Hi all,
During the afternoon yesterday Eric started to have irregular heart beats. They call it atrial fibrillation, aFib for short. In atrial fibrillation, the regular electrical wave in the heart does not occur in the upper chambers of the heart.
For more info on aFib.
http://www.heartpoint.com/afib-tellme.html
The doctors aren't overly concerned with the aFib, because they see it frequently in ICU patients from all the strain the body is going through. Eric has no other heart issues, so they don't believe this will be anything permanent.
Then, we had some excitement around 10pm last night. The hematologist warned us the day before to watch for Eric's heart rate to jump extremely high while his blood pressure dropped. This would be a sign that his heart is pumping blood really hard because the pressure was not being maintained in his veins. This could mean a fatal bleed internally, because it can't be stopped. My dad kept comparing it to a leak in a hydraulic system. So, around 10pm Eric's heart rate jumped from ~85 to ~125 and his blood pressure dropped from 121/75 to 88/30. The night doctor was quick to respond giving him medicine to raise his blood pressure and lower his heart rate. The medicine worked very quickly, but this was one of the scariest hours of Eric's hospital stay. I can't even describe the helplessness we all felt.
During the night they were able to wean Eric off the blood pressure medicine, believing the drop in blood pressure was from the aFib condition. His body is now maintaining normal blood pressure on its own. His heart is still in aFib, so they are keeping him on the heart rate medicine. The doctor last night said that aFib will usually correct itself in 24-48 hours. We can't wait for that to happen.
Also, on the positive side, the dialysis is really working for Eric. This morning's lab results showed Eric's Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and Creatinine (the two measures that tell us how Eric's kidneys are working) showed reduced levels. The kidney doctor this morning said the dialysis was really helping Eric.
Explanation on Measures of Kidney Function
http://www.lifeoptions.org/kidneyinfo/labvalues.php
So overall positive progress overnight after the scare...it will be a slow road to recovery, but as long as we keep moving in the right direction we are happy.
Love,
Sara
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
To all those who know and love Eric and Melissa,
ReplyDeleteThis is all great news! We all know and believe in our hearts that Eric will survive this ordeal just as he has others in the past. I know that a man as good and strong as Eric has many miles to go and many things to do before he goes with God.
I believe that all or our heartfelt prayers are being heard and that we must keep up our spirits and hope so that we continue to be heard. It does make a difference and it does work.
Take care and God Bless
Mr.S.
Sara,
ReplyDeleteOur thoughts and prayers are with Eric and with all of you who love him so dearly.
Linda and Mike
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI am continuing to pray for your brother and your whole family. May the New Year bring with it all the miracles that we know are possible with God. Be Strong, Be Loved, and Be Faithful.
God Bless
Jennifer Meadows
Eric, Melissa, and Family,
ReplyDeleteI'm praying for you guys constantly and know Eric will pull through. You all are so strong and it's incredible how much love you have for Eric. When all of this is over and Eric is all better we should all meet at Harry's and celebrate :)
~Melissa Fulford
Good grief. I was assuming yesterday that no news was good news. Instead you saved us all the interim worry and just waited to present us with the good news today. Thanks for the continuing updates. We're all checking the blog several times a day, so we really do appreciate your efforts.
ReplyDeleteBarb, Frank, Margaret, and Emily