Kathianne
08-02-2024, 09:12 AM
On fb I saw that his wife post they'd been in a car wreck, while she was trying to get Rick to hospital. His heart devices, (multiple) had been shocking his heart to keep him with us. Thank God they worked.
I reached out to Rick, hoping he was doing better and on the mend. He just answered me and here is his response. BTW, I've had him in my prayers and they'll continue:
Hiya Kathi!
So I had several heart events last Sunday. I was setting up satellite comm and TV out at a remote lodge, working by myself in a cabin, and I passed out twice. My defillibrator/pacemaker/monitor I had put in a couple months ago began zapping me back to the land of the living, that occurred 3 times. I have absolutely no idea how long I was unconscious... it could have been 10 seconds or an hour. I truly have no idea, but there was a fair amount of blood from smashing my face against the lower lip of the kitchen cabinets, and I didn't even feel that happen - I was out cold by the time my body hit the floor.
I finished the job and flew back to Wasilla, and my hardware phoned home to Mama as soon as I got within range of the base unit in our bedroom. The nurses that monitor that system quickly called me and told me to come in to the office where they could figure out what was going on.
So Shar drove me in to Anchorage, and we made it to 5 blocks away from our destination. We were in a line of cars that were stopped, waiting on a pickup to turn off, and a woman in a Durango came sailing up and hit us, full force, doing 50 or 60 mph. It was unbelievably violent. Broke both front seats, totalled the Jeep, both of us have wicked whiplash.
The ambulance showed up, drove us both to our destination, Providence Hospital, and they admitted me. All of the docs that looked at what my monitor was showing them about the heart events were extremely concerned. They told me I had "Sudden Cardiac Death" events and my hardware literally zapped me back to life.
They've been running nonstop tests on me, pretty much every heart related test you can think of, and they've decided that I need open heart surgery and need to do 3 bypass procedures. Also, they think the part of my heart on the lower right is dead. All of the 7 stents that I have right now are partially blocked, somehow.
I don't know how I could have followed all my doc's orders to the letter, done all the tests, taken all the drugs, done all the rehab, and have this happen - these sorts of problems don't happen overnight but all of this was a complete surprise to everyone. Thumbs up, kid! You're doine great!
I had a heart function of 17 percent after the September heart attack. Last March I had improved to 26 to 30 percent, and the Echo I had 2 days ago said I was 35 percent or a little better. Progress, right? The head surgeon, who is slated to cut me open next week stopped by yesterday and told me, No, your heart function is about 20 percent right now.
So they're waiting on all the blood thinners to wear off before they split my chest open, and that'll happen about Wednesday. Might delay until Thursday or Friday. They're planning on taking another look at my right ventrical and another look at that completely obstructed artery when they open me up, but the doc doesn't hold much chance at that happening - he thinks that's a lost cause. But the left side looks like he can bypass 2 of those arteries.
He's planning on putting me on a pump before the surgery, and leaving it on me for a couple of days to give my heart a break and minimize the chances of my heart stopping during surgery. Also, by leaving that pump running it helps the heart by giving it a break and it heals much faster. Kind of an interesting concept I'd never heard of before.
Anyway, that's where we're at now. Looks pretty grim, but it is what it is. Shar is truly a blessing and she's a rock like always. I've been admitted since Monday and it's looking like I'll be here for 2 or 3 weeks... bleh.
I'm still checking the board and banning the scammers / spammers daily. I have to have over a thousand by now, the little bastards never stop trying. Little do they know I have nothing but time! lol
You can share this with anyone you'd like, if you care to. Honestly, I'm tired of explaining all this again and again after all my family and friends and I'm a little exhausted by it. Figured I'd type this out for you here and you could just forward this to anyone who wants to know on the board.
I'll be around! I'm sure this will all work out fine... it always does.
Rick
I reached out to Rick, hoping he was doing better and on the mend. He just answered me and here is his response. BTW, I've had him in my prayers and they'll continue:
Hiya Kathi!
So I had several heart events last Sunday. I was setting up satellite comm and TV out at a remote lodge, working by myself in a cabin, and I passed out twice. My defillibrator/pacemaker/monitor I had put in a couple months ago began zapping me back to the land of the living, that occurred 3 times. I have absolutely no idea how long I was unconscious... it could have been 10 seconds or an hour. I truly have no idea, but there was a fair amount of blood from smashing my face against the lower lip of the kitchen cabinets, and I didn't even feel that happen - I was out cold by the time my body hit the floor.
I finished the job and flew back to Wasilla, and my hardware phoned home to Mama as soon as I got within range of the base unit in our bedroom. The nurses that monitor that system quickly called me and told me to come in to the office where they could figure out what was going on.
So Shar drove me in to Anchorage, and we made it to 5 blocks away from our destination. We were in a line of cars that were stopped, waiting on a pickup to turn off, and a woman in a Durango came sailing up and hit us, full force, doing 50 or 60 mph. It was unbelievably violent. Broke both front seats, totalled the Jeep, both of us have wicked whiplash.
The ambulance showed up, drove us both to our destination, Providence Hospital, and they admitted me. All of the docs that looked at what my monitor was showing them about the heart events were extremely concerned. They told me I had "Sudden Cardiac Death" events and my hardware literally zapped me back to life.
They've been running nonstop tests on me, pretty much every heart related test you can think of, and they've decided that I need open heart surgery and need to do 3 bypass procedures. Also, they think the part of my heart on the lower right is dead. All of the 7 stents that I have right now are partially blocked, somehow.
I don't know how I could have followed all my doc's orders to the letter, done all the tests, taken all the drugs, done all the rehab, and have this happen - these sorts of problems don't happen overnight but all of this was a complete surprise to everyone. Thumbs up, kid! You're doine great!
I had a heart function of 17 percent after the September heart attack. Last March I had improved to 26 to 30 percent, and the Echo I had 2 days ago said I was 35 percent or a little better. Progress, right? The head surgeon, who is slated to cut me open next week stopped by yesterday and told me, No, your heart function is about 20 percent right now.
So they're waiting on all the blood thinners to wear off before they split my chest open, and that'll happen about Wednesday. Might delay until Thursday or Friday. They're planning on taking another look at my right ventrical and another look at that completely obstructed artery when they open me up, but the doc doesn't hold much chance at that happening - he thinks that's a lost cause. But the left side looks like he can bypass 2 of those arteries.
He's planning on putting me on a pump before the surgery, and leaving it on me for a couple of days to give my heart a break and minimize the chances of my heart stopping during surgery. Also, by leaving that pump running it helps the heart by giving it a break and it heals much faster. Kind of an interesting concept I'd never heard of before.
Anyway, that's where we're at now. Looks pretty grim, but it is what it is. Shar is truly a blessing and she's a rock like always. I've been admitted since Monday and it's looking like I'll be here for 2 or 3 weeks... bleh.
I'm still checking the board and banning the scammers / spammers daily. I have to have over a thousand by now, the little bastards never stop trying. Little do they know I have nothing but time! lol
You can share this with anyone you'd like, if you care to. Honestly, I'm tired of explaining all this again and again after all my family and friends and I'm a little exhausted by it. Figured I'd type this out for you here and you could just forward this to anyone who wants to know on the board.
I'll be around! I'm sure this will all work out fine... it always does.
Rick