Journal entry by colton martin —
On Wednesday April 8th Jason Martin had symptoms of a heart attack which later was confirmed to be true at North Memorial Hospital. To our knowledge at the time it was a mild heart attack, however that was not the case. He was scheduled to have a Angiogram the following morning along with an EKG. That night we all had phone conversations with him and he seemed his normal self. Thursday morning after both scheduled screenings we found out he had significant blockage in his arteries that required him to have a triple bypass surgery. During surgery they discovered significant scar tissue from previous heart attacks that were unknown. We were also notified that his heart was only functioning at 10% going into the procedure. This was a shock to the whole family given he had no pre-existing medical issues as far as we knew. The surgery was successful, although he wasn't responding well in recovery due to the scar tissue damage in his heart. After the surgery he had an intra-aortic balloon pump inserted to let his heart rest. At this point his condition was too severe for North Memorial to manage, doctors decided it was best to transfer him to the Cardiology unit at the University of Minnesota. Although he was getting the best care possible his kidneys and liver were showing signs of stress. Easter Sunday he was showing some signs of improvement so the breathing tube was removed and we were finally able to speak to him again. He didn't sound the best but we were all extremely relieved. At this point his kidneys and liver were improving giving us one less thing to worry about. Monday afternoon they removed the intra-aortic balloon pump in hopes it was no longer necessary. This was a very pivotal moment because this would show how strong his heart was and if it was stronger enough to work on its own. Over the next couple days he was able to take a few steps and sit up in a chair as well as eat some real food. Today (4/16) he was able to walk up and down a small set of stairs. Afterwards he went in for an MRI that would determine his hearts progress in healing. We learned that his heart, although not functioning much more than when he was admitted to the hospital, is responding to the surgery and still has viable heart tissue. This leaves us hopeful for more improvement in the future. We will be updating the page daily!
Lets all hope for a fast recovery for Jason!
Lets all hope for a fast recovery for Jason!
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