A Sea Of Red

Please pray for my dad tonite...and Friday...
...he has one of those automatic implanted defibrillators for his heart...and it has been going off today. He's been taken to the ER...I think in Trenton, TN... and as soon as they stabilize him, they are going to airlift him to Nashville...to his doctors at Vanderbilt. No idea how really serious it is...but my younger brother (25) is down there with him. I figure this is the place to go, since sports has always been our bond and he instilled the love and respect for the game of baseball in me. Thanks.

For sure

You got it, Prof.

you got it.

hoping this is an easily remedied situation.

sounds like maybe a irritable focus firing off that needs an ablation?

God Bless and let us know how he does.

Update...
...they ended up flying him to a hospital in Jacskon, TN, as the doc said he was in V-Tach (medic, if you can explain it in layman's terms, have at it). I was able to talk to him about 1230 AM, and he sounded much better. They did a cath in the middle of the night--and there was no blockage--so today will be spent trying to figure out WHY the defibrillator went off about 25 times (they have a way to tap into the chip to see when it went off). That's a blessing. Thanks, again.

Jeff

Praying that your dad recovers and they figure out what is causing the defibulator to keep firing.

Anytime a parent is involved it should hit home for all of us. I'm saying a prayer for your dad as I type this post.

no doubt FR. my dad went through some heart trouble last year, so my prayers are with him.

Thanks, fellas...
...I just got off the phone with him. His ECHO came back clean, so they are at a loss, right now. It may be tied to his potassium level, which was a little low, but not outside the acceptable range. Doctor will be in doing rounds later today or tonight sometime.

Praying for him now

great news FR!

I've had pt's develop wicked dysrhythmia's because of labs being out of whack- so that doesn't surprise me.

the other weird thing is exposure- had a guy out in the cold for too long that got nailed from his internal unit as well.

the other crazy thing is if the pacer/defib unit mis-interprets the rhythm- know a medic that has one- it read ATach as VTach and nailed him. The poor guy is scared out of his mind to move much beyond a fast walk anymore.

hope everything ends up negative- glad the ECHO was clean as well.

(For anyone who is interested- VTACH , or ventricular tachycardia, is a potentially lethal heartbeat irregularity. It originates in the VENTRICLES , or lower heart chambers, and is very fast- at least 150 beats per minute and I've seen them up to 220. If not corrected by a pacer or medications, it WILL convert to V-FIB , or ventricular fibrillation. That is CERTAINLY deadly and WILL result in cardiac arrest if not corrected. Basically, at the VFIB stage, the heart just quivers instead of beating regularly and fails to profuse - or pump- the blood around your body. A very bad condition. )

Did you feel smart typing all of that out?

Good to know things are good, Prof.

Thank you for the great layman's terms explanation...
...what was odd, was even in V-Tach, his BP was normal. Anyhow, just talked to my dad, and the doctor is supposed to be there AFTER 11 PM tonite. At least the thing hasn't kicked him in the chest at all, today. Thank you again, for all your prayers and concerns. Who says message boards are a waste of time.

My guess is he'll be eating plenty of bananas. Glad to hear the news.

Better news this morning...
...absolutely nothing shows up as damage on any tests. The docs are going to adjust his meds and follow-up with him as he stays in the hospital for 2-3 more days. Thanks, again, for all the prayers.

Keep the good news coming.

excellent!

he sounds like a very strong man.

God Bless

Thanks, Medic...
...he HAS to be strong. He's SANTA CLAUS!
(yup, a mall Santa during the Christmas season).

When I spoke to him today, he remarked about how stable his heart rate is...
...staying in the low-60's. He says it is usually all over the chart, so maybe the defibrillator shocked it back into the correct rhythm. The great thing is he's doing much better, and all the prayers are appreciated.

suh-weeet!

but glad to see things worked out. I was watching my grandmother while my mom was at work a few yrs. ago; she said she felt like going to die and talked funny; I called an ambulence and it ended up being potassium level.