About Me (In My Own Words)
Dennis
(42 yrs old)
You had troubles sleeping all night, because of your stomach. Started to have a hard time breathing. I told you the last time someone was struggling to breathe they were having a heart attack so we were going to the ER. You said you had finally got comfortable and felt like you could go to sleep. I told you that I was going downstairs to put on my pants and when I got back upstairs we were going to the ER.
5/29/11 Sunday
WENT TO WAUPACA ER AT 5:00 AM
Doctor checking for pneumonia and bronchitis I asked if this could have anything to do with his heart. Doctor said “most likely it doesn’t”, but he would do a blood test to check and alleviate my mind. He came back amazed that the blood test did show that something was going on with his heart. It showed that his cardiac enzymes were elevated. Gave him 2 nitro glycerins and called the ambulance to come and get him.
• Did EKG
o Was really shaky and hard for doctor to read, because of all the muscle tremors
• Tested blood
• Transferred to AMC
Nurse told me not to try and keep up with the ambulance. About half way to Appleton I saw the ambulance in my rear view mirror. Then I received a text from Dennis telling me that he waved as they passed me and that he loved me…
GOT TO AMC AT 7:30 AM
• Going to get catheter at 8 am
• Dr. came up at 8:20 and said that things were not going so well
o You were sitting up sweating buckets, couldn’t breathe
o Had to get Anesthesiologist to sedate you and do the catheter
• 20 minutes later Dr. said they had to do emergency Bypass
o Told me that you were in the best place for this to happen and if we hadn’t been there you wouldn’t have made it through the day
• Dr. let us come in to pre surgery room to see you for a minute, before they took you away
• Got to see you that night for a couple of minutes
• Called multiple times during night to check on you
Surgery went well, but very serious (Widow Maker) 95% don’t survive through surgery. Surgery began at 11:30 am and ended at 6. You had a triple by-pass with a mitral valve banding, caused by soft plaque.
5/30/11 Monday
• Slept and was being monitored very closely
• Called at 3 am to see how you were doing
5/31/11 Tuesday
• Off vent and in chair in the early afternoon
• Had popsicle asked me to come in and help you
• Came back later had some ice chips
o You would get some yourself
o Then you would have me help ypu
• Back in bed at 6:30 pm
• Back in chair at 8:30 pm
• Munched on ice chips when were allowed
• Started having a coughing jag at midnight ‘ish
• Coughing a lot of phlegm stuff
o Needed help holding your chest
o Spitting out phlegm
o And rinsing out mouth
• Told me repeatedly that “I take such good care of him” and “I Love You”
• I kept asking the nurse why he was coughing so much and if there was anything they could do for it.
• Said you felt like fluid was in your lungs, but not to tell the nurse cause you didn’t want to go back on the vent, told you I had to go to the bathroom then I:
o Called nurse and told him what you said
o Nurse said already monitoring it
o Came back in after the call
• Put you on mask at 3 am
• I left you at 4 am because you wanted to keep talking and you needed to stop talking and just breathe in the mask. I told you I was going to go out to the waiting room because we both needed to try and get some rest.
6/1/11 Wednesday
Nurse brought me back by you at 7:30 am I knew this was not a good thing. No one is allowed in during shift change. Nurse told me they had to put you back on the vent, because of the fluid in your lungs. He said the heart needed more time to heal. This was the only option to help you get better.
• Went back on vent around 7:30 am
o Called me back, told me he was scared (repeatedly)
• Called at 3 am to see how you were doing
Bill told me at 1 pm that he didn’t think that you would make it past noon… But you did it… yea!!!
6/2/11 Thursday
• Visitation limited to 5 min an hr (switching every hour with your mom)
• Talk about a possible heart transplant
o Takes 9 months to get put on the list
o Would be able to come home while waiting
• At the 6:45 pm visit his ventilation made a da da da sound and the rhythm looked erratic
• Started looking for nurse, alarms went off and I was asked to leave
• Tried to bite the vent hose off
o Nurse pissed… Thought I said or did something to upset you
• No visitation the rest of the night
• Called at 3 am to see how you were doing
6/3/11 Friday
• Called to see how he was doing at 8:15 am
o Explained to nurse about day before
o Told her I was scared to go in
Wasn’t sure if I did something wrong that bothered you
• She said that he was doing well, blood was looking good
• Doc said his lungs were looking much better
• Probably won’t take vent off yet, want to get the rest of the fluid out first
• Visited again 10:30
o sleeping, just sat next to you
• Your dad, Wendy, and Brit got up here and went in at 11:30
• Called at 3 am to check on you
6/4/11 Saturday
• Took some of the sedation off and left vent in
• Giving ad van to keep him calm
• Took out a bunch of tubes today
• Did EKG waiting for test on your heart output
• Called at 3 am to check on you
6/5/11 Sunday
• Pretty calm weekend, you got lots of rest
• All tests are looking good, vent still in
o Want the lungs clearer before the vent comes out, to keep the heart from having too much work to do right away.
• Still has a little fluid on the lungs yet
6/6/11 Monday
• Surgeon said things look good and optimistic that vent will come out
• But ultimately up to pulmonologist
• Your ejection infraction has come up to 40 (was at 10-15)
• Surgeon skeptical about that number, thinks it may have been misread
• Not ordering a re-evaluation because it won’t’ affect their course of treatment
• Took vent out between 7-9 am
Good day overall, everything is looking good and you are progressing well. I am so happy right now…
Lungs are looking good
6/7/11 Tuesday
• 6:30 doing great, looks good, sounds good
• HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
• Said you may be going upstairs tomorrow
6/8/11 Wednesday
• Moved to 3rd floor (stable)
o While being transferred upstairs I went home and cleaned and shampooed the house to get rid of the smoke smell
o Threw out all cigarette objects
o Tre and Nate mowed the yard
o Nate moped kitchen
6/9/11 Thursday
• Dr. came in and said there is nothing more they can do
• Told us we could go home today, probably be leaving about noon
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Weyauwega, Wisconsin
