[Dupage] [Fwd: Phil Fitzpatrick]

[Dave Donkers]

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Phil, we  truly
appreciate all of them and there is something to be said for the power
of thoughts and prayers.  Phil is doing well.  He still has another test
to undergo tomorrow.

Saturday we got to Soldier Field for the Avon Walk.  He pulled out the
ramp for the truck, set it and climbed up in the back, started to feel
dizzy and nauseas. He tried to sit down a minute but that didn't help.
His next thought was to get out of the truck and out of the way so that
the gear could be loaded (and not on top of him).  He does not remember
getting from the truck to the ground.  He banged up his right hand, and
must also have bumped his head and left side slightly.

Basically what has happened is his heart is out of rhythm.  He was in
what is called an "A Flutter".  When they brought him to the emergency
room on Saturday, his heart rhythm was extremely high and the kind that
people can die from.

  Saturday they spent the day trying different medications to get his
heart back into the correct rhythm.  Saturday night it seemed they had
found something that would work, it brought it down from about 134 to
about 107 but overnight it kept jumping up and down.  He didn't get much
rest.  Sunday morning when I got there, he was miserable.  Nauseous and
just uncomfortable, they tried a couple of anti nausea medications but
they didn't seem to be working.  His blood pressure was dropping and
they tried to push more fluids and that's when I got "shoed" out of the
room.  The next thing I know there are alarms going off and people are
running in from everywhere,  I heard charging and clear and that's when
I started to panic.  Of course I was not in the room so I didn't know
what happened.  They performed a Cardiovert.  I have no idea about the
spelling.  It is usually a planned procedure.  They shocked him with 200
"jewels" (yes, while he was awake, so he felt it) to get his heart back
into the proper rhythm.  It is a procedure they were hoping not to have
to do but because his heart is stubborn (kind of like the rest of him)
and the medications were not working, they had no choice.  It was kind
of like do or die.

Once he calmed down after that he said he felt worlds better.  He had an
Angiogram yesterday and it turned up nothing substantial, no bypass
surgery or stents were needed, so it is definitely and "electrical"
problem.  He had an MRI today, we haven't got the results back but it's
basically a pre test to the EP test he will have tomorrow.  Not only is
there something wrong electrically, his heart is not pumping the way it
should, so they are trying some different drugs to help it work more
efficiently.  These are things he will have to take from now on.  The EP
test should help the Dr's determine where the electrical circuit problem
is.  The procedure they will use will be to give him a twilight, force
his heart back into the bad rhythm and hopefully find and cauterize the
spot that is the problem.  We are told that if they can do that, there
is a 95% chance that this will not ever happen again.  If they can't
find it, then we will have to talk about other options.

All in all he is feeling much, much better then when he went in
on Saturday.  He has a great sense of humor (as you all know, although I
think this time alot of it is nerves).  He has been in ICU since.  After
Sunday morning I did spend that night at the hospital.  Other than that
one night I have been driving back and forth into the city and most of
you know how I feel about that.  I have done  lot of growing in the past
few days...

I'm sure  you are wondering and no, he had no strange feelings or
symptoms before this happened.

Although some of this note may sound light and be a little tongue in
cheek, it is a very serious problem.  This has been a very stressful and
scary time for both of us.  So please keep us in  your thoughts and
prayers, it would be very much appreciated.

I'm sure "stich" will be happy to share all his stories of the past few
days with you, you all know how he is :)   So, I have left out a few
"good" parts.  So humor him a little when you get to see him and hear
all that he has been through.

Thank you again for thinking about us,
Cor



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