Friday, April 24, 2009

Please Pray: When It Rains...

It pours. I need your prayers so much right now. IVF has taken a major back seat to what is going on with my family in the last 24 hours.

My dad was out biking last night at about 6:00 pm with my brother. My brother's bike tire blew a flat and his friend came and picked him up. My dad decided to finish his ride since he was only about 30 minutes from home. He called my mom to let her know he would be back at 6:30pm. He was on a crowded bike path and almost home when he stopped riding and suddenly collapsed. From witnesses we have learned that a couple saw him fall and immediately attended to him, calling 911. A physician was on the bike path and saw the couple laying my father down and taking off his helmet. Within less than a minute from his collapse the MD began CPR. He said that my father's color came back and he had a good femoral pulse. The squad was there in two minutes and because he had collapsed near the path entrance they had NO issues getting to him. He was in V-fib when they arrived and shocked him only once and got his heart back into rhythm.

Meanwhile at home my mom saw that it was 6:35 pm and told my brother (who had made it home by this time) to call my dad. When my brother called the EMT picked up the phone and told him that they were taking my dad to the hospital. My brother called me and we all made it there about 10 minutes after the ambulance had arrived.

There were concerns of trauma so they took him to get a CT scan immediately. My dad was intubated and sedated. All the labs and tests came back negative. Because the hospital did not yet know how fast CPR had been delivered from the onset of the incident they decided to initiate the hypothermic protocol. That means that right now my dad is being sedated and his body temperature decreased for 24 hours. The reason is because it helps protect the brain if he went without oxygen at all. The medical decision to do this was because they have no idea what happened and there are no risks only benefits. We are now just waiting until they will begin to slowly bring up his body temperature at about 11pm tonight. It will be a long 14 hour process but we are praying that he shows no signs of brain damage from lack of oxygen.

All of his tests are coming back normal and he is maintaining his blood pressure on his own. Please pray that as they bring him out of the hypothermia he begins to respond and shows no signs of neurological damage.

Thank you all so much in advance!

6 comments:

Allison said...

Many, many prayers and good thoughts to you and your dad and the rest of your family. I can't even imagine how incredibly anxious and scared you must be. ((HUGS)) and prayers to you!!!

Shannon said...

Oh my gosh, how scary! I am praying like crazy for your dad and your family, keep us updated!

Astrid said...

Wow, i am so sorry to hear about this. I just finished a post about how just when I think I've hit bottom, something else happens to convince me otherwise and to remind me how important it is to keep things in perspective. I dearly hope and pray that everything will be ok. The prognosis sounds good. Definitely let us know!!

Rene said...

Wow- I'm praying for your family right now. I'm so sorry and I am so thankful that he is alive. Keep us informed!

Hillary said...

Sweetie, I am so sorry!! That is so scary and I am saying many prayers for your dad and your family. ((hugs))

Mandy said...

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about this with your dad. Remember that people all around the world are lifting your family up in prayer. And I will support them in praying for a fast recovery without any long-term damage. Keep us updated.