Update on Dad

As some of you know, my Dad had to go to the E.R. Sunday morning. It all started when I got a knock on my bedroom door a few minutes to 2am Sunday. Karen opened the door and he was standing there breathing really hard and struggling to talk and barely able to stand. He was really only able to mutter that he didn't feel good and we should call 911. I helped him back to his room and had him sit on the bed, dialed 911 and the ambulance and a firetruck were there in just over 5 minutes. Once we were able to go back in the E.R., they already had him sedated and on a ventilator and on several different fluids/meds. They said by the time he reached the E.R. he was very exhausted from trying to breathe and his skin was "gray". After numerous x rays, cat scans, EKGs and blood tests, they saw he had fluids in both lungs and later diagnosed him with congestive heart failure He's had three heart attacks and a quad bypass ten years ago and before, but has been doing ok for the most part since '98. This was quite a shock to all of us! They had him in ICU by 8ish Sunday morning and the ventilator was out shortly after as he was now concieous and stable. They were then able to get him out of ICU and into a regular room by late afternoon. Tuesday morning, he had a cardiac catheterization.

This
is a procedure to examine blood flow to the heart and test how well the
heart is pumping. A doctor inserts a thin plastic tube (catheter)
(KATH'eh-ter) into an artery or vein in the arm or leg. From there it
can be advanced into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary
arteries.

This
test can measure blood pressure within the heart and how much oxygen is
in the blood. It's also used to get information about the pumping
ability of the heart muscle.

It was pretty good, but they saw where one of his graphs (from the bypass) wasn't looking good, but could have been tissue damage from a prior heart attack and they weren't that concerned with that, but did find that his heart wasn't pumping very effectively. This is known as Ejection Fraction, which is the fraction of blood pumped each heart beat. Most healthy people's EF is 50-65%. Less than 35% is deadly as your heart has to beat faster and faster, but not as effiecently which causes blood to back up and fluids to build up in and around your chest. His was under 40%! The Cardiologist said he will undergo Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) to help keep his heart beating correctly. They do this by implanting a defibrillator device under the skin and attatched to the heart which senses dangerous ventricular arrhythmias and sends a mild shock to control the heart beat. Similar to a pacemaker, but only is active when needed, not 24/7. This is scheduled for 10am Wednesday and could take about 3 hours. He should be out by sometime Thursday and make a full recovery I'll post back with updates and BIG THANKS to all of those who have been concerned and wished us well and thought about us
You guys are a great "family"

Dude,My prayers are with you.Im going through the same kind of thing with my mom right now.

Hope everything goes well John! My thoughts and prayers are with you....let me know if you need anything.

Hope everything goes well ,i know whats its like to rush pops to the e.r

Best wishes man. I know the feeling. Weird how things happen at the same time. My dad had a three way(not the good one) 2 years ago.

Words can't express the "feeling" however know that we will be pulling for you and your fam.

I hope all goes well for your Dad. I will be praying for him throughout the day.

hope everything turns out well

Keep us posted and we'll keep you and your family in our thoughts and prayers!

best wishes, let us know how it goes

HOLY CRAP...what a scare that must have been John. I'm so sorry to hear that your dad is going through all of this. You and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers. If you need anything please do not hesitate to call upon us. Keep us posted!

I'm glad to hear that I hope he gets better soon. I will keep him in my prayers also.....

Sorry to hear about that bro glad to know he's doing better now. Heart problems are scary i have them. I've already had 2 cardiac catherizations for my heart issues. sucks and its scary

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family John. Thank God your dad seems to be doing better!

hope everything turns out ok

I hope all will go well, Mom had 5 way around 7 years ago, and a couple of cathes sense but she's still working and doing well, so Hang in there, it'll work out.

Thanks for the big time support It sure is nice to know we have a great group here!
My g/f came down the other night and did quite a bit of work around the house while Sis and I spent most of the day down at the hospital again. She got the downstairs guest room/bathroom all cleaned up so he won't have to keep going up and down stairs while he recovers.
He had his procedure this morning around 10am and was back in the room by 12:45 pm. The doc said it was a "slam dunk", no problems whatsoever!!!!! The site looks really good and should heal quite nicely! Looks weird as you can see the "square" right under his skin just below his collar bone. Reminds me of a knee cap as it can be moved around a little bit by hand. He's doing well and should be able to come home Thursday, if his Coumadin dosage can be dialed in. It could take him up to a month or more to start getting back to normal using his left arm again as he's not to lift more than 10 lbs or raise his hand above his shoulder. He's a very active prson and I know this will be hard for him to be sidelined this long, but at least he should be around for many years to come I'll post up once he's back home and settled in a bit.
Thanks again for the strong support! It's nice to know we're not alone here Words that are definitely worth repeating!!!!!

That is great to hear. Glad everything went smoothly. I'm sure he'll be back on his feet in no time. If there is anything I can do please dont hesitate to ask.

Great to hear!! I can't stress enough to make sure he takes it easy and does what his doctor says. Keep an eye on him.........keep us updated.

Glad to hear he is doing well and Im sure he will be up and around b4 long, let us know if u need anything

its good to hear that everything is going well and i pray it continues that way

Good to hear that man...

thats good news buddy.

Glad to hear your dad is doing better. He'll be fine in no time.

good 2 hear john!

Glad to hear he's doing well John!!