Singing a Silly Song

I really enjoy blogging silly stories and pictures that will make others laugh. But sometimes life throws in some curve balls. As I recount what happened on Tuesday, September 26th, know that we end up with probably the best outcome for this situation.

Tuesday morning my mom called me at 6:18 a.m. (You know it might be bad news when the phone rings that early in the morning.) She said my dad had collapsed in the kitchen. She heard him fall and went in to see what the thump was. He was having difficulty breathing, then he stopped breathing altogether. She had called 911 and they talked her through what to do. He "came to" before the recue crew arrived, although he wasn't fully alert. She was getting ready to follow the ambulance to the hospital. She said she would call from the hospital and let me know what was going on after they got more information.

I called my brother and let him know what was going on. Then I started packing for Mikayla and myself. I really didn't want my mom waiting at the hospital by herself. Then the phone rang and a lady from my parents church, who was at the hospital with mom, called and said, Your mom needs you. Your dad had a heart attack and she needs you. Thankfully I had packed so we only had to jump in the van and go. John came with the boys, since we weren't sure the exact situation and we only have 1 car so we didn't want John stuck in Springfield if we needed him.

That was one LOOONNNNGGGG drive to Peoria. On the way up we talked to my brother, Grandparents, and friends. Then we got another call from a family friend to let us know that they were taking my dad into surgery to have a pace maker put in and the surgery would last about an hour. I was relieved to hear this because I had such a vague idea of how serious the situation was and knowing he was getting a pace maker meant he was alive.

After we arrived I met mom in the waiting room. I should have known better than to think she'd be there alone. Close friends from the church were there with her. Then we waited for dad to finish surgery. It was very calming to be there and have the Doctors talk to us in person, instead of hearing news 2nd and 3rd hand.

The diagnosis was that my dad has "electrical problems" with his heart. It was not a heart attack, which would be muscle damage usually caused by blocked arteries or an unhealthy heart. Instead the heart also functions off of electrical pulses. In this case his heart "blew a fuse" and stopped beating. They said it was very good that the 2nd episode happened in the ER because he was hooked up to machines and the could document exactly what happened. They showed us the print out of his heart rate. It shows it slowing down and then it actually stopped for 20-25 seconds. This is the time when they thought he was having a heart attack. They were able to get the heart to resume beating by doing chest compressions. You can see the spikes on the chart where the compressions were being administered. By putting in a pace maker this should be prevented from happening again. They set the pacemaker so that if his heart rate drops below 50 it will stimulate the heart. Thankfully he can resume a normal life, (other than showing a card at the airport to avoid setting off the security gates, and a few other cautions). He is an avid bike rider and probably in the best shape of his life so it was shocking to hear that he was having heart troubles. But after a roller coaster of emotions it is good to be on this side of the ordeal and know he is going to be ok.

When you look back on a situation like this you can see SOOOO many things that we are thankful for. The emotion hits most when you are tempted to play the "what if . . ." game. What if mom had already left for work . . . What if he had been on a bike ride . . . What if he hadn't had a 2nd episode in the ER . . . What if they wouldn't have known to put in the pace maker and he would have had this happen again . . . and on and on it goes. But that is a futile game to play. Instead we need to play the "Right now" game. Right now I am thankful for this new perspective on life and what is truely important. Right now I am thankful that we live closer to my parents. Right now I am very thankful for our awesome family who is there for us when a crisis hits. Right now I am most thankful that God gives grace and mercy.