Ooooooff,
where do I start with this one…..I guess I’ll “start at the very beginning.”
And try not to be too sappy (cause Dad would kill me!).
My
dad is a pretty active guy because of the work he does on the farm. He’s shown
me first hand the rewards of a strong work ethic, and is a pretty special guy
to so many people. Well, we all know you can’t keep him down for long unless
something is incredibly wrong. In mid-August he finally requested a doctor’s
appointment and was diagnosed with pneumonia. He was given instructions to lie
low and take it easy even with meds — but it was haying season. I think you can
imagine just how well he stayed put!
Somewhere
along the line the pneumonia got worse rather than better and Dad finally went
back to the doctor. After a stay at KVH and then a transfer to Yakima Memorial,
he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. His heart was working at a
level of 15-20% rather than the “normal” 52-70%. Let’s stop here for a minute
to acknowledge that I knew we would face this diagnosis one day (thank you
family history), but in no way did I expect to hear it before he was 60. Our
family’s world was shaken completely as doctors tried to figure out how this
happened — “you’re healthy and active, we don’t understand” came up many times.
He was, and remains, a mystery to the doctors.
It
was finally determined, at least in theory, that the pneumonia had complicated
itself enough to cause a massive lung infection which then attacked the heart
after the lung function began decreasing. Because of trying to stabilize his
heart the doctors couldn’t do all the tests they would have preferred, so they
went with a “shotgun” approach (Dad’s definition of course 😅) to start working
on the infection. I won’t lie and tell you that the initial diagnosis had a
pretty outlook, because it didn’t. It took quite a few days of him getting
stronger and the meds to work before we thought he would begin to be out of the
woods, but that life would still be drastically changing.
Well,
remember I used the word “thought” about those woods? Yeah…..Dad was released
from Yakima on a Thursday, but the next Monday night he was in the local ER and
they were sending him to Virginia Mason in Seattle. I got really good at
finding VM that week as he was there until the following Sunday. This time he
had a giant blood clot that was cutting off important functions. They admitted
him, got him stable, moved him from CICU to one level of care down, and
continued their treatment. The doctors later believed the clot was caused by a
damaged blood vessel in the pelvic area (residual from a previous injury). He
was taken off blood thinners and after he was stable for a couple of days they
gradually began putting him back on a different blood thinner. So far, three
months later, he’s doing well on that blood thinner!
So,
after we got him home that weekend he had spent a total of 15 days in three
different hospitals. At home we somehow managed to survive putting up hay and
fair duties. Dad is now on a low salt diet that he’s not a fan of but Mom is
figuring out some nifty tricks. He wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol for a while
and I think he may have cried when he was coherent enough to figure that out,
but it’s okay, he was given the go ahead for a drink once in a while so he’s
good now 😉
Dad
just had his three month check in with his cardiologist this week and it’s good
news! The tests run in November and early December show his heart function at
a40-45% function — this is double what it was in September. The doctor was
impressed and said to keep doing what he’s doing, but not to overdo. Our
favorite reminders for Dad now is that he’s not 20 anymore and that he tried to
die on us twice!
Through
all of this we had an outpouring of love from our family and friends. I can’t
thank everyone who stepped up to help Ethan in the fields and me at fair(s)
enough. Just before this all happened, Dad had been playing softball with me,
so the team frequently checked in, and they don’t know how sane they kept me —
thank you. To everyone else who checked in and offered to help, thank you. I
hope we can return the favor if it’s ever necessary.
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