This was 3 weeks ago. This was my Dad and his siblings at their Dad's funeral. Dad spoke and other than the obviously being sad due to the situation Dad seemed to be ok. The next day he said he was sad and just seemed to be off...nothing seemed to make him happy. The next day October 17th is a day I don't think any of us will ever forget. I was on the phone with Mark who was deployed and mom came in the kitchen and asked who I was talking to and that she needed to talk to all of us because something happened to Dad. I hung up the phone and waited for Jackie, Adam and Joseph to come in the kitchen. She said all she knew is that Dad collapsed and that the ambulence was on it's way to Davis hospital with him. Marrianne came over and we all headed up to the hospital. They put us in the chapel and we waited and waited until the ER doctor finally came in: your husband/father has gone into caridac arrest and they took him to the cath lab and this is where he is now, the work they did on him 16 years ago have all collapsed and failed....we didnt even know at this point whether he was alive or dead.....my mom finally asked..."So is he alive"?....the ER doctor was NOT tactfull at all!!! Well he was alive but in critical condition. They were going to do a CT scan to check for brain bleeding and or swelling then they will let us know.
We waited for what seemed like forever till the Cardiologist came in and she was very nice. There was nothing in the cath lab they could do but they were going to move him into the ICU where we could at least see him. The plan: they were going to cool his body down to 91 degree's in order to help avoid damage to the brain. He is intubated and the machine is having to breathe for him. They are going to have to put in a pic line to help draw blood. This is what we walked into:
It was a lot of waiting and waiting:
They got Dad but to normal temperature and then the next morning they took him off the drugs that were keeping him in a coma, then a half an hour later off the oxygen to see how he would do...well he did great!!!! He was still in a coma but we knew that he could here us because we would say goodbye or hello and his head would turn towards the person talking. Later that day they took the intubation tube out and put a feeding tube in. It was the next day that this is what we saw:
When he did wake up several days later all we got was yup or nope at first. Then he got to where he could say more but it seemed like his brain was working much faster than his mouth. He got to where he passed he feeding test and the feeding tube was able to come out as well.
They let him get up out of bed and sit in a chair as well. One day he saw his truck outside and he said to me "let's get out of here"...so Julie (our favorite ICU nurse) got us a wheelchair and we where able to take him on a wheelchair ride...this made him very happy:
He saw Adam and his long hair and told him that he need to cut his hair so he did....when he walked back into the ICU Dad asked why he cut his hair...he doesnt remember telling him to cut his hair.
Next, to fix the problem: Dad would need a difibulator pacemaker combo put in. Surgery was done and he came through with flying colors!!!
During all of this we also were able to find out what happened: Dad got to work and hadn't even taken his jacket off yet. He fell and hit his head, when he landed his co-workers turned him on his side and then he started to shake. They thought he was having a seizure, next he took one last deep breathe and then he died. Thanks to his coworkers acting fast he is alive. They performed CPR and Casey was walking into work saw this, ran and got the diffibulator and shocked him back to life.
Yes my Dad died....the dad I have now is different...but everyday I have with him is a gift. The things that were easy for him before are very hard and frustrating. He doesnt remember going to the funeral or that his Dad even died. His heart still may need to be fixed....long road ahead of us, but I have my Dad. I know life is very precious and we don't know what could change tomorrow. I also know that my Dad will be with me into eternity and for that I am very thankful. If you havent hugged your dad lately you should!!! I got a second chance and plan to take advantage of that.
A lot of people have been asking how and what they can do to help Dad. Now that he is home from the ICU after going into Cardiac Arrest he faces new struggles. Right now we know he cannot return to work anytime soon and possibly never. As you can imagine, the medical bills are mounting (he recently lost health coverage) and not having an income is stressful. We want Dad to focus on healing!! An account has been set up at America First Credit Union and any donation no matter the amount will help ease that burden. We, as a family want to thank everyone for all of your prayers, meals, time, support and love!!! Go Team Bruce!!! Charitable Account #27339522/ P.O. Box 9199 , Odgen Utah 84409
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