Awful news to share!!

[PACTOO]

Scruffie just posted this at the CAF today:


Mar wrote:
Any word lately on how he is doing?


Diane, his wife's, e-mail from last night. Will just post the whole message as she describes the situation so well

Just to let you know that Bob is in Vancouver General Hospital. The doctor is AMAZING!!!! They did an angiogram and afterwards the doctor came into the room and sat and explained everything to us in terms we could understand perfectly. We couldn’t ask for better!!! The angiogram and other tests they did, show that Bob has a perfectly healthy heart. That is great news but it means that the wiring in his heart is out somehow. What happened to him could be a one time thing or it could happen again and that is why they will be implanting a pacemaker/defibrillator. The doctor said it is very unusual to have a case where a patient with a healthy heart has this condition – leave it to Bob to be “special” *smile*. He said the implant will let Bob lead a normal life without any fear of this happening again. The surgery will be sometime next week.




_________________
"A Few Of My Guns"

[SeanMP]

A buddy of mine collapsed at a marathon in his late 20's. Heart failed from something called Arythmic Tachycardia. Same idea, heart was perfectly healthy but it had bad wiring.

Anyhow he is fine to this day thanks to one of those defibrillator's planted in chest.

Crazy part is you can actually hear the damn thing when it goes off.

[Merlyn]

The news keeps getting better and better. Before long Bob will be posting his own replies to this thread from his hospital bed.

[poil27]

i hope so ...

[AirGunEric]

Newest update from last night:

"The surgeon (Dr. xxx) saw Bob this afternoon and said he would be doing the pacemaker/defibrillator implant probably on Thursday but possibly (not likely) as early as Wednesday. Bob is such an anomaly because he has a healthy heart that just decided to stop one day and the student doctors seem to be quite interested in his case. One of them has been put in charge of retrieving information from the defibrillator (which we got back from Coalmont via son-in-law, Rob's Dad who has a cottage near Princeton). They will be doing an MRI tomorrow as well as a stress test. They will also be checking for anything hereditary.

I'm still not sure when he will be coming home. It will be up to the other doctor (Dr. xxx). Most patients go home the next day, but because we are not near medical care, they weren't sure what they would be doing with Bob.

Bob's spirits are good and he's walking laps around the nurses' station making them all dizzy watching him. *LOL* He's allowed 2 coffees a day so I've been buying a large one for him from the coffee shop and he's really been enjoying that. Jenny has been downloading Merlin (TV series) episodes, so we watch one episode every day and that is also something he is really enjoying. A couple of his old buddies have visited him (plus family) so his spirits are very good. We have loaded him up with car, racing and sailboat magazines, so that keeps him occupied when no one is around.

I'll keep you posted as I know more.

Diane"


When are they going to give the poor bastard a computer?

[PACTOO]

When are they going to give the poor bastard a computer?

That is so funny Eric, I was thinking that while reading and came to the last part of your post and burst out laughing!

[AirGunEric]

The latest update tonight:

Hello Everyone:

I'm sorry for the mass email but I'm running on fumes here. My computer crashed last night and after unsuccessfully trying to fix it, I couldn't get any emails out. My son-in-law who is a computer genius, fixed it for me tonight. I was up at 4 am to be with Bob for his early morning surgery.

The surgery was successful. The pacemaker/defibrillator is in and was tested to make sure it works. The original plan was to release him from hospital this afternoon but he has had some swelling at the incision site, so the doctor wants to keep him overnight for observation. The game plan is to hopefully release him sometime tomorrow (Friday) and then we will head home to Coalmont on Saturday morning (weather permitting).

The MRI showed a very small spot that indicates at some time in his past he had a very minor heart attack that he was unaware of. The doctor said that the scar tissue could have done something to short circuit his heart and that could have caused the incident on Dec. 30 but we will never know for sure. His heart appears to be very healthy and the doctor said this implant will relieve any worries of this happening ever again. They are going to let us do all of our follow-up appointments in Penticton because it is closer and we don't have to drive through the mountains to get there.

Bob was very up-beat after his surgery until he learned he had to stay another night, that made him very sad. It has been a very long haul for all of us but hopefully we will be back home on Saturday. I will let you know what happens. Keep him in your prayers.


Regards,

Diane"

Let's hope the next message out is one from Bob...

(funny smilie above- supposed to be "enthusiasm" but I think it's a bit lacking)

[Doc Sharptail]

Good news to hear! That's a bit of a relief. Thanks for the update, and let Diane know we appreciate the news...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail

[AirGunEric]

Bob is back online- has posted on at least one other forum. When he remembers the name of this place he might appear.

[rsterne]

HI Guys....

Sorry I didn't see this thread until today.... I sure appreciate all the good wishes.... I got my pacemaker-defibrillator a week ago and we got home on last Saturday.... I'm feeling great, and already spent a couple hours in the shop testing hammer springs in my .308/9mm Disco build.... The incision is healing nicely (pretty minor, done under a local).... I have a Dr. appointment locally next Tuesday and then a follow-up in Penticton mid February.... After that I should be cleared for all normal activities except arc-welding and using a chainsaw.... and no driving for 6 months which kind of sucks.... The only discomfort I feel is sore ribs (cracked) from the CPR....

The doctors figure my heart is in good shape, both plumbing and pumping function, it was just the electrics blew a fuse and it stopped (either V-Tac or V-Fib).... My health has always been good (Aero-Tec got that wrong), we bought the defibrillator (at my wife's insistence) simply because she felt we were too far fron the ambulance in Princeton and if anyone needed it, they would be too late arriving.... I figured we'd never need it, but then here I go and prove her wrong by being the first to use it.... Never gonna live that down !!!

Bob