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Post by Nako on Jun 13, 2008 1:28:06 GMT -5
What should have only been a simple procedure to remove my mom's teeth became a medical emergency. My mother went in to get her teeth pulled to get dentures, and during the process, her blood pressure and heart rate dropped. They were going to stop, but she pleaded for them to finish, so they quickly removed the last teeth remaining and she was rushed to the emergency room.
While she was at the hospital, she had a heart attack, which they got under control and then inserted a heart catheter to look into her heart and arteries to see what was going on. During the procedure, her heart fibrillated, which basically means the heart began to quiver and spasm and became unable to pump her blood. They shocked it back into rhythm and sedated her to put her to sleep. She was intubated and put onto a respirator. They continued with the procedure and found that she had a near 100% blockage in the artery leading to her heart. They were able to clear the blockage and her prognosis is good, and they don't think that the amount of time her heart basically stopped beating normally won't cause any brain damage. She's still asleep, but they may be able to wake her tomorrow.
They noticed other issues with her heart and one of the valves, but they say that this shouldn't be too much of a problem and can wait until she recovers from the heart attack to fix. At first I blamed myself. I was so adamant about her getting her teeth pulled and I felt as if I had caused it. I realized though, that if she had not went and gotten the procedure done, and if the medicine had not aggravated her preexisting heart issues, she may well have had a heart attack at work.. in the middle of the night... in the bathroom... basically somewhere where she would not have gotten to a hospital in time to save her life.
So... I'll probably not be posting for a few days until I know mom's gonna be alright. Keep us in your thoughts.
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Post by Kasatsu on Jun 13, 2008 6:36:23 GMT -5
Oh my . . . . . Nako . . . . wow *hugs and clings to like whoa*
I will definately keep you guys in my prayers. It's always a scary thought when it comes to family members being faced with a situation like that. I sincerely hope that everythings goes well from here on for your mom. I am glad that the condition could be caught in time and taken care of; it's a funny thing how things work out.
*hugs again* Best of luck and good wishes. I hope it is a quick and least amount of painful as possible.
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Post by seraaches on Jun 13, 2008 10:03:44 GMT -5
Sweet, friggin' snot. o___O;;; Well, praise the Lord it sounds like she has some good doctors! <3
We'll pray for ya'll. <3 Trebias' dad had, like 80% blockage, and his surgery went fine and he's doing great now. <3
Good logic, Nako, that's exactly wot i would have pointed out to you. <3 Recovery can be slow and difficult but it's about taking it one day at a time and setting small goals. Trebias' dad wasn't allowed to pick up anything for quite awhile (difficult when you have an adorable 2 year old grandchild running around) and now his toes get cold. o__O; But, again, he's doing awesome. <3
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Post by Satra on Jun 13, 2008 12:00:17 GMT -5
oO
Dude.
Wow... good luck to your mom. I'll keep you in my thoughts as much as I can.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Jun 13, 2008 13:13:41 GMT -5
Heart problems are always a scary thing, heart attacks doubly so. *hugs* I'll keep you and your mom in my thoughts and prayers. I hope she has a speedy recovery.
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Post by Jaguara Katial on Jun 13, 2008 13:57:42 GMT -5
*Snuggles* I know how you feel. we almost lost my dad last summer to a heart attack he was very lucky as well.
My thoughts are with you and even though this is all very scary I promise you that things will get better, even if they arnt exactly like they were before, but only time will tell.
I wish you the best and if you need some one to talk to I'm here.
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Post by FlyingPanther on Jun 13, 2008 15:11:21 GMT -5
OMG! That is beyond frightening! I'm so sorry to hear about this, and hope with all my heart that your mother will be ok *snuggles* If you ever need to talk feel free to poke me. Again, I wish your mother the best.
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Post by Nako on Jun 14, 2008 4:47:55 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. It means a lot to me that you are all being so supportive.
My mother is now awake but quite emotional. She feels awful about having no teeth. They had to sedate her so she wouldn't get too upset. She's got the tube out of her throat and they are trying to wean her off of the medication that is currently regulating her blood pressure. When her heart can maintain a certain pressure without medication, she'll be moved out of the ICU.
She's got a long way to go in a lot of ways. I depressed myself fitfully by looking up information about dentures and the process. She has a pair of temporary emergency dentures, and the dentist had called and informed me that they would be loose and have a bit too much of an overbite, and seemed skeptical that mom would be able to eat well with them. Well, I'm taking them to her anyways and I just hope that they will be secure enough for her to speak. She pretty much won't want to have her boyfriend see her without them. Honestly I can't blame her. I think I'd feel the same way as losing all my teeth is literally my worst fear.
A fact of life to having no teeth is that the bone will recede and there will have to be adjustments made to the dentures. I feel like this will deeply depress her... And why am I worrying about this? We should just be glad she's alive, right? Well, I know how she thinks, and her physical appearance will be very important to her mental health, and the emotional state of a recovering heart attack patient is important to her healing. I just... hope she'll stick in there.
She's recovering though, and that's good. We just have to wait and see how she does and she'll have to take it easy for a while. I'm.. dead tired. I'm hardly eating.. hardly sleeping. I had maybe 4 hours last night and only 3 (if that) tonight... and tomorrow after taking her teeth to her, I have to do a complete overhaul on the entire house and do my best to rid it completely of a sudden and violent flea infestation. I'm on an air mattress in the living room with a window unit keeping the room livable, and every time I get up and sit back down I feel like I bring at least one flea with me into bed. I think I need to put my shorts back on because I sprayed my legs with Off spray but they're crawling up my pants legs, bypassing my sprayed feet completely. I'm miserable. I'm tired... and I don't think I can stick around for those first few days she comes home. I'm thinking I'll have to sort something out with my sister and have someone else stay with her while I go home and recuperate. I know people will look down on me for this.. but I just can't take it. Someone else will just have to watch her and give me a few days and then I'll come back down for the weekend. I've been in town since Thursday.. and I feel as if it has been weeks already.
So far today I've eaten 4 chicken nuggets, maybe 1/3 of one of those small Tostino's pizzas and a handful of oyster crackers. No matter how hungry I feel, if I try to put more than a little food on my stomach I feel as if I'll get sick.. and damnit, this flea keeps biting me over and over and over... I want to go home and sleep in my own bed but I know I can't.
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Post by Jaguara Katial on Jun 14, 2008 5:02:46 GMT -5
*snuggles*
except for the flea thing I know exactly how you feel.
When my dad has his heart attack my mom was in Norway for business and I had to take care of my sister and my brother till she got back as well as my daughter and I cant help but think thank god I wasnt working when all of this happened.
I dont think ill of you at all for wanting to go home. Your stressed out and need a few good nights rest. every thing will be okay and remember I'm here if you want to talk.
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Post by Spiderfly on Jun 14, 2008 7:07:24 GMT -5
Aww hun *snuggles up against* I know what it's like to have a parent in the hospital and it's not fun. Please eat what you can. *curls against* I hope everything else straightens itself out <3
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