Attn: ICU 1 East / Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

Please excuse the order of the pictures, and the fact that they come before the story.  Blogger is NOT cooperating with me tonight!!

March 26th was my Dad's 64th birthday.   I feel so lucky to have been able to spend the day with my Dad.  I wouldn't call myself a Daddy's girl, because I love both my parents so very much, but I am VERY close to my Dad.  Those of you that know me or my family, know we went through quite a scare almost two years ago.  It's still very hard for me to talk about, and quite frankly even think about, but luckily my Dad was in the right place at the right time, and he is still here with us today.

In June of 2006 my Dad was experiencing severe back pain.  It started on Thursday, and continued to Sunday.  He was supposed to head up with my husband for his weekend bachelor party in Michigan, but decided to stay back because he didn't feel well.  Sunday morning he went to the off hours clinic to get checked out.  They thought he had pulled a muscle, and sent him on his way with some muscle relaxers/pain killers.  Sunday afternoon when I arrived at my parents house, his pain was too unbearable to handle.  We all ended up rushing up to the emergency room with him.  About 10 minutes after he was taken into a room, I saw doctors running down the hallway with my dad on a bed.  It was like it was straight out of a movie.  I didn't know this at the time, but my dad had coded due to a ruptured aortic aneurism.  The doctors revived him and prepared him for surgery while our family was informed surgery was a must, but the chances of survival were slim.  Just typing those words still bring me to tears.  

5 hours passed while he was in surgery.  We could do nothing but wait.  I know many others have been in those shoes, and it is not something I wish anyone would ever have to go through.  Finally, a nurse named Victoria came into the waiting room and pulled up a chair to talk to us.  I remember hearing the words, "We're preparing a room in the ICU unit for your father."  Those were the BEST words I had EVER heard in my life.  Victoria will always be just like an angel to me, as that was the best gift I had ever received.  He had survived!!  

The next three weeks were very trying, emotional, difficult, and full of joy.  Our wedding date was fast approaching, and it was so up in the air whether my father would be recovered enough to be released from the hospital in time.  We had planned our wedding ceremony to take place at my parents' home, the home my father had built.  It was a dream of mine that was quickly going to become a reality, but the thought of my Dad not being there was heartbreaking.  We debated on postponing the wedding, but in the end, decided we needed to see it through on it's original date.  

My father was in the ICU 1 East unit for 2 weeks.  The staff of this floor was so incredible to my father.  The worked so hard to nurse him back to health.  They called him their "Miracle Man" and they were determined that he would be at our wedding to walk me down the aisle.  After a total of 3 weeks in the hospital, my Dad was released less than 24 hours before our wedding.  He was there to walk me down the aisle, and to dance with me at our reception.  I have so much gratitude in my heart for the staff at Porter Hospital.  They saved my father's life.  There are simply no words to express what I'd like to say to them, to explain how I feel about the work that they did.  Thank you is not enough.  

I had big plans to have a contest drawing on my father's birthday, but it didn't work out quite the way I had planned.  So, instead, I'm asking that anyone who works on the ICU 1 East floor, please email me with your name if you are interested in being placed into a drawing for a free session.  This session will include all of the photos on a cd, with rights to print.  I don't know how else to give back to all of you.  I know this is only something small, but I hope it will begin to show how extremely grateful I am to all of you for your hard work and devotion to your paitients.  I'll be taking names until next Monday, April 7th.  Then, I'll put them all into a hat, and have my Dad pull out the winner!  The winner will be announced here on the blog on Tuesday, April 8th.  

email me at

samantha@samanthauphold.com

Below is a link to an article the hospital wrote about my father and his care while in Porter Hospital.  

Article