Josh Rankin

Welcome to our CaringBridge website.   I am and will continue to be the point of contact for Josh.  Please do not hesitate to continue to text, call, or email me for updates or information.    We are going to use this site to keep family and friends updated.   

It has been a wild ride the last few days.  Josh is a big, sturdy guy and has never had any real health issues so this has all been very shocking to everyone.   To give you all some background on the sequence of events up until today: 

Friday, Jan. 11th : Josh had a minor foot surgery.  All went well and he was doing fine.  

Saturday & Sunday: Doing good.  He was a little ill but attributed it to the prophylactic antibiotic he was on.  

Monday, Jan. 14th: He had a good day.  He had his post-op follow up which went well and he felt good enough to get out and run a few errands.  

Tuesday, Jan. 15th: He had a pretty ok day but started to not feel too well later in the evening.

Wednesday, Jan. 16th: Josh told us he had woken up about 2:00am to go to the restroom and got really dizzy and short of breath and collapsed.  He recalled waking up on the floor about 2 hours later and got himself up and back to bed.   Mom and I saw him about 2:00pm or so and, being the loving sister that I am, took one look at him and said, "you look like sh*t," to which he replied, "I know and I feel like sh*t."  He then said he had been getting tightness in his chest and was having shortness of breath and admitted it had been going on for a few days but just thought is was the post-op meds he was on and some vomiting.  Mom and I were pushing for a visit to the ER.  Josh and all of his stubborn glory wasn't a fan and asked me to make him an appointment with his PCP.  We, of course, kept nagging.  Mom and I made Josh go with us to go pick up my car from the shop so he wouldn't be alone.  Walking out, he started to tank and said he wanted to get to the ER.  They got him back really quickly, did their thing and confirmed he had what they called a "massive saddle PE".  He was admitted to IMU around 8:00pm.  I remember the last thing he said to me when I left that night, "thanks sister for talking some sense into me.  Love you girly."  In reality, he made his own choice to come and I’m sure glad he did.  He saved his own life.  

Thursday, Jan. 17th:  All hell broke loose.  My dad called at 3:45am and said the hospital called, Josh coded and he is in ICU.  Madie and I met my parents there around 4:15am.  Pop said Josh had coded several times and they were working on him but it wasn't looking good.  His oxygen levels were crap.  He was on a vent, nothing was working.  The right side of his heart had failed, his lungs and kidneys weren't working.  They wanted to try ECMO to try to save him and got him on that really quickly.  Shortly thereafter they told us they needed to put him on dialysis.  At some point throughout the day, they transferred him over to the Cardiovascular ICU where he has remained in critical condition.  At some point we were told he coded 6 to 7 times that morning.  Things were very bleak, to say the least. 

Friday, Jan. 18th: Josh became responsive!  He would, for the most part, open his eyes when someone said his name.  He'd look at them and would nod his head or shrug his shoulders when asked questions at times.  He responded appropriately and followed commands the doctor gave him to move his hands and feet.  He had lots of visitors throughout the day which was great.  His medical team were encouraged with the small victories Josh was making with his trends and he was becoming more stable in his critical state.

Sat. & Sunday: Josh has not been responsive but he is sedated and they are working on tweaking his meds so this is not unexpected.  He is looking better and more himself.  They've had to give him some transfusions and platelets.  They have been working on turning the settings of his vent down to see what he can do.  His ICU nurse, Kimberlee, is a total Rockstar.  Not only does she know her stuff but, she picked up a shift when she was supposed to be off Saturday to come take care of him.  She's SOO good.  Everyone on the unit has been amazing.  We're comforted knowing he is being given such great care by a skilled and compassionate team.  They have been really understanding and totally cool too with the number of visitors Josh has had.  I think they've gotten a good picture of who he is and that he is VERY loved.  Everyone who comes makes a b-line for Madison.  They all tell us how much Josh talks about her.  She knew her uncle loved her but I think she has a better idea of just how much he absolutely adores her.  She dug out some old (and new) photos and wanted to make Josh a poster for his room.  She found the perfect quote too that suits Josh to a T and I think will be the motto for his journey....."When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.”

Our family and friends and Josh's HCSO family have been nothing short of incredible.  We appreciate the abundance of support, prayers, and words of hope and encouragement we have received.   

I have started staying back in his room throughout the day and I think Mom will start as well. I find it more comforting to be in here with him than in the waiting room. If you come to visit and don’t see one of us, this is why and you’re more than welcome to go back to see him. The unit knows his family is ok with visitors.   We encourage anyone who wishes to visit Josh to continue to do so. We do not feel that it is intrusive in any way and realize everyone is hurting.  The doctors and nurses encourage everyone to keep talking to him.  Thank you for visiting him and us.