Dad (20 photos), by Allison Orton

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Clouds & Sunshine

Yesterday was a gray day: a series of seizures before noon prompted Dr. Reichmann to perform a second procedure to remove another clot. The clot had been there from the beginning, but was located deeper in the brain, and the doctor had hoped that it would resolve itself. The seizures made action imperative.



Swelling in his right eye was a visual reminder of the trauma he has experienced, and he has not yet opened his eyes: he's still in a coma.



The good news of the day was that the surgery was a success.



Today is a better day. The sun was shining as we awoke, and was a welcome precursor for this Sunday. Aimee arranged for classical music in his room which we know he will love. He was able to hold two fingers up on his right hand and wiggle his toes in both feet. He had been able to do this after the first surgery, but lost that ability as the other clot put more and more pressure back on the brain. Where yesterday's regression was so disheartening, today's progress is refreshing and gives us hope. They have told us to expect a rollercoaster. It is exhausting physically and mentally, but spiritually we are strong.

Post Surgery

Upon arrival at IMC, dad was taken to the OR where the surgery was performed. The doc told us it would take about an hour and a half so we decided to go eat lunch. We hurried and ate and came back within an hour but dad's surgery ended up taking about 2 and a half hours. Of course we were all a little worried since it took longer than expected but when he returned from surgery the surgeon came and informed us of the outcome. Things went well. They removed a clot that was 2 cm thick on the right side of the brain and that spread the length of that whole side. (Side note-dad lost 2 coke cans full of blood during the surgery.) We went back to see him after he was settled and saw his bandaged head. Things seemed to be going well so we decided to go home and get some sleep. We returned the next morning around 9:00 and soon after the surgeon came in to check on dad. He said dad looked good and wanted to check a few more things. He put a finger in the corner of his eye and pressed, then said, "Grant I'm going to hurt you for a minute but if you can show me 2 fingers I'll leave you alone." Within a nano second he fired up 2 fingers and the surgeon stopped. He was responding and that was huge:) Later that day they tried to put in a central line on the left side of his chest but weren't successful due to dad's anatomy and bone structure. Between the CT scan, central line trial, surgery and x-rays dad was exhausted and it showed. We left for the evening in hopes he would be able to sleep without too many interruptions.

How this all came about...the details

Disclaimer: This is super long and I'm sure I have missed quite a few details!!

We all know Dad loves to be outside especially when it comes to gardening. Last Wednesday he spent the entire day outside working on his garden in the hot sun. That night he experienced some nausea, which led to episodes of vomiting, followed shortly by a severe headache. Assuming it was just heat exhaustion, I forced him to drink lots of water, but as the days went on, his headache continually got worse. Saturday he was completely exhausted and slept all day. Sunday and Monday he still complained of a headache but not much else. Tuesday morning, Mom took him to his doctor, who diagnosed his symptoms as a sinus infection and sent him to fill prescriptions. He continually got more and more tired throughout the day and when mom and dad tried to make it to Bryn's (granddaughter) dance recital, he threw up again. He so badly wanted to go, but Mom knew he wouldn't make it and figured it was better that they just stay home. Dad was a little chilled so Mom decided to let him sit and soak in the tub and that idea sounded so good to him. Mom filled the tub and when she went back in a little bit later he had thrown up again, so she drained and refilled the tub. Checking on him again, she then realized she needed help. I got the phone call at work around 6:30 but didn't call back until I got off at 7. As I pulled up at the house, Mom came running out saying, "Allison I can't get him out of the tub." I dropped everything and rushed in knowing that I had to keep talking to him so I could get responses! Dad was a dead weight and between Mom and I we could not lift him out. He could not move his left arm and could barely, if at all, lift any other extremity. Emily arrived at the house with Rick, and the 4 of us pulled him out of the tub and sat him in a rolling computer chair. Aimee had called the ambulance and about 2 minutes after we got him in the chair they arrived.

When we asked what hospital they were taking him to, they said St. Mark's. In my head I thought it should have been IMC because I knew they were better equipped to handle the situation. The first miracle was that they took him to St. Mark's and were able to intubate him right away. His heart rate was at 34 and his blood pressure at 213/178 . He would not have made it to IMC with those sats.

After waiting for what seemed like forever (it was now around 10:00 p.m.), the neurologist took us into a room to explain what had happened. We were all sobbing at this time because the doctor gave us no hope. He said he would be surprised if Dad made it through the night because the CT scan showed what looked like either a subdural hematoma or an aneurysm which was putting a lot of pressure on the brain and causing it to herniate down into the brain stem. As many of you know Dad has been taking coumadin for many years due to his heart problems. The coumadin, which thins the blood, may have caused the bleed in the brain, and had thinned the blood to the point that surgery wasn't a safe option. We later found out they had not done that type of surgery at St. Mark's since 1994, which at least contributed to the doctor's discouragement of the surgery. What they did do was begin the process of reversing the effects of the coumadin by giving transfusions and medications to help thicken the blood. They moved him from the ER to the ICU. When we went upstairs to see him, our sweet Bishop and member of the stake presidency arrived and gave him a blessing (which might I add, didn't give us much hope either). With Mark, Dave, and Greg not being close we hoped Dad would hold on until all his sons arrived to give him a blessing. Mark, coming from San Diego, got delayed twice on his flight and Dave, coming from Phoenix, got delayed once. What are the chances? Greg arrived from St. George around midnight after having worked through the night the night before and then stayed up all night talking to dad to make sure he stuck around until the other 2 boys arrived. Finally around 10:00 a.m., all of his children had arrived (the 2nd miracle) and we all sat in his room while the 4 boys gave him a sweet blessing.

Miracle 3 was when my uncle told us of a friend he had that specializes in the type of surgery dad needed and brought that name to the doc at St. Marks. We had all kind of come to terms with (although not ok with) the idea of dad passing quickly when the St. Marks doc gave us no other options and little hope. When Uncle Willis presented the doc with the name and the possibility of surgery at IMC, there was a glimmer of hope which we all felt good about. Michael also had a friend at work that was good friends with this surgeon and had been communicating with him about dad's situation and the timeline fit all too perfectly. A few phone calls were made, first with my uncle Willis and Mike's friend and then to the transport team and dad was out of there within an hour or two. We rushed to IMC and made it before dad and started getting nervous when they didn't arrive for so long. The surgeon had cleared his schedule (dad was critical at this point), and was ready for dad as soon as he arrived. Post surgery report on next post.