Keep on fighting....

The purpose of this blog is to help update and inform John's family and friends about his health. In the interest of keeping everyone up to date, let's start from the beginning.

On Wednesday, February 4, John gathered with his family for what seemed to be an ordinary night.  They were celebrating Maureen's birthday.  John was laughing and enjoying himself the whole night, as if nothing was wrong.  After dinner, John started to feel pain in his legs and some tingling. He pulled Maureen aside, and Maureen, using her nursing instincts, began to assess him. As she began to take his blood pressure and pulse, he complained that the pain was worsening, and eventually he became unresponsive.  He was trying to communicate what was going on, but was unable to do so.  His family members performed CPR until the paramedics arrived, in which John was then stabilized and brought to the nearest hospital (Shady Grove).  It was quickly determined that John had a massive aneurysm in his aorta, the major blood vessel that feeds blood to the body, had burst.  This is what caused the pain in his legs and the pain in his chest, and ultimately caused him to become unresponsive. It was determined that in order to save his life, he would have to have immediate surgery to repair the massive tear.  He was airlifted to Washington Hospital Center early Thursday morning, where he was taken to surgery for nearly 8 hours. 

The most up to date news is that John is still very critical and needs our prayers now more than ever!  He miraculously has made it this far, and our hope is that he can continue this fight. The surgeon was very pleased with how the surgery went, and his aorta has basically been 'rebuilt' with an artificial graft, which has allowed the blood to be re routed to areas of his body that had been lacking in blood flow.  He is still bleeding quite a lot, despite the multiple tubes in place to drain the blood.  He currently has a hematoma in the pericardial sac surrounding his heart. As of now, the doctors are just watching it, as it is not an immediate threat to his heart right now. The next 48 hours are crucial, and John is being very closely watched. Although he is still critical, the medical team is very pleased with the progress so far. He is responding as expected after such a traumatic event. He still has many hurdles to overcome, which is why the prayers are so critical. 

John strongly believes in the power of faith and prayer.....and if nothing else, he would want all of you to know how much he would really appreciate your intercession on his behalf. 

Please pray for John's health, and pray that he can continue to amaze the medical world with his courage and strength to keep fighting.

Pray for his family that they can find comfort in their faith in God, and lean on Him as they simply wait...

Please check back frequently...we will try to update as often as possible!