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    Family reunites with the medical team that saved young mom's life after a blood clot nearly killed her

    Family reunites with the medical team that saved young mom's life after a blood clot nearly killed her

    patient_story_gregerson_family_holiday_reunion

    Within minutes, Intermountain Medical Center’s Medical Emergency Team was in her room — and 20 minutes later, Arlee’s heart stopped and the team began chest compressions.

    At one point, Arlee was unconscious and on a gurney being rushed from Maternity to the Shock/Trauma Intensive Care Unit. On the way, Arlee’s heart stopped again, so Melissa Fox, RN, climbed up on the gurney, straddled Arlee, and provided more chest compressions to keep the new mom alive.

    Arlee’s pulse came and went as the teams fought to save her life. Once in the ICU, Don Van Boerum, MD, took charge and Arlee was quickly diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism.

    “So often we’re in the situation doing CPR where the outcome is not good, so of course that’s running in the back of your mind that the odds are stacked against you,” says Dr. Van Boerum. “Her blood pressure was pretty good with the CPR, the oxygen level was pretty good, there were a few movements she made intermittently, and she seemed young and healthy, so I was certainly hopeful.”

    Following an hour and 15 minutes of chest compressions and CPR, Arlee was eventually given a clot-busting medication to dissolve the clot that had blocked the artery in her lungs. But because she’d recently had a c-section, thinning her blood caused bleeding in the uterus.

    One option for controlling the bleeding would have been to perform a hysterectomy. But interventional radiologist Mark Kringlen, MD, and his team went to work to control the bleeding with catheters, thus preserving Arlee’s ability to bear children. “The interventional radiologist was a total stud!” says Ryan Gregerson, Arlee’s husband.

    With the bleeding under control, Arlee began to regain consciousness. “It was when we started to talk about Lucy, Arlee’s new baby, that she popped those eyes open and started to look at me,” says Kaley Graham, RN, of Shock/Trauma. “It was that moment that neurologically I knew she was intact.”

    Last month, the Gregerson family returned to Intermountain Medical Center to reunite with and thank the teams of experts that saved Arlee’s life so she could be the mom to her newborn daughter, and celebrate the holidays as a family.

    “I’m so happy I can be a mom to Lucy, and I can never thank all of you for not giving up on me,” Arlee told the team that had cared for her. Before the reunion she and her mom had worked to prepare little thank-you gifts for the more than 50 people who attended the party, and part of the gift for each care provider was a roll of Lifesavers. “I don’t know how many people I’ve talked to who have told me you didn’t have to do CPR for that long, and I don’t know why you guys did, but thank you,” Arlee said.

    “It was like a symphony,” said Ryan during the press conference. “Everybody played their role, and they played it perfectly. And it was the sweetest, most beautiful symphony I could imagine because of how wonderfully they figured out what was going on and saved my sweet wife. The entire team at Intermountain Medical Center was willing to fight for her. They went above and beyond what was necessary in order to help my wife survive and we’re very grateful for that.”