We were happy to hear mummers that Dad's team at the Mayo Clinic was gaining confidence in sending him home; his vitals remained strong and progressed each day since that Super Bowl Sunday, his and condition continued to improve throughout the week as well.  The Mayo team devised a care plan with Dad that included several supports and home health care nurses coming to the house 3 days a week. They explained the best way to measure how well his heart will heal, will take/be "time" .  His team determined he was able to be home with a regiment of medications, this included anticoagulants to prevent clotting and several others to stabilize his heart rate and blood pressure. In addition to these meds he would be sent home with a wearable device, an external defibrillator called a Zoll - LifeVest. This device would be needed in order to monitor his heart rate and vitals at all times (besides showering). It would directly route the data to his team at the Mayo, in addition it would conduct an emergency electrical current in case of an irregular AFIB incident. He would were this device for 90 days, then his team can measure how well his hear has healed. At this point in time, they could then see if his heart would be strong enough to be sustained on medications only. If he could not , then an internal defibrillator could be surgically implanted in order to maintain his heart rate and strength for his future years to come. 

 

             As the team confirmed his release date we prepped the house with loads of help from family, Theresa Bernal and Aunt Chris helped some accessibility supplies, Randy and Aunts Juile & Sandee helped rearrange the living room to be more accessible for Dad. Uncle Michael and Uncle Chris Schletty were so helpful with McGuivering the cable and the TV power cords together with a paper clip and some practical jokes, even treating us to dinner after playing an ever losing game of "Go-Fish" with Aspen & Amina. 

 

Dad arrived home that very Friday on February 17th,  just before 5pm, he zoomed up the stairs with minimal help but this also made him exhausted. Later as he tried to settle in for his first evening routine; he ate a small meal, had his meds, showered and again put on his LifeVest to wear overnight. Dad practiced using his spirometer soon after, this is a device used to help build breathing strength in order to purge excess mucus( he continues to suffer from pneumonia due to the excess fluid on his body).  During this exercise he began to cough, this coughing fit was intense and may have triggered his LifeVest to malfunction and send an unintentional shock lasting about 5-10 seconds throughout his body. This shock was intense and causing involuntary convulsions throughout his face and extremities, lasting about the same length of the shocks. 911 was called, paramedics arrived shortly after and checked his vitals, all of which were stable, he was able to speak with the paramedics himself but also noted shortness of breath while doing so. His voice was shaking as he spoke, this was a trend since the hospital. After further consultation the paramedics thought it best for Dad to be transported back to the hospital for further observation due to his tricky cardiac history, this time United Hospital, Emergency Department in St. Paul, MN. 

 

The ambulance ride was uneventful, but the ER department was full, he was admitted and waited for a bed throughout the night. While waiting the Emergency team tried to extract the data from Dad's LifeVest in order figure out what triggered the shock. They spoke with Zoll, the manufacturer of his LifeVest,  it was discovered that the data was not transmitting correctly no data could be pulled in order to understand what happened. Understandably so, this made Dad feel very uncomfortable wearing the device so the manufacturer agreed to send out a rep within 24 hours to replace his equipment . The following morning  dad was greeted by another Cardiologist, Edriss Charaf MD , who had been consulting with his team at the Mayo while Dad waited for a bed in the ER.   Soon after the Representative from Zoll, LifeVests also came to the hospital and replaced his entire machine and hardware, together she trained the new cardiology team and my parents on the new equipment. Finally that afternoon Dad had a room, he was observed for two more nights, more labs were taken and his vitals remained stable, on February 19th Dad was released home. His meds stayed the same and he would need to maintain wearing his LifeVest at all times. 

 

That Sunday evening we watched some classic movies and enjoyed dinner together, he ate well, completed his nighttime routine but complained of exhaustion.  Later in the night he struggled with sleeping comfortably,  although happy to be in a real bed, moving to reposition his body is quite painful. The LifeVest restricts his movement, causing a frequent flustering reminder of relearning how to move with this device and pain.  Laying flat in bed makes it difficult for him to breathe with the pneumonia and excess fluid in his lungs, thus causing more coughing fits keeping him awake throughout the night. His broken ribs and sternum create a “painful popping” sensation with each twist or bend or slight lift of his arms. However through all of this, he willed himself to rest at home. The next morning he walked to the dinning room table and ate a small breakfast while continuing to complain of physical exhaustion. That Monday, February 20th he completed his first at home health care visit with a Nurse from CareAParent Home Health Agency. His appointment lasted about an hour, he voiced his concerns about the exhaustion again, she again measured his vitals, these remained stable throughout her visit.  She discussed what her role would be in Dad's care in the next coming weeks.  She would then follow up after Dad's in person appointment the next day, February 21st,  with his primary provider at Entira Clinic in West St. Paul. 

 

That evening came and went , the following day we prepared for "Snowmegadon" and dad went to his appointment in the early afternoon. Unfortunately the appointment did not go as planned, Dad's blood pressure was alarmingly low, he found it harder to breath and more exhausted by the moment. He struggled to walk on his own and gain strength throughout the rest of his post op visit. The clinic recommended he go back to ER at United Hospital in St. Paul, MN, the clinic called ahead and Mom was able to bring him in. Dad was admitted right away, a number of tests including a chest X-ray, an  Echocardiogram and ultrasound of his chest cavity were ordered to determine the root of his new symptoms. The test revealed an infection in one of dad's ECMO incisions and track valleys to his heart, he was administered two types of antibiotics while in the Emergency department, a few hours later he was admitted in to the Cardiology unit at United Hospital. The cardiologist decided to keep him again for another two nights to make sure the antibiotics were responding well, also considering the impending snow storm. Dad tried to rest as best he could while there, but with so much unknown and the constant back and forth to the hospital, his confidence and sprits have taken a beating. Never have I meet a man so apologetic and frustrated for simply needing to be helped, it's so very humbling to witness. 

Yesterday (Thursday) morning,  we were so happy to learn Dad would be released and sent back home that afternoon. A new med change was prescribed with one of his heart medications, this is to help stabilize the shakiness in his voice and and shortness of breath as well. This would also hopefully instill some confidence when speaking to others and building strength to get around the house. He will continue his antibiotics at home and of course continue to wear his LifeVest in case of any extraordinary event, his home health nurse would also continue her home health visits. 

 

As yesterday progressed and we dug out of the snow we all settled in once again, as expected he struggled with the physical pain and anxiety of his new normal. The constant painful reminders of his body reeling from the ordeal, the constant racket  of his mind trying to piece the last month together has been difficult. He asks about dates of events and when things had happened and most of all he asks nervously as to why it all happened?  Could it happen again?  These next few months will be the hardest in his journey, the most vulnerable.  However his will and determination is endearing; during his last night in the hospital we laughed as he talked about the time uncle Joey and Jimmy helped break him out of the hospital while Dad was sick with Mono back in the early 1980s. Dad said he just " rested on the couch " until he felt better, this also took 4 weeks to do so. A true man of grit! 

 

I want to personally say thank you to everyone over and over again. 

Dad has been reading your messages of love and well wishes - this really brightens his spirits. 

As his strength increases please feel free to reach out with anything ! Any funny jokes, any fun historical facts or suggestions of movies, books or games to play. The old stories bring his smile back and I think that will take us the farthest in these next coming months. 

 

Thank you all again! 

We love you ! 

 

Love You Dad! 

Love Life!