And He Lived Happily Ever After!

At least, that's how we hope this story ends. It was one month yesterday since we all got on this roller coaster. Many miracles, many memories and many emotions have been crammed into a short time, but now things are slowly returning to normal. Randy has put in some hours at the office, and everyone else has had to do the same. Matt and Karrie are back to work in Massachusetts, Mike and Janell have returned to their normal schedule in Vermont, Tyler and Andrea are busy with their lives in the People's Republic of Daybreak, Barbara is working hard at the U and at RK Young Electric, and tomorrow Kevin and April will return to Logan to resume life there. So, this is kind of a conclusion to the blog--or at least an official notice that you should not expect frequent updates (then again things could change or readers may demand more).

Cousin Sherrie called today and we learned an interesting thing: her number was listed on Randy's cell phone as "Cousin Sherrie," which was the only reference to a relative on the cell phone. She got called first since it was not clear to the emergency crew that Barbara was the wife (but Barbara had been called immediately by Steve). Someplace Randy's sister Nancy, in Oregon, was listed as an emergency contact, since the hospital called her (and she then started calling family too). So, be sure in your cell phones you have a list of emergency contacts--something to clue the paramedics so they know who to call. There is an official campaign (mostly in Britain) to use the acronym ICE -- "in case of emergency" -- before the names of the people you want to designate as next of kin in your cell address book, creating entries such as "ICE -- Dad" or "ICE -- Alison." Note that this information should also be kept in your wallet, which is probably the first place they would look. [Note also that if you see an email saying NOT to put this in your cell phone because of a danger of a virus or getting an extra charge--that email is a hoax.] As long as we are giving public service announcements, I'll mention that Matt called today and said that he had an echocardiogram done and they initially only looked at the aorta. Matt gave the physician the link to this website, after which Matt was called back and told he should also have an echocardiogram of the heart. So, if you are thinking of getting an echocardiogram then save yourself a trip and do both the heart and the aorta at the same time.

The current status report is that Randy continues to increase in strength, stamina, and coordination, but still has a lot of recovery he hopes to make. There is still lingering dizziness, though not as bad, and his persistent cough continues to be a painful nuisance (a chest X-ray showed this was due to a partially collapsed lung, which he can improve with deep breathing). He is walking further and with better balance (though his gait is still not what you would call normal); he looks great, and each week brings noticeable progress. Life is different for all of us than before this all started, but it remains to be seen how close to normal it can get. Barbara says that now he has survived a month he has beaten all the odds and now his chances of survival are in the "pretty good" category so sympathy levels will go down and he is expected to pitch in and help out as soon as he is able.

If you are a neighbor reading this and you wonder how you can lend a hand, please note that Randy is still not allowed to lift over 5 pounds, so this means no taking out garbage, no shoveling snow, etc., and now there are no offspring around to perform these labors (Tyler and Andrea will be the closest, and they do visit regularly). Thanks again to everyone--you have been so good to all of us! Thanks for all food, goodies, attention, kindness, prayers, and faith. Randy says, "by myself I was not able to shake a cold in October, but with your help I survived the open-heart surgery and beyond."

Randy also says that as soon as his eyes work together instead of separately he will put up a post of his own. And next week we will find out whether he can still play the guitar when the band comes over for a scaled-back practice session. "I am thankful and gratified that you have all been so interested in my life, and pray that things will settle down from here on out."

I was going to end with a little video of Randy walking, but it wouldn't upload. Just imagine him walking, kind of waddling really, away from the pan of sweet rolls and into the living room. Its unclear whether the waddle was because he went to church (to hear his niece Dagny speak after her mission to Brazil), then to a family and friends party for Dagny (at which there were really good crepes, courtesy of Andrea), then went all day without napping, or if it was from eating too many crepes and sweet rolls. But, as you can see from the picture, he is pretty happy about those sweet rolls.

What Happened To Randy In Medical Jargon

Written by Janell's husband Mike


As a doctor, I was asked to give a medical analysis of what happened to Randy. I was able to talk to his CT surgeon and see his operative report. I'll start from the beginning. Randy was working in Davis County when his aorta suddenly dissected. See Image. Basically, the inner lining of his aorta came loose blocking his coronary arteries and aortic valve; essentially causing a heart attack. It is unknown why Randy had this dissection as he has no known risk factors, but in the lay population it's most commonly caused by hypertension. A dissection such as Randy's is a surgical emergency and most patients don't survive long enough to make it to a hospital. Luckily, Randy did make it to the Davis Hospital despite significantly low blood pressure secondary to his heart attack. He was intubated at the Davis Hospital and a chest CT done at the time showed a Stanford type A dissection from the aortic valve to the aortic arch. He was transported by helicopter to the U of U facility and per oral report underwent cardiac resuscitation twice during that interval. At the U of U he was immediately rushed to surgery where the cardiothoracic surgeon gave him less than a 2% chance of survival to discharge. His subsequent 6 hour surgery involved a three hour cardiopulmonary bypass run and exactly 48 minutes of circulatory arrest where his body and brain temperature were dropped to 15 degrees Celsius. Circulatory arrest means that all systemic blood flow and oxygen exchange was stopped (including no heart-lung bypass machine). His native aortic valve was replaced with a 27 St Jude Mechanical Artificial Valve, his entire ascending aorta was replaced with a synthetic graft, and the origin of his left and right coronary arteries were reconstructed. No saphenous vein grafts were needed. The aortic dissection was successfuly repaired and the only known postoperative sequelae was a stroke to his Left Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery causing disequilbrium and dizziness. This was the best possible outcome and the minor stroke will likely reside with time. Randy will have to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life because of the artifical aortic valve. He is also significantly deconditioned secondary to the event, and it will take a minimal of several months if not years for him to return to his former activity level. It is currently unknown how much permanent damage his heart underwent, but he is being followed by a cardiologist. Because Randy had an aortic dissection, his likeliood of having another is significatly higher than the lay population and his blood pressure will have be under strict control for the rest of his life (i.e. under 120/80). Also, the likelihood of direct relatives having an aortic aneurysm is higher than the lay population. I hope this helps answer any questions and am happy to help out in any way that I can in the future.

Party time! Excellent!

Randy has been home from the hospital for almost a week. Today we did a little housecleaning (with a lot of help from Aunt Clytee) and welcomed some visitors. Clytee took Randy for his first walk outside, and he walked down to the street corner and back at least twice. He thinks his dizziness is slightly improving, although it is still there and still annoying. Tomorrow we have more physical therapy and another blood draw, hopefully that will not knock him back to square one.

Anyhow, aunts and uncles and cousins stopped by to share a gourmet dinner of French onion soup, homemade by Tyler and Andrea. We thought we'd feed him real food to help put the cookie memory behind him.

I have a 16-second video of dinner, mainly of people eating while Scott holds two stuffed kitty cats and people say "meow" a lot; at the end is a shot of the Buche de Noel (actual grammatical accents ommitted) made by Tyler and Andrea, just because it is always time for a Buche.

And now, the grande finale: I made Randy talk into the camera for a minute and a half. Enjoy!

Cookies of Death

I'm sure many of you are wondering why exactly this all happened, what was the triggering event. It seems today that the question can now be answered. Dad talked to Steve on the phone this afternoon, and Steve told him that on that most fateful Thursday, they had eaten cookies at lunch. Imitation Oreo cookies, "Crisco" cookies, $1 at the end of the grocery aisle cookies, that Barbara had purchased because they were out of homemade cookies. Apparently Steve and Randy did not really enjoy the cookies, although that did not stop them from eating the cookies (as of now, the quantity of cookies consumed is unknown). At some point afterwards, Randy called Barbara at work and left her a message, the gist of which was, "You've got to stop buying those cookies, they're going to kill us." Well, later that afternoon ... we all know what happened.

Addendum

Tyler and Andrea just stopped by to check in. Tyler was dispatched to Dad's truck to search for a hat, because Dad's head is cold from being frozen on the operating table. Tyler did not find the hat, but he did find Dad's lunch cooler, containing, yes, the remaining Cookies of Death. Randy has been making much of the Cookies of Death, feeling ill just thinking about them ("I ate the cookies, and I died.") (No word from Steve on whether he also experienced death). Warning: Viewing these next photos may cause death.

Still alive? Good.

Cleanse your mental palate with this picture of Scott and a bear.

Addendum 2 (from Logan):

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes! For my birthday April made me a snake cake of life!

The problem with wayfarin (sp? the bottle is upstairs)

In my last post I mentioned that we were expecting a physical therapist and a blood draw. The physical therapist told Dad that his first homework assignment is building up endurance. I think Dad was expecting a full-on exercise routine, which may come in the future, after he can walk in a straight line without assistance. He was told to walk next to objects so that he can touch them with a hand or leg, and to practice walking sideways for balance. He did all of this and was very pleased with himself.

Then we went for the blood draw. Neither of us knew that this was an orientation to the Coumadin Clinic (again, might have spelled that wrong, am tired) (and he is taking Wayfarin, the generic equivalent), of which he will be a member for the rest of his life, I think. Since we didn't know, it took a while to get the blood drawn, and then we had to wait to have the whole shebang explained, the INR test and levels and medication adjustments and such. Scott was very interested, he found a computer keyboard, some tape, and a room divider which he knocked over. Then he pooped.

After all that, Randy was back to square one for dizziness. Enough so that he mentioned how much he must have been improving, since it was now horrible and awful. We put him through a lot. He used Scott and the stroller as a walker on the way back to the car.

This morning did not start out much better (although he has been sleeping through the night). He was using his walker again. Barbara left him some phone messages to return and a bid to work on, but he couldn't focus his eyes for most of the day and didn't get much done before noon. He had some visitors to pep him up, and Scott and I bought him a balloon. Scott kicked the balloon around the house for Randy's entertainment. The good news for today is that his INR results were "great," and he does not need to be tested again until Monday. For the first little while they will be testing him every few days, to make sure the medication dose is correct. Eventually he will get down to once a month. He's feeling like a pincushion, so everyone think healthy level thoughts so he won't need daily tests. And no one bring him kale to eat! Apparently that is very high in Vitamin K, and Vitamin K really messes with the wayfarin/coumadin effectiveness. Not that it's a bad vitamin, he just shouldn't be eating a lot of it, and it mainly exists in dark leafy green vegetables. Like a cup of parsley? Too much. It's all in the handy booklet, in the handy color-coded chart.

The cardiac rehab center also called today and scheduled an appointment for him for next Thursday. I think that will begin some real workouts. Randy felt better this afternoon, so if he continues to improve he'll do well at rehab. Meanwhile, the physical therapist will come back tomorrow, and he'll have a chest x-ray and a visit with the surgeon on Tuesday to make sure everything looks good.

We've been having dinner brought to us, which has been great because Barbara has been working late at Randy's office and I'm not one for cooking dinner. Right now they are both working on finishing the bid; Randy needs Barbara's eyes to read some fine print. On Saturday Barbara shouldn't have to go in to work at all, so hopefully she can relax and enjoy Randy's "vacation" with him.

Still home, still alive

I'm a tired, lazy updater, but I can tell you firsthand that Randy is alive and well. I am fulfilling my nursing duties most excellently as he is not yet dead, and I even gave him medication today. Randy walked to the bathroom without his walker today, I think he was just showing off.

I just now got some pictures off my camera, so I will show you the farewell to the hospital room. Dressed and ready to go. We had lots to pack up because people had brought him so many goodies. Everything made it home, even the jello cups.

Yesterday we stayed in the house and watched the construction across the street. I should start taking pictures of that, too, because it will be one of Randy's strongest memories of the recovery process. Construction is fun! Right now they are putting in lots of footings to prepare the foundation (if I got that right, Dad's the expert but he's upstairs asleep).

We also hooked up the mp3 player to the stereo and blasted it so that we could listen to the band. Dad played his guitar along with the songs. I'm no professional music critic, but he sounded pretty good. Or maybe just better than I will ever sound. He said that he was rusty, since he hasn't played since before Thanksgiving. And since the little heart surgery/stroke thing. He tried to teach Scott how to play the guitar. Scott's response was to drag the guitar around the house and slap the strings. We tried the mandolin this morning, with the same outcome. Dad warned me that the mandolin can be an expensive hobby, so perhaps we will hide it behind the couch.

Right now Randy and Scott are napping, although I may hear movement from Randy. He is in the tv room for the first time and fell asleep while watching Matlock on Tivo. Do you have Tivo? You should, especially if you foresee recovery from heart surgery in your future (or recovery from childbirth, either one). We finally connected with the physical therapy people, and they should be coming to torture him within the next hour. Then later this afternoon we will have our first group field trip to the Sugarhouse Clinic to get Randy's blood drawn. This will determine if it is too thin, not thin enough, or just right. If he doesn't break a hip on any stairs, he will live to see tomorrow.

First day at home

I just got off the phone with dad, checking up on how his first day at home was. So far so good... much the same as yesterday in the hospital, only now he's at home and more comfortable. Janell is doing a most excellent job of keeping him alive.

Nobody came from physical therapy today. Tomorrow he's going in for some blood tests, and therapists will be visiting by the end of the week. I didn't get too much into his schedule, which is unfortunate because that's the first thing everybody wants to know.

He's still very dizzy, which is driving him absolutely crazy. Tomorrow he'll probably get his laptop out at some point. He's trying to write things down as he thinks of them, because the thoughts get scattered pretty easily. There wasn't much outside of lounging, eating and napping today. He said if getting a glass of water wasn't such an ordeal, it wouldn't be any different from a vacation. I told him that's why it's called "recovery" instead of "vacation." We got to see the amazingly fast part of his recovery after surgery, but he doesn't remember any of that. As far as he's concerned, it's just a long, slow, boring thing. I told him he's going to have to find some books or new hobbies to keep himself entertained. When I was in a long recovery, I learned how to shuffle cards. I can now shuffle 3 decks of cards at once. I was very bored.

Everybody at the house (except for him) had fallen asleep on various couches at the time I called (just before 10:00), and he was annoyed that now everybody was going to have to wake up to go to bed, and they'd probably wake up too much and be up for half the night. Yup. The dad we all know and love is officially back to reign in his castle.

Welcome home, Young father... welcome home!

Andrea made an uber-yummy lemon birthday cake for me last night, and we'd decided that we should share the calories as far and wide as possible. What better place to unload sugar and cholesterol than at a hospital!

Over the course of the day various reports came in. The dispatch nurse was getting his paperwork in order to ship him home. The cardiologists weren't sure, but thought maybe he should stick around. In the end, the physical therapists cast the deciding vote to kick him off the island... er, hospital.

We took the cake over to the house and puttered around cleaning a few critical pathways for him, and before we knew it, the car was pulling into the driveway. He was looking very well, and seemed pretty good on his walker, if maybe a bit shaky. He figured out the porch stairs quickly, and went straight back to the TV room and flopped onto the couch. Okay, so the flop was a bit less graceful than he was aiming for. More of a face plant, really. It was into a big pile of cushions, but it still hurt quite a bit. Lesson one: No face plants.

Several minutes and some birthday cake later, he decided it was time to move into the dining room. More spotting, but he was managing pretty well. His right foot isn't quite as responsive, so he kind of veers off course every now and then. Veering is particularly scary when he's on a tile floor, but fortunately he learned his lessons on flopping and managed to sit down properly in a chair.

After more cake he figured it was time for bed, so I watched nervously from behind as he brushed his teeth, leaning over the sink for balance. It was a pretty amusing posture, especially as he was going down to rinse his mouth.... on a side note, mom, get a cup in there for him to use! He shuffled carefully into bed, took his drugs, and fell fast asleep in his own bed.

Shortly after that, mom went off to a party with her friends! She totally deserves to go to a party, so it was nice to see her get out of the house. On her way out, mom turned to Janell and said it's now her job to keep dad alive. No pressure, Janell.


So.... the question people will be asking is, "Can we see him?" The answer is... ummm... sure? He was really looking forward to a couple of days of pure rest with no nurses poking him in the middle of the night, but he'll probably be up for company at various times through the day. We honestly don't know, so if you happen to stop by and he's asleep, don't be offended. At least you didn't drive all the way to the hospital! And who knows, if you're lucky there could be a slice of yummy lemon birthday cake involved.

Dad keeps threatening to throw a party one of these days-- something about near-death experiences tends to give people an extroverted streak for a while. When we know more about how he's getting around and how long he's able to stay awake, there may be more vague mentions of said party.


On a purely medical note, the doctors say the swelling in his cerebellum is going down gradually. His eyes are now pointing the same direction, which is usually a good thing. Physical therapists will be coming by tomorrow to torment him in various ways, and some sort of schedule will be worked out with them. He gets tired a lot faster than he thinks he should, but I think he's only a week and a half out of nearly dying and is expecting a bit much.

And thus concludes the hospitalization episode of Extreme Makeover: Cardiac Edition.

Monday's Big News

Randy is in his OWN bed sleeping right now. He came home and had some celebratory lemon cake, courtesy of Tyler and Andrea. He came home around 6 PM, complete with a walker and all the cookies and treats that had been brought to the hospital, plus his juice cup and Jello, and was in bed by 7 PM, in sync with his grandson Scott. Once he was in bed, Barbara went out to a party, because she deserves it! (Hence, any of this information could be lacking, as our primary source is still partying as of 8:15 PM.)

Randy can move the walker pretty fast along the kitchen floor, but is still weaker on the right side and has some coordination issues, so he isn't ready to compete in the walker derby. His walker is also not outfitted with tennis balls like we see on most "little old lady" walkers. We figure they are the real professionals, so maybe Randy needs tennis balls too.

He is happy to be home. He will have some physical therapy with Home Health Care this week, which he is looking forward to. He says he is ready to throw a big party, but Barbara says he has to wait until after Christmas.

So, why is he home after we just said he would do inpatient rehab for a week? Just because someone said so. We are not sure what the criteria were or who made the decision, but here he is home. Since everyone else left town and Barbara is back to work, it is up to Janell to tend him. Barbara told Janell that her job was to keep him alive. No pressure Janell. Randy says, "if I'm still alive in a couple of weeks, then we'll have a party."

That's all we know for now. Janell will keep you posted, since she will have the inside information. We are sure Randy will miss the hospital food, particularly the meatloaf. Visiting hours are as yet undecided, but may closely follow Randy's and Scotty's napping schedules.

Sounds of Sunday

Today Tom stopped by with a fruit platter and some cookies, and Steve came by with his guitar. Initially we were worried that the entire band was going to be there and that they would disturb the peace with a Beach Boys song, but instead Steve peacefully played Silent Night as he sang the carol in its original German.






Two rehab therapists came by today to conduct an evaluation, and the report from Randy is that one therapist is nice and the other is really tough. They were discussing in-patient versus out-patient rehab, and will come back tomorrow to make their decision. Either way Randy is going to have to work really hard this week.

Kevin, April, and kids will be heading back to Logan to take care of some things there for the week, leaving Janell and Scotty on Grandpa-visiting duty. Randy continues to appreciate the support and visits he receives.

MRI results

We heard from Barbara that Randy was walking much better this morning--he is stronger and did not need too much assistance to make his way down the hallway. He is still dizzy, and now with the MRI results we understand why: his left cerebellum was slightly damaged during a mild stroke, which probably occurred during surgery. There is still a bit of swelling, so they are going to take him off coumadin for the time being to reduce risk of bleeding. Most likely the dizziness will go away as the swelling goes down, and with physical therapy he will likely regain all of his balance, though he may still tend to lean to the right (appropriate considering his Republican partisanship).

They are going to move him to the inpatient rehab area (maybe not until Monday), where he will stay for a week or two (NOTE: earlier we said he would be coming home tomorrow, but first he needs to control his tilting). While he is not happy about staying any longer in the hospital, Randy is happy to know the underlying cause of his dizziness and is hopeful to make a quick recovery. Note to adoring musical fans: he can still move his fingers in the correct patterns and thinks he will be playing the guitar again soon.

Since he cannot lift anything, Janell has found an appropriate and helpful activity for him: watching Sesame Street with Scotty! We're sure he is looking forward to that. He is probably also looking forward to home-cooked food, considering that he was overheard asking the nurse for some "real salt, real pepper, and real butter--on the side!" Then again, given his new heart condition, he may not be allowed to have real salt and real butter at all.

Meanwhile, Matt and Karrie had to fly out this morning--they will be returning to work life in Boston. It was fun to see them and spend time with them, in spite of the circumstances which brought them here. In other news, Scott got a haircut this morning, and all the grandkids played in the snow.

8 Days Post Trauma

The family members admit that they are all feeling much better today than one week ago. Randy seems to be feeling better too! (Although he does not remember last Friday...)

Today was similar to yesterday. Randy continues to complain of dizziness, but otherwise he wants to come home. One doctor thought that perhaps his body became used to high blood pressure and the dizziness may persist until his body adjusts to a lower blood pressure. They talked with Barbara a bit about discharge instructions and how to care for him at home. Utah law states that he cannot drive for 6 weeks post open heart surgery. He is also not allowed to lift, vacuum, take out the garbage, or be the handyman he's used to being.

The grandchildren visited again this afternoon and he shared his hospital food with them.

His fever seems to be gone and we've heard no more about the pericarditis or EKG irregularities. Barbara's boss thought that Randy should have a neurological consultation, which Barbara then requested. He is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow. We still don't know when he will be discharged, but he's getting closer to coming back home.

Thursday Conclusions

Randy was moved to Room 416 on Level 4 North Cardiology Wing this afternoon. He has a roommate, but all ages of visitors are allowed so all 4 grandchildren were able to see their Grandpa Young again. Ian asked to see the cool chest scar. Scott showed off his new brown boots, and fought with Erin about watching Elmo. All the grandchildren ate Belgian cookies from a big tin box that Helga left. In return, they left get-well drawings hanging on the cabinet.

Randy is still quite dizzy, and sometimes he sees double. If he wasn't so dizzy, he would be able to get up and walk around, but he's restricted so he doesn't fall down and break a hip; that would not be good progress. His surgeon decided to cut back on some of his meds to see if that helps with the dizziness.

If you go to visit Randy, he will offer you some of his food - chicken, juice, water, cake, you name it. He is eating well, but not at his prior capacity, so he's got leftovers. He is also enjoying his red jello cups with fruit.

Randy now has a roommate, so visiting isn't quite the same. He does have the window with a nice view, though. But, best of all Randy happily reports, "I can have as many blankets as I want here!" Once he can walk laps around the nurses' station, they will let him come home.

Speaking to Grandpa---FINALLY!

Posted by Megan

This morning Ian and I were finally able to talk with Grandpa on the phone. I did not get a very big chance though, because Ian was repeatedly chanting "I wanna talk, I wanna talk!" Grandpa wanted to see us, but he told me that the bossy doctors and nurses wouldn't let us come in. I thought that he sounded very good, and it was good to hear him talking. I think that Ian talked to him about his surgery and tubes and things, but I am not positive.

Posted by Ian

It was fun to talk to Grandpa. He's feeling better. I told him I was so happy he's o.k. He said he wants me to be a doctor because it pays well and it can help people. He said he doesn't remember being on the job last week. He said he doesn't remember flying in the helicopter either. He doesn't remember humming when the tubes were pulled out of his chest. I hope he will recover soon. I want him back in time for Christmas so we can play.

Time to go to work...

An update from Barbara this morning regarding Randy.

At three AM today Randy woke up and thought he had to go to work. He started to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Of course the staff who are always watching him ran in and questioned what he was doing. He said he had to go to the bathroom then needed to go to work. They helped him get up for the bathroom. After that they explained where he was and why. In addition they said if you do this again we will restrain you. You cannot get up in the middle of the night to go to work.

Personally it all seems like normal behavior. He has done work at the U of U and knows he is there. Perhaps he is thinking he is on the job site and slept there to get an early start. We will question him later.

While Randy was up at three Karrie was also up at three but for different reasons. She was NOT going to work but running to the bathroom. Karrie was a casualty from Tyler's Birthday dining of Indian food. Her stomach didn't agree with what she ate and wanted it purged from her body. Because Karrie was up at three I was also given the opportunity to be awake at three. I was witness to how much Karrie does not like Indian food. I can never look at Indian food the same way...

It's also Tyler's birthday!

I arrived at the hospital after the nurses had confiscated *both* of Randy's blankets. Since certain visitors had added the second blanket, it was decided that we couldn't be trusted. Poor Dad, cold and uncomfortable. His actual requests were "a blanket and a pint of blood." Kevin put it into his head that a pint of blood would make everything all better. No one would listen to his requests, and Dad threatened to "walk out of here." When Barbara reminded him that he wouldn't make it to the door, he said that he would crawl. Right about then, a team of psychiatrists showed up to do a regular consult. They commiserated with him about the cold, the head of the team noting that he personally could go home and have as many blankets as he wanted, so it truly wasn't fair. He did unfold a napkin for Dad to put on his knees.

Once all the mean blanket-refusing people had left, a nurse finally granted reprieve with one blanket, and Dad curled up and took a nap. While he was sleeping, Karen Taylor stopped by and offered to bring Dad some good soup once he was home. He woke up in a better mood, and was able to talk to my husband Mike on the phone. Mike is in his last year of residency in anesthesiology, and has been doing a lot of similar cardiac surgeries lately, so he was able to give Dad lots of gritty and gory details about his condition and surgery. I don't know exactly what he said, but afterwards Dad was once again grateful to be alive, blankets or not.

Soon, Dad was given dinner of chicken and rice and asparagus, which he declared to be the most delicious meal yet at the hospital. Which isn't saying much. He was chowing down when the nurse remembered that his glucose hadn't been checked yet, so Dad obediently spit out a bite of roll. He doesn't want his sugar levels too high or else he gets insulin, and insulin is on the list of things Dad doesn't like. One prick of the finger didn't work, because the callous on his finger was too thick. "That's my guitar finger," said Dad. "Try this other one, on the side." After passing the blood sugar test, Dad was told that they would stop testing his sugar levels because he had passed so many, so the threat of insulin is gone. Yet another minor victory!

Afterwards, the members of the family who were not confined to a hospital bed went to Bombay House to celebrate Tyler's 30th birthday. We had the back room to ourselves so Scott could chase Erin around and around without bothering other diners. Tyler's best present is having a living father. We told Dad it's a good thing he didn't die, or he would have ruined Tyler's birthday forever, and we wouldn't want that.

Lunchtime update

Posted by Kevin

Randy has a new hairdo today--the first time we have seen him with a mohawk! (Note to Barbara Hansen: keep this in mind for his next haircut.)

I looked at the 4 AM EKG output with the nurse. I'm not very good at reading them. . . there was a severe S-T depression, the P-wave was not visible, and there was a U wave. He did not have any fibrillation, just some electrical irregularity that lasted about 20 or 30 minutes. It was not clear what caused it. I have not heard anything about the echocardiogram results (an echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart).

Randy has been weak and tired, but his mind is clear. He has not stood up at all today but he is not as dizzy as yesterday. His hematocrit is low (31), but they said it is stable so they are not going to give him a transfusion.

The nurse took his temperature, which was a bit high (about 101), so she took off his second blanket and said he had to cool down. Since then he has been asking everyone who comes in to please hand him his second blanket--Barbara and Karrie finally gave in to his pleadings.

April brought in homemade applesauce, spaghetti, and peaches, which Randy has enjoyed, but he has not eaten very much.


P.S. Barbara says that since Randy can now remember his visitors we are not going to keep a running list of all the people coming for a visit. Also, even though the doctors suggested he may be home as soon as Thursday, he will NOT be coming home tomorrow. We have not heard any more about moving him from Intermediate Care, and he has to be more mobile and stable on his feet before he gets to go home.

Minor setback

After many days of remarkable recovery and improvement, Randy had a little setback last night. Around 4 this morning his heart started having some arrhythmia again- the first day out of surgery he was on medicine to help control this, but he's been off it for several days. They have taken an echocardiogram to check things out.

The doctors say that it is nothing to be too concerned about at this point and that it may be related to them pulling the drainage tubes yesterday.

I will update as soon I hear anything more.

Notes from Randy

Barbara thought she had better go to the office for a minute today, and of course there is a backlog of work so she ended up staying several hours. When she visited Randy this evening he told her that the doctor and anesthesiologist had visited him earlier. The doctor said if the anesthesiologist had not prepared Randy quickly for the surgery by cooling his heart and brain to 45 degrees the operation would not have been nearly as successful.

In other news Randy says he is not in any pain, and he is enjoying food, but "the hospital meatloaf makes me sick." (Personally just hearing "hospital meatloaf" makes me sick!) Tonight’s visitors included Helga, Tom and Joyce, Cory and Sandy Cummings, Paul and Kelly Hicken, Richard and Lenore Anderson. Tomorrow they may move him to yet another room, this time out of intermediate care.

When asked if he had a message for the blog readers he said, “I’m happy to be here and I’m thankful for everyone’s prayers and faith on my behalf.”

Music To Our Ears

This morning Matt helped Barbara set-up the MP3 player that was so kindly dropped off by one of Randy's band mates. He had pre-loaded the player with the band's own album. Barbara put the headphones on Randy and the first thing he said was , "Hey, our band sounds pretty good!" Soon he was in his own world singing along to the music. The rest of us couldn't hear the music, but it seem he was in tune, despite the hoarse voice.

Not much later, Matt, Karrie and Andrea got kicked out of the room by a nurse because David had shown up and the nurse felt that 5 groupies were too many when only 2 visitors are allowed at a time.

And so the music plays on...

Matt & Karrie

Tuesday Afternoon Update

This morning Randy greeted Barbara with "I'm so glad you're here!" With some help from the nurses he was able to stand and walk to a chair. He is eating better, and enjoying that. He is still complaining about the nurses not letting him sleep for longer periods.

He told Barbara how to retrieve messages from his cell phone, which is good since the mailbox was full. For all who have left messages, they may actually get checked today!

The morning visitors were Matt, Karrie, brother David and sister-in-law Jackie (granddaughter Riley), Andrea, and Nancy.

This afternoon, Kevin, April, Janell, and all 4 grandchildren came up. Unfortunately, the grandchildren are still not allowed to see him. They are trying to stay amused in the waiting room watching Return of the Jedi and playing games (from their "Grandma's Waiting Room Kit"), exploring the hallways, watching the construction out the window, and going for walks through the halls. Janell suggested that if Randy could walk out in the hallway, we could have grandchildren standing at the end waving to him, but he said the only way he could walk to the hallway was if we could carry him.

The nurse removed the 3 drainage tubes from his chest--one from the pleural cavity and two from the mediastinum cavity. They permitted Kevin and April to watch the process. It was rather painful for Randy. The instructions were, "Don't open your mouth and yell, hum instead. If you open your mouth you risk letting air into the pleural cavity." So Randy complied and hummed--louder and louder as she pulled and stitched. When he was allowed to open his mouth again his first word was "OUCH!" and he proceeded to tease the nurse about her knot-tying skills. The new goals are to get him up and walking more. They will take another chest x-ray to see if everything closed up o.k. after the tube removal. He passed the swallowing check and dietary restrictions are now lifted so he can have more choice in his menu. Kevin suggested we bring him some homemade applesauce (which we originally brought from Logan for the children), and he LOVES it. We will bring him some more.

Carol and Frank also stopped by for a visit and were pleasantly surprised to find the old Randy back. Travis, a former RK Young Electric employee, said "hi" on his way back from work. His discussion with Randy revealed that Randy has not lost any technical electrical knowledge.

That's about it for now. Progress may slow down for a while--there are lots of small steps to take. FYI, visitors are allowed in the IMCU except 7:00-8:30 AM and 7:00-8:30 PM. It is still limited to two visitors at a time.

Less frequent updates

For the benefit of those who check this blog frequently:

Randy is doing extremely well. With his rapidly improved (and improving!) condition, Andrea and I have moved back to our house in South Jordan. I've gone back to work, and we'll be checking in during the evenings. Since we're not in the waiting room with laptops at the ready, updates will probably be limited to once a day or so by the other siblings who are closer to the situation.

Time for bed...

Randy is still tired and wants to sleep all the time but is unable to because the nurses keep coming in to check on him and Barbara helps keep him awake. Matt, on the other hand, believes in resting and sleeping. Randy ate solid food tonight for dinner. Barbara was feeding him fish and various side dishes the nurse brought in. He was able to eat slowly, as we all should. Grandma Young and Jackie Young visited Randy tonight.

PostScript from Barbara:
Other visitors today included members of the band (Dan, Russ, and Roger), Brent Evans, Glenda Evans, Toni Anderson (yes, he knew it was you), Liz Edmund, Gary Southern, Bill McMahon, and Hilary Coon (thanks for the plant and card from the research group!). Thanks also for the phone calls.

Randy is doing really well, he knows that it is 2007, and if things continue to go this well he will be home as soon as Thursday! It seems so soon, but the thought of him coming home is exciting. He will get some more of his tubes out tomorrow. The two doctors that operated on Randy also came in, and were both very nice. They emphasized that he is still making baby steps (if these are baby steps, then what could they possibly consider a big step??), and that he still has high blood pressure. He has to wear a medic-alert bracelet and carry a card in his wallet that says he has had an implant.

I'm feeling good. Good night to all!

New Digs!

He's out of the ICU and into the Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU). It's on the 5th floor of the University hospital, and the chairs here are very comfy. The room is warmer, and he has a flat-screen TV and a DVD player for our lounging enjoyment.

The occupational therapist, Jenny, just came in to ask about what he does and the layout of the house. It sounds like she's the one who will be helping him get ready to go home. We certainly don't know a time line for that yet, but it's a delightful thought.

Travis, Bill and Molly McMahon, Tracy Green, and Claudia Dines (thanks for the food coupons!) have all stopped by this afternoon, along with some of the regular family.


Now for a running commentary on the physical therapist meeting:

He's sleeping at the moment, but the therapists are here to interrupt him. He's a bit dizzy, but that could be from the pain meds.

He can touch his shoulders, no numbness in fingers or toes. Arm strength is good. He can get his socks off on his own... mostly... his balance is still a bit off, and all the tubes and cuffs are making it tricky.

Alarms going off... yeah, tubes get kinked when he moves around. Standing up now! Leaning forward a bit much, so he's leaning back a bit more to balance. Something hurts on his left foot. A few wobbly steps, using the therapists' arms as a walker. Sitting back down. Laying back in bed, and straightening tubes out.

So there are some things to work on. Balance, in particular, but pain meds are likely to be a factor with that.



Looks like there's some work to be done, but he's doing amazingly well. G - O - - D - A - D, Goooooo.... Daaaaad!


And thanks, Dr. Hunziker, and the consult team for checking on us.

He's back!

Today is remarkably different in how clear Randy is speaking and how perfectly he is remembering everything. He is really himself today, complete with dry humor, smiles, and stories. He is able to take small bites and little drinks, he can focus clearly on all of his surroundings (well enough to read the calendar and clock on the wall), and he is sitting up very well.

Since the conversations can now take up an entire 20-minute visit, we cannot record every detail, but here are a few highlights:

• Randy said "I'm really tired--they keep waking me up and I haven't had a sense of day or night. But based on the light outside I'd say it's about noon." April replied, "You're good! It's 12:30." Randy smiled and said, "Well, I cheated--I can see the clock on the wall!"
• April commented that we wanted to hear all of his stories from when he was unconscious, and Randy said, "I kept waiting for Kelly's stories, and she didn't have any. I think I should have some stories from all of this, but I was gone. G-O-N-E. I was really O-U-T."
• We were trying to assess how far his memory extended. With a little prompting he remembered Thanksgiving, and then he remembered he had been getting ready for Tom Halliday's Christmas party. "That was a big party--I should have gone."
• We asked if he knew Steve was his hero, and he said "I heard about that--he saved my life. I'm going to have to pay him more." (Steve, now you have it in writing!)
• "Do you feel like a performing seal now, with all these people asking you to wake up and say hi?" "Yep." "Well, we brought some fish for you. Open wide." "Fish doesn't sound good."
• He does not like the chocolate pudding. He's going to try the vanilla next time.
• He remembers Thanksgiving (the last holiday), and going out with Andrea and Tyler to dinner on the Saturday before it happened.
• He wants to sleep more-- people keep waking him up every two hours, and he wishes they'd stop and let him sleep for seven hours at a time. Sorry dad... welcome to the ICU!
• He gets dizzy easily, and is very annoyed with it. He doesn't remember the last few days of having trouble breathing and, oh, living, so we told him some dizziness is acceptable.
• They wanted him to feed himself, and he had a few coordination problems. "I never thought I'd have trouble feeding myself!" (Kelly Hicken, he's eating the same way you did at the start of your recovery)
  
• They are moving him to the 5th floor intermediate care facility within the hour!
  

Gravity

As more people with medical backgrounds have come to visit with us, we see more and more what a miracle has been going on.

First, the surgeon, Dr. Arun Singhal, who worked on the heart. Early on we'd given him the moniker, "Dr. Death" because the only news he gave us seemed to be grim. Since then we've learned more about him, and he's apparently a well-known, well-respected surgeon. A doctor friend of my aunt Carol told her that Randy couldn't have been in better hands. Profuse apologies to him for any bad-mouthing that gets back to him. He was simply being honest about the situation we were facing. It was about as bad a situation as it gets.

The anesthesiologist was talking with mom as she was visiting dad, and he said that he just had to stop and see Randy because he thought after seeing the X-rays, for sure he wasn't going to survive. One of the nurses said that they cheered when he left the operating room alive... he was not expected to make it that far.

Kevin asked a nurse the other day how many aortic dissection patients they get. "You mean that survive this long??! Not many."



Every day has been drastic, miraculous improvements. A social worker is going to be getting together with mom to help prepare for the next steps, and we'll be getting more information from there on what to expect. I'm guessing people haven't been helping us plan the future, because statistically, there was none. We are humbled and grateful to be witnesses to this miracle.

Morning update

I just got back from seeing my dad in his room this morning. Imagine my surprise to see him sitting up in a chair talking with my mom! He was awake, alert, with eyes wide open, and holding a meaningful conversation with her. His blood pressure is still a bit high, but they're working on that.

He doesn't remember anything about people who've come in to visit him. That doesn't surprise me, as surgery like that can take a few days to really come out of. He now knows it's 2007. His children are Matt, Kevin and April, and Tyler. When you ask who his daughter is, he replies Janell, though, so he does know her-- he's just having a little trouble putting her in the sequence.

He listened to mom's explanation of what happened, and got a bit teary-eyed when he told her he's sorry to put us all through this. We, of course, are simply delighted to have him still alive.

He's very touched by all the kindness that's been shown to us through this ordeal, and is excited to read the blog to catch up on what he's missed. Since he'll be reading... "Hi, Dad!"

The nurses came back in to move him back into bed, and after that he was exhausted. We left him to get some sleep, and we'll go in later to quiz him again on dates, places and children. And he thought the SATs were hard!

Sunday Conclusions

Yet again the day has been filled with moments of progress and hope--and lots of visitors, which we have enjoyed! Again we thank all of you--we are grateful for all the support and love.

In addition to people listed previously, we also had nice visits from Elaine and Stirling Brinkerhoff, Barbara & John Hansen, Cory Cummings & Keith Davies (valiant home teachers), Greg and Saige Bonner, Dianna Hasselfeld (thanks for the cute grandma kit!), Maryetta Tsukamoto, and more family members. Thanks again for the continuous stream of food (the soup is delicious Sherrill). Since Randy did not get to visit all of you, and since he may not remember these days, we wanted to keep track of visitors here. If we missed your name, we apologize--we're a bit spacey at times.

Randy became quite alert tonight. His eyes were wide open, and he was looking around the room with interest. He asked Kevin and April if we were in France, and he asked Barbara if he was in a new room. He told Tyler and Andrea he thought it was 1979, yet he remembered the names of all his grandchildren without hesitation. When Kevin told him he was at the U of U hospital and that he had had a heart attack, Randy wrinkled his brow and said "That doesn't sound good." Later, Barbara asked if he knew why he was in the hospital, and he replied "I think I had a heart attack. . . how did that happen?"

Tonight's attentive nurse is Nurse Sloan, and she is very kind. Before the shift change, Barbara went to thank Nurse Valerie, who works Friday-Sunday, and said "I probably won't see you again since he will be moved before your next shift, and I want to thank you for all of your help." Valerie looked at Barbara and said "It truly is a miracle." Yes, it truly is!

Prince Charming Has Returned!

Here is Randy responding to a visit from Barbara Sunday morning. It was originally intended to show the grandchildren how well Grandpa is doing, but it is just so cute that Barbara agreed we could share this tender moment here.

A long day

There have been a lot of visitors today! The last time mom went in to see dad, he wasn't quite as perky. We're thinking it's just fatigue, since he's had close to two dozen visitors today. Having never had open heart surgery myself, it's hard to say for sure.

His blood pressure is still high, and the doctors are thinking of giving him a patch to help control that. In talking with the nurses, his condition is good. They would have moved him out of the ICU into the intermediate care ward, but there aren't any available beds on the 5th floor. Janell and Andrea went to check out his new home, and we most heartily disapprove. The waiting room up there isn't nearly as nice, so we're okay with him staying here for a while.

Party Fun Time

Dad is missing out on a great party in the waiting room. The party began yesterday afternoon when Scott and I flew in, and Scott showed off how he can eat a banana and watch endless hours of Elmo's World on dvd. (Dear Elmo: Rock on! Love, Janell)

I am a bit sleep-deprived (much less than other folks here, though) which is making me blind and stupid. But I can remember the discussion last night that Randy went through a lot of effort to get a helicopter ride. He could have just asked. And he also went to extreme measures to get a family reunion. Matt and Karrie weren't going to fly out here for Christmas. Randy: "We'll just see about that." Then we all get together and he can't even join us. I told him that he needs to move out of the ICU so that the grandkids can visit him and jump on him. Randy: *thumbs up*

We were discussing the blog, and its wide audience. Our cousin Shannon has a fridge for sale. We discussed selling the fridge on the blog, but perhaps decided against it. So forget I mentioned it.

Kevin and April just came out of the ICU. Kevin to Dad: "Ian wants to come see you, but we told him he couldn't wrestle you." Dad: "That's a good idea." Kevin: "Do you have anything to say to the grandkids?" Dad: *smiles, raises arm and waves*

This morning, Dad's brother-in-law Mike Jackson came to visit; he's also had visits from his other brother-in-law Dan Bradshaw, and his other brother-in-law Steve Kimball, and his other brother-in-law Mike Moffitt.

While he's been resting, Dad missed Scott and Erin sharing a bath last night with "too many bubbles!" And he missed Scott's attempted naked-rocking-horse-riding, but I have a feeling there will be more attempts in the future. And he missed my fabulous homemade very secret recipe Irish oatmeal for breakfast. So, he's got lots of catching up to do.

A steady stream....

Things have been picking up here in the SICU waiting room. An organ donor became available a couple of days ago, and several families have been in for transplants. A heart, liver, kidney (for a 16 year-old girl), and a double-lung transplant. Very moving to see the effect of one person's decision to share their life.

Kevin and April, Matt and Karrie, and Janell all came up. And they brought food! Thank you again, everyone who's been bringing food by the house for the family. It's very delicious, and very appreciated. After lunch, the number of visitors ramped up considerably! We've been busy thanking everyone and swapping stories about dad. Thanks to all the neighbors, friends, band members, and loads of ward members who've stopped by to offer support. Technically it's only immediate family allowed in the ICU... the nursing staff has probably never seen so many in-laws!

He's been doing very well today. He's starting to remember who's been in before, and he's very good about knowing peoples' names. One day he'll be reading this blog and will laugh when he remembers how we all used baby-talk around him and asked the stupidest questions. Well guess what? You gave us a serious scare! Punk. :-P

Once his throat's well enough to really start talking we'll have a better assessment of things, and maybe then our voices will all lower an octave and we'll start holding philosophical discussions. In the meantime, I'm delighted every time I remember that he knows my name and who I am. Family relations are dear, and I'm grateful he's able to know us and how much we love him.

Huh?

Tyler and I were in talking to Randy a few minutes ago. I asked him if he had any idea what was going on, and he shook his had and shrugged his shoulders . I explained that he had some heart problems and had to have major open-heart surgery. His response? A hand to his forehead and a 'Huh?' No kidding, papa! That's what we think!

The doctors want him to wake up today, so we threatened to make Tyler sing at him until he opened his eyes- he smiled and chuckled at that and opened them up a bit. (Poor, maligned Tyler!) When we told him about all the people who were visiting and what a party we were having in the waiting room, he put on his pouty face because he was missing the fun... It is so nice to see him acting like the same guy we all know and love- albeit a more drugged one than we are used to.

The Morning Report-from the home

We cannot all be at the hospital all the time, so here is the report from the house. Scotty is thrilled that there is a dog in the house (Barbara would be less thrilled, but she's not home). Erin, Ian, and Megan are happy to have their cousin here, as well as their aunts and uncles. Mostly the children have been playing, reading, and drawing. They are anxious to see Grandpa, but are happy to hear of his progress.

There is food everywhere! Thank you to everyone who has brought in meals, snacks, and goodies.

Christmas music is playing, we are much more relaxed than 2 days ago (and worn out), and all in all it is a happy, quiet atmosphere (other than the occasional shrieks from Erin). Janell has noted that every clock in the house tells a different time, so it's not surprising that Randy did not know what year it was.

The Morning Report

Mom just got back with the report.... They stood him up twice-- no walking, but he's sitting up in bed now. He had a good night. For some reason he thought it was 1977 when they asked him. Which is cool, because that's the year I was born in-- apparently it's a big deal to him! Mom told him, "The ward is having a fast for you today." To which he replied, "Why?" Ummm... because you're very sick and they love you!

Morning wake-up call

Last night we left the hospital around 11 or so. There was a bit of an adventure getting to Barbara's car which was parked underground in a lot that you access by elevator. And you access the elevator from the building. Which was locked. Thank heavens for medical students having study groups near midnight on a Saturday-- they're getting in practice for rescuing people at all hours!

Everybody got to bed in the house around midnight, and we all slept very well. Andrea woke me up this morning to come with Barbara to the hospital, and it was a gorgeous drive with blue skies and white trees. Barbara's in with Randy now, and I'll post more as soon as we know.

To Randy, With Love from Everyone Who Has Helped You

This Post was written by Barbara.

I would like to list some of the blessings of people and miracles that have happened. Part of the reason is because I want to put it down while it is fresh in my mind and I want Randy to know of all of the kindnesses that have happened on his behalf.

I have been overwhelmed with all the kindness, love and attention our family has been receiving since this totally, out of the blue, critical event. My heart is very full and I can't tell you how grateful I am to each and every one of you. I want you to know that I feel like Randy is in very good hands and he is continually watched over. I also want you to know that I truly feel every one of your prayers. My heart is very full.

First off, I would like to thank Randy's wonderful employees ("the boys," as he call them) - Steve Hibbetts, Gordon Brown, and Gary Southern. Randy could not have picked a worse time to have this happen, business-wise. They have been so busy. They even worked Thanksgiving, have been working weekends, and have been putting in very long days. They were finishing up a job in Clinton so they could start the Park City job. Randy ended up staying a little longer to finish up. When Steve walked into the room, Randy was clutching his chest and Steve knew he was in trouble and called the paramedics, even though Randy said he was going to drive home. You know the rest from the blog. Anyway, thank you Steve, Gordon and Gary. You have worked so hard and I am so grateful to you, and thanks Steve for saving his life.

I would like to thank Jerri Nellsch, the mother-in-law of one of the nurses at Davis Medical Center who drove me back to the U of U when Randy was life flighted.

I thank Barbara & Jon Hansen, Boyd and Liz Edman, and Kelly and Paul Hicken for rescuing my car from Davis Medical Center.

Thank you to Cory Cummings, Keith Davies, Diana and Jim Hasselfelt, Jon and Barbara Hansen, Gary and Deannie Southern, the band - Tom Halliday (with his wife Joyce), Steve Kimball, Roger Tidwell and Russ (and my mind is totally blank because I can't think of his last name - sorry Ruby). Also my family, my son Tyler and his wife Andrea, Kevin and his wife April, my perfect grandson Ian, sisters Nancy and Carol, brothers Todd and Charlie, and nieces Tanya and Shannon. All of these people were with me the first night at the hospital - what troopers!!!

Thank you for all of the phone calls - Nancy Hyde, Merrilee Nelson, Jeff Gold, Liz, Kelly, Bishop, Sherrill, Nola, Rebecca, Helen Young and tons more.

Yesterday (Friday, November 30th) we were visited by all the family members, Keith and Nola, Chris Jackson, Gordon, Steve and Gary, Bishop, Molly and Bill McMahon, Liz Edman, Kelly Hicken, Nan Bateman, Tracy Green, Dave Willis, Deb Bilder, Cory Cummings, Mary Sonzini, Kim and Susan Duersch, Tom & Joyce Halliday.

Today (December 1st) we were visited by Bishop Dave, Bill McMahon, President Kent Cannon, Mary Sonzini, Dave and Anna Thackerary, all the family, Travis Staley and his wife and two sons.

Thank you Steve for saving his life.
Thank you Sherrill for the temple network.
Thank you family - you are amazing.
Thank you Keith & Nola for picking up and putting together the crib.
Thank you Malia and Makoa for tending my grandchildren Friday night.
Thank you Molly for the very appreciated gift bag of toiletries (loved the toothbrush and tooth paste).
Thank you Bill for the chocolates (which help in any situation) and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to the nurse for me.
Thank you to the RS for all the food that has been delivered to our house.
Thank you to the crew who shoveled our walks.
Thank you Debbie for offering help as a friend or doctor-whichever I need at the time.
Thank you Judy Zimmerman for sending the clergy lady.
Thank you Mary Sonzini for setting up a wonderful shower for me at the hospital - showers are really helpful.
Thank you Dave Willis for answering all our questions and being available.
Thank you Claudia for sending a fellow from Nutrition Care to take a food order. Chicken noodle soup is very healing.
Thank you to the surgeon for his knowledge and skill in repairing Randy's heart (even though he acted like the grim reaper when he initially spoke with us).
Thank you to the nurses.
Thank you my son-in-law for also answering difficult questions .
Thank you Carrie (my niece) and Maryetta for babysitting.
Thank you Van and Myrna for picking up Janell and Scotty.

I apologize to anyone I may have missed.

I wanted to write down as much as I can remember so that when Randy can communicate, he will know of all of the people that love and have rallied around him and our family. We have had some great times with all of the visitors. I kept saying Randy would have loved to have been in the waiting room with us.

I want you to know that I am feeling very hopeful, loved and spoiled. Except for a couple of Dr. Death encounters, I have been very positive and upbeat. My family and I will get through this and love and appreciate each and every one of you.

Mmmm.... sugar.

Andrea and I went in to see him just before the shift change tonight. He wasn't talking, but he was moving around a lot. That bed is just too short for him! That, and he loathes the oxygen mask. He tried to pull it off probably 7 or 8 times in the time we were in with him.

We asked if he wanted us to go back to sleep yet, and he shook his head no. We told him about all the visitors who've come to see us in the waiting room today, and about the blog and all the people who were wanting to see how he's doing. He probably won't remember a thing from these first days, but it's nice to think that we're helping him relax in the moments when he's more lucid.

While we were there, they finished off the insulin he's been receiving. So hooray! One less tube! There are still several, and he likes to try taking them out at every opportunity. Those poor nurses-- they have their hands full! They'll be monitoring his glucose level every 4 hours, and giving him insulin shots as appropriate.


Not much else to report for the day. We looked at the clock and noted that he's starting Day 3. Time blurs, and it seems unreal that it's only been 48 hours since we first arrived at the hospital.
Mom is going to try posting in a while to let everybody know how she's doing.

Janell & Scotty are Here!

Janell and her toddler Scotty arrived this afternoon! Now all the children are together. Barbara is feeling very happy. Randy continues to communicate now that he has the breathing tube out. He is still drowsy with the medication, however. The nurses tell us that if he continues to improve they will be moving him out of the ICU within a couple of days.

Visitors keep stopping by, and now there is much more entertainment in the waiting room with Scotty. The grandchildren are not allowed to see Randy until they move him from ICU, but they are patiently waiting and looking forward to talking with him again.

Lazarus, arise!

Kevin and April just got in from checking in on dad. He's sedated at the moment, so he was not too responsive. In talking with the nurse, they learned that earlier a physical therapist had come in and they told Randy they were there to help him stand up. So he got up. All on his own!

He is now tied down to his bed again. So he doesn't, you know, wander off on them or anything. Go dad!

Dazed and confused

Barbara and Nancy came back from visiting with him. The nurses were doing various diagnostics on him-- thumbs-up with his left hand, two fingers out on his right hand, wiggle his toes.... They had a light and had him track it. He turned his head to follow it instead of moving his eyes, which they weren't particularly pleased about, but everything else seems to point to decent cognitive function.

Nancy asked if he knew who she was, and he whispered out, "Nancy". The nurses asked what the holiday was that we just celebrated. He said, "Barbara's birthday". "What's the holiday that we just celebrated where you eat lots of food?" "Barbara's birthday." "When is Barbara's birthday?" "September." That's correct, but it looks like there may have been some short-term memory loss.

You know what? I'd be perfectly happy to have Thanksgiving again just for him. There's a lot to be thankful for.

Breathing tube? What breathing tube?!

I just got out of the room with my dad. As we approached, he was moving his arms a bit and struggling with the nurse. We came in and talked with him a bit, just reassuring him that yes, we know he's uncomfortable, but he's doing great. We explained a little bit to him about what happened and where he is, but certainly not the extent of it.

We were about to leave when a crew of nurses showed up to take out his breathing tube! He started trying to take it out himself (again!), and fought with the nurses when they tried to restrain him. We kept talking to him and it calmed him down to where they could finish their work.

And moments later.... he was breathing on his own with no tubes!!

He tried to talk a bit-- he told the nurse he was about to pee on her. She explained that he had a catheter, so he's good. She told him she's had patients threaten worse. :-) I told him to not try to talk because his throat is really sore. Having been through several long surgeries myself, I can empathize with how bad your throat gets and how confused you are when you're coming out of the sedation. He accepted that, and we just kept telling him he's doing well. He fought a bit when they put an oxygen mask over him until we explained that they're not trying to put another breathing tube in.

So that's good... he's breathing on his own now. He's certainly dazed by all the anesthesia, but if you explain what's going on he settles right down. When he made a comment to the nurse when the tube was removed, he sounded like dad. They've taken out a lot of the tubes from his neck and chest, and his color looks more and more normal.

They didn't want to pull the tube until he could follow commands because they'll need to have him do some breathing exercises. Apparently the next step is to try to get him walking!! Yeah. We're shocked too. I'm frankly terrified, but that's probably just because he's still dazed from being sedated so much. He'll be delighted, I'm sure-- the way he's been thrashing about in bed implies he wants to be up and kicking. But wow!


On a separate note...


Mom slept in the waiting room again last night, because she wanted to be close in case anything happened. Matt and Karrie came in from Massachusetts last night and visited dad for a bit-- he'd fallen asleep and didn't get to see them. We all left my mom and went to their house to get some sleep. Everybody was completely exhausted.

This morning we had waffles for breakfast, and the Relief Society and neighbors have been bringing food over for the family.


Thank you everyone for all your love and prayers and support. This is a horrible thing to happen, but we've all been so blessed by the overwhelming response of everyone who knows our dad.

Hope and optimism

Dad's been stable through the day. He was sedated for most of it, because he's been ornery and cranky and fighting the breathing tube. Yes, he hates it enough that even though he's strapped down to keep him in place, he somehow managed to pull it out on his own! Go dad!! Unfortunately, his breathing was too shallow, so the victory was short-lived. They gave him another tube and more sedatives. The goal is to get him off of the tube tomorrow, as soon as his breathing stabilizes.

A few minutes ago, Kevin and April went in to check up on him. He's been sedated and non-responsive pretty much all day. They were talking to him a bit, and Kevin mentioned that Matt and Karrie are coming up in a few minutes. All of a sudden he pulled his head up a bit and tried opening his eyes! He's alive. His heart is beating on its own. His brain is recognizing names and voices, and arms and legs seem to be functional.

We're hopeful. We're optimistic.

Timeline of RK's aortic dissection

Thursday, 29 Nov. 2007
Around 4:00 PM Randy was on the job in Clinton (close to Layton) and felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Steve, one of his workers, noticed that he was pale and pointing to his chest, and asked if he was choking. Randy explained he just had a bit of pain and was going to drive home. Steve said no, and called an ambulance instead. Within 15 minutes he was on his way to Davis Hospital--by that time he was becoming incoherent. Barbara got word from Steve and headed to the hospital. En route she thought "it's probably indigestion from the cookies he was eating!" But when she got there she was told that he was in "very critical condition" and that he was being life-flighted to U of U hospital. Barbara saw Randy and described him as "agitated and gray." She was told by Davis hospital that Randy may not survive the flight. Barbara was then unable to drive, but a 76-year old grandma transported her safely to the U of U (and some friends later retrieved her car--thanks John, Barbara, Kelly, Paul, Liz, and Boyd!).

Surgery began around 6:30 PM and lasted until about 12:30 AM Friday. During the surgery we received updates about every hour or two, and it was always "things are going well." So we all became quite optimistic and mixed our tears with smiles. Lots of people came, lots of people called. It was a relatively happy, hopeful atmosphere with band members, ward members, friends, and family, but then the doctor came out at the end of the surgery and shot down our optimism. The doctor said things were very bad. He explained that during the helicopter flight Randy had gone into cardiac arrest twice, and was in full cardiac arrest at the time of his arrival. The doctor emphasized that there could have been extensive damage to the heart muscle and extensive damage to the brain during these episodes. We were told that there was a good chance he would never come out of anesthesia, or that if he did there could be paralysis or loss of mental function. Now that the party had been rained on, we all hugged, cried, prayed, and talked. Through the tears Barbara wanted everyone to know how grateful she was for the love and support she had received, and she told everyone how lucky she was for the time she has had with her best friend.

From the doctor we learned that the coronary arteries were pulled away from the heart by the dissection, which caused the heart attacks. They had to replace the aortic semilunar valve, about 3/4 of the aortic arch, and the coronary arteries.
















If you want some technical details, this image shows the aorta, which starts at the aortic semilunar valve (the exit of the left ventricle). All of the blood going to the body must pass through the aorta, so it is the largest artery and under the greatest pressure. As shown, a small hole developed in the inner layer, and blood pushed the middle and outer layers away from the inner layer (creating an aneurysm). Randy's dissection went a bit further than the one shown here, so the three major arteries at the top had to be attached to the graft. The three arteries at the top are the brachiocephalic trunk (it splits into an artery going to the right brain and one to the right arm), the left common carotid artery (going to the left brain), and the left subclavian artery (going to the left arm).





Friday, 30 Nov. 2007
Barbara, Kevin, and Tyler saw Randy in the Intensive Care Unit for the first time around 1:30 AM Friday. He was very pale and swollen, with a breathing tube, a stent in the neck, and tubes in the chest. He had acidosis (pH of 7.27), which was stabilized within a couple of hours. His blood pressure was low but all in all his vital signs were stable. Tyler and Kevin gave him a Priesthood blessing, and some tender family moments were shared as we contemplated this great man and wondered whether we could keep him with us any longer.

Around 6 AM the anesthetic was wearing off enough that Randy started to pull against his restraints. We were thrilled to see that he was moving all of his limbs. Even better, he was able to respond to our voices. He could squeeze his hands or wiggle his toes when asked. Barbara asked if he was in pain, and he nodded. When she asked if he could open his eyes he shook his head. We once again became quite hopeful, but with the realization that in the best case scenario it will be a long and painful recovery.

After Randy's initial responsiveness, they administered sedatives for the pain and for most of the day he has been asleep. When Barbara talks with him he starts to move and the nurses get after Barbara for stimulating him too much.

The work crew stopped by and told the story from their end. Steve, Gordon, and Gary shared some laughs with Barbara, and they all agreed that if Randy pulls through he's in big trouble for putting us through all this :) Being the good guys they are, they went back to work. Many friends and family have been visiting Barbara through the day. Dave, an anesthesiologist resident and brother-in-law of a friend, stopped by and answered questions, listened to our account, and gave an optimistic assessment. Matt, and Karrie will be arriving from Boston tonight and Janell is coming tomorrow.

We took it as a good sign tonight that in spite of the restraints Randy found a way to rip out his breathing tube (they said he wasn't yet ready so they drugged him more and put it back in). We thank you all for your prayers, kind thoughts, and loving support. So far we've witnessed miracles we did not expect and shared many tender family moments.

Welcome

Dear friends and family,

Thank you for all of the support we've received from you so far! The show of love and support from so many people has been overwhelming and deeply humbling.

We're so grateful for all the love and concern that's been shown. In the early hours we started using a telephone tree to keep the immediate family updated on Randy's condition as soon as more information became available. While we're still making calls to family, many extended family and friends are having to hear the news second- or third-hand. The information that gets passed down ends up being vague and incomplete at best.

At the moment, this blog is being written from the waiting room at the University of Utah Hospital, about 100 feet from the entrance to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU). We don't get updates very often, but we're committing to post whatever updates we receive as soon as they come in.

We'll try to respond to any questions that are posted in the comments of this blog. No promises, but we'll do what we can.


Thank you again for all of your love and prayers at this poignant moment in all of our lives.