My Father-In-Law is in the hospital
My 83 year old FIL went in the hospital last Friday and has had every test under the sun done. He has a weak heart and has for the past 30 years. It's now catching up to him - they tell him his heart is operating at 10% efficiency. He went to a different hospital than last time (5 years ago) and this hospital is bound and determined to see exactly how weak his heart is and why, and how they can improve it for him. He's being put in ICU today for a 3 day test that will measure EXACTLY where his problem is, which will tell them what kind and how much medicine to put him on to stablize him before they implant a pace maker/defibrilator. Please keep him in your prayers. He and my MIL just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary, they still live in their own home and do mostly all their own chores. The hard part will be telling him he should think about giving up driving. THAT will be harder on him than what he's going through now! |
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Chris: I am so sorry to hear about your FIL. Yes, change of season seems to bring out the worst in health issues. It does sound like he is in good hands. I will keep him and your family in my prayers. I know what you mean regarding his driving. We went through a similar thought regarding my father when he was alive. We never did have to do it, but we children did all had a meeting about it. A real tuff thing to do. Good Luck. I hope your FIL is home soon.  |
| We will keep him in our prayers. Take care. |
That is so sad. I hope he pulls through soon. I hear it's hard for seniors to admit that they should stop driving. I'll add him to our prayer list.  |
| Chris, your father-in-law is in my prayers. It's so scary when a parent is ill. But the doctor and hospital sound committed to finding thep roblem and fixing it. It's a miracle what can be done these days in cardiology. Adn who knows--he may not have to give up driving.
And kudos to your in-laws on their 63rd anniversary! Unfortunately my dad died 3 months before my parents' 60th. It's uplifting to hear of such long lasting marriages. |
| Chris, I am glad to hear that the doctors are committed to finding the problem and getting it corrected. That is very hopeful. It's so hard when parents are aging. I hope they'll find the problem, correct it, and he can go home and live healthy & long!! |
| Chris, He will be in my prayers also. 63 yrs of marriage, wow! Living on their own, wow! Sounds like a strong man ...heart and soul! |
| Oh, my....This is the time for all the seniors and their heart problems.
I do hope they get him figured out as soon as possbile, so he can return to that dedicated wife of his! 63 years....wow... 
Please keep us up to date with his progress. |
Darcy wrote: Chris, He will be in my prayers also. 63 yrs of marriage, wow! Living on their own, wow! Sounds like a strong man ...heart and soul!
Ditto.... the fact that he has done so well shows he must be very strong... I hope all goes well. |
| Chris, I'll be thinking of you guys... |
| Chris,
I hope they can find and solve the problem and he can come home soon. He will be in our prayers. |
| I'm thinking of you too. Please give Dale a hug from me. |
| We're thinking of you! I wonder if changes in air pressure cause some of these medical issues. We have also had 2 elderly family members in the hospital in the past few weeks due to heart issues. |
| I'm dealing with my 92 year old stepmom and trying to figure out how to get her to stop driving. She's very independent. But you should see her car! Dings and Dangs all over. Chris, my best wishes to your FIL...I hope he's home soon. |
| Thanks for your words of hope and concern, everyone. It means a lot!
So far, so good for the new test. He's able to sit up and is awake and aware, so he can get visitors. My kids are so upset because they are SO very close to their Pappy. My daughter is having a really tough time because along with this, school is driving her crazy with all the work and exams she has coming up for next week, plus she works on week-ends. We told her to not work, that if she needed anything, we're here. But, stubborn little thing that she is, she insists she HAS to work. I hope she doesn't get to the breaking point! Luckily her school is only 45 min away from home, so she can get home quickly if she has to. When we spoke to our son last week-end (right after FIL was admitted) and said something to the effect of "we don't know how much longer he's going to last" - he wanted to hear nothing of it!! He was in complete denial, saying, "No! He's not going to die! He has to be around forever!" Half-jokingly, but still, to his mind - completely serious. So when we spoke to him last night about this latest development, he said he was coming home this week-end to see him (he lives in VA, we're in PA), which made my husband feel good. Then, out of the blue, he said to me, "Mom, is he going to die?" Threw me for a loop. I just said - I don't know how to answer that. It depends on the results of this week-end's test. So, again, thanks for your prayers and concern, and I appreciate all the good will. |
| Chris sorry to hear your dad is in Hospital too, sending prayers that all will be OK and he will be back home soon.
My mom wants to drive too, but is not allowed too, that has been a big issue at the moment. The doctors said not for at least a month and she is stubborn and independant, but at least she is allowed to drive down the track. So it is hard for them if they are not allowed to drive anymore as they do loose there independence, so it will be hard for your dad to realise that he should not drive anymore. I hope all goes well with him and how wonderful 63 years of marriage is just so precious and special. Love to you and your family. |
| I am sorry to hear that. I will pray for him and your family! |
| It sounds like the hospital is very dedicated to him and he'll get great care.
You give Dale a hug from me and tell him to give you one from me too!! |
| An update on my FIL. I'm sure other hospitals have this capability of testing, but not ever having been subjected to it, it just boggles my mind!
They inserted what they call a "swan" down from his neck, around and into his heart. It monitors everything going on and it's keeps it all in a computer "journal." As we sat there talking to his nurse, we watched his heartbeat go from 80 beats per minute, then shoot up to 130-140 bpm. No physical exertion, no stress, just shot right up. She explained that the electrical system in his heart has, in layman's terms, a "short" in it. When an organ needs more oxygen, it tells the heart to beat faster. But the impulse doesn't get shut back down. It just keeps circulating within his heart. The top of his heart is not communicating with the bottom of his heart. He doesn't feel any differently when this happens, doesn't feel his heart racing. But when this happened before he went in the hospital, it did make him very short of breath and tired. So now that they know the exact problem and are please with how he has responded to medicine to stabilize it, they're confident that the pace maker/defib is the right choice for him. That surgery may happen as soon as Tuesday. When I asked the nurse if they knew anything about his arteries (if they're clogged), she said that's a whole other story. Don't know if they'll check that out just yet or if they'll just concentrate on the pace maker. At least we all now feel much better about his prognosis. Our kids have both seen him and are more at ease. He's not totally out of the woods yet, but at least now we have a reason and a solution. Thanks for all your prayers and concern, and please still keep us in your thoughts! |
| Joan had something called SVTs once (I think it stands for Supra Ventricular Tachycardia) basically it sounds like the same electrical short circuit that you mention. Her heartrate jumped to 160 for no reason at all.
There were two options for dealing with this; 1 was a pill daily, a calcium blocker called verapamil. The other approach is radio ablation, where they put some sort of a probe into the heart (through catheterization, I believe) and find the short circuit and carefully destroy a teensy bit of that tissue to block the short circuit. The rare but real downside of the radio ablation is that they can ruin the heart's electronics and that would require a pacemaker for life. Joan is doing very nicely on the verapamil. 
Good luck! |
| Hi,
I'm so sorry to hear about your father in law. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Marianne |
| Ron, the radio ablation is exactly what they're doing for my FIL before inserting the pacemaker. They mentioned that they would "burn" a piece of his heart to stop the short circuiting. I guess a pacemaker for life isn't too scary when you're already 83!
They doing the radio ablation and inserting the pacemaker tomorrow. He should be home by Tuesday. Yikes!! Amazing what modern science can do. |
| That is great news Chris! I hope he has a quick recovery. |
| Yes a speedy recovery for your father in law & I'll keep you, Dale & the family in our thoughts! |
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| Sounds like they've got a handle on it! That's wonderful! |
| Definitely saying some prayers! |
| Chris, I hope your father-in-law continues to improve. Having a pacemaker is no big deal. My mom has had one for years. Hey, if it keeps them going it's well worth it. I'll continue to keep your FIL in my thoughts and prayers. |
| Most recent update on my FIL: He had the radio ablation today, but not the pacemaker. Before the surgery, the dr told my husband and his brother that their father is very, very sick and that this operation was very risky for a man his age and in his condition. He even hinted that he may not make it through the surgery. They had to make sure they knew exactly where to "burn" and it could take awhile. Sure enough, he was in surgery for about 4 hours. The dr looked very relieved and said it went very well, better than he expected. BUT he said that this was the oldest and the sickest patient he has ever done this procedure on.
They will let him rest now until Wednesday at the earliest, to implant the pacemaker. Please keep the prayers coming!! Thanks to all for your concern. |
| Phew....Glad to hear he made it through the first stage...Prayers are being said that he makes it through the second surgery just as well.
He may make it into a book of medicine yet! Hugs.. |
| Glad he made it through the first op OK, keeping fingers crossed and prayers his way for the next step.
Hope all goes well for you all on Wednesday. |
| We're still thinking of you and your family. |
Drezzie's Mom wrote: Ron, the radio ablation is exactly what they're doing for my FIL before inserting the pacemaker. They mentioned that they would "burn" a piece of his heart to stop the short circuiting. I guess a pacemaker for life isn't too scary when you're already 83!
They doing the radio ablation and inserting the pacemaker tomorrow. He should be home by Tuesday. Yikes!! Amazing what modern science can do. RF ablation is an amazing thing. I was an electrophysiology nurse for about 13 years, we did RF ablation for a whole list of problems with fantastic results. On a very basic level your heart is much like a house, it has a plumbing system (the arteries and veins) and an electrical system (the fibers inside the tissue which actually make the heart contract and beat). When an ablation is done the actual fiber which is causing the problem is isolated and actually burned out with high frequency signals via a very tiny catheter. An absolutely amazing thing to watch. BEST WISHES!!!!!!!!!!! |
Latest update: They implanted the pacemaker/defib today and it went very well, the dr is very pleased. They will keep him for 2 days yet, so all told, his hospital stay will be 2 WEEKS!!! Can't WAIT to see THAT bill!  Thank goodness for insurance.
Bad news is that we have to change a bunch of stuff around in their house because steps are strictly forbidden. Dr said they're forbidden forever but in the next breath he said he expects his heart to strengthen now. Knowing my FIL, he won't stand for no steps ever again, especially since his wood working shop is in their basement. But for at least the foreseeable future, he'll be living on one floor. So rooms need to be rearranged, furniture moved. Oy, my aching back!! Anyway, thanks for all your concern and support. It truly helps to know there's somewhere else I can turn to, in addition to my family. Bless you all! |
| That is great news. What a relief to have the surgeries done with! |
| That is good news Chris. I was thinking about him yesterday and wondering how he was. I hope he makes it down to his woodworking shop again soon. He is very lucky to have a family like he does. Good luck with the "rearranging." |
| The bill will be a shocker!! Last I knew Defibs were going for 25-50,000 depending on how many bells and whistles they have. Thank God for insurance!!!!!
Glad to hear he is doing well! |
| I hope it is a Medtronic resync model.... with fluid status monitoring...
Not that I'm a shareholder or anything...  |
| St Jude puts out a very nice device as well. |
| Glad to hear he came through it okay. I'm hoping for a complete recovery for him so he can live a full life - including the wood working shop in the basement! |
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