Ok, as many of you already know Mike is in the hospital at University of Washington. He is in for a long fight and staying here. We appreciate all your well wishes and prayers. He is in amazing hands up here at the U. Every doctor, nurse and specialist as well as a multitude of teams have worked around the clock providing care for him. Mike has had a number of visitors who have provided good mojo and supplies like food for those here. Gina, the boys, and rest of the family are remaining strong during this difficult time. 




So.... this is how Mike’s journey started and where we are at now. December 21st in the morning Mike had mentioned he wasn’t feeling well, his breathing was off and he felt tight in his abdomen, which those that know him this could be a norm for Mike. Gina and Mike went to urgent care in Tacoma, where his heart rate was very high and his feet were blue. The doctors there ran some tests and realized it’d be best for him to be transferred to St. Joe’s Hospital because they have a cardiac department. Once there the doctors tried a variety of things to bring his heart rate down and manage his blood pressure. Without success with meds they wanted to shock his heart to kind of reset the rhythm to slow down his rate. In order for this to happen, an ultrasound of the heart is needed. After the ultrasound showed a blood clot in upper left chamber, so with this present they are unable to shock the heart or place a device to help with blood flow. At this point the cardiologist was in contact with UW and thought the U would have better device and specialist to help support Mike.  They wanted to place a device called a Swan Line that gathers data directly from the heart. But just prior to placing UW phoned and had a bed available. So now about 2am he was transferred to UW and Gina and I followed. 




Once we arrived at the U he was immediately taken to the cath lab where they preformed three different procedures. 

1. A Swan Line- to gather direct data from the heart

2. An Impella device which helps compression of the heart 

3. An Ecmo machine that is an external device that takes the function of his heart and lungs. This is a form of life support that is giving his body a chance to rest and heal. 

Mike is sedated and on a ventilator as well. It’s quite a process and very overwhelming to see, but this is what he needs at this point. 




Gina and I spoke with the head of the heart transplant team once these devises were placed. He informed us Mike is in heart failure and will need a new heart or an LVAD which is a battery operated heart pump. Needless to say we were in absolute shock.