Health issues

[thomas prusak]

Last Thursday morning I suffered a major heart attack. I am currently in the ICU at a local hospital and I am recovering. I am hopeful that I might be able to leave the hospital this Thursday but it's too early to predict how fast my recovery will be.

Aaron and Jackie will be taking care of things here until I am back home. Some services such as shipping DVDs will have to wait until I am back home.

Keith

sending prayers for you Keith

[Phil Thien]

My Father had one fitted Keith after they found narrowing of the artery in his heart (Stent) on the upside, you are supporting the laser industry as the Stents are made with lasers

These are truly a marvel when you look at them. I was working on a network issue in a surgeon's office and he had a bunch of stents sitting around. An IT guy from the hospital started showing them to me, he said he had forgotten a lot of what he was told about the various types he showed me, so there is really no hope for me. But they're very amazing to hold in your hand and appreciate their detail and their life-saving abilities.

Modern medicine amazes me. Seeing it from the IT side as I do, it constantly amazes me.

[Keith Outten]

Once again I need to thank everyone for the prayers and encouragement. I have received so many Private Messages with information from some very knowledgeable people that helps me understand my situation better.

Just being ay home is a blessing even with an activity limit that prevents me from woodworking. I've been doing all I can to keep my mind busy and of course plenty of rest.
.

[Paul McGaha]

Thanks for taking the time to let us know Keith.

Good to hear you're back home.

I hope your recovery goes well.

PHM

[Leigh Betsch]

Sorry, I had not seen this thread until now. And I've not read all of it yet. Get well soon and listen to your doctors.

[Mick A Martin]

Keith,

Take care of yourself,I wish you a speedy recovery.

[John Bion]

Keith, I missed this too, I do hope you continue to recover quickly.
Blessings, John

[Matt McCoy]

Keith,

Wishing you the best and good health.

-Matt

[David Somers]

Holy Bovines! I don't know how I missed this! Didn't clue in until you showed up on another thread and mentioned recovering! Then I did a search on you and found this thread!

I am on the wrong coast to offer any physical help to you, but my thoughts are sure with you!!! Holler if I can help with something short of "popping" over there!

I had open heart a few years ago for a valve repair and a related Afib. The Afib was treated with warfarin and I will be on that for life. along with various other drugs to keep the Afib rhythm itself at a dull roar. The valve repair worked fine. And I was lucky in that my veins and arteries were clean as a whistle with no plaque in them at all. The doc let me watch the Angiogram which was cool to see. The Afib has been good. I followed the docs orders but pushed them to the edge and though it seemed slow, recovery was pretty quick overall. I was back up and on my bike commuting realllllly slowly in 6 weeks after the breast bone healed and they would let me put pressure on it. Until then though, the most annoying thing was my back and arms, shoulders and neck. Sounds like you are on the same movement restrictions; sternum precautions, that I was on. The inability to stretch and move drove me crazy, and the stress on ribs and spine and what not from being spread open like that made muscles and joints wicked sore. It may sound wimpy....but push for massages and heating pads, anything to help relax the muscles during this time frame. Everything else was manageable but that drove me crazy. And if they offer any kind of physical rehab, PT, post op exercise, take them up on it even if insurance won't cover it. Once you are past the sternum precautions it reallllllllly helps get you moving more quickly, and in a supervised fashion. Another thing that was difficult, but helped a bunch too was right away my wife started hauling me out of the house to go explore Seattle. We were thinking of moving there altogether and needed to check out neighborhoods and this seemed like a perfect time. So every day, for a few hours each day, she drove me around all the neighborhoods. I was "hopping" in and out of the truck gathering up Real Estate Fliers to see what was going on. That was tough to do physically without abusing those sternum precautions. And by the time we were done each day I would take a nap in a chair and be out like a light. But each day was better so it helped. And it got me out and about and thinking about anything but the heart for a while. If you can manage something similar it is worth it. And lots of short walks to start, lengthening each day by just a bit, which the docs pushed for and encouraged almost as soon as I was conscious again after the op.

Hang in there Keith!! And seriously...holler if there is anything I can do from this coast to help!!

Dave

[Scott T Smith]

I just saw this thread; thoughts and prayers headed you way.

[sarah beck]

I just saw this myself. I hope your recovery goes as quickly and smoothly as possible!

[Jason Roehl]

Hey, Dave...Keith said earlier he got a stent, so I'm guessing he didn't have his chest cracked open. However, they likely went in through his femoral artery in his leg, so that comes with its own set of restrictions and precautions. We're coming up on the two year anniversary of my wife getting two stents due to a dissection and resulting clot in her circumflex artery. She was in the best shape of her life at 37--low resting heart rate (40), low blood pressure (110/60), low cholesterol and no plaque. It took them two days to diagnose it, then two more to get her out of the hospital. You wouldn't know it ever happened today.

[David Somers]

Hey Jason!

Thanks! Glad to hear your wife is doing great! It will be wonderful to hear Keith experience the same results!!! <grin> And if he didn't have to have his chest opened....so much the better. It wasn't bad actually, but not something I would choose to do on a recreational basis either. <grin>

Dave

[Keith Outten]

I actually had two heart attacks. The first one on May 1st they installed the stint via the artery in my right leg. After 4 days in ICU and 3 days in a regular room I was released on Thursday. The following Wednesday I had a second heart attack and they had to adjust the stint they had already installed via the artery in my right arm. I spent 2 days in ICU then 2 more days in a hospital room.

I am recovering but its a very slow complex process. I am on a serious drug therapy that is designed to take care of clotting issues over the next 90 days and hopefully will allow me to return to work.

[Art Mann]

Thanks Ken for keeping us advised of your progress. I'm still praying for a speedy and complete recovery. It is just amazing what medical technology can do today. After my Dad had his heart attack, he had bypass surgery and a valve replacement. He lived an additional 29 years (age 94) and most of that time he was quite vigorous and strong. His mind started slipping about 2 weeks before he passed away.