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Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read my dads story! My dads name is Chuck Goode and to a lot of you, you know him as ”wild man”. If you know my dad,
then you probably already know that he doesn’t like to be down, idle, or not working to provide for our family, but sometimes life says “ you need to slow down” and that’s exactly what happened to him. Nine months ago I went over to visit my dad after work and I knew immediately he wasn’t feeling well, he would never come right out and tell me that though, because he is stubborn, and hates going to the ER or the doctor. All he would tell me is that about an hour before I got there he was grocery shopping and got a funny feeling in his chest, and that he was fine now. Immediately I told him I was taking him to the ER. My dad insisted that he did not want to have to spend the night at the hospital so the ER doctor let him go home and told him he must follow up with a cardiologist the next week. He did just that, and that’s when he found out he would be needing open heart surgery to repair his mitral valve and also he needed his aortic valve replaced. The hospital in Florence said they didn’t feel comfortable performing that surgery so he was referred to MUSC in Charleston. Him and I came on down to Charleston to meet with the doctors here on June 25th 2019 and they gave him the option to have robotic heart surgery as opposed to the traditional open heart method most commonly used. We were excited about this option since it would mean a much shorter recovery for my dad, 3-4 days in the hospital and 2 weeks recovery altogether! So we were happy to be given this option! He can’t stay out of that 18 wheeler very long. My dad is a self employed truck driver so that means, if he’s not driving, he’s not making money. Him and I called Charleston every single day to see if they had a date for surgery. Finally, we got a call that his robotic heart surgery would be on December 6th, 2019. You couldn’t wipe the grin off of his face, he was begging for some help, for this surgery, and finally it was going to happen. December 5th rolled around and he worked half a day,
and then he drove all of us to Charleston and got checked in. The next morning it was time! We went in to see him before they took him back for surgery and he was all smiles, we told him we loved him and hugged him and out the door we went to the waiting room. Fast forward to 14 hours later, the surgeon came out to talk to us, he told us that the replacement and repair went well, but when they went to go restart his heart the right side of his heart was too weak to pump blood on it’s own, meaning he couldn’t hold a blood pressure without support. His exact words were “he was much much sicker than he looked”. The surgeon proceeded to tell us that he was now on a machine that oxygenates and delivers blood to your body, since his right heart was so weak, it is called an ECMO machine. Being in the medical field I already knew what it was and it is scary. I prepared myself and they did as well before I went in to see him. They didn’t know how long he would need this machine, and if, or when the right side of his heart would recover. It is now 22 days later and my dad is still in CVICU, he is still on ecmo along with dialysis now and is in acute liver failure. He is slowly starting to be weaned off of ecmo and the right side of his heart is beginning to recover. The doctors and nurses just keep telling us it is going to be a long and slow process, and it has been. He has a very long road ahead but he is tough and with all of the prayers that have been heard and with family and friends by his side I’m optimistic that he will be home and recovering soon, and back in that big truck! Im setting up this account to try to help take care of my dad, the same way he has done for me my whole life. The outpouring of love and prayers for my dad has been so overwhelming, and my family and I want to thank you all. Every call, text, prayer, and donation means the world to my family. From the bottom of our *HEART*, thank you!
then you probably already know that he doesn’t like to be down, idle, or not working to provide for our family, but sometimes life says “ you need to slow down” and that’s exactly what happened to him. Nine months ago I went over to visit my dad after work and I knew immediately he wasn’t feeling well, he would never come right out and tell me that though, because he is stubborn, and hates going to the ER or the doctor. All he would tell me is that about an hour before I got there he was grocery shopping and got a funny feeling in his chest, and that he was fine now. Immediately I told him I was taking him to the ER. My dad insisted that he did not want to have to spend the night at the hospital so the ER doctor let him go home and told him he must follow up with a cardiologist the next week. He did just that, and that’s when he found out he would be needing open heart surgery to repair his mitral valve and also he needed his aortic valve replaced. The hospital in Florence said they didn’t feel comfortable performing that surgery so he was referred to MUSC in Charleston. Him and I came on down to Charleston to meet with the doctors here on June 25th 2019 and they gave him the option to have robotic heart surgery as opposed to the traditional open heart method most commonly used. We were excited about this option since it would mean a much shorter recovery for my dad, 3-4 days in the hospital and 2 weeks recovery altogether! So we were happy to be given this option! He can’t stay out of that 18 wheeler very long. My dad is a self employed truck driver so that means, if he’s not driving, he’s not making money. Him and I called Charleston every single day to see if they had a date for surgery. Finally, we got a call that his robotic heart surgery would be on December 6th, 2019. You couldn’t wipe the grin off of his face, he was begging for some help, for this surgery, and finally it was going to happen. December 5th rolled around and he worked half a day,
and then he drove all of us to Charleston and got checked in. The next morning it was time! We went in to see him before they took him back for surgery and he was all smiles, we told him we loved him and hugged him and out the door we went to the waiting room. Fast forward to 14 hours later, the surgeon came out to talk to us, he told us that the replacement and repair went well, but when they went to go restart his heart the right side of his heart was too weak to pump blood on it’s own, meaning he couldn’t hold a blood pressure without support. His exact words were “he was much much sicker than he looked”. The surgeon proceeded to tell us that he was now on a machine that oxygenates and delivers blood to your body, since his right heart was so weak, it is called an ECMO machine. Being in the medical field I already knew what it was and it is scary. I prepared myself and they did as well before I went in to see him. They didn’t know how long he would need this machine, and if, or when the right side of his heart would recover. It is now 22 days later and my dad is still in CVICU, he is still on ecmo along with dialysis now and is in acute liver failure. He is slowly starting to be weaned off of ecmo and the right side of his heart is beginning to recover. The doctors and nurses just keep telling us it is going to be a long and slow process, and it has been. He has a very long road ahead but he is tough and with all of the prayers that have been heard and with family and friends by his side I’m optimistic that he will be home and recovering soon, and back in that big truck! Im setting up this account to try to help take care of my dad, the same way he has done for me my whole life. The outpouring of love and prayers for my dad has been so overwhelming, and my family and I want to thank you all. Every call, text, prayer, and donation means the world to my family. From the bottom of our *HEART*, thank you!