Ex-FLATLINE Guitarist Recovering

TMD has received this health update from the wife of Ex-FLATLINE guitarist Randy Weitzel:

“Randy and I want to thank everyone for all of their thoughts, prayers, meditations, emails, facebook messages, texts, calls, card and flowers. The outpouring of love that came to both of us during this scary time was amazing and we will be forever grateful. First and foremost, know that he is doing well, healing, recovering and really looking forward to getting back into the studio soon to record Three Thirteen’s FULL TILT. His sessions were postponed because of this crisis, and I know that getting back to work on the album is going to be the best healing therapy he could have. He had a closer call than any of us originally thought. What began as merely a sore throat, turned, within hours to a life-threatening situation involving emergency surgery and a few days in ICU. The amazing doctor who ultimately saved his life, told Randy and I that we basically experienced “the perfect storm.” All minor situations came together to form a major one.

Randy somehow contracted a bacterial infection that attacked his throat and vocal chords. The infection attacked him so rapidly and was taking over so quickly that the pain became excruciating, indicating a more severe problem than we originally thought. Emergency room doctors were unable to alleviate any pain (even with 2 morphine doses back to back) or reduce what appeared to be swelling in his throat and around his voice box. An Ear, Nose and Throat specialist and an anesthesiologist were called in and Randy was subsequently rushed into emergency surgery. Adding to the severity of the situation was that his epiglottis (which acts as a flap valve in the throat, protecting the airway when people swallow) is shaped like an omega sign (or a horseshoe), rather than the normal flat shape, and was rapidly swelling and cutting off his oxygen. By the time he was in the OR he was unable to talk. I’ll spare you the gory details, but they told us he was about 2 minutes away from dying, and they were preparing to give him a tracheostomy had the intubation not worked on the first try.

The next few days were a haze of morphine and sedatives for Randy as he was breathing with the help of a ventilator for a while. He was also unable to talk due to the tube that ran up his nose, down his throat and into his lungs. The sedatives he was given were in some ways quite detrimental to his health as well. For the first two days, his mother and I sat with him, reminding him every few minutes to breathe, as the sedative would actually relax him so much that he would stop breathing. It was the most terrifying few days of my life. His doctor told us after the fact, that the mortality rate for this situation has not changed in over 50 years. The same amount of people die from this every day that did 50 years ago. The main reason for this horrifying statistic is how rapidly it becomes life-threatening. Randy was lucky enough to be extremely healthy, sober and strong when this hit, making him in tune enough with his body to know that it was no ‘regular’ sore throat. Had we not been in the ER when it got REALLY bad, this story could have had a very different outcome. We asked the doctor what to do to prevent this situation again. He said just to listen to your body. If it feels wrong, go see a doctor…and don’t wait. It could be too late if you do.

The staff at St. John’s Medical center gave him phenomenal care, and was amazing with his family and I. It will likely take a while until he feels fully back to his old self, but he is well on his way. Randy’s got incredible talent inside of him, and I have no doubt that this life-changing experience will bring about some amazing music and art from him. I know that he had a very spiritual experience when he thought he was taking his last breath, and no one can walk away from an experience like that uninspired. It’s not for me to talk about, but I have a feeling we will all get a glimpse into what he went through down the line through his future projects.

Again, I can’t thank you all enough for the words of encouragement and love that you sent his way. The metal community really reached out to us, and it means the world. We are so blessed.”

http://www.myspace.com/randyweitzel