Chris Martin Update, February 16, 2010

From Ray and Christina Martin:

Chris was supposed to be released from the hospital on 2/14/10, but due to tests on his kidney’s they felt they better take a closer look at him to make sure he is okay. The hospital said that probably Tuesday, 2/16/10, I could pick him up.

It is now Tuesday and he will be kept in the hospital for a little longer. He has Heart Arrhythmia and he will need a pacemaker/defibulator placed on his heart. Without this, Chris’ heart could stop beating at any time so I am told. While he is in the hospital, he is constantly being monitered. They will need to be doing some special tests to know how to place this device in him. He will also have a PICC line in place while they are doing this. The PICC line is for the special medicine that he needs to keep his heart beating strong.

Chris Martin Update, Saturday, February 13, 2010

From Ray and Christina Martin:

Good News – Chris is being released from the hospital on Sunday, 2/14/10.

Sorry Pastor, it is during the church service, so I am guess I will have to settle for the podcast.

Chris will be having a portable pump and a picc line installed. The picc line will lead directly to his heart so that the medicine will go directly to the heart and not through veins or arteries. The medicine bag will need to be changed every 48 hours and it should never run out. If it does run out, then Chris will more then likely need to go back into the hospital.

Next Step – New heart and the transplant.

So, please keep up your prayers. Chris will continue to need them.

Chris Martin Update — February 1, 2010

Email received from Ray Martin. Ray and Christina are Chris’ dad and mom.

I just got back from visiting Chris in the Hospital.

The last several days he has been on the 3rd floor.  They put in a line from his neck to his heart.  At the end of the line, they had a  balloon.  I now know that the balloon in his heart was to measure the pressure in which the heart was beating.  They have been giving Chris oral medication which was not working.  For the last 3 days they gave him internal medication called Milrinone Lactate.  It doesn’t make your heart beat, it simply makes it beat harder in order for the oxygen to be delivered more efficiently.  It is given to Chris 24/7 with instructions on the machine administering the medication to never let this medication runnout.  Chris is almost his old self on this medication.

This means that the next step will be to put in a PICC line.  The PICC line will start from his neck and feed directly into his heart chamber.  The PICC line will be put into his heart via surgery.  His friend that he made while in the hospital had one put in and went home after a couple of days of receiving the PICC line.

This means that Chris will be place a little higher on the Heart Transplant list.  Yes, Chris will need a new heart.  Chris is taking this really well and can’t wait for the day when he will be better.  While we do not know for sure when he will have the heart transplant, it will be maybe 3 months or longer for the heart to come up that can be matched to Chris.  Chris is lucky that he is medium frame and only weighs 150 pounds.

Chris has a new room, 419.  His hospital room phone number is 415-600-8019.  OR, you can try his cell phone which is 510-672-6627.

Chris Martin Update — January 28, 2010

Here’s the latest email from Ray Martin who is Chris Martin’s father:

Chris continues to be in good spirits.  Per the hospital staff, Chris does everything the Nurse tells him to do no matter what.  Chris is taking this very seriously and wants to get better.  At this stage, I am not sure when Chris will be released.  It could be a couple of months from now.

The good news is that as of now, Chris is not getting worse.  Unfortunately, He also is not getting better.  The medication they have him on is not working.  It looks like Chris will definitely need a heart transplant.  They are starting to do tests for this.  Both psychological and physical.  One of the tests they did was to feed Chris radioactive eggs.  Something about following the eggs to see how his digestive track is doing.

The first that that went through my mind when I heard this was:

I do not like radioactive eggs Sam I Am.  I will not eat them in a car, I will not eat them out of a jar, I will not eat them near or far.  I do not like radioactive eggs Sam I Am.  OK a bit corny.  But you got to get the jokes in where they fit.

One thing that Chris is experiencing is that his right lung is partially collapsed.  He is doing lung exercises to increase his lung capacity.  He gets out of breath easily and sometimes has trouble finishing his sentences.

Chris tommorrow is going to have some type of procedure done.  They are going to have a tube placed in him through his neck artery and it will end in his heart.  I hear that there will be some type of balloon at the end of it that will be in his heart.  I was not able to talk to his doctor about this unfortunately, so I am not sure what purpose this serves.  Chris will be in a different room for a couple of days while he is going through this.  But as of now, not sure where he will be.  I will keep you posted.

Chris has made a good friend in the hospital.  His name is Ato (pronounced AW-TWO).  He is a good young man and is a Christian.  I met his family and they are good people and Christians as well.  Ato is also a heart patient and young (he turned 34 yesterday).  We need to keep Ato in our prayers as well.  After hearing a little of his story, I told him he should change his name to Job.  While in a hospital in Marin County, he slipped into a coma.  The previous hospital told the family to expect the worse as there is nothing they can do.  The family moved him to the same hospital that Chris is in.  He woke up in California Pacific Medical Center after an 18 day coma.  Upon waking up, he learned that his apartment burned to the ground and he lost everything.  But we know how good our God is.  Friends of his got him a new apartment waiting for him when he is released.  Other friends got him furniture and a TV.  Clothes were donated.  He has more now then prior to being in the hospital.  The new apartment is also larger and a lessor price.

Please let’s keep both of these young men in our prayers.

I will keep everyone posted as to Chris’s prognosis.  My next update probably will not be until Saturday night.

Chris Martin Update: Email From His Family, January 21, 2010

While Chris is not getting better, the good news is that he also is not getting worse.  His heart is continuing to pump at 20% efficiency.    The doctors are hoping that through medication, the medication will help his heart beat with more strength.  So far, the medication is doing nothing.

Not that they think that he will need one, they are doing tests for a possible heart transplant.  They are doing this just to get these tests done while his heart is working at the current level.  The first thing that they will do prior to this would be to install an artificial heart.  While this is very serious, Chris thinks that it would be cool to not have a heart beat.  He is kidding with the doctors that he would be “just like” a vampire.  While he is in good spirits, he is very tired of being in a hospital.  Those of  you close by and when it is not raining so much, if you could drop in on Chris that would be great.  We are not sure when Chris will be released from the hospital.  The doctor originally felt maybe the end of this week or the end of next week.  But that definitely will not be happening.

Chris was able to chat with at previous heart patient that had the same thing happen to him that happened to Chris.  His heart was operating at 13%.  For this patient, they went the artificial heart route.  This guy is now out of the hospital and doing wonderfully.  So he was an encouragement to Chris.

I was able to speak to someone at work today about Chris.  After I explained that Chris was in Martinez County and was able to be transferred to San Francisco and the fact that this hospital sent a medical team along with the ambulance to pick Chris up (about 40 miles one way) she said to me - ”Wow you must really have some angels sitting on your sons shoulders,  this does not happen with patients without a big fight from the patients family members”.  Remember, I work for Unitedhealthcare, so we are familiar with this.  So I would like to thank everyone for their prayers.  Letting you know that they work.  Having Chris transferred without any hassle to one of the bay area’s best cardiac hospitals, is simply an act from our Heavenly Father.  From the start of talking about transferring him to when he was transferred was less then 24 hours.  So please keep up your prayers.

News and Update Site Changed

From now on, you can find the latest and/or breaking news right here by clicking “Blog” at the top of the page. If you want to see the previous older stuff you can always view it here.

True[ish] Concludes This Sunday, January 24, 2009

God’s truth is black and white and even though there is no gray area, that’s where so many of us live today. We prefer to live by the concepts or facts we wish to be true, rather than those known to be true…the gray area. Join us as we learn to navigate what is real truth.

Chris Martin Update — January 12, 2009

From Ray Martin. Chris Martin is Ray and Christina Martin’s son.

Chris has been stabilized and seems to be doing better.  He is still very sick however.  His Doctors say that he needs better treatment then what they can give him in the hospital he is currently in.  They are planning on transferring him to California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco on Wednesday 1/13/2010.  I am not sure what the address is, but their phone number is 415-600-2722.

It is not that he is getting worse, right now he is staying the same.  However, when they transfer him to this new hospital, he will be automatically added to the Heart Transplant list.  Not that they are expecting to do a heart transplant, but in case Chris starts doing worse, he will already be on the list and can be bumped up as necessary.

Sis. Visitacion Orta Passed Away

Here is a note from Rolly Buenviaje that I received on Friday, January 8, 2010…

My mother-in-law “Rose” Orta passed away last Wednesday, January 6, 2010.

The memorial services will be held at:

Colonial Chapels (Jan. 11 and Jan 12.) at 6:00 pm
1000 Redwood St.
Vallejo, CA 94590
(707) 643-0391

Funeral Service on January 13 10:00 am at:
Church on the Hill
210 Locust Drive
Vallejo, CA 94591
(707) 644-4451

Prayer Request Update: Chris Martin

Chris Martin (Ray and Christina’s son) continues to struggle with his health. He was taken back to the hospital, his 3rd now, on Wednesday, January 6, 2010.

Here’s what Ray has told us…

“Chris is still in the hospital, was moved last night to ICU on the 3rd floor.  During the night he evidently passed out due to oxygen not getting into his system.  The hospital said that this happens sometimes with the procedure they did to the lungs.  They gave him medicine to raise his blood pressure back to normal and was on bottled oxygen.  When I called this morning, he is back on “room” oxygen and his blood pressure is back to normal.

They said that he will be moved back to IMCU and was in room 3E16 prior to the move.”

Please continue in prayer for Chris.