Matt Friedman The Road to Recovery

At 3:30 am Sunday September 24th Matt suffered a major heart attack caused by a blockage of the left anterior coronary artery.  Mary woke up to sounds of Matt struggling to breath and called 911. She started chest compressions until the EMTs arrived. After administering CPR for about 30 minutes Matt was taken to Sutter Emergency where the doctors there continued resuscitation for another 51 minutes. He suffered a collapsed left lung, most likely the result of the CPR, and had a chest to placed in his side. The right lung looked a bit compromised as well so they placed a chest tube on that side as well. There hard work and determination resulted in Matt's heart beating on its own and he was sent to the ICU. He came off the ventilator briefly but his right lung collapsed do to a blockage and he was placed on the ventilator again.  Although his heart looks healthy it is beating very slowly, causing some very long pauses, some up to 30 seconds which is causing concern because it shows him flat-lining during that time. Although still on the ventilator he was taken to the Cath Lab where they found the blockage and fixed it with a stent. He was still having an issue with the pausing and the doctors decided to place a pacemaker to keep the pausing from happening. After 13 days in the ICU Matt finally was moved to the Telemetry floor where his stay was very brief. He is now at the Sutter Rehabilitation Institute in Roseville where he is undergoing intense physical, occupational and speech/cognitive therapy . We are not sure how long he will be at the rehab but when he comes home he will need 24 hour supervision for at least two weeks.