Journal entry by Lou Liers —
Yesterday at the hospital, the doctors confirmed that indeed Dan had suffered a heart attack the night before (even though initial tests were not conclusive). Although he was in ICU, his coloring looked good and his heart was beating on its own, but he was on a respirator to breath. The entire time I sat with him he was unresponsive to my chatter and touch. I held his hand, stroked his head, and read him the well wishes from the Facebook posts.
His kidneys were shutting down and he had fluid in his chest -- so the doctor suggested they place a catheter and dialysis to remove some of the fluid and help him eliminate. They were unsure how much neurological brain damage there was due to the heart attack -- a few of the simple tests the doctor did (pressure points to test for reaction) showed no reaction, and as I said, he was unresponsive while I was with him.
However, we (Dan's family and I) were guardedly optimistic that removing the fluid would relieve the swelling and in a day or so, once swelling in the brain was down, we could move forward. So, we agreed to the catheter/dialysis. But before that they were to conduct an ultrasound of his legs to check for clots and to clear the way for a heart catheterization to check for damage to the heart.
I left the room so the technician could do the procedure and went to the cafeteria to grab a quick sandwich and came back to the waiting room to eat. While there, the chaplain came out and said that during the ultrasound, Dan's blood pressure had plummeted and they were trying to stabilize him. Then he coded. They worked on him for about 20 minutes when the doctor came him to have the talk. His prognosis was not good -- Dan's heart was failing and given the fact that they had given him 10 epinephrine shots the night before after the ambulance picked him up (meaning that his heart had stopped 10 times) -- it just didn't seem right to prolong the inevitable. After talking with Dan's family, we agreed to remove the life support - Dan and I had talked about this scenario numerous times and he would not have wanted the heroics but to come to a peaceful end. I was with him until the end and after -- me blabbering away to him telling him I loved him and that I would meet him on the other side one day.
This has been an emotionally difficult time for me. I am crying as I write this. But I will survive and life does go on -- however, I think I have aged 50 years since Friday night. April will be flying in tonight to be with me and then my sister will pick up after she leaves -- also, I have wonderful neighbors who were waiting for me when I drove home from the hospital. Renee and Farrah sat with me several hours, we opened a bottle of wine and made a toast in the memory of our wonderful Dan.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers during this time. I read each and every Facebook post to Dan so he knows how much you care. Dan will be cremated and his ashes will be spread over St. Petersburg Beach -- as per his wishes. The date of this will be determined and I will talk with Dan's family to see what, if any, service will be conducted here in Georgia.
Love and light,
Lou Ann
His kidneys were shutting down and he had fluid in his chest -- so the doctor suggested they place a catheter and dialysis to remove some of the fluid and help him eliminate. They were unsure how much neurological brain damage there was due to the heart attack -- a few of the simple tests the doctor did (pressure points to test for reaction) showed no reaction, and as I said, he was unresponsive while I was with him.
However, we (Dan's family and I) were guardedly optimistic that removing the fluid would relieve the swelling and in a day or so, once swelling in the brain was down, we could move forward. So, we agreed to the catheter/dialysis. But before that they were to conduct an ultrasound of his legs to check for clots and to clear the way for a heart catheterization to check for damage to the heart.
I left the room so the technician could do the procedure and went to the cafeteria to grab a quick sandwich and came back to the waiting room to eat. While there, the chaplain came out and said that during the ultrasound, Dan's blood pressure had plummeted and they were trying to stabilize him. Then he coded. They worked on him for about 20 minutes when the doctor came him to have the talk. His prognosis was not good -- Dan's heart was failing and given the fact that they had given him 10 epinephrine shots the night before after the ambulance picked him up (meaning that his heart had stopped 10 times) -- it just didn't seem right to prolong the inevitable. After talking with Dan's family, we agreed to remove the life support - Dan and I had talked about this scenario numerous times and he would not have wanted the heroics but to come to a peaceful end. I was with him until the end and after -- me blabbering away to him telling him I loved him and that I would meet him on the other side one day.
This has been an emotionally difficult time for me. I am crying as I write this. But I will survive and life does go on -- however, I think I have aged 50 years since Friday night. April will be flying in tonight to be with me and then my sister will pick up after she leaves -- also, I have wonderful neighbors who were waiting for me when I drove home from the hospital. Renee and Farrah sat with me several hours, we opened a bottle of wine and made a toast in the memory of our wonderful Dan.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers during this time. I read each and every Facebook post to Dan so he knows how much you care. Dan will be cremated and his ashes will be spread over St. Petersburg Beach -- as per his wishes. The date of this will be determined and I will talk with Dan's family to see what, if any, service will be conducted here in Georgia.
Love and light,
Lou Ann
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