exwdwcm
wishes she was Wendy Moira Angela Darling
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 5,046
so it was a big weekend. my sisters and i had a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom at my house. as part of the surprise, my uncle- her brother, drove in from the galveston area with his wife. My uncle has been fighting pancreatic and lung cancer and just got off some experimental chemo end of January that was making him very ill. Last time we saw him was in houston for my cousin's Quincineira and he had to leave mass in a wheelchair and go to the ER with his side effects.
He's been better since, but we haven't seen him. Mom has been so worried, so it was a great surprise when she opened my door sat night and got her big 'surprise' and he was there. He did great all weekend- stayed with me on Friday and all day Saturday before the party- full of energy!
We were up until about 1am with guests, and by 9am, i heard him stirring in our guest room- throwing up. I didn't know if he was sick from drinking or not. My aunt moved him to the couch in my den and we got him some wet towels and he was feeling shaky and hot. She gave him some of his nitro (he had bypass and stints for his heart as well) and aspirin and his BP meds. He still wasn't feeling great. She said i am going to take a shower and if you aren't feeling good when i get out- we are going to the hospital. she went to get him another nitro and handed it to him and he just suddenly went limp and unconscious on my couch. stopped breathing. she shouted OMG, he is dead. She is a NICU nurse. He's almost died many times now fighting cancer, but i think this was the first time it hit her, that this could be it.
i immediately called 911. my DH had just come into the living room. luckily my little boy was still upstaris in his crib. My aunt tried to do some CPR, but we needed to move him to the floor and he is a big guy. i put the phone down, (911 wouldn't let me hang up of course) and we got him moved. She continued rescue breathing and my husband started compressions. i got to the door and got it open for the paramedics. they were there within about 5 minutes.
i was following the 911 operator's instructions- but of course my aunt, as a nurse already knew how to perform CPR properly. he was totally purple. i've never seen anyone so purple. My DH said when he listened to his chest, there was nothing. finally he started to breath, gasping, shallow, gurgling breath, very slow. she'd breathe once and then he would. but he still was not awake. it was terrifying.
finally the EMTs arrived and we got out of the way. they had to shock him there in my living room. he had No pulse when they arrived. they finally got him breathing and a pulse back. they intubated him and got him to the hospital which is 2 minutes away from my house.
we think it was a heart attack, but they aren't sure yet. He is in neuro ICU now, doing a hyperthermic treatment where they run cold fluids through him to keep the brain from swelling and preserve brain function. their concern is he never woke up after the heart attack. he's remained unconscious and so we don't know if he was deprived of oxygen long enough to lose brain function or not.
My aunt of course is staying with me as long as necessary. i am back at work, but can't stop thinking about him. running over at lunch to check on him. there is nothing i can do right now anyhow and hoping i can take off half a day tomorrow at least to be with them. the treatment they are doing takes 24 hours then they start to warm him up, probably this afternoon over the following 24 hours after that. they hope he wakes at that point and can assess him and brain function.
we were asked about his living will and all that. simply awful. now it is a wait and see game. I can't help but wonder if we reacted fast enough, if we got enough CPR and air in him to keep some brain function. i keep second guessing how long it took for the EMTs and if we did enough or not. ugh.
It is a terrible feeling to have this happen to a family member in your own living room. Especially after a night of such joy and fun with family and friends. Luckily one of my cousins (one of his three sons) was also here from Houston for the party. THe other two sons are coming up today hopefully (also from south tx- we are in Dallas). i feel awful that they are dealing with this out of town- 4 hours from their home. they live out in the country and if this happened at home, he wouldn't have made it to the hospital in time out there, so maybe it is a blessing it happened here.
so now it is a sit and wait game. so please please keep him in your prayers and please brush up on your CPR skills!! DH hadn't done chest compressions since the boy scouts.
He's been better since, but we haven't seen him. Mom has been so worried, so it was a great surprise when she opened my door sat night and got her big 'surprise' and he was there. He did great all weekend- stayed with me on Friday and all day Saturday before the party- full of energy!
We were up until about 1am with guests, and by 9am, i heard him stirring in our guest room- throwing up. I didn't know if he was sick from drinking or not. My aunt moved him to the couch in my den and we got him some wet towels and he was feeling shaky and hot. She gave him some of his nitro (he had bypass and stints for his heart as well) and aspirin and his BP meds. He still wasn't feeling great. She said i am going to take a shower and if you aren't feeling good when i get out- we are going to the hospital. she went to get him another nitro and handed it to him and he just suddenly went limp and unconscious on my couch. stopped breathing. she shouted OMG, he is dead. She is a NICU nurse. He's almost died many times now fighting cancer, but i think this was the first time it hit her, that this could be it.
i immediately called 911. my DH had just come into the living room. luckily my little boy was still upstaris in his crib. My aunt tried to do some CPR, but we needed to move him to the floor and he is a big guy. i put the phone down, (911 wouldn't let me hang up of course) and we got him moved. She continued rescue breathing and my husband started compressions. i got to the door and got it open for the paramedics. they were there within about 5 minutes.
i was following the 911 operator's instructions- but of course my aunt, as a nurse already knew how to perform CPR properly. he was totally purple. i've never seen anyone so purple. My DH said when he listened to his chest, there was nothing. finally he started to breath, gasping, shallow, gurgling breath, very slow. she'd breathe once and then he would. but he still was not awake. it was terrifying.
finally the EMTs arrived and we got out of the way. they had to shock him there in my living room. he had No pulse when they arrived. they finally got him breathing and a pulse back. they intubated him and got him to the hospital which is 2 minutes away from my house.
we think it was a heart attack, but they aren't sure yet. He is in neuro ICU now, doing a hyperthermic treatment where they run cold fluids through him to keep the brain from swelling and preserve brain function. their concern is he never woke up after the heart attack. he's remained unconscious and so we don't know if he was deprived of oxygen long enough to lose brain function or not.
My aunt of course is staying with me as long as necessary. i am back at work, but can't stop thinking about him. running over at lunch to check on him. there is nothing i can do right now anyhow and hoping i can take off half a day tomorrow at least to be with them. the treatment they are doing takes 24 hours then they start to warm him up, probably this afternoon over the following 24 hours after that. they hope he wakes at that point and can assess him and brain function.
we were asked about his living will and all that. simply awful. now it is a wait and see game. I can't help but wonder if we reacted fast enough, if we got enough CPR and air in him to keep some brain function. i keep second guessing how long it took for the EMTs and if we did enough or not. ugh.
It is a terrible feeling to have this happen to a family member in your own living room. Especially after a night of such joy and fun with family and friends. Luckily one of my cousins (one of his three sons) was also here from Houston for the party. THe other two sons are coming up today hopefully (also from south tx- we are in Dallas). i feel awful that they are dealing with this out of town- 4 hours from their home. they live out in the country and if this happened at home, he wouldn't have made it to the hospital in time out there, so maybe it is a blessing it happened here.
so now it is a sit and wait game. so please please keep him in your prayers and please brush up on your CPR skills!! DH hadn't done chest compressions since the boy scouts.
