Saturday July 18, 2009
Quick thinking saves grandpa
By ANDREA FILMER
GEORGE TOWN: Grandpa Yeoh Ah Cheong is today a happy man with a big smile.
He has every reason to be as only two weeks ago the 82-year-old’s heart had stopped beating for five minutes.
To his family, Yeoh’s is a miracle story, thanks to their quick thinking and the hard work of some doctors.
The retired Tenaga Nasional Berhad worker had started to feel chest pains on the morning of June 29, and asked his daughter-in-law Wong Koon Foong to take him to a clinic.
All smiles: Yeoh (right) being greeted by (from left) Dr Muhammad Ridzwan, Dr Wong and Dr Foong at the Pantai Hospital Penang. Wong, 53, took him to Pantai Hospital Penang instead, and her decision saved his life.
“The family said Yeoh lost consciousness about five minutes before reaching the hospital.
“When he arrived, he had no pulse or blood pressure,” said consultant cardiologist and physician Dr Foong Yi Kwan, who has been attending to Yeoh for multiple health problems for the past nine months.
“A code blue (cardiac arrest in progress) was called and doctors began resuscitation.
“An electrocardiogram (ECG) test showed he had ventricular fibrillation, which means that the heart was merely quivering, which is a fatal type of heart rhythm,” Dr Foong added.
Consultant anaesthesiologist Dr Muham-mad Ridzwan Mogarajah, the first to attend to Yeoh that morning, said they had to shock Yeoh’s heart for eight times.
The patient responded to the treatment but doctors could not stabilise him.
“We decided to ask for the family’s consent to send Yeoh to the catheterisation laboratory and perform an emergency primary angioplasty.
“The procedure is invasive and we don’t routinely recommend it but in this case, we had no other options,” Dr Foong said.
Yeoh got out of surgery at about 3pm and to everybody’s surprise, opened his eyes before 9pm and was already breathing on his own by the next morning.
The hospital’s consultant neurologist Dr Wong Yee Choon was surprised at Yeoh’s quick rebound.
“All in all, we estimate that his heart stopped for five to 10 minutes.
“While it’s true that brain cells start to die due to oxygen deprivation after three minutes, it is not uncommon to have a person walk away with minimal effects even after 10 minutes.
“Despite his multiple health issues, Yeoh is a ‘good’ 82-year-old and is up walking and talking without assistance.
“I expect that he will not lead a much different life than when he arrived,” Dr Wong said.
Dr Muhammad Ridzwan said the public should learn from Yeoh’s story and be aware of the nearest medical centres and exactly what facilities they had.
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