Closing in on midnight last night Maia’s Well suffered a cardiac arrest. We were sitting, chatting getting ready for bed and she went into arrest. Didn’t know what it was while it happened, the MS does lots of weird stuff. She was spasming and thrashing her head and said at one point “Help me.” I was holding her in her chair to keep her from falling and then she went limp. I took a few seconds to ascertain she was non responsive and not breathing. I ran and called 911 and the got her out of her chair and started CPR. I think I bounced her head on the concrete a little getting her down. Paramedics were there in just a couple minutes.
They shocked her but couldn’t get her heart restarted and performed CPR en route. The were able to jumpstart her at the hospital. She had a pulseless irregular rythym they were able to shock. She’s not regained consiousness yet and is intubated, but she did breathe on her own briefly during the CAT scan. She went to Cath lab and got stents in two of her heart arteries and is now sedated during the hypothermia protocol.
It feels melodramatic to say, but my wife died in my arms last night, and was resurrected first thing Easter Sunday. I’m not Christian, but I’ll call it a miracle. She’s had trouble sleeping recently, and would have stayed up on her own for a while. Had this happened an hour later, I wouldn’t have been there with her, I’d have been dreaming of ham or some such bullshit. The nurses and one doc told me had we not started CPR right away she wouldn’t have survived.
I’m headed back to the hospital shortly to watch her be really cold and unconscious. Her tongue is doing something wierd, it sitcks out past the tube and shakes really fast for a few seconds, then slow for a few seconds, then pulls back into her mouth for half a minute, and repeat. She’s biting and fighting against the tube a little bit. I don’t know if she’s going to wake up and if she suffered any brain damage. And I don’t think I will know for a day of two.
There’s people I need to call, And I just can’t. Her mom has all the info and has called some of her family. Her sister is on a cruise and hasn’t turned on her cell yet, I think. She has some friends, and I should call my Mom, but I don’t want to go through it again. The people who can do something have her and now it’s out of our hands. Whish us luck. That’s a formal wish, when you spell it with a WH.
Echo the above. I’m done with my (formal) praying for the day, but I think I’ll do an informal one for you both.
(I went through something vaguely similar with my daughter a few years ago. She wasn’t unconscious, but her life definitely hung in the balance for a few days. I wouldn’t wish the experience on my worst enemy, and yours must be at least an order of magnitude worse. Hang in there, and remember that we’re here if you need us.)
Thanks to all for the well whishes. Maia’s been stable for over 24 hours now, and that’s a good sign as any. She’s finished the hypothermal protocol and is being warmed. THat should be finished tonight and she will be weaned off the sedatives once she’s reached normal temp. At that point they can begin to gauge her neurological prognosis.
On the plus side we won seven dollars on the power ball Saturday, so we got that going for us. Thanks for all you prayers and thoughts, Having this kind of love come in from around the world is more comfort than I could imagine.
Ok, I have a moment to update. She’s finished with the hypothermia protocol and finished warming yesterday afternoon. They’ve weaned her off sedation. She’s overclocking her respirator by a few breaths a minute and coughing a lot. She’s also opening her eyes some, but is not yet responsive. The neuro was coming throu to make rounds when i was booted, so when i go back this afternoon there will be some more info. But with the MS dammage already present in her brain, she’s likely to have a harder time coming back than some. But overall some good signs.
I’ve been reading the responses from this thread to her from the Kindle, so on some level she knows how much all y’all are pulling for her, and i thank you for your kind words and support as well. I’ll keep updating as news develops.