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Pat Wayne Gavin 65 yrs old, father of 3 sons and stepdad to 2 sons and 2 daughters. At 16 months old Pat was stuck down with Polio, they didnt expect him to live, or walk or talk. The experts were wrong. Though the Polio affected his entire left side of his body. Leg is 1 inch shorter,Hand has no voluntary movement and he spent close to 6yrs in a hospital as a child. But still he worked on a ranch in Eastern Washington at 17 and was a roofer and worked in a mill and drove a cab and let's not forget 6 yrs as an accountant. Presently Pat and I run and own an Adult Foster Care Home in South Oregon. We do a lot of hospice and we are a class 3 home. We know illness. But nothing prepared us for this.
1 November 2006
My husband Pat and I and his brother were enjoying the deck on Oct. 24 2006, talking up a storm when Pat grabbed his chest and groaned loudly. I called 911 and took his blood pressure 220/140. The EMTs from the fire department arrived in a couple min. They gave him 2 nitro sprays and 325 mg ASA.
Of course Pat did smoke for 53 yrs. He has not been careful of his diet and there is vascular disease in his immediate family but still we were so unprepared for this.
So back to the deck. Like I said two sprays of nitro and they got him in the ambulance and took him to RVMC in Medford OR. In the ER they checked his heart assuming it was his heart. All tests came back negative. White count was up. Four hours in ER and they admit him. He goes up to coronary unit for further testing, we now saw a resedent, Dr. Ford. Pat once again tried to explain his pain and symptoms and she said casually that they were going to test for an aortic aneurysm.
Pat was still in a lot of pain. I was terrified. It was confirmed that Pat had suffered a dissecting aortic aneurysm, From the heart to the right kidney which had infarcted and 3/4 was dead. It is the descending aorta and surgery is not planned at this time as the 2 aneurysms are 3.5 and 3.4cm and we pray they stay that size. The entire aorta dissected.
He was transferred to CCU as they pumped him full of lowering blood pressure meds. Dr. Patterson is the cardiologist that worked on my husband. I spoke with him on the phone and he said it was very serious and that each day Pat lived was a good sign. The Dr. said not many people survive such an event.
Well Pat is now home after 8 days in the hospital. He seems a bit confused. Is this common? The hospital gave us no education about diet changes or what to expect as to pain or exhaustion etc.
Before this happened we were in the process of selling our business and semi retiring. Alls going well towards that goal still.
I'm very scared and would so appreciate all or any advice from people that have survived a similar thing. What should Pat expect. Will the tiredness lessen? Nobody talks about sex. I'm 20 yrs younger than Pat. Is making love dangerous to him. This man is the light of my life. I truly adore him but my fear is not good for him. But I am so thankful that he is alive. God is great.
I've gone on long enough. I thank you for your patience in reading this. At least I know that Pat's not alone with this. thank you in advance. He or I will keep you posted on his recovery.
God Bless.
Discussion, comments, or questions: Pat and Dana Gavin
© Copyright 2006 Dana Gavin
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