On Tuesday, July 13, 1999 my father got up at 6:30 a.m. to take a shower. At approximately 6:50 a.m. he came out of the bathroom and asked his wife to call 911 because he was having very severe chest pains.
By the time the paramedics arrived, he also had an excruciating pain in his right leg. He described it as if he had a ton of bricks on his leg.
He was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Miami, Florida where the fine E.R. staff quickly made a diagnosis -- dissection of the aorta.
He was rushed in to have emergency surgery (I did not even have time to get to the hospital to see him before surgery). He was operated on by an incredible team of surgeons, Dr. Jude and Dr. Llaneras. The surgery lasted approximately 3 hours. We were told that during surgery, my father had been placed in "suspended animation" (body temperature almost freezing and heart stopped). He received a Dacron graft and I am not totally certain if a valve replacement was needed.
One hour in recovery and we were told that my father was internally hemorrhaging and that they would have to open him up again. The bleeding seemed to be controlled, but approximately 45 minutes later, my father began to lose massive amounts of blood once again. A hematologist was called to evaluate the situation to determine if it was a "clotting" issue or a mechanical issue. It was quickly determined that my father would have to undergo a third surgery because it seemed to be a mechanical issue on his dissected aorta.
My brother, my mother (father's first wife), and myself were completely devastated. We could not believe that my father could endure so much. We totally left everything in the hands of God. I pleaded to Jesus to save my father.
At approximately 7 p.m. that day, my father was transported from recovery to the ICU area. He was on a ventilator.
We have been going through so many ups and downs.
Complications followed.
On Friday, July 23rd, 1999 I arrived in the afternoon to find a team of doctors and nurses working on my father in ICU. This was one of the most devastating sight to see. My father's eyes looked like those of someone seeing something terrifying. As if he sensed he was dying. His blood pressure sky rocketed (my father has never had hypertension), and his pulse was incredibly high.
We were told that as a result of all the trauma and shock that his body had experienced, he had developed ulcers in his stomach and that he was hemorrhaging (endoscopy confirmed this). His ulcers were cauterized, yet there was a clot that could not be moved at that time. He received transfusions of blood.
Later that evening, my father's abdomen got so distended that it seemed as if he were 9 months pregnant. More bleeding was diagnosed. In addition, Dr. Llaneras informed us that my father had so much fluid/blood around his heart that he would have to be taken to surgery to remove it (this included general anesthesia). Our family was in tears-- just devastated. We did not think that his body could endure any more. Thanks to God, he survived that, but the cardiovascular surgeon mentioned that his hemoglobin levels had come down again and that a general surgeon was needed on standby to possibly operate on my father's stomach that same night. By the way, Dr. Llaneras (our miracle worker) went ahead and took the opportunity of this surgery to insert drainage tubes for my father's lungs as he also had fluid collecting in them.
Dr. Viera (general surgeon) came in and determined that my father's condition did not warrant an immediate surgery that night--especially in his condition. By the grace of God, it seemed that my father's bleeding had stopped.
Dr. Viera has been on standby the past few days because my father's abdomen got distended again, but an ultrasound showed that it was a lot of air/gas. Most of my father's gas was removed with the use of a tube.
The drainage tubes have been so beneficial that the pulmonologist, took my father off the ventilator on July 8, 1999.
My father has received a total of 32 units of blood since the beginning of this nightmare.
He will need physical therapy as his hands seemed to have atrophied. He has no coordination in them.
I hope and pray that we just have better days, months, and years ahead with the help of God.
Today, Friday, July 30, 1999 -- my father still remains in ICU at Mercy Hospital. He has been in ICU a total of 18 days.
Update 19 Aug 1999
On Wednesday night, August 4th, 1999, my father was transferred out of ICU at Mercy Hospital to a regular room. He spent a total of 23 days in ICU. He had his hemoglobin constantly monitored while in ICU because of the possibility of continued internal bleeding as a result of the stomach ulcers he developed as a result of all the trauma he underwent with the aortic aneurysm and surgery.
Unfortunately, despite our surprise, he was discharged from Mercy Hospital on Saturday, August 7, 1999. He looked very pale at home (his color was awful) and he was so restless that he could not sleep at all. He would sit in a chair and then go back to bed and so on and so on. He went approximately 4 nights without sleeping. On Tuesday, August 10, 1999 in the middle of the night, he suffered a "panic attack" and my brother put him in the bathtub in an attempt to calm him down.
In the early morning hours he was taken to his own doctor of many years, Dr. Neil Schneider, who has privileges at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach. The hemoglobin count was down to 7! His chest x-rays showed to trouble to the heart or the aorta. He was bleeding again! He was immediately transferred to the emergency room of Mt. Sinai Hospital and received a total of 6 blood transfusions that day. He was later transferred to ICU. Later that evening he underwent a nuclear scan to see if there was any bleeding taking place. Nothing showed up. He also had another endoscopy which showed that he had some bleeding from another ulcer. He became stable, but when he was transferred to regular room, he was acting very restless again and short tempered. His hemoglobin came back at 8! He was bleeding again. His bowel movements had a red color to them. He had another nuclear scan and endoscopy. The ulcer was cauterized. He was losing hope. He told me that he was now at the end of his rope. I asked him to hang on. I told him that he has come such a long way. He was in ICU at Mt. Sinai until August 16, 1999. He was moved to a regular room and is still there. Doctors expect to discharge him tomorrow if his hemoglobin levels remain steady.