Scott's emergency heart surgery

On Friday Oct 16th 2015 my husband Scott went into his family Dr. with chest pains and shortness of breath. After a EKG it was determined Scott had some serious heart issues. He went home over the weekend on strict bed rest.

On Monday Oct 18th he met with a cardiologist who went on to tell us he needed to do a immediate heart catheter test. Things then spiraled from there. He was rushed over to the hospital St. Mary's in Madison WI where they did a echocardiogram then surgery. Afterwards the Dr. came to talk to me and told me that Scott had to undergo open heart bypass surgery immediately. His heart was only working at 50% they needed to replace 3-4 arteries.

Scott was admitted to the cardiologist ICU in preparation for surgery the following day. He was placed on a balloon pump to reduce stress to the heart and prepped for surgery.

Tuesday OCt 19th he was taken to surgery around 11:30. By 3pm they began his heart repairs and he was scheduled to be out of surgery by 5ish. When 7 came around and no word other then they where still working on him I knew something was wrong. Scott finally came out of surgery around 9pm that evening. The surgeon then explained to us that Scott had pretty much crashed on the operating table. That surgery went well but as they where closing him up his heart went into spasms, the had to put him back on the bypass machine and open him up, they worked for many hours to save his life. At the end he came out alive but on full life support. A machine was breathing for him and two machines where pumping his heart for him.

Because Scott is a relatively young 48yr old the surgeon had told us it was best to use a artery out of scotts arm for part of the heart repair and then a vein of the leg for the rest. Vein repairs only last 5-7yrs and arm artery would last him 10-15 yrs. But there was a 15% chance risk the muscle part of the artery would spasm which is what happened. In most patients they are able to calm down the heart with medications and the patient goes on to a normal bypass recovery and is just fine. In 1% of the cases it does not and that is what happened to Scott. He fell into that rare case.

Scott is now facing a very long and difficult recovery. He in all sense died on the operating table and was brought back to life. His body now has to heal and return to normal.

UPDATES:

Oct 23
Update on Scott Hubbard: Friday night..Some prayer requests for Scott. He has developed a slight fever that maybe the start of a lung infection. Earlier today they did some xrays and he had some congestion so all day they kept a eye on it and tonight when I called he has a slight fever so they are looking to start antibiotics to get ahead of any infection in the lungs. Having a infection is really dangerous for him at this point and could set back his recovery and postpone the goal of removing the respirator. Second prayer request is that his stomach starts tolerating the feeding tube. They started a small amount of nutrients in his feeding tube but it's up and down if he is tolerating it. He needs the nutrients to continue to heal. He has been living off his reserves all this time so prayers his stomach/bowels kick in and start working excepting the nutrients. Other then that he's hanging in there. I was a little concerned he was less responsive tonight but it could of been from not feeling right. Praying the antibiotics take care of anything quickly.

Oct. 23
Update Scott Hubbard: Friday morning. Scott is holding steady with slow and steady progress. They finally figured out a combo of light sedation and pain meds that have kept him comfortable. He isn't waking up now in panic and pain like yesterday. They are continuing to wean off medications and started the meds to have him pee out the water weight. He's very swollen from all the fluid weight. After that goal is wean off respirator but that be a few days yet. Slowly but surely. We are limiting visitors today. His body needs to rest and heal. Hes still in ICU in critical but getting more and more stable.
Since so far today he is stable sleeping and healing without any major medical decisions to be made they said it'd OK I go home tonight. So my mom and I will be heading back in a bit. Got to take care of home business and sleeping in hotel is not that fun.
Keep praying for his healing and I need prayers for myself for physically keeping on, in a lot of pain today from my own issues. Thank you everyone.

October 22 at 10:24pm ·
Update Scott Hubbard: Thursday evening. Scott has made it through so much in the past 4 days.
Today was a rough day for me and for him. The more aware he is the more he fussed and even fought the respirator (breathed over it) even in his sleep. He needed to just chill and let it do the work but nope he wanted to do it. You would think that is good but in reality it stressed out his body and him. He also was getting overstimulated when he heard familiar voices so by tonight the nurse and I thought it best he have no more visitors till tomorrow. Give his blood pressure time to come down and them work on more weaning off meds with little stress as possible. Right now visitation is immediate family. He's not strong enough for others to see him yet.
Tonight the Dr took out the balloon pump which means all support of machines are gone from the heart. The heart is on its own so we see how it does overnight.
I want to explain that what happened to Scott was not a normal bypass surgery. The complications during surgery had only a 15% chance of happening. Being put on the pump for his heart was a very rare thing to have to happen also. Yes he is recovering from the bypass but he is going through on top of it all recovery from almost dying, huge shock, 9hrs on bypass machine, injury to his leg, blood loss from bleeding out, massive water weight gain, etc. Some have not understood this condition with heart disease is in his family, yes diet ect can help and is something we have always worked on but when it's in your genes and every man in his immediate family has had heart issues at exactly or close to Scotts age of 48 it was bound to happen. You can't change your genetics. He also didn't ignore his heart, every year including twice earlier this year we have told his family dr about chest pain, short breath etc and they never thought it was his heart or checked it. In a lot of ways I'm really mad at his family dr. He should of been on top of this knowing his family history. Can't go back and change that just focus on the here and now going forward.
The hotel my mom and I are staying at is booked for weekend so we are checking out tomorrow for two nights then returning for all next week. We may stay at hospital or if they say it's OK we will go home for Friday night and come back Sat stay at hospital then check in our hotel on Sunday again. Today was difficult on me, had a lot of pain issues in my back arm today and am still exhausted. Hoping for sleep tonight. He is still in ICU and considered critical but stable.
I will update tomorrow again. Thank you everyone.

October 22 at 12:11pm ·
It's breaking my heart seeing Scott in so much pain and discomfort. This is the hardest day yet

October 22 at 11:33am ·
Update Scott Hubbard: Just was with Scott he opened up his eyes. He's in more pain and discomfort today especially his neck and more aware. He squeezed my hand hard when I asked if he knew I was there.
I talked to the Dr., Scott is still not out of the woods yet he has a long slow painful recovery to go through and the next two to three days are crucial to see if he will be ok.
They are attempting to wean down on a few medicines and they have to get the water weight off so they can work on removing respirator. He's gained around 25lbs with fluid intake but Dr thinks by time he is ready to go home he will be down a good 15lbs from original weight.
Dr. is estimating around 4 weeks in hospital depending on how next few days go. He's still considered in critical condition but stable. Like I said not out of the woods yet!
One issue is his left leg where the tubes from the machine they took out last night went into is very swollen and they are watching it closely for blood flow, circulation so he doesn't loose his leg. So he needs prayers for that leg. Prayers for getting of all life support respirator and balloon pump (which they are keeping on for now). Prayers for his pain and feelings of panic confusion. I need prayers I can handle everything for strength.
Today is breaking my heart seeing him like this and not knowing if he will ever be the same. We live a little over hour from the hospital so for now we had a hotel room but they are booked Fri and Sat so we are unsure if we will get to go home or if I will crash at hospital.
Costs are already adding up so if you feel led to help by donating we appreciate it so much. Keep the prayers coming and I will update as I can.

October 22 at 6:58am
Update on Scott Hubbard: My mom and I finally slept! I go five hours of sleep was out cold. First sleep I got since Saturday. My stepson Tyler and gf Alice stayed overnight at hospital so I could leave. Over the night Scott has continued to improve. Tyler was able to spend a half hour talking to him when he came out of anesthesia from surgery. Was glad he was there to tell him where I was and him not all alone. He is still doing great this morning to the place they may try to get him off the respirator too and balloon pump removed. We still don't know what long term the effects this all will take on him but I'm hopeful now he will recover. I finally get to take a shower in a few min and get into clean clothes. Will update later after I get to hospital. Thank you everyone for the support and keep the prayers coming.
I have to say his surgeon was amazing he stayed at Scott's side all that first night and day. He even fell asleep in his room keeping watch on him. Everyone at St Mary hospital has been so great to him. His nurses Josh and Tammy have been with him round the clock. They talk to him even when he seemed not awake to tell him what they where doing. So thankful for them all.
Thank you to my mom Christine Rivers for being with me through this all

October 21 at 7:43pm ·
Update on Scott Hubbard: Thanking God right now!! Dr. just came talked to us. The pump running his heart is GONE, leg repaired by artery, his heart is pumping on its own strongly! He said now he has a chance. He is very hopeful and optimistic. The goal is to remove balloon pump from heart tomorrow morning. Their is a small risk that his heart could still fail and he have to go back on the machine but as of right now he is doing as great as the Dr would expect for someone in his condition. I am so very relieved I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Thank you Heavenly Father for hearing our prayers. Keep praying his heart continues to thrive, beat on its own, against blood clots as they wean now off blood thinners, that he can get the balloon pump removed next then from their the respirator and his body functioning on its own. As of now he has good brain function, he knew who I was he squeezed my hand and acknowledged everyone that saw him today. Scott is the strongest bravest man I know he's going to beat this. He's still in critical but stable in ICU. I'm so thankful to the staff and his surgeon for saving his life..

October 21 at 5:25pm ·
Update Scott Hubbard: The test went good so they now took him to surgery to try to attempt to completely remove the machine pumping his heart. Will update you. Be around two hours.

October 21 at 3:38pm ·
Update: Scott Hubbard is undergoing a procedure right now to test how strong his heart is. They want to get him off the machine pumping for his heart. The Dr thinks he is stable enough to attempt this. The risk is he could die, that his heart is not strong enough to work on its own. Say some prayers he makes it through the next 30 to 40 min.

October 21 at 7:14am ·
Update on Scott Hubbard: He's in critical but stable condition. It's still serious but he slowly improved tonight. He has a long long road ahead of him right now. Its hour to hour at the moment. He is slightly aware of what is going on. The nurse asks him questions and he can open his eyes and nod head. I talked to him a bit he seemed to nod and know my voice. They got bleeding under control so far that area is good as during night it was a scramble to stop bleeding. My mom is with me, we stayed all night at hospital tried to sleep in tranquility room but neither one of us did. Back at hotel for breakfast get a bit of rest. At some point today I have to get home to get more of my medication as I didn't plan for all this and also been living in sane clothes. Please keep up praying he is fighting I can tell he's giving it all he got. Now his heart has to heal and be ok. If anyone wants to see him it's family and close friends only brief hi. Otherwise any company for me is welcome. Im running on adrenaline and doing my best to get thru this and get Scott thru this

October 21 at 2:05am ·
Update on Scott Hubbard: He's critical but stable. He did wake move his hands toes and nod yes when asked. Dr. Said that is a excellent sign of no brain damage. He's sedated again. Still have a team of surgeon nurses etc in his room constantly working on him. Hes having a lot of bleeding cause of blood thinners they got him on for the heart machine. It's scary and disturbing to see him laying there tubes everywhere etc. I've never seen so many IV medications hanging that they are using like 6 hangers and machines. It's still touch and go. He's far far from being out of the woods but he's fighting. I got to hold his hand and I told him (even though he's unconscious) you don't have permission to leave me you fight Scotty I can't live life without you. As far as me I'm running on adrenaline, went to hotel for hour to freshen up get my medication then my mom and I are crashing in the hospital so I can be here. Please keep praying, I believe Gods got a plan even when I can't see it right now and he's going to get Scott and me thru this. Also pray for our son/my stepson this is really hard on him to see his dad like this. Thank you everyone.

October 20 at 11:08pm ·
PRAYERS.... Scott Hubbard needs everyone to pray and pray now! He's in critical condition life and death in ICU.
At aprox 9pm he came out of surgery. Dr. told us everything was going good but as he was closing his chest his heart went into spasms and he started crashing. They opened him back up and put him back on bypass and spent hours working to save his life. His heart finally calmed down. What they think happened is his heart wasn't working for so long that after it was fixed his heart and body freaked out. He's in a fight for his life right now. They have him on machines to help him breathe and Two going to his heart one is pumping at 25Percent so his heart is only working at 75percent. Cause if this he's on life support and blood thinners that are making him bleed. He has a 40percent chance of bleeding issues and them having to go back in tonight and open him up. He not awake and we have no idea when and if he will be. There is a chance he could of sustained brain damage or stroke from being on the machine for so long. When he comes out if this all and I say when cause I can't face anything else he will have to be tested for that and the Dr said he have a very long road to recovery.

Oct 24th
Update Scott Hubbard...Sat morning...fever came down to normal with ice and Tylenol. Lung culture shows no bacteria which is good means no infection but they will continue to test and culture things. Feeding tube is going slow but he's tolerate it a little. At times he's aware and responding and other times Hes not. He's still in a great amount of pain. I'm getting things together to head back to Madison soon. Im physically exhausted and hurting my fibromyalgia is flared up from stress and wish I had another day home to just sleep but I know he needs me. Just praying I can keep myself going.

Oct 25th
Update: Sat. Evening.

My mom and I returned to Madison this afternoon and checked back into the Super 8 near St. Mary's. The hotel has been very nice to us and we are getting a hospital discount for this week again.

Scott heard my voice as I went into his room and lifted his head. I went over to his side and held his hand while he looked at me a few secs and I told him I love him, he tried to mouth I love you over the tubes of his ventilator. Today is one of many days to come of 2 steps forward and 1 step back. It's a waiting game now as his body tried to get back to normal.

Later in the evening he woke again and became very uncomfortable and in pain. The nurse and I worked to make him comfortable and decipher what he needed and wanted with his head shakes yes or no and shrug of shoulders for maybe. Took out the braid in his hair and massaged his neck and back of head which seemed to help his pain along with a ice pack. We teased him about having to cut his hair and he was very much shaking his head no at that suggestion lol. I can only imagine how much it is bothering him to lay flat. On top of the trauma and pain of surgery they also have to manage his chronic pain of his neck and back injuries.

During one of the times when the pain medication was wearing off I was holding his hand and telling him it be ok, he shook his head no and looked at me as he mouthed I don't think so. I just about started crying and told him yes it will be we can do this together.

He is doing good on the feeding tube that is going directly down his throat to tummy. He has been able to tolerate it well today so he is now getting some nutrition which should build his strength. Hes lifting his head really good which is the first time I have seen him do that he was too weak before.

It's more then difficult for me to watch them take care of him. All the constant monitoring for infection etc. Him waking up coughing or trying to as they suction him out. He gets oral hygiene, wipe downs, changes of tubes, moved every two hours or more. It's like he is a invalid right now. He moves in and out of consciousness and when he is awake it's brief and pain filled.

Continued prayers for no infections, so far his lung cultures are coming back with no bacteria but he continues to get low grade fevers. Also for his mind. We know that he can reconquise me and familiar people and seems to answer or know some of what we ask at times but there is still questions to how he will be when he gets the point of being more alert.

I'm trying to hang in there but exhaustion and things with my own health issues are starting to plague me. We have a long road ahead of us and I need to continue to be strong for him. My plan is to rest more at hotel this week as long as there is nothing major medically going on. I want to be at hospital cause I can give him comfort and knowing that someone is there when he does wake, I get anxious when I'm not there but I got to take care of me too. I am thankful I can call the nurse line and get updates at any time. The staff in the ICU have been wonderful.

Oct
Sunday update: Got a call this morning from hospital that Scott was more alert, talking some cause they where able to take the ventilator out. Talk about going into shock. Yesterday they said it take at least another few days. This man never ceases to amaze me.  Last night the respitory lady came in and I asked her a bunch of questions as to how does the process of getting it off work?  I swear he was listening lol.  The nurse this morning thought to try turning machine down and see how he did.  Well he did excellent so he is now off ventilator since this morning. It's a real miracle he is off it.

He has developed a lung infection so is on antibiotics, breathing treatments, and Been coughing all day all the crap out.

His left leg is a concern. Severe pain in it so did test for clot was negative.  He may have nerve damage he has to see pt.

He's talking very hoarse and loopy on meds,  giving him things to clear that,  so he was making me laugh at some of what he said.

First thing he said to me was hey baby, you won't believe what I've been through. Then I love you, want kiss. He grabbed me later held my hand tight said he isn't going anywhere he fighting. He told me he had died, that he had fight for soul and what had happened was a spiritual journey. He made my mom and I laugh so hard later when he wanted to know who was playing with him cause nurse was adjusting his catheter tube,  I told him what was happening then he says oh OK I thought someone was having fun with me lol.  Later I told him it was Sunday he asked about packers told him no play today, also said it was almost time for the walking dead and he was animate he didn't want to miss it so I found it on TV and watched it with him.

He couldn't get enough ice chips. When I left tonight he told me to tell nurse to keep on top ice chips or he die.  He was very animated about ice chips.

He's very weak. They have a speech therapist coming to evaluate his throat and if all good he can try eat soft foods tomorrow.

I'm so exhausted from being by his side helping him with ice chips, coughing,  spit removal,  rubbing his leg etc.  Im going straight to sleep. Want to be back before 9am rounds where they go over how he is.