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." ...The tear in his aorta is called an Aortic dissection..
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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I've copied most of this from my sister Lisa's blog
Update from Lisa:
"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 (Again, from Lisa)
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.
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I am so grateful that he is still with us. My brother shared that 40% of all people who have an aortic dissection die immediately, and there is almost no chance of surviving for an hour without medical care. My Dad defied the odds. I think it is pretty macho that this happened while he was doing pushups at age 71. And that he didn't die from it. He has had a wonderful and full life, but we want it to last years longer!
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| My Dad and Me when I was about 2 |
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| My Dad when he served in the Air Force |
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| Gymnastics Team at BYU |
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| My Dad and Mom on their wedding day |
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| And years later at my sister's wedding |
We love you Dad!
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