Bill’s Story

Site created on April 9, 2021

Bill is recovering from Quadruple Bypass surgery. He had not been feeling very well (shortness of breath, fatigue, issues with his swallowing) and was visiting doctors in March to figure out what was going on. They found excessive fluid around his lungs and did an ECG and EKG in Tracy, MN on his birthday (Wednesday, March 31). The results showed his heart was very sick (15% function) and he was rushed by ambulance to Sanford Heart in Sioux Falls, SD. They stabilized the birthday boy (he made sure to tell everyone it was his birthday) and he had an angiogram the next morning (Thursday, April 1). There were complications during that procedure and the surgeon put in a temporary heart balloon pump. His care team decided that he was a candidate for quadruple bypass surgery and it was scheduled for Friday morning (April 2). His family traveled from the Twin Cities and Philadelphia to be with him and Koreen. He underwent the surgery on Friday and it went very well. Saturday, April 3 was considered Day 1 of recovery. Days 1-3, Bill made a lot of progress strengthening his body (eating, breathing, walking, etc). Days 4-5 his heart let us know that it was not as healthy as the doctors thought. His heart rhythms got so unstable that he had to be revived with a defibrillator four times. His doctors made changes to the strong IV heart medication he has been on. Since then, he has been stable and his heart rhythm has been very steady. He is working hard to get better and making progress every day. If you'd like to send him something to lift his spirits or entertain him you can send it to (UPDATED ROOM #): Bill Roemer - Patient Sanford Hospital Rm 4318 1305 W. 18th St. Sioux Falls, SD 57117

Newest Update

Journal entry by Koreen Ziemke

Tuesday was the beginning of Bills Next adventure... prepping for the highly anticipated  POEM procedure. Bill has had so much trouble with that twisty esophegeous it was time to get it fixed. There are only 2 places that do this surgery, the U of M and the Mayo. Long day at the Mayo with Bloodwork and transfusion. I swear he can sleep anywhere. 
Wednesday 7am we "walked" across the street (hotel perfect location!). 3 hour surgery seemed to go well. It seems his Achalasia was at end stage. His swallowing was almost impossible!  Bill was moved to a room with a view for overnight observation.  During the evening he was experiencing some chest pain... they did a CT scan and discovered he had a tear. 2nd Endoscopy in 12 hours to repair and feeding tube was placed... now for the recovery and education. (The last 3 years has been a mind blowing education). He still has his eye on the prize... that DQ shake will have to wait. Another Endoscopy in 3 weeks, and hopefully he'll get the feeding tube out, get his DQ fix and eventually perhaps a steak?

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