Ethan's unexpected journey!

Hi Everyone,

We are Pete and Jessica Prissel from Durand, WI and Brandon and Jess Kummer from Mondovi, WI and Ethan Kummer is our 21-year old son from Durand, WI.

On Friday, June 2nd, our son Ethan was at the shop of his work in Menomonie, WI when he started feeling warm and dizzy, so he sat down and shortly after, he passed out. Upon coming to, he felt as though he had possibly had a seizure as well. He called his mom and she brought him into the Emergency Room at Mayo hospital in Menomonie so he could be checked out.

Upon getting into the ER, they hooked him up to monitors and decided they first wanted to get some fluids in him to rule out possible dehydration. As they started putting in his IV, things went from scary to a parent's worst nightmare.

Ethan began getting dizzy and very warm. Seconds later, he passed out, but this time he completely flat-lined. The nurse in the room immediately began giving him chest compressions, while struggling to reach the code blue button in the room. Soon after she managed to press the button and as everyone came rushing into his room, Ethan finally came to after no heartbeat for 20-25 seconds and 20+ chest compressions. Ethan had absolutely no understanding of what had just happened and was completely terrified.

Seeing this happened again, the doctors quickly switched gears and were certain what was going on was not just from dehydration. They started to focus more on Ethan's heart so they could figure out what was causing all of this. They admitted him and began running additional tests and scans.

Many of the tests and scan results were coming back without any definitive answers, but showing some possible abnormalities and the whole time he was being monitored his heart rate was only in the 35-55 bpm range which is pretty low and a bit concerning.

After getting test results back and consulting with the Cardiologists from Eau Claire and Rochester, they were thinking he possibly had vasovagal syncope, but because it was such an extreme outcome when he would faint, they couldn't be certain yet and needed to rule out any other possible issue.

Ethan was appearing to be more back to his normal self and we were all just hoping to get some definitive answers soon. A few hours later, Ethan starting feeling warm and dizzy again. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his head fell back. It was happening again, he was flatlining. All the nurses and the doctor rushed in again, but this time instead of starting compressions they wanted to give his heart a little time to see if it would naturally start on its own while they were very closely watching and ready to take action as soon as they needed to. His heart naturally started beating again after 10-15 seconds without needing CPR.

Seeing this was the third time this had happened in a day, (2nd time since he had gotten to the ER), they decided it would be best to transfer him to a hospital that was more equipped for his case.

All beds in the surrounding areas were full and actively on divert. In the meantime, they continued scans and tests, started giving him a medication to keep his heart rate from dropping and stabilize his blood pressure, and continued to monitor him very closely. After what seemed like a lifetime, a bed finally opened up in ICU at the Mayo hospital in Eau Claire, WI, but he had to wait for ambulance transport.

Around 1am on Saturday morning, he was finally transferred and admitted into the ICU. Upon getting admitted, they attempted to put him on a drip with dopamine which would increase his blood pressure to help prevent any further episodes. Unfortunately, the dopamine gave him horrible nausea, but they were able to find another medication that worked for him instead.

He was able to be seen with the cardiologist mid-morning on Saturday and after reviewing everything, the doctor was also confident that what Ethan had been experiencing was an extreme case of vasovagal syncope. He ordered a couple more scans and tests to rule out the last couple possibilities, which all ended up coming back okay.

After the diagnosis of vasovagal syncope was confirmed, we were all able to finally breathe a little easier finally having answers and at least knowing as long as Ethan was cautious, though it would be life-changing, this wouldn't be a life threatening diagnosis.

Vasovagal responses are actually fairly common, but what makes this much more dangerous for Ethan is that he has a naturally lower heart rate than the average person, so when his body overcompensates and his heart rate drops, he doesn't have near as much room for his heart rate to drop like the average person would.

The doctor informed him he wanted to continue to monitor him for at least another 24 hours while they started his medication that he'd need to take daily to ensure it was working. After 3 very long and scary days in the hospital, Ethan was able to be discharged to go home.

With this diagnosis, Ethan will need to take extreme caution for at least the next 3 months, possibly longer while he works with his cardiologist to fine-tune his daily medication and treatment. He will likely have more episodes in the future, but once his medication and treatment are fine-tuned, it should significantly lessen the chance and when he does have an episode, is should be much less severe.

Until he has been episode-free for at least 3 months, he is unable to work due to environmental risks that could be life-threatening if he were to have an episode in an uncontrolled environment. After those 3 months, he is also going to have to think about a different career path as his current job could put him at further risk of triggering future episodes.

All of the support Ethan and our families have received over the last few days has been greatly appreciated and very heart-warming. All of the kind words and prayers were very helpful in a very uncertain and extremely scary period of time in our lives. Right along with all of Ethan's family, his girlfriend, Arin, never left his side and was there with him through all of this. He sure found himself a keeper.

Ethan has always been such an independent young man, and as hard as it is for him to not be able to be self-providing for a period of time, for at least the next few months he is really going to need some help with his expenses. Unfortunately, we never really know just what life is going to throw our way and it's going to be a tough few months ahead while he persevers through this. We are just extremely thankful that he is back home. If there is anything at all that you are able to donate and pass this along to others, it would be extremely appreciated.

Thank you all for your time!