[from Susan VandenBerg, 1/7/1025]
To those of you who know Steve (and are perhaps very fond of him) I’m reporting that on New Year’s Eve soon after we had finished dinner, he collapsed suddenly, unresponsive with dusky color and gasping breaths. I immediately responded with CPR and calling 911. Medics arrived in due time and continued CPR along with defibrillation which put him back into a regular rhythm and some return of respiratory effort. He was transported to Butterworth ER and stabilized with intubation and sedation.
I/medical personnel feel this was a dangerous and potentially fatal arrhythmia most likely caused by some scar tissue in the heart from Steve’s previous heart attacks. In that case the scar can interfere with the electrical circuits in the heart, disrupting the normal rhythms. There are a number of other details that I could share with you, although that really isn’t that important at this stage. The crux of the matter is that, if I hadn’t been home when he collapsed, he would have died.
He was admitted that night to the Meijer Heart Center cardiac ICU at Corewell Health Butterworth here in Grand Rapids, remaining intubated and sedated overnight. The following morning (New Year’s Day) his sedation was weaned off allowing him to be extubated. The past few days have seen the brain fog he has been experiencing lifting and bringing him back to his often jovial and sometimes witty yet nicely sarcastic self. He still has some short term memory issues and thankfully doesn’t remember what happened.
Some of you received his Jacquie Lawson New Year’s Day greeting which he had set up some days ago to be automatically sent on January 1. I also received that email and was struck by the fact that when I saw it coming into my inbox from "Steve at paliowinner@gmail.com", he was recovering in the ICU, not sitting at his computer.
His days at the hospital have included ongoing monitoring, a cardiac cath on 1/2/25 during which a very narrow portion of his right coronary artery (that had previously been stented) was ballooned.
On Saturday, 1/4/25 a defibrillator was implanted to protect him from possible future episodes. He was discharged to home later that day. Since being home, he has been up and about, working in the kitchen, working on the computer, reading, interacting in his usual way. There are still things he doesn’t remember (and perhaps never will).
We are thankful for excellent medical care and look ahead to continued improvement in the coming weeks. While we are disappointed that we had to cancel a planned short trip to Madrid on January 8th, we are hoping to be able to travel to France as planned the end of March.
A Happy New Year it is!
Your friends,
Susan and Steve
