My dad is being admitted to the hospital...

Krista · January 13, 2006, 08:41:02 AM

He's only 55, but he's retaining a lot of fluid, cannot hardly breathe and it appears that there may be a mass in his abdomen. Nothing abnormal with his heart or lungs showed up on the x-rays. They are going to do more tests.

Rays and prayers would be appreciated.

April · January 13, 2006, 08:43:23 AM

Oh MY! Please keep us updated about things. I'll keep you all in my thoughts/prayers! Hopefully it won't be anything to worry about.

Jen · January 13, 2006, 09:12:12 AM

Sending Mega HUGE prayers for your dad!!

If you need anything don't hesitate to call!

HUGS
Jen & The Crew

Marcia from MI · January 13, 2006, 10:02:00 AM

Rays and prayers coming your dad's way from MI.

Kari · January 13, 2006, 10:16:08 AM

RAYS coming your way - we are thinking of you!

Mike · January 13, 2006, 04:25:02 PM

Rays coming from IL

Barb · January 13, 2006, 04:42:46 PM

Rays on the way - sure hope it is nothing serious...let us know -

Ruth in MT · January 13, 2006, 05:05:17 PM

Prayers for a speedy recovery from Montana

BridgetLouise · January 13, 2006, 07:49:34 PM

More rays from Montana.

Krista · January 14, 2006, 05:35:09 AM

The docs have issued a diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure. More tests will be run today to determine how advanced the disease is and what the best course of treatment might be. He'll be seeing some specialists today as well.

Thank you for the rays and prayers. Please keep them coming.

Barb · January 14, 2006, 07:13:08 AM

Definatly will keep your dad in my prayers - rays on the way that they caught things early. Hugs to you Krista -

Sandishooligans · January 14, 2006, 05:58:36 PM

So sorry to hear this, Krista. You are in our thoughts and we send our prayers your way to you and your dad.

Krista · January 14, 2006, 07:07:06 PM

The news from later today is not good. The congestive heart failure is being caused by dilated cardiomyopathy. We don't yet know whether the cardiomyopathy is caused by a virus (infecting his heart muscle) or not. There is a chance that there might be a blockage. If there is a blockage, that will be more treatable than the viral form of the disease. If it is the viral form, there is nothing they can do to get rid of the virus. A heart transplant might be necessary within the year if that is the case.

More tests will be run.

Thanks for the rays. we are okay, just exhausted and overwhelmed.

Roberta · January 14, 2006, 07:34:30 PM

Big hugs to you both, your Dad is in our thoughts and prayers. MEGA rays on the way.
Roberta Nick and monsters

Brekkesmom · January 14, 2006, 07:35:41 PM

Hoping it is a blockage that can be dealt with! Sending rays your way...

Barb · January 14, 2006, 08:53:22 PM

Keeping you in my thoughts - rays and prayers on the way in full force. Sure hope they can take care of this the easy way - please keep us updated. Tell your dad there are people all over the world pulling for him.

Leslie · January 14, 2006, 09:04:14 PM

crud.

Sending prayers from Pennsylvania. Hang in there.

KathyP · January 15, 2006, 10:35:51 PM

Krista, keeping your dad and the rest of your family in my prayers.

Krista · January 16, 2006, 05:34:11 AM

My dad will be having a heart catheterization done sometime today to check for blockages, and also to take pictures of the inside of his heart - which may show if the likely cause of the cardiomyopathy is viral. --Lets hope its not viral. -- If they find a blockage, they will immediately do an angioplasty to see if that can remove the blockage.

Dad's heart is only functioning at about 15 - 20% of capacity, and the medication has not yet been able to control the arrythmia. If they can resolve the arrythmia (tachycardia - abnormal, fast rhythm) then his heart function may improve some. They would like to see it over 30% and they want his heart rate to stay below 120. When I was there last night, his rate was closer to 140.

Thank you for all the good thoughts. Please keep them coming.

Jen · January 16, 2006, 07:20:31 AM

Sending lots and lots of prayers hopefully they can find the cause and correct it! :xfinger:

Hugs
Jen & the Crew

MindyKay · January 16, 2006, 08:00:30 AM

Rays and prayers on the way from Iowa.

Barb · January 16, 2006, 08:29:01 AM

Rays and prayers in full force -please let us know how he does during the procedure......Hang in there -

KathyP · January 16, 2006, 09:25:57 AM

Keeping Dad and the rest of you in my prayers today........

TerriL · January 16, 2006, 10:10:10 AM

Oh Krista, I am so sorry! I hadn't read your original post until today. Your dad will be in my prayers! Keep us informed!

Krista · January 16, 2006, 10:19:24 AM

They did a heart catheterization this morning.

Good news: He came through that just fine and even said it was not painful or bothersome at all. They found no blockages - and in fact his arteries look pretty good.

Bad news: There is an infection in his heart. This is what is causing the muscle to be so weak, thus leading to congestive heart failure. This is called viral cardiomyopathy. There is nothing they can do to cure the virus, but hopefully they can help him to have a better heart function and thus have somewhat of a life. There is no way to know how well or how long treatment will help him. Some people live many, many years with this disease.

Most concerning: Heartrate and rhythm. His heart is still beating too fast and is not in the proper rhythm. (They have said this is an arrythmia and that he has an atrial flutter.) This arrythmia puts him at great risk for sudden cardiac arrest or sudden heart failure. The main goal right now is to get the rate and rhythm under control. They will try medication first. If medication does not work, they have other things in their arsenal like cardiac ablation procedures and pacemakers. They just want to get his heart to a baseline that the Doctors feel is stable enough.

Once they get this arrythmia under control, his heart function may improve, so that it is working better and the meds for congestive heart failure may work better then too. Down the road 6-9 months they could look at installing an ICD (something that would shock the heart if it got out of rhythm and help prevent sudden cardiac arrest).

Thanks again. Will keep you posted.

KathyP · January 16, 2006, 03:44:23 PM

Oh, my Krista. I am glad for the good news...anything positive is a plus. But will keep him in prayer that the Drs will be able to get his heartrate to an acceptable level and the rhythm too.
Almost 10 yrs ago my mom had some heart issues where the rhythm would cause her to feel faint and she made many trips to the hospital until they got it all figured out. She was on coumidan and some other drugs for a number of years. Two years ago when she was going through radiation therapy for breast precancer her cancer doc questioned why she was still on all the meds and after discussing it w/ her main doc, took her off of the coumidan and one other med. She is doing really well at this time and will turn 80 in June.
Hugs to you, I know how it feels when a parent is not well.

Jen · January 16, 2006, 06:55:59 PM

Krista,

I have your family in my prayers!

I will try to give you a call later this week i know you are probably spending lots of time at the hospital.

Hugs
Jen

Barb · January 17, 2006, 07:42:50 AM

I know this is so hard for your family - keeping you all in my prayers. Please keep us updated and know that we are here for you.

Krista · January 17, 2006, 11:41:46 AM

They did a kind of ultrasound on my dad’s heart this morning where they stick a probe down into your esophagus to look at your heart up close and from behind. They wanted to do a cardioversion (shocking the heart back into normal rhythm) but the results of the ultrasound scan kept them from doing so. The ultrasound showed what might be a few small blood clots on the back of the heart. It is too risky to shock the heart with blood clots because the clots may flow to the brain and cause a stroke.

They want to give him blood thinners for 6 weeks and then try the scan again with hopefully a clear result, so they can do the cardioversion at that time. Until then, his heart will likely be out of rhythm.

They will keep medicating him for the heart failure and high heart rate. We don’t know how long he’ll be in the hospital, but at the very least, they’ll want all of his meds to be working well for him and for his heart rate to stay within an acceptable range.

Thanks so much for all the the good thoughts, prayers and rays.

April · January 17, 2006, 11:52:02 AM

Krista, I will continue thinking of him and you! This has got to be very stressful for you! Give me a call if you ever need to talk! I'll PM you my home phone (it's changed recently) and my cell just in case I haven't done it before!

Krista · January 19, 2006, 09:27:13 AM

Dad's heart is beating back in a normal rhythm now! I guess it started last night during my visit with him, but they did not tell us until it had maintained such a pattern through this morning.

They may even let him come home in the next few days if they can get all of his medications worked out and such.

YAY! Thanks for the prayers and rays!

KathyP · January 19, 2006, 10:43:43 AM

Oh, Krista! That is GREAT news!!! Will keep him in my prayers until further notice!!

Barb · January 19, 2006, 11:03:38 AM

Wow - that is great news !!!! Please keep us updated as he works through taking the blood thinners and steps they recommend for him going forward. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers!

April · January 19, 2006, 12:25:57 PM

That is wonderful! I'm so glad to hear that your dad is doing better! I'll keep the rays and prayers coming for him to get back 100% again!

Beth · January 19, 2006, 05:57:09 PM

That's great news, Krista! So happy to hear that about your dad. You must be feeling very happy and very relieved. We'll keep the rays and prayers coming that he can go home tomorrow! :thumb:

My dad is being admitted to the hospital...

Sandishooligans