if we needed her to. I told her that I thought we had everything under control, but I'd let her know if there was anything she could do.
I also called John's dad to let him know what was going on and he was so concerned that he offered to come up right away. I told him that John was stable and there really wasn't anything that he could do except keep us in his thoughts and prayers. Everyone at work is worried and has sent us emails and texts telling us that they're thinking of us and letting us know that they're there for us in case we need anything.
The kids updated their Facebook status to let everyone know how their dad is doing and I've been sending out text so that people know what's going on and what his status is. I figure it is easier to send out the updates than to have to deal with questions one up.
Leaving John was hard, but Cat and I had to head home to take care of the critters and Sean has school in the morning. We know we're leaving him in the best possible place, but it's still hard to leave him behind.
Circumstantial Bliss
My husband, who was taking a few days vacation, had a heart attack today. He called me at 7 am sounding desperate and asking me to please help him. Unfortunately, due to phone malfunctions I didn't get the call and I will always feel guilty for not being there for him when he was scared and alone and reached out to me for help. Fortunately, he was able to get a hold of our son who was only 10 minutes away and he got to the hospital in time.
Within ten minutes of arriving at the hospital, he was rushed into emergency surgery and they did an angioplasty and put balloons in his artery to clear the blockage and then put a stent in to keep the artery from collapsing again. The pictures from his angiogram are scary as they show absolutely no blood flow through the artery.
I got downtown just as he was getting done with angioplasty so I was there when the doctor's came out to give us the update. He had a complete blockage in one artery and a partial blockage in another. They had fixed the one artery and were going to go back in and fix the other one later. Shortly after we talked to the doctor, we were able to see John. He was in the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) and would be under heavy observation for a couple of days, but at least he was alive.
Around 2 pm, Sean went to meet his sister at the train station and I had a few minutes to reflect on the circumstances that led me to be sitting in CCU instead of planning my 45 year old husband's funeral:
Within ten minutes of arriving at the hospital, he was rushed into emergency surgery and they did an angioplasty and put balloons in his artery to clear the blockage and then put a stent in to keep the artery from collapsing again. The pictures from his angiogram are scary as they show absolutely no blood flow through the artery.
I got downtown just as he was getting done with angioplasty so I was there when the doctor's came out to give us the update. He had a complete blockage in one artery and a partial blockage in another. They had fixed the one artery and were going to go back in and fix the other one later. Shortly after we talked to the doctor, we were able to see John. He was in the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) and would be under heavy observation for a couple of days, but at least he was alive.
Around 2 pm, Sean went to meet his sister at the train station and I had a few minutes to reflect on the circumstances that led me to be sitting in CCU instead of planning my 45 year old husband's funeral:
- Financial circumstances meant that John took his vacation downtown Chicago instead of in Washington, DC as he'd hoped. I don't know what would have happened if he'd have been in DC, would he have tried to tough it out? Would he have called 911 in town? How would I have gotten to him to take care of him?
- He was downtown and not at home. Although that made it more difficult to get to him, it also meant that he was closer to a world class hospital. Although our hospital is supposedly competent, I've never been happy with the care I've gotten there.
- Sean was only 10 minutes away via cab and was able to get to his dad quickly.
All of those factors combined to mean that John got the care he needed when he needed it and that means I'm thanking the stars above that he's going to be okay.
Note: I'm playing catch up on my journal, so the entries over the next few days will be backdated and pulled from the journal I've been keeping about John's heart attack.
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