seems like a long time
Howdy folks. I haven't posted here in a while, mostly because nothing really has happened. Y'know, the usual ups and downs, lefts and rights. But I'm posting now because I have some news here that I'd like you all to know about because you all (the two or three who might read this) are my friends. This past Thursday morning, Dad had a seizure and lost consciousness for about 20 minutes. During that time, Mom called the paramedics and he came to just as they were wheeling him out of the house. After a bit of an altercation (imagine waking up outside, on a gurney, surrounded by burly EMTs) they took him to the Fairfax Inova Hospital. The doctors ran a bunch of tests, x-rays, and blood work and they all looked normal, but they wanted to keep him for an MRI. He got there around 8:30 on Thursday morning, and he didn't get the MRI until 2:30 yesterday afternoon. The radiologist who saw his chest x-rays saw something abnormal, so they ran the MRI not just on his head, but over his heart as well. They found what they thought was an aneurysm in his aorta, but on further inspection and consultation, turned out to be a dissection.
A dissection happens when the interior lining of the aorta tears and blood flows underneath it, causing a possible blockage. There are two types of aortic dissections, Type A and Type B, Dad has a Type B. Type A is much worse than B, because it happens before the carotid artery and the arteries that bring blood to the heart, meaning a difficult, and possibly fatal, surgery is necessary. Type B is much less serious, but still needs to be monitored, because it can cause difficulties with the intestines, kidneys, and really any other organ, but those are the most frequently affected organs. The doctor who saw him, Dr. John Garrett, fortunately caught the difference on the MRI, because they were taking him to surgery as Mom and I got to the hospital last night, around 6:30.
Like I said, Dad has a Type B, so they're keeping him in the hospital and on anti-hypertension drugs. They ran another MRI today, and that one showed a smaller dissection than they originally thought, so that's already good news, but he's still not out of the woods yet.
This all came about because of a seizure, which is not a side-effect of a dissection; an expanded MRI from a sharp-eyed radiologist; and the Chief of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at Virginia Hospital Center, who happened to be on the cover of Washingtonian's 100 Best Doctors issue in 2002. If that doesn't make someone believe in a higher power, I don't know what will.
Mom, Mike and I are doing fine. (Cleo, the little black dog, is doing OK, as well.) Dad is pretty stable condition and is being monitored by a fine staff in one of Virginia's best cardiovascular units. Mom also dubbed Marie from our office as my cousin so she could visit Dad with us.
All of this is on the heels of news on Wednesday that my uncle, who lives in Bannockburn, a Chicago suburb, succumbed to colon cancer. He had it for the better part of this year, and elected to go off chemotherapy about 10 weeks ago. We were pretty much preparing for the worst about his condition, and it finally hit. So we've all been running around frantically here between my place, my parents' place, the hospital, up and down, left and right. I'm flying out there this Tuesday, the 2nd, for the Wednesday morning ceremony.
We also have our winter board meeting coming up in just over two weeks, so Marie and I need to finish up preparations on that. So just keep us all in your thoughts as we work through this. I love you guys.
A dissection happens when the interior lining of the aorta tears and blood flows underneath it, causing a possible blockage. There are two types of aortic dissections, Type A and Type B, Dad has a Type B. Type A is much worse than B, because it happens before the carotid artery and the arteries that bring blood to the heart, meaning a difficult, and possibly fatal, surgery is necessary. Type B is much less serious, but still needs to be monitored, because it can cause difficulties with the intestines, kidneys, and really any other organ, but those are the most frequently affected organs. The doctor who saw him, Dr. John Garrett, fortunately caught the difference on the MRI, because they were taking him to surgery as Mom and I got to the hospital last night, around 6:30.
Like I said, Dad has a Type B, so they're keeping him in the hospital and on anti-hypertension drugs. They ran another MRI today, and that one showed a smaller dissection than they originally thought, so that's already good news, but he's still not out of the woods yet.
This all came about because of a seizure, which is not a side-effect of a dissection; an expanded MRI from a sharp-eyed radiologist; and the Chief of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at Virginia Hospital Center, who happened to be on the cover of Washingtonian's 100 Best Doctors issue in 2002. If that doesn't make someone believe in a higher power, I don't know what will.
Mom, Mike and I are doing fine. (Cleo, the little black dog, is doing OK, as well.) Dad is pretty stable condition and is being monitored by a fine staff in one of Virginia's best cardiovascular units. Mom also dubbed Marie from our office as my cousin so she could visit Dad with us.
All of this is on the heels of news on Wednesday that my uncle, who lives in Bannockburn, a Chicago suburb, succumbed to colon cancer. He had it for the better part of this year, and elected to go off chemotherapy about 10 weeks ago. We were pretty much preparing for the worst about his condition, and it finally hit. So we've all been running around frantically here between my place, my parents' place, the hospital, up and down, left and right. I'm flying out there this Tuesday, the 2nd, for the Wednesday morning ceremony.
We also have our winter board meeting coming up in just over two weeks, so Marie and I need to finish up preparations on that. So just keep us all in your thoughts as we work through this. I love you guys.