The Beginning

I would like to tell you about my love’s heart but we will start decades ago. Twenty-one years ago my husband had a severe heart attack. He was going to drive home but his boss wouldn’t let him. Instead they called an ambulance and saved his live. There was one treatment option that might have made a difference if it had been offered early enough. (That treatment is Stem Cell Treatment if you have a loved one with heart damage that has not developed Congestive Heart Failure – CHF.) Many years later Randy did develop congestive heart failure and since his doctor did not think outside his box Randy was getting progressively worse. He did receive a pacemaker about 2003 and then 5 years later it was exchanged for a pacemaker/defribrillator. It helped for a while but his heart became enlarged and weaker and he persisted in Atrial Fibrillation or AFIB.

This January he continued to retain water and was losing energy until one Sunday he passed out. He didn’t just crumple to the floor but fell straight back and hit his head. Fortunately he was on the lawn of our church and within seconds two physicians were by his side. We took a day trip to the hospital and then followed up with his cardiologist of over a decade. Something the doctor said when we were there irritated me. He said “When Randy gets sick again we will explore more options.” I think Randy had become too familiar with his symptoms and the doctor had become too familiar with Randy.

That day I began researching the internet for other options. That’s when I discovered that he would not be a candidate for stem cell treatment. Before you get in an uproar I want you to know that we do not support embryonic stem cell research. These stem cells, which everyone has, would come from the patient.

The other option I found right under my nose and had been aware of it. That was the Cardio/Pulmonary Clinic at the University Of Texas Southwest Medical Center. I had been seeing billboards all over the city but it didn’t sink in until that day. I called the referral line and within days we had an appointment. We spent the next few days making sure that they had all the records from all his doctors. When we finally went to the CHF clinic we met with Dr. Mishkin, Mariah, and Brenda. It wasn’t just one doctor but a whole team. Randy wasn’t going to get better on-his-own, and the first suggestion of a Left Ventricle Assist Device was made. This is also called a heart pump or LVAD. We made an appointment and saw Dr. Markham. We continued to feel encouraged by encounters at UTSWMC and for the first time in years I felt hope.

We made the appointment for May 10 and began to clean up certain things at home like the garage. We had been remodeling and the house really was a mess. It still is but so much better. We saw Dr. Markham on April 23. Each day last week seemed to get longer and Randy was more tired and having more trouble breathing. We had planned on getting a mani/pedi together before he went in so I Thursday I suggested we get it done. He didn’t see the point since we had over a week to surgery date but finally conceded. Friday morning we were doing some things around the house and he could was having a hard time. I suggested he get out with Zanda and take care of a couple of things. While he was gone I sent a message to the clinic expressing my concerns over his current condition. After a few communications it was decided that he should go to the E.R. We were on our way about 4:30 and about midnight he was finally moved into a room.

I went home and for two days he talked and joked and visited but on Sunday afternoon they decided to move him to ICU so that he would have someone watching him closer. Early Monday morning after spending the night moving around from bed to chair he asked for help breathing. I got the call at 3:00 and was at the hospital by 4:00 a.m. He was sedated with versed, the happy drug for all delivering moms. It didn’t keep him sedated enough so he was put on the propofol drip. This knocked him out good but his heart rate would rise to around 150 and his BP would drop to around 70/50. Randy has had low blood pressure but that because his heart was so damaged it couldn’t do better than that. Before noon they made the decision to insert a balloon pump. It was a fairly simple procedure and didn’t take too long. I should have taken a picture of the entourage walking his bed down the hall along with all the equipment being transported. When they were done there was one more piece of equipment on it’s own set of wheels.

There were so many IV drips. It was something like looking at all the vacuum hoses under the hood of your car but so many more than that. They had to restrain his hands and right leg so that he wouldn’t pull out the balloon pump or the ventilator tubing. It then became a vicious cycle of trying to keep his BP up and his HR down. Besides that he started running a temp and they put him on antibiotics just to be sure that everything was covered. All of the cultures came back negative so it was never determined what the culprit was. About 4 hours after the balloon pump was inserted it kicked in and started performing the purpose for which it was intended. Monday night came and things seemed to settle down. It was decided that the LVAD would be implanted on Wednesday but I wasn’t sure what time.

On Tuesday there began a parade of doctors and nurse practitioners and research fellows bringing papers to sign for permissions. The anesthesiologist came in and explained that there would be a team of 3 that would be watching monitoring everything that could possible go wrong. The nurse practitioners, Katie & Julius, came and discussed the training that would be required before Randy could go home. We talked about who might be candidates for training. I decided everyone that he might be around would have to learn. I didn’t want to think about not being around him and something happen with no one trained.

As I was sending out an email to find out when everyone would be available and who would consider training it occurred to me that we would all be together on Wednesday during the training. What better time than this? So I called Katie and it was arranged. Julius would determine where the training would be and we would show up. I finally went home to do a few things and get ready for the BIG DAY!