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Darrell’s Story

Site created on March 8, 2018

Hi There, This is Rebecca Freeman, Randy's widow. Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.

Tuesday afternoon, Darrell felt his heart racing. They waited for about an hour but he wasn't feeling better so he drove to Cassville to the hospital. When he arrived and was checked out by the ER personnel, they were quite alarmed at his condition. They used the defibrillator paddles on him twice to regulate his heartbeat but both attempts were unsuccessful. They wanted to lifeflight him to Springfield, but the wind was too intense so they transferred him via ambulance. Once at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri the ER physicians there were also very concerned. They medicated him and admitted him into the ICU. There, they continued to give him medication and scheduled him for testing which was done the next morning. The test revealed he had two 100% blockages. Although the medication restored a normal rhythm to his heart, they need to evaluate what the next move will be. They could not do the tests today because the dye from the previous test had not cleared his kidneys. They have been monitoring him carefully and because he has not had another episode, they feel like he can be moved to a regular room which they were prepping to do when I left this evening. He will do the Cardiac MRI tomorrow. This will let the doctors know how much healthy heart tissue he has and if a double bypass is possible, which is his best option.

While visiting Darrell yesterday, our awesome nephew, Brian, Carol's youngest son, felt a little light headed right after which he passed out for 2 minutes plus. They took him to the Mercy Hospital ER where he continued to pass out and vomit a number of times and ultimately was admitted to the hospital at 4:30 AM this morning. They did testing on him today, and I am happy to report he was released from the hospital this evening and is resting comfortably at a local Springfield hotel.

We appreciate our friends, family and neighbors who have reached out to us with words of comfort, love and caring. We are unbelievably humbled by the outpouring of support and are incredibly grateful that Darrell is getting the second chance that their dad and Randy did not get. Continued prayers and positive thoughts are appreciated and are helping greatly.

I will update this page as new information comes in or at a minimum of once per day. Please share the link with those that I may have missed on this first post.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Rebecca Freeman — Mar 27, 2018

Hey there,

I have limited information at this point but am receiving requests for an update so I will give you what information I have to offer.

Sunday night, Darrell’s blood pressure rose to concerning levels. His heart rate was within his normal range but the BP was elevated. He was unable to get it under control so they called 911. They took him to Mercy in Springfield who were working hand and hand with the St Luke’s Cardio team. Once there, they were able to get his BP down and stay down. Yesterday, when I talked with him, he sounded good and was not in any distress. He had been scheduled to be in KC Monday afternoon for a follow up but was in the Springfield hospital instead.

As of this morning they are releasing him. I’m not sure where he is going but as the day progresses and as more information is released for me to share, I will update. At this point, I would say no news is good news.

Again, prayers and positive thoughts continue to be appreciated. They are carrying us through this journey.

Read More of the journal titled "Update - 3-27-18"

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