Saturday Evening,January 6

Today was an eventful day in that the heart pump was removed. After the pump was removed John was doing well, but soon after he became agitated and clenched his fists and gave the nurses a hard time (which they were happy about!) so they sedated him while his port for the IV heart pump was healing. This is a process of applying pressure with an amazing gadget which straps around him and blows up like a tennis ball over the incision until they decide that it is okay to remove it. This process takes an average of 3 hours, however, since he had been agitated it took a bit longer. During this time, I had the opportunity to talk with his nurse, Chris who told me with candor that most men John's age who have a heart attack of this magnitude simply die before they hit the ground. Chris further emphasized the importance of Holly providing oxygen to John initially by breathing for him. She saved his life. We simply cannot say enough how much the nursing staff has helped us by answering all, and I do mean ALL of my stupid questions and explaining to me the science behind a lot of what is happening with John. Tonight, John was resting and continues to be under sedation. He will probably require dialysis tomorrow to help his kidneys along. We hope that at some point his organs will start working on their own but at the same time we temper our thoughts with our hope for a full recovery and the knowledge that this is a painstakingly slow process. Organs require oxygen to function and while they are receiving adequate amounts now, the effects of the lack thereof during the first 24 hours cannot be ignored. We know that at some point soon, they will be removing him from the ventilator altogether and although we know he can breathe on his own there is trepidation because he has only been off of the ventilator for a few hours. Today was calmer since the blog has been posted and folks can get medical information here. Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned...