Steve Guggenmos & Tracy Wade Steve Guggenmos |Tracy Jo

3/28/24: It’s Steve’s turn!

On Thursday, March 28th, my beautiful soulmate went on a bike ride around 3pm. After returning home he called to me in a panic, something was desperately wrong. I'm going to share the details of what I witnessed in hope that it will help someone else recognize heart attack symptoms. PLEASE GO TAKE A CPR CLASS!!

He needed to go to the hospital. He couldn't quite articulate the pain. He had cold sweats, indigestion like pain, arm tingling and then chest pain. It all took place over about 3 minutes. It was incredibly fast. There was no time to Google "what are the symptoms of a heart attack". 

Moments later he collapsed onto the couch and his heart stopped. I was already on the phone with 911. I didn't realize his heart had quit because his eyes were still open although they were unfocused and vacant. His face started to purple and blood vessels appeared across his nose and cheeks. I pulled him to the floor with such force I surprised myself and began CPR. The 911 operator walked me through it. I've taken a class years ago but it's different now. Only compressions. I could remember where to place my hands, to push hard enough to crack ribs and the song Stay'n Alive. I administered CPR for about 10 minutes. About every 3 minutes he would take a huge gasp and I thought he was breathing but it was simply the compressions working. 


The 911 operator was incredible. Calm and clear. He gave me a minute by minute countdown of when the EMTs would be arriving. It took the incredible Surprise fire department less than 10 minutes to walk through the front door. They took over immediately. Continued compressions and defibulated him numerous times. He coded on the way to Banner Boswell (9minutes) twice. Within 30 minutes of the initial attack he was in the hospital Cath Lab . One of the best cardiologist at Boswell, Dr. Pikula, just happened to be walking out when Steve was wheeled in. They grabbed him and within 45 min a stint was in place along with a balloon to help his heart function. He coded multiple times during the procedure. 

CPR is not easy but because he died in my arms he was only without oxygen for about 30 seconds. This is what made the difference. Survival rate of a widowmaker is about 6-10% when you aren't having the heart attack in the hospital. 

I love this man more than anything. Thank you for coming on the journey with us. We love you very much. Now go sign up for a CPR class.


#lovewins

2018: Steve and I are so blessed with an abundance of family and friends. FRAMILY!!! You know this is not my first rodeo with medical systems but this diagnosis took me by surprise. We hope you will find this platform useful. We wanted a place to make sure all our peeps stay informed but also know our bandwidth is only so wide. We hope this space provides you with all the updates needed on this new journey. Thank for for all the incredible love and support. We love you all tons.