My father, Ronald J. Yuhas, is a 56 year old father of three (two daughters and one son). He has been married for 28 years to Judith M. Yuhas, and has raised a wonderfully balanced family. Included in this family are four dogs, a cat and two horses. He is a former smoker (quit over ten years ago) and has survived polio as a child, but has been very active and very healthy all of his life. He is pictured above prior to the rupture with the loves of his life.
Ten o'clock in the evening on February 29, 2000, my father's aorta ruptured just distal to the renal arteries and just proximal to the iliacs. No warning, no previous signals that this was going to happen.
He came home from the stables, where his beloved horses are boarded, just like every other evening. The Penguins were on and my father went upstairs to enjoy a peaceful evening watching the hockey game. My mother was scheduled to work that night until 11 PM, but God had other plans for her. She was not feeling well and decided to spend the night at home.
While watching the game, my father felt an incredibly intense pain in his groin area. He felt as if he had to go to the bathroom. As he got up and tried to make the few steps to the bathroom, he lost consciousness and fell, hitting his head on the bathtub. My mother, and the dogs, heard the commotion upstairs and called to him. When she got to him he was coming to, but my mother, being the very astute person that she is, realized that he was in grave danger and made him lie still. She immediately called 911 and he was promptly brought to the local community hospital's emergency room.
My father's aorta had ruptured, but unfortunately, the intern working in the Emergency Department didn't realize this. After being brought to the ED, my father was left unattended for over an hour. He was in such unbearable pain and he knew that he was dying. My mother, who has no medical training, knew that his blood pressure and other vital signs were not normal. The intern who finally did see my father examined him only briefly and told him that he had kidney stones. This intern gave my father mega doses of pain killers and sedatives, but nothing kept him from feeling the intense pain.
By 3 AM my father was transferred to a room in the hospital, but not for long. Within minutes of his transfer the nurses realized that he needed more aggressive intervention and that they were not equipped to care for him. He was then transferred to the ICU. Everything that happened from that point on was a blur. He was dying and the doctors knew it, they just didn't know why. Finally, after being intubated (put on a ventilator), watching his blood pressure plummet, and watching blood ooze from his body, the doctors figured it out!!!
My father went to surgery at 7 AM, March 1, 2000, after receiving last rites (for the first time). He made it out of surgery around 11 AM, and went to the ICU, extubated (off the ventilator), by 3 PM. What a relief!!! So we thought.
He had many, many ups and downs during his hospital stay. (mostly downs, I must say) My father was transferred from the community hospital to a tertiary hospital after 11 days in the ICU with no signs of progress. He received last rites again (second time), because he was in multi-system organ failure. None of his organs were working properly because of the lack of blood flow for such an extended period of time.
He spent another two weeks in the ICU at the tertiary hospital. After being in a step-down unit for only two days his colon ruptured. This rupture occurred because the bowel had been so terribly necrotic (dead) from the lack of blood flow. He received last rights again (third time), and was immediately rushed to surgery for an emergency colon resection and cholostomy. He spend another two weeks in the ICU.
My father finally came home from the hospital (a true miracle) on April 27, 2000, almost 2 months since the rupture. He is still on the very long and arduous road to recovery.
We all look back on the events that have taken place and cannot believe that my father is still with us. He told us that he saw Angels keeping his body together while he was in the hospital. We believe it without a doubt!!! God has kept him on this earth for one reason or another. I'm not questioning, I'm just thanking!!!