Rally Around Mr. Jarvis

Day 24 update: Brian remains hospitalized. He was medically transferred to The Heart Hospital of Denton on Wednesday after numerous set backs early last week. Cardiology performed an ablation Thursday and immediately after arriving back to his room from post-op, he was on dialysis. Yesterday, Texas Rangers World Champions Parade Day, was a good day except for a very sore throat from being intubated for the procedure. Last night, however, breathing issues began again likely caused by edema. He had another round of dialysis this morning and is scheduled again tomorrow with the potential for discharge. Recovery from heart procedure is months and his kidney has not begun functioning effectively at all so follow-up appointments, consults, dialysis are all on the table.

Very early in the AM on October 11, I woke up to find my husband unable to sleep laying down. You see, Brian had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks, but was still going to work every day, running errands, packing lunches, helping get kids to practices, etc. Brian took a 4th grade Science and Social Studies teaching position at an elementary school in our district so that he could be home earlier in the evenings to help with our children. At the onset of this illness, he was building relationships with his students and did not want to miss time away from the classroom to go to the doctor. He made several comments to me feeling more fatigued than usual, short of breath, had a cough, but put off making a doctor’s appointment until he could be seen on a weekend.

The doctor he saw said all symptoms pointed to A-Fib and to get into his cardiologist as soon as possible or go to the ER if his symptoms worsened.

We called first thing Monday morning of Fall Break and the first available appointment was that Thursday afternoon. Thankfully, on the Wednesday morning when I found him sitting up in bed struggling to draw breaths, coughing and having chest pain, he agreed to let me take him to the Emergency Department at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Grapevine.

We were taken back immediately and I helped answer questions because he was so short of breath he could barely talk. The staff was professional and so highly efficient getting him set up on monitors, starting IVs, ordering labs, EKG, chest X-ray, etc. I felt confident he was receiving the best care possible. His resting heart rate was 160. Meds were administered to try to bring his heart rate down, but it was not effective and a drip was started. His O2 Sats were good, but he still couldn’t breathe deeply and was gasping for air. After several hours in the ED, he was admitted to the Cardiovascular Floor. Initially the plan was to do a cardioversion to get his heart beat back to a normal rhythm, but over the next couple of days the doctors on his case decided he should have an angiogram.

Unfortunately, his kidney was not keeping up. You see, Brian, has been the recipient of two donor kidneys over the last 20+ years. The most recent kidney transplant was December 2010. His regular nephrologist was always pleased with his routine lab results as they were always within normal limits whenever he had check ups. The kidney function had to improve before Brian would be able to have the angiogram, but the team decided to go ahead with the cardioversion on Monday, October 16 as he had now been in A-Fib for more than a week.

I accompanied him to the room he would be in before and after the procedure. We were told the procedure should take approximately 15 minutes and that the cardiologist would come see me to let me know how everything went. 15 minutes went by, then 20…then 40….then it was over an hour before she greeted me to let me know that he couldn’t quit coughing during the transesophageal

echo, and he had to be intubated to perform the procedure. Once I was finally allowed back in his room, he was on BiPap which basically forces you to breathe. He absolutely did not like it and complained that it felt like he was suffocating. I remained calm and strong throughout and encouraged him to leave the mask alone, take deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth over and over again as I held his hand. I did this because I felt I had to be strong to support him even though I just wanted to cry because I was so scared. The cardioversion was not successful because he reverted back to A-Fib even before getting back to his room, his blood pressure was really really low, his CHF had worsened, he couldn’t get a full breath and suffered bouts of hypothermia.

The Hospitalist told me Brian has a weak heart which is when I broke. I thought to myself, this man has the biggest and best heart. He loves me, our children, our friends and his students like no other. He’s always there for all of us. So, No!!! He doesn’t have a weak heart.

Due to the complications from the procedure, his kidney function has not improved and a temporary catheter was placed, and he’s been started on dialysis. He had dialysis three times over three days. The next session is scheduled for tomorrow. He will also have outpatient dialysis for an undetermined length…

I am preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Meaning that the kidney will regain function and dialysis will be temporary vs needing another kidney transplant in the very near future.

During this time, I’ve been in touch with the principal at his school who has been super supportive. However, while going through the scariest of times I get an email from Human Resources that tells us he doesn’t qualify for FMLA yet a leave of absence could be considered so that he is able to keep his teaching job. Unfortunately it also means he exhausts all of his PTO and will have to pay the insurance premiums out of pocket including the employer contribution while he is off.

I didn’t mention any of this to him….to anyone until I was asked by friends and family, “how can we help?”

I’ve been able to keep the household running, albeit by a very thin thread, and with the help of a reluctant 17 year old daughter and some amazing friends.

However, with the mounting medical bills, ongoing dialysis, need for paying benefits out of pocket….we really do need help financially.

In the midst of all of this, our 14 year old broke his wrist at football practice on Friday. He hadn’t got the memo there should only be one patient at a time. Jordan had reduction surgery on his right wrist at Cook Children’s the same day and has been casted. We will follow up with the orthopedic surgeon in 7 days. He will miss the end of football season and basketball tryouts. He is so sad. When it rains…it pours, huh?

Please rally around Mr. Jarvis and I as anything and everything will help.

The unfortunate need people who will be kind to them; the prosperous need people to be kind to.” Aristotle