Walt's Journey

On Tuesday, December 28th, I started feeling a pain in my upper right inner thigh. The pain was in a very small area and it was a stabbing, stinging pain. By Wednesday, the pain was increasing to the point where nearly every step was excruciating. I only felt the pain while walking. On Thursday, I started to experience some chest pain in the middle part of my sternum. The pain was different from the normal sternum discomfort due to my surgery. By the time Thursday evening rolled around, I was very uncomfortable. Since I know that the Aorta extends down around the groin, I became concerned once I started experiencing pain in both my chest and groin.

On Thursday evening, December 30th, at approximately 7:00pm, I drove to the emergency room at Genesys. Because of my history, I was in a room within ten minutes. After all the initial stabilizing procedures, I was taken for a CAT scan. Soon after my CAT scan, I was given a Doppler scan on my leg to rule out a blood clot. The doctors at Genesys had a difficult time reading the results of the CAT scan mainly because of the surgical procedure on my Aorta. The Cardiac surgeon on duty was contacted, and he too was not sure about the results because the surgery had not been conducted at Genesys. A surgeon at U of M was then contacted and he thought that it would be a good idea for me to be transported there so that they could check me out themselves. At approximately 12:30am, on Friday, December 31st, I was in an ambulance and on my way to U of M.

At 1:15am, I arrived at the emergency room at U of M. There was a team waiting for me, and the picking and prodding began. Blood was drawn, and the CAT scan from Genesys was sent for review, and the wait began. Sarah and my brother were by my side which provided much-needed comfort. At approximately 4:00am, the emergency room doctor updated me. She said that all the blood worked checked out fine, and we were waiting for the CAT scan to be reviewed. Soon after the ER doctor had stopped by, a doctor from the cardiac group arrived. He stated that the CAT scan did show a suspicious spot in my groin area, and it was possible that I could be dissecting in that area. This would also explain the pain in my leg. The cardiac doctor also stated that it was possible that the spot could simply be a bad image from the CAT scan at Genesys, and he was waiting for another doctor to take a look at it. Apparently the doctor he was waiting for is a world renown doctor and this is someone he wanted to see the scan. After another hour, the cardiac doctor was back, and told us that because of them being unsure of the scan, they did not want to take any chances. I was going to be admitted into the Cardiac Vascular ICU. The plan was to give me another CAT scan so that they could get a good picture, and review it themselves. When getting a CAT scan, a dye is shot throughout your body and it is not good for the kidneys. I was going to be stabilized with fluids and other medications in order to protect my kidneys from harm before the next CAT scan. At around 6:00am, I arrived in my room at the ICU. After I was settled, Sarah and my brother headed home to get some rest.

After a little bit of rest, at about 10:45am, one of the head doctors from the Cardiac group stopped by. He explained that there were two spots that were suspicious. One located in my abdomen, and one in my groin. The doctor stated that they were not going to take any chances, and needed to keep me stabilized until their CAT scan could be conducted. He also informed me that they would not be doing the CAT scan until New Years Day, so that a safe amount of time had passed between Cat scans. Soon after he left, I got up, into a chair, and thought about all that was going on. At approximately 3:00pm, Sarah arrived. During the day, I was kept hydrated with fluids through an IV, as well as some other medications to protect my kidneys. Other than two IV lines that were in me, one of the more painful experiences were the Heparin shots that were given to me to prevent blood clots. These were one of the most painful shots I have ever experienced, and they were given into my stomach.

Sarah and I were able to be together to ring in the new year. Soon after midnight, Sarah left to stay in the hotel located at the U of M Hospital campus, and I also went to bed. The nurse came in every two hours for vitals, so I was unable to sleep consistently, but did sleep a little in between those times. Unfortunately I had to get another Heparin shot at 6:00am. I got up at a little after 7:00am, and Sarah arrived shortly there after. A little bit later, my grandfather and brother arrived to spend the day with me.

On Saturday, January 1st, at 9:00am, I was taken for my CAT scan. Soon after the scan, the doctor from the morning before came in and informed me that it would be sometime in the afternoon before everyone had a chance to read the scan. The same world renown doctor that had read my Genesys scan was going to read the new scan. The anticipation of the results was difficult.

At approximately 1:30pm, I received the news that everything checked out fine. My Aorta was stable, and I would be discharged shortly. I was very relieved. At about the same time that I was being discharged, four dear friends arrived for a visit. Their visit was very encouraging, and I was excited to be able to share the good news with them.

There was no conclusion for the pain in my leg, and it is still excruciating and painful to walk. Currently, I am keeping it tightly wrapped, and also keeping heat on it as well as taking pain medication. If I cannot get it managed within the next couple of days, I will need to go to my family doctor and see if he has any ideas.

Today, Sunday, January 2nd, we are resting and trying to catch up on the lost sleep of the last couple of days. For those that contacted us, and let us know that you were praying, I want to let you know that it is extremely encouraging to us. I hope that I can avoid any more of these episodes, and will be able to move forward with my recovery.