I have had pain like this before. And I do things to not pay attention to
it. I work. I watch TV.
I focus on my iPad. Or in the
worst of cases, I go to bed and hope that a long sleep will change the outcome
when I wake up. Thursday came, and my
pain was better, down from an 11 to a 7 or 8.
I just assumed this was me getting better. When Friday came, my pain was down to the 3
or 4 range and I assumed this entire incident was behind me. As if you were unable to read between the
lines already on what God deserves praise for, from here the interactions
become even more unmistakable. As it
turns out, I had a heart test scheduled on Tuesday of this week (the day before
my wife’s accident). And a second different
heart test scheduled at the hospital on Friday (the third day since it all
began). My wife had arranged to take me
to this test and stay with me throughout it.
That heart test revealed (you guessed it), I was in the middle of an
active heart attack. One of my arteries
was 100% clogged. But miraculously, my
heart had found “work arounds” from other veins/arteries in the area providing
blood to that part of my heart for no explicable reason. I was rushed from testing lab to ER (only
spent 5 mins there), and was admitted to the Cardiac ward immediately. The doctors who read my tests understood what
was going on, but could not provide a real good explanation of it.
I was immediately given huge doses of aspirin, and nitro glycerin.
My interventionist was called and the
next morning (Sabbath for those keeping track), they attempted to do a procedure
where they go through my wrist, up my artery, and insert a stent into my
clogged artery providing a sort of rubber hose bypass to get the blood
going. They managed to get a balloon in
there to force it open; but could not place a permanent stent because the
smallest stent was still too big for that particular artery. So that means my artery was cracked open once
by balloon, but the junk is still in it, and it could re-clog up at any time. The plan of attack is now just heavy meds to
try to clean it out that way. Obviously,
I am changing my diet, and trying to mobilize as best my back and remaining
lack of breath, and lack of flow will permit.
I feel like a truck ran over me.
But I guess that is a common feeling when getting out of a hospital.
So back to God for praise.
My wife never left my side. She
even slept in my room in the hospital and I use the word “sleep” lightly as
that rarely happens. But she was not
just “there”, she was praying for me, for my doctors, and the staff the whole
time. My two primary nurses (one day,
one night) were outstanding. I got the
on call cardiac interventionalist, but he happened to be the best one in the
entire department, very very experienced, and did the stents for my best
friend, so I already knew of him. The
care at AdventHealth (formerly Florida Hospital) in Orlando, is second to
none. I had multiple EKGs, blood tests,
and sonograms of my heart throughout my experience. How I got the best people, at the time when
just a little more delay might have killed me, is not coincidence, it is
providence. My whole experience was like
a well-oiled machine. You would have
thought everything was planned in advance, choreographed, and then executed
with flawless precision. It was. It just happened to be God’s playbook, unseen
by us, but still carried out flawlessly.
So what happens now?
I am home. My wife was given a
week off to care for me. She has. I have been the subject of much prayer, and I
am so grateful for that. I welcome every
prayer sent up on my behalf. Even though
I still feel like I was run over by a truck, and even though these meds will
take a while to fix me, I know it is God who has the final say over me. If I reclog up tomorrow and find myself
passed away from this mortal coil, I will yet sing the praises of my Lord Jesus
Christ. I love my family. I was able to see my baby granddaughter
through all of this. They snuck her into
my room. And her smiles light up a
city. That kind of medicine only God could
have arranged. You see they live in Los
Angeles and decided to travel here only to see us without ever knowing these
events would transpire. God will decide
when or if I am briefly parted from her, or my wife, or my family. But while I am here, I will praise the Lord. And I will try to continue to serve Jesus
Christ with every second, and every breath I have left. He does so much for each of us. And everything He has done for me, overwhelms
my heart, in no matter what state I find it.
My wife and I have found new passion in greeting each day
with prayer to God, thanking Him for a new day of life, and then enumerating to
Jesus the needs He already is way ahead of us on for others. You can bet that precious baby granddaughter
tops the list, but she is followed by our children, our parents, our families,
and then each of the ones Jesus puts in our path. My wife carries a long list there, and I am
grateful we are still able to lift them up in prayer. That is the least we can do, and perhaps the
most we can do. If you have time and
would like to pray for my wife, I know she needs it. As you may recall this whole incident began
with a horrible car crash that actually accordianized the offending vehicle
against the back of my wife’s car. She
spends so much time caring for me, I think she is ignoring her own needs, so once
again I would welcome prayers for her graciously. I hope you do not ever have to experience a
car accident or a heart attack. But I am
beyond certain, that God has seen us both through this one. I don’t know what I will be able to do going
forward, but while I can, I hope to pray often.
If you have a need, please message me and let me know, it would be my
honor to lift you up in prayer to my God who I have personal testimony hears
and answers in His tender mercies.
Everything I have been through shows me that over and over again.
