First post:
Aug 12, 2021 Latest post:
Nov 19, 2023
The Carlson family is so thankful that you are reading a summary of Curt's journey over the past year and specifically the past few days. We do not know the outcome of the next few days/weeks/months, but we would like you to know who is supplying us with the peace and comfort we need to sustain us through this uncertainty. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ loves us and loves Curt so much. He holds us in his hand and will never leave us. He is mighty to save and heal Curt and comfort us through this time.
Curt's back story: Fall of 2020, Curt's pleural lining started filling with fluid. Over the next few months, he had two procedures to drain the fluid from his right side.
January 2021 Curt contracted Covid and was hospitalized in ICU and then to the floor for a week.
April 2021, he was diagnosed with Mesothelioma and had 4 rounds of chemo over the next 4 months.
On Wednesday August 4th, Curt was admitted to the Buffett Cancer Center for a thoracic surgery. The 6-8 hour surgery to remove the pleural lining actually took 15 hours. The surgeon was very hopeful that he was able to remove all the visible cancer, pleural lining and part of the diaphragm. In surgery recovery, it was decided to remove his breathing tube and shortly after Curt went into cardiac arrest and CPR was performed for 20 minutes to bring him back.
Thursday Aug 5th, Curt was heavily sedated, he tried to open his eyes and he could squeeze a hand when asked.
Friday Aug 6th, we saw improvement in his status, his breathing tube was removed and he even sat up and stood for a brief moment. He was able to look at people, answer questions (like what he farms) and respond with head nods.
Early morning Saturday Aug 7th, Curt's heart went into atrial fibrillation (instead of his heart beating, it was just fluttering) and they were able to shock him back into rhythm. The rest of the day Curt's situation deteriorated to the point of putting the breathing tube back in (intubation). We were concerned about his kidney function and his blood pressure also.
Sunday Aug 8-Monday Aug 9, Curt's condition continued to slowly deteriorate with the exception of his kidneys slightly improving. He had a fever and a double infection including pneumonia, was started on antibiotics.
Tuesday Aug 10th, Curt's kidneys continued to improve but his white blood cells were elevated and his Oxygen was 70%. Curt slept most of the day, but would squeeze Carla's hand every once in a while and he had a few more AFib episodes.
Wednesday Aug 11, Curt had a bronchoscopy and only a little infection was found. He was not responsive the whole day, but he was initiating his own breaths with the breathing tube. His antibiotics were changed, his fever was gone, they didn't see anything "impressive" during the bronchoscopy. Wednesday evening the focus switched to his heart health and Curt was moved to the Clarkson Tower cardiac unit ICU. The doctors are now thinking Curt might have pulmonary hypertension. After the move to the Clarkson Tower Cardiac unit room #3852 they put in the Swann Ganz catheter. This catheter will give us more information on what is going on and dictate the next steps. After the catheter was placed they started him on inhaled medication to reduce the strain on his heart and the hypertension. His numbers were already looking better and the vent settings were being weaned down.
Thursday Aug 12, Curt's first morning at Clarkson Tower. He was focusing better and squeezed Carla's hand. The plan for Thursday is possible dialysis to try to get rid of some fluid from his body.
