[DeTomaso] Brent Stewart in the hospital...:<(

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi all,

I e-mailed privately with Bev Stewart, wife of PCNC member and forum dude 
Brent.   She had issued this yesterday, and asked me to share it with you:

====

As you may now know, Brent had a massive heart attack on Tuesday morning. 
 There were two stents inserted and the surgeon said that they were able to 
"interrupt" the heart attack because Brent got into the hospital so quickly. 
 He was talking on Tuesday evening, and he was aware that Janae, myself, his 
sister Stacy, and her husband John were by his bedside.  Things quickly 
began to deteriorate.  His lungs and urine were filling up with blood and 
fluid, and a machine called an "impella" had been inserted to help keep his heart 
pressure up.  Yesterday, with things looking very grim, the doctor 
suggested that they go in with a small camera to see if the blood and fluid was 
caused by a leaking valve.  After the procedure, the doctor indicated that 
indeed he had a leaking heart valve that is need of repair. They brought him back 
into the surgical area, and this time inserted a balloon pump in to see if 
that would be more benefit then the impella.  The goal was/is to get the 
fluid  out of his lungs so they can bring him in to surgery for a heart valve 
fix (not sure if it's a replacement or not; sketchy on that detail).  

This morning, I got a call from the doctor who was slightly optimistic 
(I'll take anything I can get right now).  His oxygen need was decreasing - this 
is a good thing, since he needs to be at less then 40% oxygen need to have 
the surgery.  Without the surgery, his lungs will fill up again.  There is a 
pressure number that the is also being monitored; this number needs to be 
at a 5 before surgery is  performed as well; it's currently at a 12.  

Please be praying that for the wisdom of the doctors, that Brent will 
stabilize, that his lungs  will clear enough to have the surgery, and that it can 
be performed soon.  The doctors are hoping to do surgery on Sunday or 
Monday.  The surgery, as with anything else, comes with risk.  Right now, please 
pray for God's miraculous healing power over Brent's body, and that he will 
show some more signs of improvement.  Also please pray for Janae; we are 
both struggling with emotions right now, and she is really having a tough time. 
 I'm trying to be strong for both of us, but it's tough right now.  We will 
take all the prayers we can get! :)

Appreciate you guys alll more then you know. Sending this from Brent's 
email address, since he had everyone's contact info.  My email address is 
Beverly.Stewart at yahoo.com.  Please feel free to share this email, as I'm sure I've 
missed some friends.  He is unable to have any visitors, and I can only 
stay for small periods at a time. I'll keep you updated as I know more. 

=====

Last night, she wrote to me:

Thanks for the email. Just got back from the hospital and I spoke with The 
doctor tonight too.  Brent's vital signs are good, but unfortunately he is 
now running a fever. They are hoping to get his fever down, and his oxygen 
intake needs to be down some more as well. The doctor basically told me that 
Brent is not going to get any better until he can get the surgery done. He 
can't get the surgery done, until his oxygen need decreases. He is completely 
sedated, so it's just so very hard to see him there. The doc was happy with 
his heart rate and blood pressure, but this is being aided by the balloon 
pump. 

One of the things that he said to me on Thursday, after the stent surgery, 
was that he did not think he was going to be able to race this weekend! :-) 


(note:   He and Bob Benson were planning on driving their Panteras at 
Laguna Seca tomorrow)


I didn't have the heart to tell him he may be in the hospital a little 
longer than he realizes. This was right before he sort of took a turn for the 
worse, but yes I was very aware he was going to race on Sunday. He was so 
looking forward to it. Thank you so very much for going through the effort to 
get a refund on his behalf! Very thoughtful thing for you to do. Hoping that 
it will get forwarded to us, I will let you know if we receive it soon.  

I will keep you abreast of Brent and his health, when I know more. In the 
meantime, just keep those good wishes and prayers coming our way. We can all 
use that! Thanks again for your email and for all you did in getting a 
refund. That's wonderful.  Please feel free to let those who know Brent, know 
what is happening. We will welcome as much prayer as we can get. :-)

=====

I would ask that all of you take a moment to think of Brent (who is only 50 
years old) this weekend....

Mike
-------------- next part --------------
   Hi all,
   I e-mailed privately with Bev Stewart, wife of PCNC member and forum
   dude Brent.  She had issued this yesterday, and asked me to share it
   with you:
   ====
   As you may now know, Brent had a massive heart attack on Tuesday
   morning.  There were two stents inserted and the surgeon said that they
   were able to "interrupt" the heart attack because Brent got into the
   hospital so quickly.  He was talking on Tuesday evening, and he was
   aware that Janae, myself, his sister Stacy, and her husband John were
   by his bedside.  Things quickly began to deteriorate.  His lungs and
   urine were filling up with blood and fluid, and a machine called an
   "impella" had been inserted to help keep his heart pressure up.
   Yesterday, with things looking very grim, the doctor suggested that
   they go in with a small camera to see if the blood and fluid was caused
   by a leaking valve.  After the procedure, the doctor indicated that
   indeed he had a leaking heart valve that is need of repair. They
   brought him back into the surgical area, and this time inserted a
   balloon pump in to see if that would be more benefit then the impella.
    The goal was/is to get the fluid  out of his lungs so they can bring
   him in to surgery for a heart valve fix (not sure if it's a replacement
   or not; sketchy on that detail).
   This morning, I got a call from the doctor who was slightly optimistic
   (I'll take anything I can get right now).  His oxygen need was
   decreasing - this is a good thing, since he needs to be at less then
   40% oxygen need to have the surgery.  Without the surgery, his lungs
   will fill up again.  There is a pressure number that the is also being
   monitored; this number needs to be at a 5 before surgery is  performed
   as well; it's currently at a 12.
   Please be praying that for the wisdom of the doctors, that Brent will
   stabilize, that his lungs  will clear enough to have the surgery, and
   that it can be performed soon.  The doctors are hoping to do surgery on
   Sunday or Monday.  The surgery, as with anything else, comes with risk.
    Right now, please pray for God's miraculous healing power over Brent's
   body, and that he will show some more signs of improvement.  Also
   please pray for Janae; we are both struggling with emotions right now,
   and she is really having a tough time.  I'm trying to be strong for
   both of us, but it's tough right now.  We will take all the prayers we
   can get! :)
   Appreciate you guys alll more then you know. Sending this from Brent's
   email address, since he had everyone's contact info.  My email address
   is Beverly.Stewart at yahoo.com.  Please feel free to share this email, as
   I'm sure I've missed some friends.  He is unable to have any visitors,
   and I can only stay for small periods at a time. I'll keep you updated
   as I know more.
   =====
   Last night, she wrote to me:
   Thanks for the email. Just got back from the hospital and I spoke with
   The doctor tonight too.  Brent's vital signs are good, but
   unfortunately he is now running a fever. They are hoping to get his
   fever down, and his oxygen intake needs to be down some more as well.
   The doctor basically told me that Brent is not going to get any better
   until he can get the surgery done. He can't get the surgery done, until
   his oxygen need decreases. He is completely sedated, so it's just so
   very hard to see him there. The doc was happy with his heart rate and
   blood pressure, but this is being aided by the balloon pump.
   One of the things that he said to me on Thursday, after the stent
   surgery, was that he did not think he was going to be able to race this
   weekend! :-)
   (note:  He and Bob Benson were planning on driving their Panteras at
   Laguna Seca tomorrow)
   I didn't have the heart to tell him he may be in the hospital a little
   longer than he realizes. This was right before he sort of took a turn
   for the worse, but yes I was very aware he was going to race on Sunday.
   He was so looking forward to it. Thank you so very much for going
   through the effort to get a refund on his behalf! Very thoughtful thing
   for you to do. Hoping that it will get forwarded to us, I will let you
   know if we receive it soon.
   I will keep you abreast of Brent and his health, when I know more. In
   the meantime, just keep those good wishes and prayers coming our way.
   We can all use that! Thanks again for your email and for all you did in
   getting a refund. That's wonderful.  Please feel free to let those who
   know Brent, know what is happening. We will welcome as much prayer as
   we can get. :-)
   =====
   I would ask that all of you take a moment to think of Brent (who is
   only 50 years old) this weekend....
   Mike