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Mr_Wizzard
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Name: Richard
Location: California, United States
Birthday: 7/29/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: Computers, Snowboarding, Biking, Hiking, Camping, Backpacking, Rollerblading, Halo, Airsoft
Occupation: Computer related
Industry: Real Estate
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
3/20/2003
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| My mom passed away yesterday.
Her heart finally gave out after more heart attacks yesterday morning.
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| Updates to this saga are over here on myspace.
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| This is not a ghost story. My mom suffered a massive heart attack and cardiac arrest on Saturday.
Saturday 10/29, noon: My
sister, Tania, was visiting my parents with her 3 kids, when my mom
handed the littlest off to my dad and went upstairs. A couple minutes
later my dad asked my sister where she went, so my sister went upstairs
to check on her. She said she felt a little nauseous, so my sister
relayed that message to my dad, who then went to check on her himself.
He found her on her back, with her knees bent, looking very ill. She
was a little pale and clamy, so he asked her if he should call
emergency services. She said "No, wait a while." He asked her if her
chest hurt, and she replied, "a little." He repeated his question about
dialing 9-1-1. She then said, "Yeah, you better."
Saturday 10/29, 12:16pm:
Paramedics respond to the call very quickly, as there are always some
on hand in Roosmoor (Pop. 9600, Avg age 78.6), where my parents live.
When my dad goes downstairs to let the paramedics in (by now my sister
is keeping her young ones out of the way so they dont see what is about
to happen), my mom was breathing with difficulty and laboriously. When
he returned with the paramedics less than a minute later, she had
stopped breathing. The paramedics performed CPR and had to use the
defibrillator twice to get her heart re-started. They have her in the
ambulence and on the way to the hospital, which is less than a 5 minute
ambulance ride, by 12:45pm.
Saturday 10/29, 12:30pm: I
receive a phone call from my other sister, Corinna. I can barely make
out the words over the crying, "Mom had a heart attack, and the
paramedics are performing CPR." The next hour was a blur, but I made it
down to Walnut Creek Kaiser as fast as I could. I went through a dozen
kleenex on the drive.
Saturday 10/29, 1:40pm: I
arrive at Kaiser Hospital the same time as Tania, as she had to wait
for her husband to come from work to watch the kids so she could come
to the hospital. Prepared for the worst (knowing nothing new for the
past hour), we head in together to look for our mom.
Saturday 10/29, roughly 2pm: We
are escorted into a private waiting room in the ER, about 100' from
Red2, where my mom was being worked on. My dad is already there, and
you could tell from his reactions and words that he was in shock. At
this point, we find out that they did re-start her heart, and they were
in the process of setting her up in the ER, and wouldnt allow anyone
in, but expected to allow 2 at a time as soon as they had her hooked up.
Saturday 10/29, 2:30pm: Corinna
arrives to the ER, and we all begin to pray together. We made a couple
phone calls to relatives that should know even though we had nothing
good to report. It would stay like that until tomorrow.
Saturday 10/29, 5:30pm: After
trading off, 2 at a time visiting mom as she struggles, though mostly
unconscious, against the ventilator tubing, IVs and restraints, they
realize that they cant proceed with treatment in the ER because her
heartbeat is too weak for the nitroglycerin. They make preparations to
send her up to the ICU for care under the cardiologists.
Saturday 10/29, roughly 8pm: She
is ready in the ICU for us to be beside her, as the doctors continue to
take readings, samples, EKGs to try and assess the situation. They
start her on Dopamine to raise her blood pressure, as the nitroglycerin
they want to give her will lower it. The plan is to remove her from the
ventilator on Sunday, and send her to Oakland for a cardiogram and any
needed surgery on Monday.
Saturday 10/29, 8:30pm: The
nurse has noticed something that looks different in her EKG than the
printouts from earlier in the ER, so she calls the cardiologist in, and
they repeat the process a couple more times.
Saturday 10/29, 9:30pm: Things
appear to be winding down and nobody has told us anything new, so my
dad and I (the last ones there) decide to go home to get some sleep for
a while.
Saturday 10/29, 10:15pm: We
receive a call from the cardiologist that her condition has worsened.
My mom has gone into cardiac shock, a condition which carries an 80%
mortality rate, and needed to be transferred immediately to Alta Bates,
and that we should meet them there. We call my sisters, and head out.
Saturday 10/29, 11pm: We arrive
at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, to find that she isnt there yet.
They cannot tell us if or when they even expect her. After 20 minutes
of frantic calling, asking, and yelling, we finally hear that she was
on her way from Kaiser at about 11:20pm. Corinna arrived shortly
thereafter, and her 6 month-old and husband would be sleeping with his
grandparents, who lived in downtown Oakland.
Saturday 10/29, 11:50pm: An
ambulence pulls up with its sirens on that my dad suspects is my
mom, and goes out to meet it. Two minutes later he signals me to
follow, and we chase the cart up to the Cath Lab. Everyone in there has
Lead aprons, so we arent allowed in, but they show us the waiting room,
and get right to work.
Sunday 10/30, 12:40am: One of
the Cath Lab staff comes out to meet us with the various consent forms
my dad needs to sign (for the procedures they just did) and explains
that the cardiologist will be out shortly to talk with us, as theyre
just wrapping up in there.
Sunday 10/30, 1am (first one):
Dr. Ralph Brindis, an excellent cardiologist, who has been working on
hearts for at least as long as I've been alive, is on the board at
UCSF, and basically the top cardiologist in the Bay Area, comes out to
explain the procedure to us. He starts off by saying what we all wanted
to hear: that she was still with us. After the cardiogram, they found
that she had very small arteries to begin with. They put 2 stents in 2
arteries to help expand and support them, to ease the exertion right
out of the heart. They also installed an Intra-Aortic Balloon to help
pump blood and take some of the load off the heart. The best news so
far was that she made it through the surgery with flying colors.
Sunday 10/30, 1:50am (first one): We
see them wheel my mom out of the Cath Lab, and they take her up to the
ICU. We then move to the waiting room up there, as they get her
situated.
Sunday 10/30, 1:45am(second one): They
let us in briefly to see her all wired up, and see the new device
pumping the balloon in her aorta in sync with her heart. Then sent us
home.
Sunday 10/30, 9:00am: Back at
the ICU in Alta Bates, we stayed with my mom the whole day, but her
condition didnt change much. They tried lessening the sedative and
waking her up, but she bit down so hard on the oxygen tube, she cut off
the air supply and passed out. They decided not to try again that day.
My dad, having only slept about 1 hour the night before, had to call it
a day at around 6, so I drove him home.
Monday 10/31, 9:30am: Back at
ABSMC, we start another day. My dad has started to take care of all the
business he dreads, during the forced breaks between visits in the ICU.
Monday 10/31, 11am: The
cardiologist assesses the situation and reports some good news. Her
cardiac output had increased two-fold from the day before, so they
turned the IAB helping her heart down to every other heartbeat. Even
after that, her CO was still well above that of the day before. They
also decided hear blood pressure and heart rate were high enough that
she didnt need the dopamine drip, so they turned that off as well. Her
condition seemed stable throughout the day, though she would frown and
rock her head from side to side every once in a while. I thought it
might be her neck was uncomfortable as she has a history of neck pain
and always does neck exercises. We'll see if they find a way to improve
that.
The good thing so far is she made it past the first 48 hours, which the
doctors said would be the most critical time. Unfortunately, in this
time they had originally expected to have her breathing on her own by
now, which they cant do as they've been unsuccessful pulling her out of
sedation. | | |
| RULES FROM THE MALE SIDE
We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now
here are the rules from the male side. Please note: these
are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE. Men only have ONE rule for every occasion!
#1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big
girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need
it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it
down.
#1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live
with it.
#1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the
changing of the tides. Let it be.
#1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never
going to think that way.
#1. Crying is blackmail.
#1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this
one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not
work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it! We'll
get it for you, but just LET US KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!!!!
#1. We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and
anniversaries on the calendar. Remind us frequently
beforehand.
#1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes. What makes
you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out
of thirty, would look good with your dress?
#1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to
almost every question. Please pick one.
#1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help
solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your
girlfriends are for.
#1. A headache that lasts for seventeen months is a
problem. See a doctor.
#1. Let us know about that funny noise in your car
engine as soon as you hear it.
#1. Anything we said six months ago is inadmissible
in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and
void after seven days.
#1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret
girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
#1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us. We refuse to answer, but still love
you.
#1. If something we said can be interpreted two
ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we
meant the other one.
#1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have
to say during commercials.
#1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions,
and neither do we.
#1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows
default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not
a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea
what Mauve is.
#1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
#1. We are not mind readers and we never will be.
Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how
little we care about you.
#1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing,"
we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are
lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
#1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer
to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.
#1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely
anything you wear is fine. Really, you look fine!!!
#1. It is neither in your best interest or ours to
take the quiz together. No, it doesn't matter which quiz.
#1. NASCAR is as exciting for us as handbags are for you.
#1. I AM in shape. ROUND is a shape.
Thank you for reading this. Yes I know, I have to
sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know we really
don't mind that, it's like camping. | | |
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