Dad & Heart Attack 10/28/2007
I got the bad news early morning the 29th here in Kuwait, just as I was about to shut down and go to bed, that Dad had a heart attack. Candy Kiehn e-mailed me about it and that initiated a rather long and circuitous set of phone calls to Virginia Mason Hospital back in Seattle where they had taken Dad. Everyone I got in touch with was very kind and helpful and finally I got transferred to I was thinking the waiting room where Mom, Sis, & Brother Hugh were, but it was a nurse who answered the phone! I asked for Lethalu or Hugh Kiehn and she said I must have the wrong number, so quick before she could hang up I explained the situation and she said "sure!, this is the right room, here let me put him on!", OK I said, by he I figured it would be Brother Hugh, but it was Dad!, and we talked a bit, I asked what in the world he was doing and he replied having a heart attack, playfully of course, the humor was there, then Dad added that they were still working on him, so I put 2 + 2 together, got 3 and figured that somehow, by mistake they gave me him and I needed to get off and let him be so he could relax as much as possible as they "Worked" on him!
So I called the last number that got me to Dad and explained the situation and they connected me to the nurses station on the 7th floor as Dad is in room 756 bed #1, and the nurse there said she'd run down and get somebody for me, and she got Mom, who sounded surprisingly well all considered, we talked a bit then Sis took over and I talked to her a bit. They hadn't had any news on Dad and were surprised that I'd just got to talk to him so were probably a bit relieved to hear that at that point he was doing well it would appear.
I guess that Dad was feeling under the weather and asked Mom to call Sis & Hugh, they came and 911'd him to the hospital with an apparant heart attack in progress, my understanding is that they were able to arrest the heart attack with the help of blood thinner, which like Mom I don't tend to like, but the situation was use it or lose Dad for sure the Doctors said. It worked, they put a stent in and unblocked the lower half of his heart which was totally blocked, the before and after pictures are awesome!
A problem developed with I would assume the use of the blood thinner, they couldn't get Dad to stop bleeding and he went into a condition the doctors described as "Tenuous" as they couldn't stop the bleeding. They apparently clamped the main vein where they had used to clear the blockage in an attempt to stop the blood flow. This was for about 6 hours and apparently took hold and worked as I just talked to Dad for over half an hour, and he sounds great!
This was apparently a significant heart attack but with the quick response and help from Dad himself, Mom, Sis, and Brother Hugh I'm guessing that the medical "Golden Hour" hadn't elapsed and they caught Dad in time to as previously mentioned arrest the heart attack and prevent more severe heart damage and probably death. Quite an awesome timeline the foursome established and maintained, saved Dad for sure! If & when I go into a cardiac arrest I'm hoping it's around Sis & Brother Hugh!, give me a chance of coming out of it alive, lucid, and with the heart intact!
So I called the last number that got me to Dad and explained the situation and they connected me to the nurses station on the 7th floor as Dad is in room 756 bed #1, and the nurse there said she'd run down and get somebody for me, and she got Mom, who sounded surprisingly well all considered, we talked a bit then Sis took over and I talked to her a bit. They hadn't had any news on Dad and were surprised that I'd just got to talk to him so were probably a bit relieved to hear that at that point he was doing well it would appear.
I guess that Dad was feeling under the weather and asked Mom to call Sis & Hugh, they came and 911'd him to the hospital with an apparant heart attack in progress, my understanding is that they were able to arrest the heart attack with the help of blood thinner, which like Mom I don't tend to like, but the situation was use it or lose Dad for sure the Doctors said. It worked, they put a stent in and unblocked the lower half of his heart which was totally blocked, the before and after pictures are awesome!
A problem developed with I would assume the use of the blood thinner, they couldn't get Dad to stop bleeding and he went into a condition the doctors described as "Tenuous" as they couldn't stop the bleeding. They apparently clamped the main vein where they had used to clear the blockage in an attempt to stop the blood flow. This was for about 6 hours and apparently took hold and worked as I just talked to Dad for over half an hour, and he sounds great!
This was apparently a significant heart attack but with the quick response and help from Dad himself, Mom, Sis, and Brother Hugh I'm guessing that the medical "Golden Hour" hadn't elapsed and they caught Dad in time to as previously mentioned arrest the heart attack and prevent more severe heart damage and probably death. Quite an awesome timeline the foursome established and maintained, saved Dad for sure! If & when I go into a cardiac arrest I'm hoping it's around Sis & Brother Hugh!, give me a chance of coming out of it alive, lucid, and with the heart intact!
Comments