4 am Emergency

I went to bed Thursday night like normal.  I was looking forward to a long weekend off from work.  At 4 am (Friday) I was awakened by my husband, John.  He told me possibly one of the top 10 things I did not want to hear.  He said, “Honey, wake up, something is wrong.”  I was awake that fast.  I asked, “What’s wrong?”  He said, “I don’t know but I think I’m having a heart attack, the right side of my body feels like it has fallen asleep, it is numb.  My right arm, leg and the right side of my neck is stiff.”  Enough said, “We are calling 911.”  I was afraid if he was having a heart attack and I tried to drive him to the hospital, what was I going to do if he collapsed?  

We called 911.  I thought he had said left side of his body and he corrected me when we were talking to the 911 operator.  I don’t have extensive medical knowledge but I thought the left side would mean heart attack, but this was his right side.  A first responder arrived first.  Shortly after came the paramedics in an ambulance with flashing lights.  John was completely conscious correctly answering all their questions.  It was now about 4:30 am and he was taken to the hospital.  The professionalism of all the emergency personnel was wonderful.  

I followed shortly after in my own vehicle.  If you read my post “The Best Seats” and see where when Paul and Silas were in prison that they were singing songs and praising God, well that is what happened.  You will have to understand I am not the most functional in the morning, I have gotten better, but it generally takes me a couple hours to get it all together.  So I sent a quick text to my good friend that we were headed to the hospital and I asked her to pray.  Before 5:00 am I was driving to the hospital.  I started singing my homemade song to God and I continued to sing to Him for the whole 20 minute ride.  I said later I was bathed in peace.  It is hard to understand as I was not pleading with Him to save John’s life I was simply telling Him He is my king, telling Him I trust Him and that He was my everything and He is why I sing.  It was sort of a childlike song and as I drove in the dark across the city to the hospital I experienced great peace.

Once at the hospital, we found out some interesting things.  The numbness seemed to have no cause as the CT scan showed no signs of stroke, his carotid arteries looked good.  They gave him medication for possible stroke and the numbness in his arm and leg was improving.  So initially maybe we jumped to conclusions and shouldn’t have called 911 or even come in.  John was put on a heart monitor and after about 10:00 am he was taken out of emergency and admitted to the general part of the hospital.  Now he was in a room with an undetermined diagnosis.  He was still hooked up to the heart monitor when his heart rate jumped up to around 140 and was erratic.  They gave him medication for that.    

He went in for an MRI and the results were inconclusive.  Possible stroke or maybe he moved during the test. They were leaning more toward stroke but they could not be sure.  John stayed overnight in the hospital and during the night his heart stopped three times.  Not for long but between 3 to 5 seconds each time.  At 11:00 am (Saturday) while I was there, the nurse came in and asked “Did you just feel anything?”  He said, “Yes, sort of woozy and I’ve felt that periodically for a number of months now.”  She said “Your heart just stopped for 10 seconds.”

Perfect!  All caught on a heart monitor now the cardiac doctor came make an educated decision knowing at least part of the problem.  After that 10 second stop the heart was now back into normal rhythm for the first time in 25 hours.  

It was determined a pacemaker would correct the heart stoppage problem but the A-Fib (Fast Heartbeats) are going to take a different approach.  The cardiac team had just done surgery on another patient installing a pacemaker; the necessary staff was already there, what was one more?  He had a pacemaker installed and an hour and a half later was resting comfortably in his room.

Here is what I learned besides a lot of medical terminology:

                Through this experience God answered a lot of questions about John’s health that I had been wondering about.  He is in better shape than I thought.  He would not have gone to the doctor for many of these things but this way it was a one stop shop.

                The song I was singing on the way to the hospital was not a hysterical cry filled with fear but a sweet surrender to whatever God would bring, knowing that He was God.

                John’s heart cooperated very well and in a very short period of time did the exactly wrong thing when it was suppose to and it was all caught on a monitor, coincidence?  I think not.

                I have always dreaded the thought of possibly losing John and I came face to face with those fears this weekend.  What I found out is even though I don’t ever want to face that day, I could.  And I could because I believe God will always take care of me.  God has also given me numerous support people I can turn to if that day should ever come.

                John isn’t afraid to die.  He knows Jesus and he knows that his eternity resides in Heaven.  I just want to say he can just wait a little while (smile)

                I had texted my friend about 4:48 am to pray for us.  She told me later she woke up a 4:30 am and couldn’t fall back to sleep and finally said “Okay, okay I’ll get up”.  God woke her up because I needed her to pray.

Thank you God for all the medical information you provided, the current and future fears you erased, the friendships you cultivated and deepened, and in Your words “Peace I leave with you”.  See I know it is not about my circumstances as they will always change, it is about Who you know, the One who never does!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27