Cardiac Arrest June 10, 2013
I don’t remember any of this, it’s what
I’ve been told. On June 10, 2013, Joan came home about
11:30 am
from her Monday
morning hike to find me lying on my back on the back patio with my feet
on the steps leading into the house. I had been running on the
treadmill but collapsed when I started into the house. I was gasping
for breath but unresponsive, and my eyes were open staring into the hot
sun. The back of my head was bleeding where I had hit the concrete. She
immediately started CPR and called 911 and after talking to the man on
duty she unlocked the front door so they could get inside. When the
firemen got here they took over the CPR and the paramedics
hooked me up to the defibrillator machine, and gave me an injection
of epinephrine. After three shocks, and three injections of
medication they loaded me onto a stretcher and into the ambulance and
took me to the ER at the closest hospital.
I
was in a medically induced coma for 72 hours or 3 days. The
cardiologist told Joan I had 3 severely clogged coronary
arteries. They opened my 2 main clogged artery with balloon
angioplasty. The doctor explained the risks of hypothermia and Joan had
to sign for me to have it. They started lowering my body temperature
but I couldn’t handle it so after 12 hours they slowly brought my body
back to its normal temperature They told Joan I had a 50-50 chance of
surviving
After 72
hours I regained consciousness and the nurse called Joan at
6 am
to come to hospital. I asked her several times as best I could being
intubated "what happened?" and finally I understood and I was able to
sign the release for quadruple heart bypass surgery which happened
in 2 days.
I
spent over 2 weeks in the hospital (in the cardiac unit, and then on
the rehab floor) and was released to go home where I was seen by a
visiting nurse. I was on the rehab unit for problems with my balance
and gait. After a week at home I had to return because of breathing
problems. It seemed to be pneumonia & both leg and pulmonary
embolisms were found
They
drained 2 liters of bloody fluid from the cavity in my back and then I
could breath again. After a bag of IV antibiotics and many pills I was
able to go home again after 4 days.
My next ordeal was a granuloma on my vocal cords that was preventing me
from speaking. It was caused by all the tubes that were put in my
throat that kept me alive. The medication did not work and finally a
huge growth had to be removed by the ENT doctor with Scappel knife
scrapping surgery.
After about a week of healing from all this operation my left lower
forearm started to be painful and swell and I spent Labor Day in the
emergency room getting more bags of IV antibiotics for the infection
from the anesthesia IV I got for the granuloma removal.
After 6 weeks in cardio rehab on treadmills and stationary bikes I
really started to recover and to this date nothing more has happened. I
am working on getting my medical back so I can fly again. Joan is
starting to have PTSD from thinking I was going to die. That is a hard
thing to get over. I really think that Joan giving me CPR' being vegan
and exercising daily helped save my
life.
Don
